KANSAS CITY, Mo. — All-Star shortstop Jose Reyes likely will be sidelined until the All-Star break because of a severely sprained left ankle.
Ten games into his Toronto Blue Jays career, Reyes was injured during an awkward slide into second base during Friday night’s 8-4 win over the Kansas City Royals.
“It is frustrating. I love baseball so much,” Reyes said. “I love to be with my teammates on the field and helping my ballclub. Now I know I’m not going to be there for a little while. It’s kind of disappointing for me. I’ve been through some injuries in my career. I don’t like that. Injuries are part of the game and I have to deal with it.”
Reyes, a four-time All-Star, was carted off the field Friday and placed on the 15-day disabled list Saturday.
“A MRI came back, no fracture, but it’s a severe sprain,” Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said. “Right now, it looks like it will be three months, and that’s just getting to the point that he’s back in a big league game. It could be six to eight week of rest and rehab.”
Reyes, acquired from Miami during the offseason after one season with the Marlins, is hitting .395 and led the major leagues with five stolen bases. He was on crutches in the Blue Jays clubhouse.
“We’ll wait for swelling to subside, and probably in five to six days get another MRI just to make sure there isn’t anything they missed,” Anthopoulos said. “The biggest thing is there is going to be no surgery at this point. The next MRI will confirm all of that. We’re not really out of the woods entirely, but again off of what the doctors have said, they feel pretty confident they have a pretty good read on it.”
Reyes knew right away that the injury probably was severe.
“I heard something pop in my ankle. I know from the beginning that I did something that’s not right there,” he said. “I was in pain right away. It’s kind of disappointing because I don’t know how that happens so fast. I have to deal with this one more time. The same thing happened in 2003 in New York.”
Reyes said he was too close to the base when he started his slide on the stolen base.
“When I looked up to see the base, the base was right next to me,” Reyes said. “At that time, I didn’t know what to do. I tried to go feet first. I never go feet first. When I steal, I always go feet fast. Everything happened so quick.
Toronto selected the contract of shortstop Munenori Kawasaki from Triple-A Buffalo. Kawasaki, down to bat ninth Saturday against the Royals, hit .192 in 61 games last season with Seattle.
“I guess there is always the potential if he plays well he could be here a little bit longer,” Anthopoulos said. “The thought is it will be short-term. We’re still going to be active talking to other teams, seeing who else we can bring in. We don’t have to, but we’ve talked about it.”
But there are limits to what he’s willing to do.
“We’re not going to be going after a front-line guy, knowing right now we expect Jose will be back sometime around the All-Star break,” Anthopoulos said. “We’re not going to be going after someone that’s on a long-term deal or former All-Star, that’s probably not going to happen especially knowing we’re going to give the job right back to Jose.”
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