Carrera joins Jays’ list of walking wounded
• Yet another Blue Jays injury and for manager John Gibbons, it’s getting into uncharted territory.
“I don’t think I have seen ( as many) in half a season, put it that way,” Gibbons said before the Jays and Tampa Bay Rays met at Rogers Centre to conclude a two-game series on Wednesday night.
The latest to hit the disabled list is outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, who suffered a fracture in his right foot on Tuesday against the Rays.
The Jays recalled Dwight Smith Jr. from Triple- A Buffalo, and Smith started in left field and batted eighth on Wednesday.
“I didn’t think anything of it,” Gibbons said, referring to Carrera fouling a ball off his own foot.
“Later on, it was pretty painful and he had trouble walking. Tests (were done) and he has a fracture in there.”
It’s not clear when Carrera, who was using crutches as the Jays gathered for their annual team photo a couple of hours before the game, might be able to return.
No less than 16 Jays have been placed on the DL in 2017, costing the club a total of 478 man-games.
As one would imagine, Smith couldn’t have been happier to get the call.
“It’s awesome being back up here and being back with the guys,” Smith said. “It’s every kid’s dream
“I’m not taking anything for granted.”
That Smith had a couple of brief tenures with the Jays in May was valuable, he said. Smith collected his first major- league hit, a pinchhit double, against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 24. It was the 24- year- old’s lone hit in four atbats in three games with the Jays.
“Knowing these guys makes it more comfortable, definitely,” Smith said. “You’re familiar with them and they have confidence in you. You just have to put it out there on the field. It’s relaxing knowing you have the support behind you.”
Smith, a first- round pick by the Jays in 2011 ( 53rd overall), was batting . 303 in 55 games for the Bisons when he was summoned to Toronto.
“Smitty has always been known to swing the bat,” Gibbons said. “He was playing really well down there. I’d only seen him in spring training a couple of times, but there was something I liked about him.
“Even the couple of times he has been up this year, he did not have a whole lot of at- bats, but he looks good in the box. He has been taking some good swings.”
Still, Smith might not be around for long, as Steve Pearce, rehabbing in Buffalo from a strained calf, is expected to return to the Jays this weekend when the Chicago White Sox visit Rogers Centre.
SMITH TO SIGN
The Jays’ fourth- round draft pick this week, shortstop Kevin Smith of the University of Maryland, has told reporter sin the U.S. that he’ ll sign with Toronto and forego his senior year with the Terrapins, though the two sides have yet to come to terms.
MLB assigned a value of US$ 405,100 to the 129 th pick. Smith is scheduled to fly on Friday to the Jays’ spring training facility in Dunedin.
He expected to sign on Saturday and then find out with which minor- league team he’ll begin his pro career.
The native of East Greenbush, N.Y., improved each year in college and drew the attention of scouts with his play in the Cape Cod league this past summer, when he earned an all- star selection and playoff MVP honours, hitting .301 with 12 doubles in 41 games.