The Toronto Blue Jays received some reassuring news Wednesday that their star third baseman Josh Donaldson had successfully participated in batting practice without feeling any pain in his injured right calf muscle.
On Thursday, however, the team was given some less than reassuring news about a different player.
Glenn Sparkman, the Blue Jays Rule 5 Draft selection back in December, has reportedly suffered a broken right thumb during fielding practice. The news was first broken by Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.
#BlueJays Rule 5 pick Glenn Sparkman broke a bone in right thumb during pitchers' fielding practice this morning. Timeline for return TBD
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) March 2, 2017
The 24-year-old right-hander was picked up from the Kansas City Royals who originally selected him in the 20th round of the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft.
In just his second season of professional ball, Sparkman was impressive in the Carolina League where he logged a league leading 1.56 ERA in 36.2 innings and earned pitcher of the year honors for the 2014 season.
After pitching in only four games for Double-A Northwest Arkansas, Sparkman’s 2015 campaign came to a screeching halt when he suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery.
Coming off the procedure, Sparkman bounced around between four different minor league levels in 2016 (Double-A being the highest) and accumulated a 2-7 record with a 5.22 ERA in 16 total starts.
Entering Spring Training, Sparkman was expected to compete among the long list of middle relievers in camp for a long-relief role on the Blue Jays Opening Day roster. While the competition was wide open, the team was hoping Sparkman would somehow replicate the success of fellow Rule 5 Draft pick Joe Biagini from last season. Biagini was picked up from the San Francisco Giants in 2015 and earned himself a full-season role in the Toronto pen where he logged a 3.06 ERA in 67.2 innings.
Unfortunately for Sparkman, his path to the big leagues will have to be a little less magical than Biagini’s with the injury. As a Rule 5 selection, the righty has to remain on the big-league roster for the entire season or be offered back to Kansas City. If the Blue Jays decide to stick with him, they could theoretically place him on the disabled list to begin the year and put him through a rehab assignment in the minors before making a final decision on his future with the club.
Despite the unfortunate circumstances, it will be interesting to see how the Jays decide to handle the situation moving forward.
Sparkman holds a 2.68 ERA in 238 career innings.
Matt Weller covers the Toronto Blue Jays as a staff writer for Outside Pitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter or contact him via email here.
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