Toronto Blue Jays: Kendrys Morales suffers injury setback

Kendrys Morales will miss at least 10 days for the Toronto Blue Jays, after being sent to the disabled list with a Grade 1 hamstring strain.

Kendrys Morales was forced to leave Monday night’s game in Baltimore, with a strained right hamstring. After the game, Toronto Blue Jays‘ manager John Gibbons said it wasn’t a big deal and he didn’t expect Morales would need any time on the disabled list.

It turns out Gibbons was wrong. As reported by Sportsnet‘s Steve Loung, the 34-year-old is headed to the 10-day DL.

The injury has been labelled a Grade 1 hamstring strain. As per Rotoworld, Morales figures to miss around two weeks of action.

Despite the 2015 Silver Slugger having to head to the DL, it could have been worse. As noted by MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, if the injury had been diagnosed as a Grade 2 or Grade 3 strain, he would have missed a significant period of time.

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This is a setback for Morales, who is still trying to win over certain sections of the Blue Jays’ fan base. In reality, his only “crime” is essentially being the replacement for the extremely popular Edwin Encarnacion, (who himself wasn’t particularly popular during his early days in Toronto).

In fairness to Morales, his first season in Toronto was decent enough, as he hit 28 home runs and 85 RBIs, to finish third and second respectively on the team. Through eight games this year, he is hitting .227, with one homer and six RBIs.

As per Loung, the designated hitter’s place on the roster has been taken by reliever Tim Mayza. Yangervis Solarte will take over as DH for the second game of the three-game series against the Orioles at Camden Yards.

Moving forward, several players will likely get the opportunity to play at DH during Morales’ absence. This will likely include Josh Donaldson, Steve Pearce and Justin Smoak.

It’s possible Devon Travis will also get a chance at some point. Overall, the absence of Morales shouldn’t be too detrimental to the Blue Jays, who are 7-4 entering Tuesday’s slate of games.

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What’s your take on Morales’ tenure with the Toronto Blue Jays up to this point? What about this season specifically? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.