DENVER—Blue Jays reliever Gavin Floyd will be out at least the next two months and potentially for the remainder of the season after the 33-year-old right-hander suffered a partial tear of his latissimus dorsi, or lat muscle, on the weekend. “He’s going to be a while,” manager John Gibbons confirmed Tuesday, before the team specified the expected timeline to be eight to 12 weeks.
Floyd won’t require surgery to repair the muscle, located in the back beneath the shoulder, but he will need extensive rest.
Despite Floyd being right-handed, his injury leaves the already shallow left side of the Jays’ bullpen even more short-handed. Thanks to his nose-diving curveball, Floyd was actually tougher against left-handed hitters this season, allowing just five hits to lefties in 49 plate appearances.
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW
The 13-year veteran, who was signed to a one-year, $1-million contract this off-season, has endured a number of arm injuries in his career, but mostly concentrated in his elbow. He underwent Tommy John elbow-ligament-replacement surgery in 2013 and, upon his return in 2014, suffered a fractured elbow. Together, the injuries limited him to just 92 big-league innings over a three-year period before this season. The Jays currently don’t have any left-handed relievers on their active roster, but Brett Cecil is expected to rejoin the team soon after recovering from his own, less-severe lat injury.
Under water: The rain wasn’t especially threatening when it first arrived at Coors Field Tuesday night. But it lasted more than an hour and at one point showered the diamond with a heavy pelting of hail that left the outfield looking as snow-covered as the nearby Rocky Mountains.
Tuesday’s game between the Blue Jays and Rockies, scheduled for 8:40 p.m. EST, was delayed at least an hour due to the rain-and-hail storm. Given the extensive puddling in the outfield, it was unclear if the game would even be played due to the conditions of the field. The teams have a matinee game planned for Wednesday so could theoretically play a doubleheader.
At one point, a room near the Rockies’ clubhouse was flooded with about a foot of water and there were some reports of sewage backups in the basement of the ballpark.
Devo on track: Devon Travis’s return from the disabled list was accelerated when Troy Tulowitzki suffered a quadriceps strain last month. Perhaps that’s why the Jays’ second baseman got off to such a slow start, hitting just .145 in his first 15 games. In the 13 games since then, however, he has been one of the team’s steadiest hitters. Travis is hitting .412 in the last two weeks with nearly half of his hits going for extra bases, including four homers.
Altitude sickness: With Monday’s series-opening loss, the Jays extended their losing streak at Coors Field to seven games. They were swept in their two previous visits to the Mile High City in 2010 and 2006. In fact, the home team has swept all five previous meetings between the two franchises, with the Jays winning all nine games in Toronto and Colorado taking all seven in Denver.
Home cooking: This series isn’t just a homecoming for Tulowitzki, who played the first decade of his big-league career with the Rockies. The area is also the off-season home of a pair of Jays. Backup catcher Josh Thole, who grew up in Illinois, lives in Denver in the off-season; while left fielder Michael Saunders, who grew up in Victoria, B.C., now makes his home in Castle Rock, about 45 kilometres south of the city.
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