LAKELAND, Fla. – Erik Swanson’s four-year-old son, Toby, is in hospital after being struck by a vehicle over the weekend and the Toronto Blue Jays reliever will be away from the team to be with his family, an emotional manager John Schneider said Tuesday.
The accident occurred Sunday in the Clearwater area and Toby was airlifted to a Bay area hospital.
Schneider praised the work of first responders and said Toby “is on the road to recovery,” but there were few details beyond that. A police report is yet to be completed and incident notes weren’t immediately available.
“I have two boys that are seven and five and it hits home,” Schneider said, his eyes moistening and voice breaking. “Baseball's baseball. So you pray and you hope for the best. And thankfully, that's been the case so far. You realize how quickly things can change. And you don't take things for granted.”
The Blue Jays dealt with tragedy back in 2022, when first-base coach Mark Budzinski’s daughter Julia died after a boating accident. Schneider said the club’s role right now is to “just offer support” and deploy its “unbelievable resources up and down the organization.”
“Unbelievable group of guys that are in the clubhouse that are very, very close and they spend a lot of time together off the field, along with other families,” he added. “You lean on those guys and you come together as an organization as quickly as you can and you help however you can. Guys have been great. Erik and his wife, Madison are very thankful for the support. And we're going to continue to give it as long as we need to. …
“Again, baseball is secondary when you're talking about family and life. We're going to continue to support him. The guys have been absolutely phenomenal with him so far and you can't forget about players' wives and significant others that have reached out as well. It's been a rough couple of days, but it's really, really nice to see the support for Erik.”
In 69 appearances for the Blue Jays last season, Swanson pitched to a 2.97 ERA while striking out 75 in 66 and two-thirds innings, notching four saves.
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