CLEVELAND – Josh Donaldson played only seven innings of defence on rehab assignment before rejoining the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, and it was the throw on a single backhand play that told the third baseman his shoulder was ready to go.
“It’s exciting to be back,” the star slugger said upon rejoining his teammates at Progressive Field. “Throughout the entire process it felt like it was getting stronger and stronger and I felt like that was the final mark that I needed.”
Weather-permitting, Donaldson expected to play in both ends of a double-header against Cleveland, the first at third base, the latter at DH. He was placed on the disabled list retroactive to April 11 with shoulder inflammation but his throwing had been off since spring training, when the issue first arose.
After a couple of weak throws during opening day, the Blue Jays played him at DH for four games to try and give his shoulder some rest. It helped, briefly, but his progress plateaued and an MRI that revealed inflammation led to a DL stint, which included several days of rest before a regimented throwing program.
“I feel like finally I can perform to the capabilities that I’ve been able to in the past. When I left I didn’t feel like I was able to do that,” said Donaldson. “The few days that we took off for the DHing at the beginning of the year, I feel like helped a little bit and it got me back on track for the moment. I started getting a little bit of an uptick. And then when I started playing again, it wasn’t really getting any better after that, so we needed to give it some rest and some time, so we did.
“I feel like it’s worked out.”
Donaldson’s activation was part of a series roster moves Thursday, with the Blue Jays cleverly working the rules to their benefit. They added him as the 26th man for the doubleheader, while also recalling lefty Tim Mayza and outfielder Dwight Smith Jr., from triple-A Buffalo, optioning infielder Gift Ngoepe and placing Justin Smoak on paternity leave, which is up to 72 hours.
Making Donaldson the 26th man allows the Blue Jays to option someone between games for starter Joe Biagini, as the extra player can’t be switched between games of the twinbill.
Smith was needed after Kevin Pillar (wrist), Steve Pearce (oblique) and Teoscar Hernandez (tagged on the head) each were banged up during the three-game series in Minnesota this week. With Dalton Pompey (migraines) and Anthony Alford (shoulder) also fighting through some issues, Smith became the guy “just to cover us,” said manager John Gibbons. “Pillar is a little banged up. But he should be fine.”
Pearce tested himself out in the morning, passing all tests, and was in the lineup at first base for the opening game.
That he’ll be taking throws from Donaldson on the hot corner is an important development for a Blue Jays team that went 9-9 during their MVP-calibre slugger’s absence.
Donaldson said the shoulder troubles were behind him and that he was all systems go, without any restrictions on his usage. He said they would be careful on the turf in Tampa Bay this weekend but in general there are no special plans to limit his work, according to manager John Gibbons.
“We’ll play it by ear and see how he feels but we don’t have a schedule set up for him,” said Gibbons. “He’s here to play.”
In 12 games before he hit the DL, Donaldson went 11-for-46 with three homers and eight walks and while he said he felt fine swinging during that period and that “for the most part” he wasn’t impacted at the plate, he did add, “it was definitely in there.”
Donaldson did plenty of simulated game work as his throwing progressed, starting last week to throw to the bases. He took three at-bats with single-A Dunedin as the DH on Saturday before playing seven innings in the field Tuesday, deciding that was enough.
“I wanted to try to get back to Minnesota, if at all possible. I don’t like to miss games in general,” said Donaldson. “I could have stayed back and tried to play in one more rehab game and then play in Tampa. But this is an important series against a really good team over there so I felt like I wanted to be back for it.”
His return means Yangervis Solarte is to see regular action at second base, leaving Lourdes Gurriel Jr., to share duties at shortstop with Aledmys Diaz. There will also be more pressure on the DH at-bats now with Donaldson needing to take some from Kendrys Morales and the Blue Jays wanting to occasionally cycle others through there.
That’s one of the reasons why Donaldson felt he needed to take the time on the DL and not try rebuild his strength while serving as the DH for an extended period.
“I felt like if DH’d through it, it just wouldn’t work,” he said. “With me staying here and then having Kendrys here as well who’s a DH, I didn’t want to make our roster have that. Most importantly it’s more about getting my shoulder back to where I needed to perform at a high level so I could play defence the way that I can. And so far, everything’s working very well.”
[relatedlinks]
