Less than a week after Aaron Sanchez returned to the disabled list with a finger laceration and Darrell Ceciliani left the team with a shoulder issue, you can now add Anthony Alford to the number of Toronto Blue Jays who’ve succumbed to injury this season. Alford has a left hamate fracture and hit the DL one day after notching his first MLB hit.
Of course, it’s not just newcomers who’ve been knocked out of play. Nine players from the Blue Jays’ Opening Day roster have spent time on the DL so far this season, and the list currently boasts 11 guys in total. The most high-profile of those has been Josh Donaldson, out since mid-April with a strained right calf.
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But the Jays also seem to have faced a disproportionate number of losses on the mound. Thanks largely to the losses of Sanchez, J.A. Happ and Francisco Liriano, they’ve already started nine different pitchers. That’s more than the team used all last regular season (seven). It’s also currently tied for second-most in the majors (with the Marlins and Reds), behind only the sad-sack Seattle Mariners, who’ve already trotted out 11 starters.
Here’s a graph breaking it down, team by team:
Oof, Seattle. The Mariners have lost four of their intended top five starters so far this season (just Yovani Gallardo has stayed healthy) to go along with injuries to Robinson Cano, Mitch Haniger and Danny Valencia. They’re also unlikely to get back three of those starters until the second week of June at the earliest.
Taken in that light, the Blue Jays’ situation doesn’t seem so bad. While Alford and Ceciliani won’t be back immediately, several of the other injured Jays — including Donaldson, Happ and Troy Tulowitzki — are nearing a return.
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