Donaldson diagnosed with right calf strain

Former AL MVP felt 'small tweak' in leg after sprinting drills

February 18th, 2017

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson has a right calf strain and will be evaluated daily throughout Spring Training, the team announced Saturday. He is expected to be ready to start the season.

Donaldson was injured while doing sprinting drills Friday and said he "felt something" in his calf. He was scheduled to undergo an MRI on Saturday afternoon.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said the injury is not related to the calf strain that Donaldson had last April.

"Anytime in professional sports an athlete is injured there's some concern," Atkins said. "It's not the news you want to receive but you anticipate it's inevitable of all players. What I can say is Josh does a very good job of taking care of himself. He's in really good shape and he also recovers very well."

Donaldson, a three-time All-Star, won the 2015 American League MVP Award and finished fourth in '16 after hitting .284 with 37 home runs and 99 RBIs. He also won the AL Silver Slugger Award for third basemen in '15 and '16.

"You never want to see it happen," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons. "Hopefully it's not a big deal."