Blue Jays sit Jose Bautista with shoulder issue, DL a possibility

After showing up the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night, Jose Bautista will sit with a sore shoulder and could possibly hit the disabled list according to reports.

Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista was unable to throw on Wednesday afternoon due to a sore shoulder and will be given the day off by manager John Gibbons. However, the news appears a little bit worse as it appears the pain is severe enough that Toronto may consider putting their slugger on the disabled list according to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.

As Davidi indicated, the Blue Jays will keep an eye on Bautista and see how rest treats him over the next couple of days before making any decisions on a move to the 15-day disabled list. Jeff Blair of Sportsnet expanded on that a bit, noting that Bautista underwent an MRI on Wednesday and will miss the next couple of days at the very least.

The good news is that the Blue Jays at least have Devon Travis back in the line-up tonight, which gives Toronto the outfield depth it needs by being able to shift Steve Tolleson. However, as you can see from tonight’s line-up, Ryan Goins will get the start in left field with Kevin Pillar sliding over to right.

Goins has never played the outfield at any professional level, so it should be an interesting experiment to say the least. At least it will be short-lived, with Michael Saunders expected to rejoin the team on Friday in Tampa Bay.

At 7-7, the Blue Jays don’t want to be without their top slugger. Bautista is off to a tough start, hitting just .149/.322/.426 with 4 home runs and 10 RBI on the season. However, unlike past years, Toronto at least has depth in the line-up with the addition of Josh Donaldson to help alleviate the loss.

Of course, the lack of Bautista in the line-up may also take some of the drama out of this series. After having a pitch thrown behind him last night, Bautista took the next offering deep to left field for a 2-run home run and slow-trotted his way around the bases. That didn’t sit well with the Orioles, and in particular Adam Jones, who called it “unprofessional” of Bautista to gloat. Without Bautista, there is less likelihood that the Orioles try to retaliate in tonight’s contest. That means any sort of cat and mouse games the two parties play will have to wait until the Jays travel to Baltimore from May 11th through 13th.

Next: Did Adam Jones really expect Jose Bautista NOT to gloat?

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