• Travis takes another step in recovery
• Donaldson still working on full return
• McGuire assigned to minor league camp
CLEARWATER, Fla — Devon Travis took another step forward in his recovery from a bone bruise and off-season surgery on his right knee Friday morning, running the bases on a backfield at the Blue Jays’ Dunedin facility. He was scheduled to hit but not run the bases in a minor league game later on in the day, the third time this week he’s been through that routine.
Josh Donaldson was scheduled to join him, also hitting without running the bases as he continues to work his way back from a strained right calf. The 2015 MVP is hoping to get into a big league spring training game this weekend.
Elsewhere on the injury front, Steve Pearce remains on track to make his debut at first base on Sunday in Bradenton versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pearce has only served as a designated hitter to this point in camp as he continues to complete a throwing program after undergoing elbow surgery in September.
“It’s huge. He’s chomping at the bit. He’s ready to go,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “They put him on a good program. I don’t see any setbacks. I think once he [starts playing the field,] he’ll probably just take off.
“Those things take time. You don’t want to jump the gun on it and have a setback. But he hasn’t had that. Once Sunday comes, I think he’ll be good to go after that.”
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The Blue Jays are expecting Pearce to be able to play the outfield sometime in the next 7-10 days, and believe he could be ready to serve as the team’s left fielder by opening day on April 3. That could have an effect on Melvin Upton Jr. and Ezequiel Carrera, who the club was planning to utilize in a let field platoon to start the season.
“We’ll see how it all shakes out. It’s hard to say right now,” Gibbons said. “But, Pearce, he’s a versatile guy. That’s one of the reasons we signed him.”
The 33-year-old has been having a strong spring at the plate, going 5-for-18 with a pair of doubles. He was scheduled to get more at-bats in a minor league game Friday.
Due to both injury and circumstance, Pearce has never played a full season in his career, topping out at 102 games with the Baltimore Orioles in 2014. But the Blue Jays are hoping for that to change this season. Pearce has certainly made a good case for himself in limited time, boasting an .840 OPS since 2014, mostly as a part-time player.
“He’s always had a good, short stroke—a powerful swing,” Gibbons said. “He’s one of those guys who has been a bench player a lot. I think it’s always helped him because he’s got such a short stroke. Timing’s not the issue with him. Hopefully we can get him a lot of at-bats this year. We think he can have a big year.”
McGuire makes his mark
The Blue Jays assigned 22-year-old catcher Reese McGuire to minor league camp Thursday in an effort to get the developing prospect more at-bats.
With Russell Martin returning from the World Baseball Classic, Jarrod Saltalamacchia playing almost every day as he learns the Blue Jays’ pitching staff, Mike Ohlman impressing in limited action, and Juan Graterol requiring work as well, there simply weren’t enough innings to go around.
But the Blue Jays were pleased with what they saw this spring from McGuire, who came over in the Francisco Liriano deal minutes before last year’s trade deadline. The club has yet to decide what level they’ll start McGuire at this year, preferring to wait and see how the rest of the club’s catchers finish spring training. He split 92 games between Pittsburgh and Toronto’s double-A affiliates last season, hitting .254/.335/.332.
And while he went only 3-for-17 with seven strikeouts and two walks at big league spring training, he did hit a pair of hard doubles and left a strong impression on Blue Jays manager John Gibbons.
“I thought he looked really good behind the plate and I thought he gave us some good at-bats,” Gibbons said. “I was impressed on both sides of the ball. Left-handed hitter, I think that always benefits a catcher. He looked good. I think he’s one of those guys who’s got a chance to have the whole complete game. Not just a great defender, but a guy who can swing the bat, too.”