Blue Jays’ Troy Tulowitzki progressing toward a return

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons provided updates on his injured players including a somewhat positive prognosis on shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.

Gibbons indicated that Troy Tulowitzki has begun running on an anti-gravity treadmill and has taken groundballs. The shortstop who has yet to play this season will progress to live batting practice sometime this week.

Tulowitzki badly sprained his ankle at the end of last season running to first base, since then he developed heel spurs in both feet that required surgery. The oft-injured Tulowitzki has only played in 238 games since being acquired from Colorado in July 2015.

The Blue Jays even brought in shortstop Aledmys Diaz as an insurance policy for Tulowitzki however he is also sidelined with a sprained ankle he also suffered while running to first base. Diaz has begun running and hitting so his return should be sooner than later as well.

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Blue Jays: Alek Manoah on pace to succeed in possible postseason
• Blue Jays: Bradley Zimmer has carved himself a valuable role
• Anthony Bass has been the shutdown reliever the Blue Jays needed
• Blue Jays: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. open to a long-term contract
• Blue Jays: Snapping cold streaks at the right time

The  33-year old Tulowitzki has been a shell of his former Colorado self offensively since coming to Toronto. Tulo sports a .250/.313/.414 line with 36 home runs with the Blue Jays while his career line with the Rockies prior to the trade was .299/.371/.513 over the span of ten seasons.

Regardless of what Tulowitzki does with the bat, he is a leader on the diamond who is an above average defender. The shortstop was an integral piece of the Jays two postseasons runs and has a knack for controlling the pace of the game and calming the defence when things begin to unravel.

Tulowitzki is still owed $34 million after this season, not including the $4 million dollar buyout for 2021 so it would be nice to see the shortstop back on the field contributing.

Next: Blue Jays fans need to forget Joey Votto dreams for good

The former Gold Glover is an ultra-competitive individual so don’t bet against him and as it stands right now he is progressing toward a return.