DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Blue Jays shortstop Troy Tulowitzki left Wednesday's 3-1 win over the Mets in the fourth inning with bruised knuckles between the first and second fingers on his right hand after Bartolo Colon hit him with a pitch.
X-rays taken at an area hospital were negative and Tulowitzki is considered day to day.
"He's a big part of this," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "You hit those sensitive areas, hands and all that, you've got all those small bones. That definitely makes you a little more nervous, so hopefully it's nothing."
Tulowitzki, 31, departed Wednesday's game almost immediately after Colon hit him with one out in the fourth, giving way to pinch-runner Jio Mier. Tulowitzki returned to the Blue Jays' clubhouse shortly after the end of the game, declining comment at that time.
With Opening Day in St. Petersburg against the Rays just 11 days away, the Blue Jays have reason to hope for their shortstop's speedy recovery. One of baseball's best players when healthy, Tulowitzki has averaged just 110 games per year over the past six seasons.
He hit .239 with five homers in 41 games after coming to Toronto in a trade from the Rockies last July, and he was batting .281 with four home runs in 32 Grapefruit League at-bats. Among Tulowitzki's most recent injuries were a cracked shoulder bone that cost him two weeks last September, a labrum tear in his left hip that sidelined him for more than two months in 2014, and a broken rib that required four months to heal in '13.
Overall during a 10-year career with the Rockies and Blue Jays, Tulowitzki has spent the equivalent of nearly two full seasons on the disabled list. He has made the All-Star team five times regardless, batting .297 with an .877 OPS and 193 home runs.