Toronto Blue Jays: Josh Donaldson Awaits Result of MRI on Right Calf

Toronto Blue Jays await diagnosis after Josh Donaldson tweaks his right calf, which he injured during last season.

The Toronto Blue Jays‘ first full-squad workout of the spring was notable for the absence of two significant players. However, whereas Russell Martin is suffering from a fever, Josh Donaldson skipped the workout after tweaking his right calf during running drills on Friday.

That would be the same right calf Donaldson injured during last season. In fairness, it didn’t result in him missing any games, although he did spend time at DH while dealing with the soreness.

Regardless, no one is taking any chances, resulting in the 2015 AL MVP undergoing an MRI at a nearby clinic. Early indications are that a clear diagnosis is expected sometime on Saturday night.

Speaking to the Toronto Sun‘s Steve Buffery and the rest of the media, general manger Ross Atkins understood why Jays’ fans might be worried: ” Anytime in professional sport that an athlete is injured, there’s some level of concern, so it’s not the news that you want to receive.”

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However, Atkins went on to stress he does not believe Donaldson’s injury is anything serious: “It’s inevitable with all players and what I can tell is that Josh does a very good job taking care of himself.

“He’s put himself in a great position this off-season, he’s in really good shape. He also recovers very well so when you factor all of that in it mitigates the concern to some extent.”

In that respect, the 31-year old is renowned as one of the most durable players in the Majors. He only missed seven games last season, and averaged 158 appearances between 2013-15.

In addition, Atkins doesn’t think the tweak is connected to the problem Donaldson dealt with last season: “We don’t think it’s related.

“(However), we’ll certainly dig into that and look for any possible resource we can find to ensure it doesn’t happen again. But don’t feel that there’s reason to believe there is.”

Of course, while the official line is that no one is concerned, there will still likely be some anxious moments until the official results of the MRI are confirmed. The three-time All-Star is one of the most important players on the team.

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While arguable not as spectacular as during his 2015 campaign, Donaldson was still extremely effective last season. This included setting career-bests for OBP and OPS, as he hit 37 home runs and 99 RBIs, while also continuing his excellent play at third base.