John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports
You know, if you put together some sort of all-DL team for the Toronto Blue Jays, it might not be half bad.
That team just found itself a new third baseman in Brett Lawrie, who was placed on the 15-day DL by the bluebirds on Wednesday amidst a myriad of moves which also saw the likely end of the Ramon Ortiz era (DFA’d) … at least for now. As for the hot-headed fiery hot cornerman for the Blue Jays, his injury is not too different from that of his compatriot Jose Reyes:
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The @bluejays have placed third baseman Brett Lawrie on the 15-day disabled list with a left ankle sprain.
— SN 590 The FAN (@FAN590) May 29, 2013
The difference is in the severity, of course. Lawrie hurt himself on an awkward slide while stealing second base in the sixth inning of Toronto’s contest against the Atlanta Braves on Monday. While it was hoped that the ailment would be of the day-to-day sort … well, if you’re a Blue Jays fan, you should know by now that that ‘day-to-day’ holds a bit of a different meaning for this ballclub.
Not that he hasn’t been hurt before, but the 23-year-old’s latest trip to the DL is perhaps the low point in a season full of them thus far.
Aside from having a brutal year at the plate (.209/.268/.374 triple-slash), Lawrie was also involved in some controversy when he got into it with manager John Gibbons on Sunday, after the player got just a little too upset of the team’s decision to hold Adam Lind at third on a potential sac fly.
On the other hand, maybe this was the breather that the youngster needs. Obviously, he was motivated to succeed after getting hurt in Spring Training while training for the WBC, but there comes a point at which somebody had to tell him to slow down before effort and enthusiasm veer off into crash-and-burn territory.
Sunday may have been that point, but the injury forced it to happen. The time off might actually allow him to re-focus — that, or perhaps I’m being a little overly optimistic again.
In his absence, the Blue Jays will go with Maicer Izturis and his .214/.248/.321 line at third, and let’s just say it’s likely that those numbers, combined with the veteran’s the sub-par play with the glove so far in 2013, will likely have fans clamoring for Lawrie’s return before long.
