Saunders’ second chance at a first impression
After a year of injury and a spring of trade talk, outfielder enjoys a month of redemption
It’s easier to talk about now that he’s healthy and back on the field, but Michael Saunders admits he was “an emotional wreck” for much of last season.
“I think the word devastated kind of puts it lightly for me last year.”
Saunders, of course, sat out all but nine games last season after stepping on an exposed sprinkler head on a back field at the Blue Jays’ spring-training complex and tearing the meniscus in his left knee. He had the damaged cartilage surgically removed in hopes of accelerating his return, but a bone bruise nixed any hope of meaningful recovery during the season.
The native of Victoria, who dreamed of playing for the Jays as a kid, had shown up early, eager to begin his career with Toronto only to have it derailed before he played a single game.
“No one wanted to be a part of it as much as I did,” he says.
Saunders showed up to camp early again this year, feeling healthy and hop- ing, essentially, for a second chance at a first impression.
Then things almost got derailed again when, before camp officially opened, he was reportedly traded to the L.A. Angels as part of a three-team deal with the Cincinnati Reds. The trade was scuttled when one of the players involved — not Saunders — failed a physical. Despite the best efforts of the Jays’ front office to assure him he was an important part of their plans, Saunders saw the reports like everybody else and he knew the team had tried to trade him.
“I needed to prove (to them) that I was healthy,” he says.
“I think that was the biggest thing. I had nothing to prove to myself, but I felt like this needed to be a redemption year for me. I guess I just wanted to show them why I was traded for in the first place.”
Aside from missing three games with a sore hamstring, Saunders has proved his return to health this year.
More importantly, while the Jays’ offence has sputtered overall, he has been a significant contributor. He leads the team with a .318 batting average and is tied with Josh Donaldson for the team lead in doubles with eight. He was moved into the leadoff spot in the order on April 17 and has performed well in that role, reaching base at .375 clip. The numbers are much improved upon the dismal stats he put up in last year’s brief cameo. When Saunders tried to come back last April, his knee “blew up” on him almost immediately. He tried to play through it, but it was fruitless.
“Without your lower half, that’s your base and that’s kind of ultimately what you use to hit,” he says. “No matter what you injure, your body realizes you’re injured and tries to protect it and kind of hinders your play that way.”
But Saunders said his lowest point last season came after his aborted comeback, when he was sent back to Florida, alone, to continue his rehabilitation. His family, based in Denver, didn’t join him because it was never clear how long his knee would take to heal.
He would rehab in the morning, then have nothing but time. He watched the Jays like a fan. “I’d go home and wait for the guys to play that night.”
He was rooting for his teammates, but naturally he wanted to be out there. When he knew there was no chance he would make it back, Saunders rejoined the team in September, essentially as a cheerleader.
“This team did a good job making me feel like one of the guys, making me feel like family,” he says. “But it was definitely tough on me to sit back and watch and see how much fun they were having, how much success they were having and just battling on a nightly basis and knowing I wasn’t going to be a part of it.”
Now he’s simply grateful to be back on the field.
“Sometimes you take for granted being healthy,” he said. “Missing an entire year, just taking a step back, it really made me appreciate the hard work I had to put in to get back to being here today.”