Tulowitzki’s loss another blow to Jays
TORONTO — Troy Tulowitzki’s scapula ended up being the talk of what should have been an ebullient weekend for fans of the Toronto Blue Jays, and understandably so.
Even though their new star shortstop — acquired in late July from Colorado — has yet to show off his potential at the plate for the Jays, his loss is still a blow. His defensive work had been an immediate upgrade and while the beauty of the Jays’ deep lineup is that someone can always be slumping, they were counting on him to be one of their big bats.
This is real adversity the Jays are finally facing, the easy thinking goes, but don’t kid yourself about that.
While this may not be a battle-tested team with countless playoff runs, the season so far has been unmistakably trying.
Sure, GM Alex Anthopoulos provided elite-level reinforcements when he traded for Tulowitzki, as well as rotation anchor David Price, and deftly filled out the rest of his roster with the acquisition of guys like relievers LaTroy Hawkins and Mark Lowe, or left fielder Ben Revere, but the Blue Jays needed to be in a strong enough position in the first place for him to do that.
And to have got there meant overcoming obstacles at least as big as the Tulowitzki-sized hole they now face.
The obvious example comes in the form of Marcus Stroman, who remarkably started on Saturday, having been ruled out for the season in early March after blowing out his knee.
Some felt that was an early death knell for the club and it very well could have been.
So, too, could Aaron Sanchez’s early-season injury, just when it seemed like he was taking a real grip on a spot in the rotation. So could have Daniel Norris’s demotion early on, after the young starter — eventually moved in the Price deal — struggled with command and the weight of being a relied-upon piece of the club’s rotation.
So could have Miguel Castro’s implosion at the back of the bullpen, as it became apparent early the darling of spring training — the untouchable, flamethrowing kid who was going to lock down leads with pinpoint command of a blazing fastball, an otherworldly change-up and a sickening slider — was in over his head and never as good as fans as the front office so badly wanted him to be.
There was Michael Saunders’ knee injury, which threw the projected outfield into disarray, plus Dalton Pompey’s struggles, which only made things worse and forced responsibility on an untested Kevin Pillar (who has responded with an incredible defensive season in centre field).
Steve Delabar and Aaron Loup struggled out of the bullpen. R.A. Dickey was a worry until June. Phil Coke and Joba Chamberlain might have helped, but they came and disappeared. The Johan Santana experiment failed.
All while the club flailed around trying to find an answer to pitching troubles that somehow, maddeningly, kept hanging the best offence in the game out to dry.
Jose Bautista injured his shoulder in a fit of piqué against the Orioles in April, but played through the pain — though not always up to his own high standards.
Edwin Encarnacion battled through shoulder problems, as well. Russell Martin nearly hit the disabled list because of a hamstring problem in late August. And Devon Travis won the club’s starting second base job in the spring, then had a tremendous April before injury set him back. Travis then had an outstanding July before succumbing again.
Such is the grind of a baseball season.
Tulowitzki’s injury, illtimed as it might be, is hardly the only bad break these Jays have endured.
That’s also not to say they’ll negotiate it with the same aplomb they did these other concerns, though examining the entirety of what they’ve been through this year suggests a capacity for resilience that may not be altogether obvious.
This is a resilient group. Whether it’s surviving the loss of their would-be ace or needing to beat other teams’ brains in every night just to stay afloat, there just doesn’t seem to be any quit in them.
Jays fans maybe haven’t seen it yet, but Tulowitzki is probably one of the 10 best all-around position players in baseball. Yet this team is so good that losing him isn’t even such a big deal. As much as they’ll miss his bat, they really won’t.