TORONTO – The returns of Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion are starting to get close, and the Toronto Blue Jays can only hope the reintroduction of their key sluggers to the lineup plays out much better than that of Brett Lawrie.
As the infielder was placed on the disabled list Thursday with a left oblique strain initially described as lower back tightness, an injury that will sideline him until at least September, Lind hit two doubles in two at-bats in his first rehab start with the GCL Blue Jays while Encarnacion successfully ran the bases.
That’s progress, and a return to health from the club’s four and five hitters is its best shot at a late-season jolt of energy for the homestretch.
“Adam is days away and we’re expecting by Monday he should be good to go assuming he doesn’t have any problems,” said GM Alex Anthopoulos. “We’re hopeful of getting (Encarnacion) into a rehab game maybe Saturday or Sunday, maybe early next week, but I’d expect to have him back, assuming no setbacks, no later than the end of next week, and maybe for the Seattle series.”
Brave talk about depth in the lineup from Anthopoulos aside, the Blue Jays will need their boppers to help cover the 3-6 weeks Lawrie will miss recovering. The combination of Juan Francisco, Steve Tolleson, Ryan Goins, Munenori Kawasaki and trade deadline addition Danny Valencia is holding the fort, but Lawrie would have been a clear upgrade and those are obviously helpful when every game matters.
An August waiver trade is possible but given the way the Blue Jays have been bottom-feeding all summer, the scrap heap is the place they’re more likely to try and find help. To that end, infielders Dan Uggla and Brian Roberts are two infielders currently stuck in designated-for-assignment limbo, and while it’s debatable whether they’d be upgrades, the Blue Jays are likely to check in with them once they get released.
Given the lack of infield depth at triple-A Buffalo, the extra bodies wouldn’t be the worst thing to have around, but in either case it would be an attempt to capture lightning in a bottle.
Lawrie managed just three innings after a 36-game absence before going back to the DL with an injury in a similar but different place than the left oblique strain he suffered while gearing up for the 2013 World Baseball Classic.
For more on oblique injuries and what it may mean for Lawrie, click here.
He needed roughly six weeks to recover from that one, and Lawrie also suffered a right oblique strain in 2012 that sidelined him for about a month.
Anthopoulos is giving some thought as to whether Lawrie’s lean, muscular build is a factor with the recurring oblique injuries and hinted at a re-examination of his workout regimen, but rejected notions his infielder was rushed through rehab or that more caution was needed with Lind.
“Lawrie, I don’t think it would have mattered, he didn’t do it playing,” said Anthopoulos. “The cameras showed him stretching and so on. The fact that he tells us that he felt it during BP, I don’t think there’s any correlation at all. Nolan Reimold’s been back and he didn’t even play in any (rehab) games. Brett came back last year after two games in the Florida State League and didn’t have anything.
“Brett’s had oblique (injuries) before and he had those after playing in a lot of games, end of spring training, so we can’t say Brett’s injury is a product of ABs, reps because every time it’s happened the circumstances have been totally different. It might just be that he’s prone to some of those things and we need to try to do some things to get him stretched out and avoid some of those pulls.”
Lind, on the DL since July 8 with a fractured right foot, told Anthopoulos that he didn’t feel he’d need very many rehab games because his timing was good after hitting against teammate Neil Wagner and prospect Roberto Osuna, both of whom had been rehabbing from injuries.
“He said he was seeing the ball great, hitting the ball very, very hard,” Anthopoulos relayed of Lind, “and he made a good point: if he feels his timing is already there, more games in Dunedin or Gulf Coast isn’t going to prepare him to face a guy like Felix Hernandez on a Monday. There’s no one out there who’s going to simulate what he’s going to face.”
There’s no arguing that point, although Encarnacion may benefit from some additional work.
The way he ran the bases Thursday, Anthopoulos was told by the club’s training staff in Florida, “was so intense, and so hard it was more than he’d even need to do up here.”
Encarnacion is slated to run again Friday, and if he keeps progressing the way he has, he’ll likely be able to play first base and not be limited to DH duties.
“Running is the issue, the explosive movements, that’s what he might need to protect,” said Anthopoulos. “If he’s hitting a chopper down the third-base line, and he’s really trying to sprint down the line, trying to stretch for an extra-base hit, things like that. First base, those quick explosive movements, diving, this and that, they don’t seem to have any concerns.”
