DUNEDIN, FLA.—The best news to come out of Josh Donaldson’s morning meeting with the media on Sunday is that the strained right calf he suffered sprinting at the main stadium complex on Friday is not, in fact, the same calf he injured last April in Tampa, a strain that bothered him off and on all season.
The worst news to come out of the same session at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium was the sight of the durable third-baseman struggling to drag himself out from the clubhouse to be in front of the Blue Jays backdrop, leaving his crutches inside, likely because the optics of crutches are forever bad for television.
“I’m using crutches right now because it’s difficult right now when I get up on my toe and have to bear all my weight on my calf,” Donaldson said. “Everywhere else, if my foot’s up or elevated, I can flex my calf and everything feels fine. It’s just when I have all my weight on it. That’s why I’m using the crutches, to help me take some of that pressure off of it. So hopefully in the next two, three, four days, I don’t need them anymore.”
The Jays had sent out an alarming preliminary diagnosis following Saturday’s initial evaluation and MRI. They said it was a strained calf and Donaldson should be ready for opening day. But it was alarming because opening day was 45 days away.
“It’s something that we don’t necessarily want to push too much, just for the simple fact that we have a little extra time with spring training right now (because of the World Baseball Classic),” Donaldson said.
“Just making sure that whenever I step back on the field it’s ready to go and I’m ready to push it. It’s frustrating, for sure. I spent all my time here this off-season really training hard and preparing to play 162 regular-season games, and hopefully some post-season games on top of that. There’s frustration, but that’s part of it and you’ve got to learn, re-assess and go from there.”
Donaldson is hoping to be back on the field in two or three weeks. But given the Igor-like way he dragged his right foot behind him as he returned to the clubhouse in painful, halting steps, that prognosis may be optimistic.
“I’ve said spring training is probably about a week too long, in the past, just because your body gets ready and it feels like the last week or so is kind of dragging,” Donaldson offered optimistically. “But I’m kind of thankful right now that it’s a little bit longer, because it’s going to give me some time to heal up and get back on the field and play some games and get ready and primed for the season.”
It’s ironic, because the 2015 AL MVP said he felt as good reporting to camp as he ever had. He had hip issues last year, so he added more core exercises to stabilize the hip. He had a left calf injury a year ago, so he added specific exercises to strengthen the calf. Now it’s the right calf, and so he starts over.
“A big thing that I focused on this off-season was my core and my hips, making sure that they were strong,” Donaldson said. “For me, the things that I do on the baseball field, especially hitting and having that leg kick, I’ve put a lot of force into the ground which, when you’re constantly doing those things, strengths of your body end up breaking down, where they might become weaknesses.
“This off-season I really did a conscious effort to make sure my hips were stabilized, my core was stabilized and strong and I’m very happy with the results that have come from that. Now I just have a little calf thing that I’m having to deal with . . . I feel like in a couple of weeks, three weeks at the most, that I’ll be ready to go.”
Jays manager John Gibbons said he can mix and match with veterans and youngsters to replace his starting third baseman until he is able to return.
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