Donaldson hopes to play Thursday after MRI on ailing hip
After losing to the last-place Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday to fall 2 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the American League East lead, the Toronto Blue Jays can't afford to continue to play without reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson.
The 30-year-old third baseman underwent an MRI Wednesday on a sore right hip, which has caused him to miss the last three games, and although the results haven't been released, the slugger hopes to play Thursday when the Blue Jays travel to Los Angeles to begin a four-game set with the Angels, MLB.com's Alykhan Ravjiani reports.
"It was kind of one of those things where I didn't feel like I could go out there and perform in a manner that could help my team out," Donaldson said. "It was one of those things where I felt at first, if I was able to get some treatment on it like normal, I was going to be able to go out there and hopefully just miss a day. I just never got where I was comfortable with it."
Donaldson has apparently been dealing with a number of small injuries throughout the year, mainly to his lower body, which have at times affected his performance. He's in the midst of a 23-at-bat hitless streak, and hasn't recorded a knock since Sept. 3.
"Pretty much all season long it's been - not necessarily my hip but pretty much lower body injuries all season," he said. "That's more of the gradual thing, and then all of a sudden I felt it in my hip where I didn't feel like I was able to perform."
Despite the aforementioned injuries, Donaldson has managed to put forth a .284/.400/.552 slash line with 34 home runs and 92 RBIs.