Saunders’ injury has Jays scrambling for replacement
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Edwin Encarnacion was delighted with the roster moves the Blue Jays made over the winter. And on his first day of spring training, the veteran slugger pulled into the players’ parking lot and immediately saw one of the newcomers, left-fielder Michael Saunders.
“I drive my car inside and I see Saunders with two crutches and say, ‘Wow!’ A little frustrating,” Encarnacion said, shaking his head.
Saunders, a native of Victoria, B.C., was excited about the December trade that brought him from Seattle and he reported early to camp upbeat and raring to go. But Wednesday morning, while jogging after a ball on a practice field during batting practice, he stepped into a depression and caught his foot on a sprinkler head. The result: torn cartilage in his left knee, pending surgery and a recovery time which the Jays estimate could keep him on the shelf until late June or early July.
In fact, Saunders could be back before that, since athletes often recover from this kind of surgery in four to six weeks. Factoring in time to get into playing shape and a rehab stint in the minors, he might well beat the Jays’ estimate.
In the meantime, having acquired Saunders to replace Melky Cabrera, the Jays face a tough challenge over the next five weeks — staging a wide-ranging audition among internal candidates to keep Saunders’ seat warm.
General manager Alex Anthopoulos said he would prefer not to trade for a replacement, although he didn’t rule it out. But he also stated the obvious about the players on hand who will vie for the job: “We know these guys can play defensively. It’s just, from an offensive standpoint, how are they going to do?”
An optimist might suggest putting Dalton Pompey in centre and Kevin Pillar in left. They were pegged to compete for the centre-field job. Each plays solid defence. Neither is a proven majorleague hitter.
Intriguingly, manager John Gibbons said it was about time for Pillar “to show what he can do in the big leagues.”
Meanwhile, Pompey has all of 12 games at Triple-A and 17 in the majors. Gibbons believes in him, but stressed he will go back to Triple-A if he doesn’t show he is ready for prime time. The other candidates? “Just go through the roster and if it says ‘outfield’ by his name, put his name in there,” Gibbons said.
The manager said he will spread an even wider net. Infielder Danny Valencia, whose outfield experience consists of four minor-league games, will get a look. So will non-roster invitee Chris Colabello, a first-baseman/ DH type who has played 30 games in right field but none in left.
Other aspirants are: ■ Ezequiel Carrera, 27, a non- roster invitee who slashed .261//.301/.348, mainly as a defensive replacement, for the Tigers last year. He bats left. ■ Chris Dickerson, 32, a veteran who’s also in camp on a minor-league deal. He is a career backup who hit .232 with a .288 OBP over the past two seasons. He bats left. ■ Andy Dirks, 29, would be an ideal candidate if healthy. But he continues to rehab a back injury and is not expected to resume baseball activity for the next seven to 10 days, Anthopoulos said. Gibbons said he doesn’t expect Dirks to be sufficiently recovered to compete for the job. Dirks, who also bats left, slashed .276/.332/.413 for Detroit over the past three seasons, playing mainly in left field.
The Saunders injury adds to the question marks already hovering over the bullpen, second base and centre field. Gibbons said he entered camp thinking this team would be the best of the past three years and he still seemed to think so, but with significant caveats.
“We’ve got some decisions that we’ve got to make that we’ve got to get right,” he said. “There’s some jobs at stake.”
Saunders was glad to get out of Seattle, especially after GM Jack Zduriencik openly intimated after last season that Saunders missed a lot of playing time due to injuries that might have been preventable through better conditioning. Saunders played only 74 games last year and missed 50 games because of a lingering quad injury. He and his agent were furious at Zduriencik’s comments.
“I’ve described (the trade) to a lot of people that nobody’s more excited to be here than me,” Saunders said Thursday as he stood on crutches to face the media. “For me, I think the biggest thing I’m going to have to overcome is mentally rather than physically. I know I’m going to be in good hands. I know I’m going to be OK.
“My goal is to be in majorleague games by the all-star break and hopefully sooner.”
Encarnacion and his teammates are hoping for sooner.
“It’s very hard for a player, working hard all winter and then come here and before spring training starts, (to) get hurt,” Encarnacion said. “That’s very hard for him and for the team because we need him.”