COVID-19 puts Jays’ star signee in limbo
Ryu, others must work out on own
There are billboards in downtown Toronto heralding his arrival, but for now, Blue Jays pitcher HyunJin Ryu is unable to move to, let alone settle into, his new home.
Ryu, the ace of the Jays’ starting staff, is one of three players remaining in Dunedin, Fla. largely because of immigration issues. Complicating matters for the Korean left-hander is that his wife is seven months pregnant.
Also remaining are Japanese free-agent signee Shun Yamaguchi and fellow pitcher Rafael Dolis of the Dominican Republic, plus close to 20 minor league players.
“We’re attempting to support those players,” Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro said in a Sunday conference call. “We’re keeping the facility open for them to train and work out without any staff support other than to just open the facility and make sure they have access.”
Shapiro said that team personnel is in close contact not only with those three but players and staff throughout the organization.
“I think the immediate priority is just make sure (that) we have a set of systems in place that allow us to ensure everybody is safe, everybody is being connected, everybody has outlets to get the questions answered,” Shapiro said. “That people, despite the fact that they are physically isolated, don’t feel emotionally and mentally isolated.”
Originally, the Jays kept TD Ballpark open for players who wanted to remain in shape. But by the middle of this past week, it became apparent that such a practice was neither wise nor safe.
“From a front office perspective, we became increasingly less comfortable asking staff to support and be in an environment that it was becoming clear was just not safe,” Shapiro said. “We had too many people congregating in very close spaces ... it was no longer comfortable or safe to ask staff to operate in close proximity and that we were going to gradually move towards shutting down the operation on the major league side.”
The Jays will provide players with input on remaining in shape. But with self-isolation taking the priority, those activities will be limited, part of the reason Shapiro surmises a lengthy second spring training will be required.
“I do think that at this point the physical exercise that they can do is as much about mental health and maintaining some semblance of normalcy and routine and probably a little less baseball specific.”