DUNEDIN, Fla. -- A freak accident has cost the Blue Jays the services of outfielder Michael Saunders likely until the all-star break.
Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos said the 28-year-old Canadian was shagging balls Wednesday morning at the club's training complex when he stepped on a sprinkler head indentation.
"My foot got jammed," said Saunders, who spoke to the media Thursday morning on crutches. "To be honest, I don't know exactly how it happened. it stopped me in my tracks and I heard a pop. It was almost like I was scared to find out (what happened)."
Saunders walked off the field and saw the trainer.
Anthopoulos said the six-foot-four 225-pound Saunders will get a second opinion but likely requires surgery to repair a torn meniscus.
Saunders, a six-year veteran who joined Toronto in a December trade that sent pitcher J.A. Happ to Seattle, is expected to be back playing in July although he said he wants to be back earlier.
The Jays had planned an outfield of Saunders in left, Canadian Dalton Pompey or Kevin Pillar in centre and Jose Bautista in right.
Saunders' left-handed bat will be missed at the plate. He hit .273 with eight home runs and 34 RBIs over 78 games in 2014.
For the Victoria native, it's a bitter pill to swallow. He reported early to camp to get a headstart.
"Last night was really tough for me, especially when we got the prognosis," said Saunders. "I've got a good support system out here, though.
"I've described this to a lot of people that nobody's more excited to be here than me. For me, I think the biggest thing I will have to overcome now is mentally rather than physically. I know I'm going to be in good hands, I know I'm going to be OK. It could be worse, it's not an ACL (anterior cruciate ligament)."
Saunders said the pitch was a little wet at the time.
"It was a tiny bit slippery, I just think I stepped in the wrong spot."
Anthopoulos said the club had not had any similar problems before with its training complex but will look at the sprinkler head issue.
The recessed sprinkler heads move up and down, and are hard to see, he said.
"Just one of those things," Anthopoulos said. "Bad luck, tough loss but we'll get through it. He will be back and we can still have him for quite a bit of time."
The GM said he had already started making calls about possible replacements but said any move would likely come at the end of the spring and would have to be tempered by what happens when Saunders returns.
"Ideally for us the guys that are in that clubhouse are going to take the opportunity. We'd prefer not to go outside," said Anthopoulos.
Added manager John Gibbons: "We like the guys we have in camp. There are some guys that need some opportunities. We brought them here for a reason. And we've got, of course, the internal guys like Pompey and Pillar and those guys. Now's their chance to shine."
Outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, a free agent signed from Detroit, is also an option.
Saunders had shoulder surgery in 2007 while a 19-year-old in the minor leagues but has not had knee problems before. He has been frustrated by shoulder and oblique injuries in recent years.
"I will (be) working my ass off to make sure that I'm ready to go as soon as possible," he said.
