Martin, Travis on 'two days on, two days off' schedule

Catcher, second baseman both dealt with injuries last year; Donaldson returns to third base

April 3rd, 2018

TORONTO -- is not the only Blue Jays player with a two days on, two days off schedule. Toronto intends to take the same approach with No. 1 catcher .
Martin was held out of the Tuesday night's lineup for the second time this season. Manager John Gibbons said regular rest will become part of Martin's routine as the Blue Jays search for ways to keep him healthy for an entire season.
Toronto is taking a similar approach with Travis, who was limited to 50 games last season because of a knee injury. Martin hit the disabled list last year with a neck issue and appeared in just 91 games.
"To start things out, yeah," Gibbons said when asked if Martin was on the same schedule as Travis. "We'd like to break that up somehow soon, though, so they're both not off the same day we'll see how that goes."
Donaldson back at third
Josh Donaldson made his return to third base for Tuesday night's game against the White Sox. Donaldson spent the previous four games at designated hitter because of a dead-arm issue. His transition back to third allowed veteran slugger to make his return to the lineup.

Donaldson seemed incapable of making a strong throw across the diamond during an Opening Day loss to the Yankees. He was prescribed a short period of rest and spent the last couple of days going through a throwing program before and after games.
"If we didn't think he was good to go, he wouldn't be out there," Gibbons said before the game.
Walk this way
Right fielder arrived at Spring Training this year boasting about the vision training exercises he went through during the offseason. The goal was to improve his plate discipline, and while it's far too early in the season to know whether the work has paid off, there already have been some encouraging signs.
Grichuk walked twice during Monday's victory over the White Sox. It was his first two-walk game since April 16, 2016. Grichuk entered play on Tuesday night with three walks in five games; by comparison, he walked just 26 times last year over 122 games.
"That's important, if they're going to walk you, if the guy's a little wild, you have to take it," Gibbons said. "That's how you have the big, big years. Some guys, naturally, are more aggressive and over time they figure it out a little bit more. I'll tell you what, he has everything in there to be a force."
Oh's velocity dips
Veteran right-hander did not have quite as much velocity as normal during Monday's victory over Chicago. Oh, who was pitching on back-to-back days for the first time this season, averaged 90.3 mph on his fastball and topped out at 91.7 mph. By comparison, the night before Oh maxed out at 93.2 mph and averaged 91.8 mph.

"Last night was the first night he went on back-to-back days," Gibbons said. "We didn't get a chance to do that in the spring. We usually try to give everyone them, have them do it at least once. I'll tell you what, the other night, when he came in to close the game out, I thought he looked really, really good."
Quotable:
"It was loud. It wasn't real good music, but it was loud." -- Gibbons, on the Blue Jays' selection of pre-game music in the clubhouse, which included NSYNC's "Tearin' Up My Heart."
Worth mentioning:
-- Steve Pearce was available to come off the bench for Tuesday night's game against Chicago. Pearce missed Monday's series opener because of the flu.