TORONTO – The Toronto Blue Jays are getting by with the likes of Cliff Pennington and Munenori Kawasaki in the starting lineup for now, but Troy Tulowitzki‘s continued progress provides hope that he can return for a potential playoff run.
Tulowitzki says he still hasn’t started swinging a bat and there’s no clear timetable for his return, but he said after fielding ground balls and throwing Tuesday that the pain in his injured left shoulder has diminished steadily.
“When I first got this injury I was in a lot of pain, but as the days have gone on the pain’s died down. I feel better each and every day,” he said.
Soon after Tulowitzki sustained upper-back muscle bruises and a small crack in his left shoulder in a collision with Kevin Pillar Sept. 12, the Blue Jays estimated that he could return within two or three weeks. While the 30-year-old injured his non-throwing shoulder, he wasn’t initially able to throw because the injury limited his range of motion. The next step will be swinging a bat and attempting more difficult defensive drills.
“Moving around, throwing on the run, things like that,” Tulowitzki said.
He gets daily treatment to facilitate the healing process, but he’s done seeing specialists for now. Still, determining a specific timeline won’t be possible until he starts swinging a bat.
“I wish I had that answer,” Tulowitzki said. “I really don’t know. I think when I start doing more baseball activity that’ll tell us a lot more.”
The Blue Jays gave Kawasaki the start Tuesday against New York Yankees right-hander Luis Severino, partly because the rookie struggles against left-handed batters such as Kawasaki. Pennington has faltered on defence in recent days, so it won’t hurt to get him some rest considering he’ll be getting regular playing time until Tulowitzki returns.
While the likes of Pennington and Kawasaki can’t replace Tulowitzki’s bat, the Blue Jays remain in first place. Toronto’s division lead allows Tulowitzki to get the rest he needs and prepare for what he hopes will be “a long playoff run.”
“You’d much rather be in there helping the team win games, but at the same time we’re still first in the division, playing good baseball and this team’s more than capable of winning games nightly,” Tulowitzki said. “Hopefully when I do get back out there it makes us that much better of a team and helps us down the stretch and in the playoffs.”
