Edwin Encarnacion latest of many Blue Jays to hit the disabled list. What gives?

Edwin Encarnacion latest of many Blue Jays to hit the disabled list

They say it’s a “simple procedure,” but it’s part of a disturbing trend in a 2013 season that has gone completely wrong for the Toronto Blue Jays.

On Tuesday, the team announced that All-Star slugger Edwin Encarnacion will have surgery on his left wrist and miss the remaining two weeks of the regular season. Reliever Brett Cecil will also miss the final 13 games due to a sore elbow. For Encarnacion, it ends early a season that will likely see him as the team’s MVP. He finishes the season with 36 home runs, 104 RBIs, and a .904 OPS.

“They said it's a simple procedure to clean it out," manager John Gibbons said. "He's been dealing with it all year … You could tell he was battling it."

The Blue Jays, wrapping up a season that will end with a last-place finish in the AL East, have lost a number of star players to injury for significant periods of time this year. In fact, the string of bad luck actually goes back to the 2012 season.

Blue Jays superstar Jose Bautista had his second consecutive season cut short due to injury. He has only played 210 games over the past two seasons. The Blue Jays committed to over $120 million in salary in 2013, and much of that high-priced talent has spent time on the disabled list.

Here’s a look at the significant players who spent notable time on the DL in 2013:

And in 2012, highlighted, of course, by the three pitchers who all got hurt with days of each other in June:

Is there something in the water at the Rogers Centre? Obviously every team deals with injuries – the Blue Jays don’t even rank near the top in man-games lost stats – but perhaps the importance of the players is what stands out and how the injuries have negatively impacted promising seasons.

The Blue Jays were well out of contention when Bautista, Cabrera and Encarnacion started going down. But losing Reyes and Lawrie for significant periods in the spring had an impact. Despite the Toronto love affair with Munenori Kawasaki, he shouldn’t be playing in 80+ games in the big leagues.

Teams need their stars to stay healthy to compete. In 2012, the Cincinnati Reds used only six starting pitchers en route to a 97-65 record, an NL Central crown, and an NLDS appearance. By contrast, the Blue Jays used 12 starting pitchers in 2012, and 13 in 2013. (Will they use 14 in ’14?)

For a team that was the early World Series favourites for 2013, there are a lot of question marks on the field for 2014. Who will be in the rotation? Can Morrow play a full season? Who’s on second? Who’s behind the plate? The list goes on.

There’s no simple answer for why there are so many injuries, or how to fix it. Perhaps the glut of injuries means young players like second baseman Ryan Goins and outfielder Moises Sierra get garbage-time tryouts. But with Rogers Communications investing big money, with big expectations, in the Blue Jays, don’t expect those players to be regulars.

The Blue Jays expect all of their walking wounded to be back on the field in time for the 2014 season. They’ll need to stay to stay there if they want to make up for a lost 2013.