Pair make gains on the pain
Donaldson, Travis take first at-bats on road to recovery
CLEARWATER— Well, that was batty.
“Honestly, so weird,” said Devon Travis, after a 1-for-4 DH cameo in a minor-league game here Tuesday, first live pitching the Blue Jays’ second baseman has seen in spring training ’17.
Specifically, Travis meant pivoting away from the plate after a single up the middle and going thataway, back to the dugout, instead of thataway to first, as every reflex commanded.
“I came back in and apologized to all the guys after. That doesn’t feel right. I don’t want anybody to think I’m doing that because I don’t want to run.”
But those were the strict instructions when Travis was given the green light for some real at-bats in a game against the Phillies’ minor leaguers, while the Jays were off in Fort Myers to face the Red Sox again.
For the past month, since the team assembled in Dunedin, Travis has been toiling diligently to complete rehab from surgery on his right knee last November. The 26-year-old suffered a bone bruise in the first game of the American League Division Series, had a cortisone shot, then exacerbated the ailment a week later midway through the Championship Series opener against Cleveland. A second MRI revealed a small flap of cartilage caught in the knee joint.
“The biggest thing is timing,” said Travis. “Getting that timing back, feeling comfortable in the box.” Upon further consideration: “Biggest thing is competing. That’s the best part of the game. Any time you step on a baseball field you’ve got to compete, because that guy on the mound wants to get you out bad.’’
His swing felt comfortable through the at-bats — two long flies, a strikeout and the single liner on a 3-1 count which put a huge smile on his face.
“That was really nice. Just trying to stay through the middle of the field, put the barrel on the ball. You don’t want any tappers or jam-shots, you want to try to find the barrel.’’
While Travis has been shagging balls — which involves modest running — and taking batting practice with the club, he was ordered by the training staff to stay off the bases in his debut effort Tuesday.
Facing live pitching, which can’t be simulated, was a quantifiable step in the right direction.
“You can hit BP and hit off the tee, and hit off the machine and stand in for a bullpen. But there’s nothing like stepping in that box and the umpire saying: Play Ball!’’
Travis has been afflicted by a series of infirmities in his short career with the Jays. He earned a starting job coming out of spring training in 2015, showing impressive power for a five-foot-nine, 180-pound player, with a seemingly sturdy fireplug physique.
However, inflammation in his left shoulder twice put him in the DL, the second time for the balance of the season, meaning he missed out on Toronto’s thrilling ride to and through the playoffs.
Exploratory surgery didn’t reveal the cause of his troubles. Two months later, Travis underwent a procedure in which screws were inserted into the shoulder to stabilize an extra bone that was discovered in there.
He didn’t rejoin the club for game action until May, at which point his took back the starting second baseman job and his leadoff spot in the batting order. A hand injury cost him a few games in August but it was the knee — and probably returning too quickly from the initial soreness — which sent him back under the knife. Though the Jays were delighted with his performance across 101 regular-season games — hitting .300 with 11 home runs — they are concerned about his durability.
Travis still needs to prove he’s not brittle and injury-prone.
Thus the slow, often exasperating emphasis on building up core strength and fortifying the knee. “Every rehab process is always grueling and tough but I’m moving on the incline and I’m really excited about that. Mentally more than anything it’s exhausting.”
There’s no timeline, but Travis is keen to be in the Opening Day lineup.
“My goal is obviously Opening Day. However, I know I’ve got to be healthy. This team needs me healthy. Going out there when I’m not healthy isn’t the goal.’’ Tuesday, he said, was heartening. “I’m so excited to put on a uniform again and come out there, compete with the guys. I’m pumped up. It felt great.”
Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the Philly minor league complex, Josh Donaldson was getting his first at-bat licks in too, on the rehab comeback trail from a right calf strain sustained while running wind sprints just as camp opened.
Didn’t run out the wind-aided single he stroked either, as per agreement, with head trainer George Poulis keeping an watchful eye on things.
He did, though, kind of amble to first.
“After I did get the hit, I was like, ‘Oh, you might as well walk over there.’ ”
The third baseman and American League MVP from ’15 did demonstrate power, swatting a foul ball some 450 feet. He’s likely closer than Travis to playing with the Jays, at least in a DH capacity, and has been running, a tad, since last week.
“I feel like today I was able to move at a little bit faster speed in the outfield running.’’
No date has been set for Don- aldson’s spring training debut with the Jays, but he sounds optimistic.
“I’m just getting some work in, just seeing some pitches. It’s nice to see some change of speeds. You can only do so much from batting practice. But I felt pretty good, swung and missed a couple of times, but I felt like I was pretty close on some good pitches.
“That was a good first day.’’