Rehabbing Shoemaker still playing a key role
Injured right-hander ‘a thoughtful pitcher’ who can help teammates
Matt Shoemaker is not on the mound for the Blue Jays every five days like he had hoped to be, but the veteran right-hander’s presence is still felt in Toronto’s clubhouse.
The 32-year-old pitched all of 282⁄ innings for the Jays in 3 March and April before he suffered a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament tear in his left knee. The bulk of Shoemaker’s year has been dedicated to rehab, but he has often found his way back to the big-league clubhouse. He was in Detroit last month — he lives in Ann Arbor, Mich. — to greet the Jays’ buses when they arrived at Comerica Park. And he was part of the starters’ walk out of the bullpen during last week’s homestand at the Rogers Centre.
“I want to be here every day,” he said. “As much as they’re letting me, I’m going to be here … I want to be in Toronto at every home game.”
Shoemaker is no stranger to the rehabilitation process. He suffered a fractured skull and a small hematoma after he took a sharp line drive off the bat of the Seattle Mariners’ Kyle Seager in September, 2016. And two forearm surgeries in 2017 and 2018 limited him to 1082⁄ in3 nings between those two seasons.
He came into this year hoping to be a sleeper addition who, if healthy, could have a significant impact. He looked like he was on the right track through five starts, posting a 1.57 ERA. Now, he is showing he can still make his mark while in a knee brace.
“He’s great. Early in the season, spring training, he was a great team player, he had good thoughts, he was involved in meetings,” pitching coach Pete Walker said. “Obviously he started the season off so great we were expecting that all year and then we lost him. But having him around, he’s a great representative of what a professional should be, what a majorleague pitcher should be. He does his homework, he’s prepared, so he has great insight.
“He’s a thoughtful pitcher … I think for the younger guys to see and talk with him, it’s pretty important.”
All the talk about Toronto’s rotation these days is centred on young guys and the future but Shoemaker, who signed a oneyear, $3.5-million (U.S.) deal with the Jays last December, will be in that conversation. He is arbitration-eligible and could be the veteran touchstone Toronto’s rotation has lacked in the second half of this season, and a placeholder until some of the younger arms in the system — like righties Alek Manoah, Adam Kloffenstein and Simon Woods Richardson, at various levels of A-ball — are ready to take the reins.
Shoemaker’s recovery, estimated at six to nine months, is going smoothly. He does personal training anywhere from three to six days a week, and has the luxury of rehabbing at home when he isn’t with the team.
“It’s huge. If you think about it, that’s therapeutic in itself. I think it helps anybody heal better, when you’re in a favourable environment … It’s a positive out of a very negative situation.”
If he can have a normal offseason without complications, his return from knee surgery should be more straightforward than either of the delicate forearm procedures he underwent previously.
“Ready for spring and ready to go next season,” Shoemaker said.