Blue Jays' Anthony Kay dealing with mysterious injury that may end his season

TORONTO — When Anthony Kay was scratched from Tuesday’s start due to what the team called “back pain” it wasn’t really clear what was going on. A day later, answers remain elusive.

“I was just experiencing some soreness in my side and back area,” Kay said Wednesday. “We’re still trying to figure it out a little bit and really unaware of where it came from and how it happened.”

Despite his discomfort, the rookie starter had lobbied to get on the mound Tuesday, but the Blue Jays weren’t taking any chances.

“It sucks, I mean I really wanted to go out there and pitch,” he said. “Even when I tested it out yesterday, I told [head trainer Nikki Huffman] especially after the 15-inning game I really wanted to go out there because it just sucked for the bullpen, they had to eat nine innings. So I was still really trying to push to go out there but they weren’t having any of that.”

At this point, Kay and the Blue Jays training staff aren’t even sure if the injury is muscular, which is the natural assumption when it comes to back pain.

“Yeah it’s hard to tell because we don’t even really know exactly what it is yet,” Kay said. “We don’t think it’s muscular, we kind of think it’s a little bit deeper than that but it’s not a big issue, it’s just something that’s unusual, they said that they’re still trying to figure out, with a couple doctors, what it is.”

Although Kay has taken a CT scan his prognosis remains unclear. The left-hander is in pain “a little bit” when he’s walking around, but the discomfort worsens when he throws. The 24-year-old hasn’t resumed throwing yet, and although it’s conceivable he’ll pitch in the team’s final series against that Tampa Bay Rays, that’s far from a given.

With his season possibly over, the left-hander had a chance to reflect on an eventful year. Kay climbed from Double-A to the majors, changed organizations, and held his own in his first taste of the MLB level with a 5.79 ERA and 2.65 FIP in 14 innings.

“Yeah, I mean, I feel pretty good, I feel like I showed what I can do and hopefully I come back in 2020 strong,” he said. “Hopefully I can go out there and I showed Charlie and Pete enough that I can at least compete for a job next year.”

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