Blue Jays spring training brew: Travis, Donaldson, Walk Up songs and more

Your Toronto Blue Jays news and notes from Dunedin for Friday, March 03rd, 2017.

The Toronto Blue Jays Grapefruit League schedule is in full swing with the Jays sporting a 1-5-1 record after seven spring training contests thus far.

Injury Notes:

Rule 5 selection Glenn Sparkman went down with a broken thumb earlier yesterday which could be a blessing in disguise for the Jays. Sparkman will be eligible for the disabled list which will buy them some time before deciding on his fate and will afford manager John Gibbons an opportunity to see how his bullpen has shaped up. See the Jays Journal breakdown of the Sparkman injury HERE by Patrick Allen.

Josh Donaldson took batting practice and has been fielding ground balls with no setbacks this week. JD is optimistic but everyone is still cautious not to rush the former MVP back too soon. The true test will be once Donaldson incorporates running into the rehab. See the Jays Journal article on his rehab HERE.

Second baseman Devon Travis has yet to see any Grapefruit League action as he still recovers from offseason knee surgery. There seems to be positive feedback about his prognosis but the Jays are very noncommittal about a possible timeline when Travis will see game action.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been out of action since last Saturday due to a minor hamstring tweak. It appears Gurriel could see game action this weekend according to Mike Wilner.

Oberholtzer Implosion:

Left-handed pitcher Brett Oberholtzer has not had the spring training he envisioned in his attempt to make the Blue Jays bullpen. The reliever has surrendered seven runs while issuing four free passes in two innings of work for his new squad. He may add unemployed to his stat line very soon.

Starting Rotation Update:

Starting pitchers Marcus Stroman and J.A. Happ each made their spring debuts this week pitching two innings of scoreless ball. Stroman threw two hitless frames while Happ surrendered a lone hit in his two innings on the bump. Aaron Sanchez, Marco Estrada, and Francisco Liriano have yet to see any Grapefruit League action thus far.

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So Far So Good:

There are a plethora of hurlers who have impressed early on and have not surrendered an earned run during their respective outings. Still perfect this spring is Casey Lawrence, Lucas Harrell, Mike Bolsinger, Ryan Borucki, Matt Dermody, Chad Girodo, Jarrett Grube, Tim Mayza, Chris Smith, Roberto Osuna and Ryan Tepera to name a few.

Tellez “SMOAKing” Justin

Rowdy Tellez may force his way into the first base conversation sooner than later if Justin Smoak continues to falter this spring. Tellez is hitting .300 in 10 at-bats while Smoak is batting 0.91 in 11 spring at bats. Stay tuned to this one as the sample sizes increase over the next few weeks.

Joey Bats Looks Like Bautista Of Old:

Jose Bautista has looked impressive at the plate hitting .500 in 10 at-bats including a 3-run home run and four walks in his primer for the World Baseball Classic. John Gibbons was quoted yesterday saying.

“Tell you what, I’ve never seen him look so good,” He’s in great shape, he looks stronger, he’s in a good frame of mind.”

See the full Toronto Sun article HERE on Bautista.

Worst Walk-Up Songs:

The Toronto Star chatted with Blue Jays players about the worst walk-up song they have heard. Pretty entertaining clip. Enjoy!

Next: Blue Jays: Determining the ideal usage of Jarrod Saltalamacchia

That is your spring training morning brew from Dunedin, stay tuned for another update next week.