After reinjuring his toe during the ninth inning of the Jays game on Saturday, Blue Jays closer Scott "Snake Face" Downs was placed on the DL. Downs flew back to Toronto on Sunday to have his big toe—often dubbed the "Captain of the Toes" or "the one who went to the market"—by team podiatrist Dr. Glenn Copeland. Copeland acknowledged that Downs had injured ligaments in the metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint of the toe. "This is a typical injury which usually results from a hyperflexion mechanism; the toe is bent too far upward," Copeland explained. "For a pitcher with this type of injury" he continued, "there might be slight discomfort when pushing off the mound."
Downs will undergo a procedure similar to Tommy John surgery whereby the ligaments in the toe will be replaced with tendons taken from elsewhere in his body. Much like Tommy John surgery, it will take Downs 10-12 months to recover and he shouldn't be expected to regain 100% power in his foot until sometime after.
When asked if the surgery was necessary, Copeland responded by saying "Absolutely not. His toe is sore. We told him to play through it as the soreness would last a few days at most. Scott refused to even pickup a baseball until 'his boo-boo toe wasn't bwoken.' That's exactly how he said it," Copeland stated in a mocking tone. "This is ridiculous. Arsnberg pretty much forced me to do it. He asked me if it was possible to do Tommy John surgery on a toe. I thought about it for a minute and jokingly responded by telling him that it was technically possible. His face lit up and that was that; the decision was made."
It's expected that Jason Frasor will take over closing duties with Brandon League filling in when Frasor is not available. The Jays might also experiment with the newly acquired Josh Roenicke who has experience closing in college ball and in the minor leagues.
Downs undergoes surgery on toe
"What, you guys didn't know that"
-Cito Gaston, on Dustin McGowan's knee surgery
Yeah, that's right—McGowan had knee surgery on July 9th. Today, Jordan Bastian reported that when asked about recovery time-lines for injured starters Shaun Marcum and Dustin McGowan, Cito dropped that bomb. Apparently, it was common knowledge to Cito.
The story goes that McGowan had surgery to repair cartilage when he injured his knee while doing conditioning drills; Riccardi indicated that the injury will take around six weeks to recover from the operation. McGowan was doing light work in the farm after recovering from right shoulder surgery last July.
This pretty much puts the lid on any hope of McGowan coming back this season.
Hopefully the knee injury is as nonchalant as Gaston's response.
