TORONTO – For a while there the Toronto Blue Jays bench was set up in a way that manager John Gibbons actually had options at his disposal in tight spots. But with Brett Lawrie on the DL and Jose Bautista still day-to-day with a hamstring injury, all of a sudden his hands are tied again.
Case in point was the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees. With two on and two out, up came Adam Lind and out came Yankees manager Joe Girardi to bring lefty Matt Thornton into the game.
Lind’s career numbers against Thornton? Try 1-for-10 with eight strikeouts. Two pitches later, the inning was over on a weak 1-3 comebacker.
The Blue Jays had two right-handed options on the bench. One was Brad Glenn, just called up without a single AB in the majors. Bad spot to have him debut. The other was Steve Tolleson, who’s having vision problems.
“(Glenn) is not a first baseman. I guess he could play over there, I guess I could, too,” said Gibbons. “It might have been a chance for Tolleson, we could have put Tolleson over there, but the last couple of days, something has happened to his eyes, he’s having trouble seeing. He’s been going to the eye doctor trying to figure it out, he can’t play, we found that out (Wednesday), it kind of hamstrung us a little bit. If Lindy’s in the game, the way the team is set up right now, unless he’s DHing he’s going to have to hit against some lefties.”
—
What’s going on with Steve Tolleson’s eyes? Even he isn’t sure.
“I wish I had more information to give you guys, it’s been pretty sudden for me,” he said. “I started experiencing what I’m going to call dryness, blurriness for about the last two weeks, nothing major, nothing to make me alarmed, and the last road trip I talked to the training staff a little bit and said I wanted to set an eye appointment up, I’m not seeing very sharp right now. I went to the eye doctor in each of the last three days just to get some things lined up and corrected, we tried some contacts and even some glasses, and whatever it was really irritated them today.
“I don’t think it’s anything major but anytime you’re not seeing to the ability you have to be successful at this game, it led me to speak to (John Gibbons) before the game. That’s where we’re at right now.”
Tolleson had laser eye surgery in 2009 and his vision had been perfect since. He’s wondered if allergy season was a factor, but things haven’t cleared up and took a turn for the worse in the past week.
“It’s definitely blurriness, it’s more my right eye than my left eye,” he said. “I’ve flooded my eyes with eye drops, trying to say maybe they’re just dry, I don’t know why they would be, and it just hasn’t worked out. It’s frustrating because I don’t have any answers.”
Tolleson will be seeing another eye doctor Friday and will be getting a new pair of glasses, as well. His status is crucial for the Blue Jays, as he’s the club’s right-handed complement to Juan Francisco at third base or Munenori Kawasaki at second base plus the backup for Jose Reyes at shortstop.
—
Drew Hutchison hit the midway point of his season in Wednesday’s 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees, and I looked at how he’s fared so far.
Here’s what manager John Gibbons had to say: “Overall I think he’s been pretty good, he’s been very good. He’s still a young kid, he’s going to go through his growing pains, but he’s pitched some big, big ballgames for us and he’s learning along the way. He’s a great competitor and (Wednesday) was a perfect example. He had the one inning that got away, but he finished strong and that’s what we wanted to see. … I think he’s doing a great job for us.”
—
Kevin Pillar didn’t appreciate being pinch hit for, and showed it. The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t like Pillar’s reaction and they demoted him, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith.