TORONTO – Troy Tulowitzki rejoined the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday with instructions to continue taking the time needed to heal after a consultation with a specialist in Boston who has experience dealing with scapula injuries.
The star shortstop sustained a crack in his left shoulder blade and suffered bruising to the muscles in the area during a collision with centre-fielder Kevin Pillar last Saturday at Yankee Stadium. The plan remains for him to get another MRI and CT scan at the end of next week to better assess his healing.
“He says he’s feeling better,” said manager John Gibbons, who spoke with Tulowitzki briefly before a 6-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. “I believe all the doctor told him was, you’re progressing, you’ve just got to let it run its course and when you feel you can start doing some baseball stuff you can do it. No new diagnosis, I don’t know exactly what kind of treatment he gave him there, the guy being a specialist, but I think the main focus is on the muscles that were involved. The small fracture, there’s nothing you can do about that, it’s really the muscles in the area that were the big focus.”
The Blue Jays are hoping Tulowitzki might be ready to return by season’s end, in time for a potential run in the playoffs.
WEBSTER AWARDS: Infielder Matt Hague, the International League MVP after starring for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons, headlined the Blue Jays’ list of R. Howard Webster Award winners recognizing the most valuable players at each of the club’s minor-league affiliates.
Hague led the IL in average (.338), hits (177), on-base percentage (.416) and slugging (.468).
The other winners were: utilityman Ryan Schimpf at double-A New Hampshire; right-hander Wil Browning at high-A Dunedin; first baseman Ryan McBroom at low-A Lansing; catcher Ryan Hissey at short-season Vancouver; outfielder Rodrigo Orozco at rookie advanced Bluefield; right-hander Justin Maese at rookie GCL Blue Jays; and outfielder Norberto Obeso of the Dominican Summer League.
ORGANIZATIONAL AWARDS: Jim Lentine and Ted Lekas were among those honoured Friday as the Blue Jays named their annual scouting and player development winners.
Lentine, who covers southern California, is the 2015 Al LaMacchia Award winner for excellence in amateur scouting. Emerging pitching prospect Conner Greene, a seventh-round pick in 2013, is among his notable signs.
Lekas, responsible for the Orioles, Rockies and Astros, is the 2015 pro scout of the year. He’s spent 21 years with the Blue Jays in two stints.
Bobby Meacham, manager of the double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats, received the Bobby Mattick Award for excellence in player development; Luciano Del Rosario was the first recipient of the International Staff Member of the Year Award for helping scout and sign Vladimir Guerrero Jr.; and single-A Dunedin infielder L.B. Dantzler won the Community Service Award for his participation in a number of events, including several in-class reading visits at local schools.