TORONTO — Injury updates at this time of the year tend to be viewed through a trade deadline lens, which is why the ongoing lack of clarity on timelines for Yimi Garcia and Anthony Santander matters so much for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Garcia, who is dealing with similar ulnar nerve issues in his right elbow that dogged him last season, is visiting a specialist Wednesday to try and plot next steps, and he said, “I feel it maybe a little bit worse this time because it’s going all the way to all my fingers.”
Santander, meanwhile, is two weeks away from hitting and will be evaluated week-to-week to determine when he begins a progression, manager John Schneider said Monday.
While a week and a half remains before the July 31 cutoff hits, the murk around both will factor into the Blue Jays’ thinking.
If they can’t count on Garcia’s dependable and dominant leverage work out of the bullpen, their relief needs become far more acute. Similarly, a mid-August return is likely the best-case scenario now for Santander, who’s been out since May 30 with left shoulder inflammation stemming from a subluxation suffered earlier that month, perhaps moving the addition of an impactful position player up the priority list.
The slow pace of Santander’s recovery has led to the Blue Jays “to kind of plan as we’ve been planning — you want him to get back, you want him to be in the lineup, whenever that is,” said Schneider. “But definitely have not ruled him out yet for the season.”
Same for Garcia, although Wednesday’s exam will provide more direction.
Last season, Garcia suffered a bout of right elbow neuritis in June with the Blue Jays, returned just before the trade deadline, was sent to Seattle for outfielder Jonatan Clase and catcher Jacob Sharp, and then made only 10 appearances for the Mariners before finishing the year on the injured list with elbow inflammation.
A left ankle sprain forced him to the IL on July 5 and “when I tried to get back, that’s when I started feeling this,” he said. “How I feel in my elbow is more sore, so my hand was a little bit more numb.”
Yariel Rodrguez’s emergence into a consistent set-up force alongside lefty Brendon Little ahead of closer Jeff Hoffman has helped off-set Garcia’s absence, but the Blue Jays also need more depth to keep from overworking that trio.
Finding a reliever of his calibre on the trade market will be costly, but if it wasn’t a necessity before his injury, it almost certainly is now.
Whether the same holds true for Santander is another matter.
Signed as a free agent to help rejuvenate the offence, he had an OPS of just .577 with six homers and 18 RBIs in 50 games before hitting the injured list. He injured his shoulder running into the wall chasing a foul ball at Anaheim, missed the following series and then played in 14 games, batting .122/.265/.195 over that span before he was shut down.
He hasn’t swung since due to the damage from the initial subluxation “and there’s some inflammation because of that that hasn’t really cleared up … and doing a lot physically probably made it a little worse,” said Schneider. “Hopefully we have a better picture in a week or two weeks or whatever it may be.”
The Blue Jays offence has hit its stride in his absence and with Daulton Varsho nearing a return — he’s due to play another rehab game at single-A Dunedin on Tuesday — the outfield, in particular, is one area of surplus for the club.
If healthy, Santander’s power would no doubt lengthen the lineup, but whether a backfill is needed can be debated.
