1 Year Anniversary Of Injury Bug Hitting Jays

May 30, 2012; Toronto, ON, CANADA; Toronto Blue Jays manager John Farrell (left) and assistant trainer Hap Hudson (right) help carry starting pitcher Brandon Morrow (center) after being hit hit by a line drive against the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY SportsLast season, June 11, 2012, one year ago today to be exact the Toronto Blue Jays had a game scheduled at Rogers Centre against the Washington Nationals.

Going into the game the Jays had a completely healthy starting rotation of Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, Henderson Alvarez, Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison.

They also had a completely healthy starting lineup for that game of Brett Lawrie, Colby Rasmus, Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Kelly Johnson, Yunel Escobar, David Cooper, J.P. Arencibia and Rajai Davis.

No you didn’t misread the previous sentence, Cooper and Rajai were in the starting lineup but it was because Lind and Eric Thames had been sent to the minor leagues because of poor performances not because of injuries.

Little did the Blue Jays or their fan base know that game would be one of the last times they could anticipate a game where they’d get to see the whole team healthy. The Jays haven’t been completely healthy since.

On June 11th, 2012 Brandon Morrow started for the Jays. He had to leave in the 1st inning because of a strain in his left oblique muscles. Blue Jays fans everywhere thought that was a big blow, now we’d kill for just one injury. Morrow didn’t return until late August.

Whatever the opposite of a fun fact is Morrow had 3 complete game shutouts at the time of his injury. The Jays haven’t even gotten one complete game shutout from their entire rotation this season! That puts the underperformance of the rotation this season into some perspective.

Drabek and Hutchison both got injured in their next starts and eventually had to have Tommy John Surgery and they both are still working their way back.

A little over a month later Bautista hurt his wrist and came off the DL for one game so he was basically gone from mid-July to the end of the season.

Then Lawrie and Arencibia hit the DL shortly after before coming back when the season was long lost. Rasmus, Lind, Johnson all spent time dealing with nagging injuries that kept them out of the lineup every now and then to.

The Jays started 2013 with Lawrie on the DL and Bautista was missing games with nagging injuries.

Lawrie’s already back on the DL along with Reyes, Happ and Morrow. Josh Johnson just came off the DL recently and Dickey has been dealing with neck and back problems for the majority of this season.

And these are just all the injuries the Jays have had with their starting position players and pitchers. I haven’t even talked about bench players like Rajai or relievers. Sergio Santos got injured last April and was out for the season and Santos got injured again this season. And Luis Perez needed Tommy John last season and is still working his way back. And Darren Oliver just came off the DL.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not blaming the Jays injuries in the last calendar year for their lack of success. I’m just saying an injured team is a more frustrating and less fun team to watch. Unfortunately the Jays have been just that for a year and counting.