TORONTO – Brett Lawrie counted himself lucky that the sprained left ankle he suffered in Monday’s 9-3 win over the Atlanta Braves wasn’t any more severe after an awkward slide into second base prompted the Toronto Blue Jays to list him as day-to-day.
“I guess you can say I dodged a bullet just from what Jose Reyes did this year and the type of injury that can happen when you get caught up on the bag like that,” the third baseman said in the clubhouse afterwards.
Lawrie was hurt while stealing second in the sixth inning with his team up 6-1, as his ankle hooked onto the base and his body kept going, causing his entire frame to flip. The one saving grace is that his weight didn’t end up on the leg, as it did during Reyes’ awkward slide back in April.
“My foot was stuck and there was nothing I could do,” he explained. “It was locked in that position, tried to roll out of it as I got further into my slide. I didn’t feel a pop or anything like that, so that was a great sign to me. I got up and could put some weight on it, which was also a great sign.”
Lawrie stayed in the game at first but after hobbling his way to third base on Emilio Bonifacio’s chopper, he was replaced by Mark DeRosa. The pain was strictly in his ankle, not his knee, and he felt sturdy on his feet initially.
“When I was getting into my secondary (lead) I knew it wasn’t what it was supposed to be,” said Lawrie. “I was like I’ve got to grind this one out and see if I can get to third base. Once I went into takeoff mode to go to third base, it gave me a red light that said we can’t go full speed right now. It lit me up.”
The Blue Jays seemed to be breathing easier that the injury wasn’t as bad as that of Reyes, whose ankle sprain will keep him out into June, at least. He took batting practice on the field Monday afternoon and is jogging on the field, but the key for him will be running the bases, which hasn’t happened yet.
In contrast, Lawrie walked normally in the clubhouse and was pleasantly surprised by how he felt.
“Actually better than I anticipated. I’m sure it looked a lot worse when it happened,” he said. “It’s actually not too bad, I can walk around a little bit but it’s just that spring-off point when I go to take off. It’s a little stiff right now, that’s expected because it just happened, got to ice it up and see what’s it like when I wake up.”
