The Blue Jays' fight with the Yankees just cost them two key players
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The Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees got a little testy with each other Monday. The benches cleared and a shoving match ensued following a series of back-and-forth beanballs.
Now, the Blue Jays are paying for it. And the price could severely impact their postseason prospects.
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The club announced Tuesday afternoon that relief pitcher Joaquin Benoit, one of the key arms out of their bullpen, is out indefinitely after tearing his calf muscle in the dust-up. He was seen limping off the field after things calmed down. There’s no timetable for Benoit’s return, but it’s hard to imagine Benoit returning from a torn calf muscle in the final six days of the regular season.
The Blue Jays tangled with the Yankees on Monday and it could hurt their postseason prospects. (AP)
The Blue Jays currently own the first AL wild card spot, holding a one-game lead over the Baltimore Orioles, whom they begin a series with Tuesday. The Detroit Tigers and Seattle Mariners are both two games behind the Orioles and three behind the Jays.
The carnage doesn’t end there for the Jays either. Second baseman Devon Travis aggravated his left shoulder in the fracas and is listed as day-to-day. His season ended prematurely in 2015 when he needed shoulder surgery. This season, he’s hit .299 for the Jays in 97 games, mostly leading off.
Blue Jays brass, as you’d expect, wasn’t happy. Per the Toronto Star:
“Nothing good comes out of those situations,” Jays’ president Mark Shapiro said on a conference call with reporters Tuesday to discuss the team’s proposal to build a new spring-training facility in Dunedin, Fla. “There’s no upside. It’s understandable why they develop, but it’s unfortunate. We’ll try to work through it and, if there is a lasting impact on the team, then it’s one more challenge that we have to face.”
Benoit, 39, came over from the Seattle Mariners in a July trade has helped stabilize a Blue Jays bullpen that was quite shaky in the first half. He’s only allowed one run since joining the Jays, while often pitching in high-leverage situations.
As any MLB manager or exec would tell you, the final week of the season, clinging to a wild-card spot, is hardly when you want to lost one of your best relief pitchers.
And the Jays just did — because of a fight.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
