Toronto Blue Jays: Shoemaker suffers another injury setback

The Toronto Blue Jays will be without starter Matt Shoemaker, after he suffered a knee injury in Saturday’s game against the Oakland Athletics.

Toronto Blue Jays starter Matt Shoemaker was forced to leave Saturday’s game against the Oakland Athletics, after suffering a leg injury.

The incident took place in the third inning. Shoemaker was helping in a rundown and looked to tweak his left knee after catching up with Athletics infielder Matt Chapman.

While being tended to by the Jays’ training staff after the incident, Shoemaker was visibly frustrated.

This is the latest in a string of injuries that have kept the right-hander off the field over the past few seasons.

In 2016, while pitching for the Los Angeles Angels, he took a comebacker off the head in a game against the Seattle Mariners. He suffered a fractured skull and concussion, and had to have emergency surgery to stop bleeding on his brain.

Shoemaker was also shut down in 2017 after 14 appearances, due to a lingering forearm issue that required surgery. He needed a second surgery for the same issue last year, which limited him to just 31 innings.

This season is essentially a show-me year of sorts for the 32-year-old, who signed a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Blue Jays in the offseason.

It’s been a fantastic start to the season for Shoemaker. In four prior outings, he put together a 3-0 record with a 1.75 ERA and 0.85 WHIP. On Saturday, he went three scoreless innings, allowing three hits while striking out one.

The Blue Jays were able to get the win for their pitcher, as they pounded Oakland 10-1 to win their third straight game and fifth in the last six games.

Toronto also went up against a familiar face on the hill, as former teammate Kendrys Morales was forced to pitch in the ninth inning with the game well out of hand.

It was the second career appearance on the mound for Morales. Coincidentally, the first one came last season while he was still with the Jays. He came in as a reliever against the Athletics when they were ahead 9-0 in Toronto.

Following the game, Shoemaker was diagnosed with a left knee sprain. He will have an MRI on Sunday, according to Sportsnet‘s Hazel Mae.

Judging by his reaction, the Jays will be without Shoemaker for at least his next few scheduled starts.

Both Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez have had great starts to their respective campaigns. With Ryan Borucki already on the injured list, the Toronto Blue Jays are going to have to dip into their depth.