NEW YORK — Colby Rasmus rejoined the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday after what was initially thought to be a minor right hamstring injury ended up costing him 33 games.
One reason for that is that the centre-fielder suffered a “setback” early in his recovery process while trying to run the bases. That ended up slowing down his recovery and extending his absence.
“I felt a little something and it wasn’t as bad as when I hurt it the first time but I felt a little something and I felt I could try to keep playing for my sake of trying to do what I need to do for myself but I didn’t think it would be right for the team to do that,” Rasmus said. “I felt like I needed to go down. We had (Anthony) Gose here running balls down and he’s just or better than I am at running balls down in centre field so I felt like we would be alright. I needed to get myself right so I could come back and help us.”
Rasmus played six rehab games with triple-A Buffalo before his activation and while he collected just three hits, he isn’t expecting that to hinder his return to action. He has a .755 OPS with nine homers and 19 RBIs in 37 games with the Blue Jays this season.
“I think it’s all in the mind. It could happen at different times,” he said when asked how long it might take to regain his timing. “I’ve come back before and not feel good and sometimes come back quicker. Last year I came back and after the first at-bat it felt like I didn’t even leave. I’m hoping that’ll happen again and going to triple-A was a little bit tough, facing some pitchers I’ve never faced before and not many of them wanted to throw me a lot of strikes.
“Obviously they weren’t trying to help me get better, that’s part of the game, they were all trying to strike me out and throw a bunch of nasty pitches. But I felt good, (Tuesday’s) game I hit a couple of balls hard, worked it back to the middle of the field and now working with (Kevin) Seitzer, I felt like I haven’t left, everything feels good and we’re back onto a good routine.”
The Blue Jays could use the lift having scored 21 runs over their past 10 games, seven of them losses, heading into Wednesday night.
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LIND LATEST: Adam Lind reports continued progress in his recovery from a bone bruise atop his right foot but the Toronto Blue Jays designated hitter still missed his third straight game Wednesday night.
Lind hit off a tee in the batting cage and afterwards said, “there have been improvements every day, now we’re just working on a tape job to relieve as much stress or pain on my foot as we can so I can get in the lineup.”
Asked if he might be available to pinch-hit Wednesday he replied, “I don’t know yet. Maybe.”
Lind was injured Saturday when he fouled a ball directly down onto his foot. The Blue Jays are hoping to avoid a stint on the disabled list with their slugger, something Lind feels he won’t need.
“I don’t plan on that happening, hopefully it doesn’t happen,” he said. “I haven’t run yet. I just hit off a tee, which is a lot different than hitting in the games. It was positive, it was progress hitting in the cage today, but it’s a whole new world in the heat of the moment.”
The Blue Jays may have some time to wait on Lind, who likely wouldn’t see much action this weekend in Cincinnati when there will be no DH. Getting him ready for next week’s series at home with the Yankees may be the more important target date.
