Blue Jays Injury Update: Josh Donaldson, Aledmys Diaz and more

Blue Jays injury updates from May 28th, 2018, including an update on the recently injured Josh Donaldson, and the rehabs of a pair of shortstops in Dunedin.

Donaldson Exits With Calf Injury

Following what looked like a routine trip around first base, Josh Donaldson left Monday’s game against the Red Sox with what is described as “left calf tightness”, an official report from the team’s Twitter account confirms.

Donaldson “injured” his calf running the bases on a Justin Smoak double. He appeared to be jogging gingerly around the bags and was immediately removed following the play. Prior to leaving the game, he’d gone 1-for-1 with two walks.

Diaz Back to Baseball

Shortstop Aledmys Diaz, who injured his ankle in Tampa Bay, will start a rehab assignment Tuesday at Double-A New Hampshire according to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. Diaz had previously started light activity early last week, and will now begin his formal rehabilitation process.

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Prior to going on the disabled list, Diaz was slashing a meager .216/.273/.431, but partially made up for it with an unexpectedly solid 0.3 dWAR in 32 games at shortstop.

Tulowitzki to Start Running

In the same stream of tweets, Davidi also reports that frequently injured shortstop Troy Tulowitzki has begun to run on an anti-gravity machine, an apparatus used to limit the amount of weight being put on the lower body. Tulowitzki will also begin to run on flat ground on Tuesday.

Tulo appeared in just 66 games last season, slashing .249/.300/.378, mashing seven home runs and clubbing 10 doubles. Overall, he put up a 0.1 WAR.

Pearce Steps Up to the Plate

Utilityman Steve Pearce, who went on the disabled list earlier this month with an oblique strain, will begin some sort of hitting progression this week, according to MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm on Twitter.

Pearce last appeared on May 3rd in the first game of the doubleheader in Cleveland. According to other various reports, he is expected to rejoin the team in June. What initially appeared to be a healthy scratch has proved to be detrimental to Pearce’s season, as he was contributing quite consistently to the offensive and defensive aspects of the team.

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