Lawrie resumes activities, but not swinging bat
- Romero clarifies comments on club's offence
- Janssen likely to resume throwing Thursday
- Worth mentioning
ATLANTA -- Blue Jays top prospect Brett Lawrie has resumed some baseball-related activities, but has yet to start swinging a bat.
Lawrie hasn't played since May 31 because of a fractured left hand. The 21-year-old suffered the injury when he was hit on the hand by a fastball while playing for Triple-A Las Vegas.
The native of Langley, British Columbia, was on the verge of being called up to the Majors at the time of the mishap. The tentative timeframe for his return is around the All-Star break.
"Sunday was basically just a conditioning day," Toronto manager John Farrell said on Tuesday afternoon. "[Monday] was some ground balls, playing catch, starting to get some use of the hand in the glove, but still no swing of the bat yet."
Lawrie is hitting .354 with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs in 52 games in Triple-A.
Romero clarifies comments on club's offence
ATLANTA -- Ricky Romero addressed his Blue Jays teammates in a closed-door meeting Tuesday afternoon to clarify comments he made following Monday's disappointing loss to the Braves.
Romero talked to reporters Monday night about the need for Toronto's offense to generate more runs. The following day, he felt some of those statements were being misinterpreted and wanted to assure the Blue Jays he wasn't trying to pin the blame on anyone.
"Ricky is putting himself in a very select group of pitchers in the American League by his performance," Blue Jays manager John Farrell said.
"With that status level, there comes a focal point and when either comments are made, or actions are performed, they resonate. In this case, as he has done with everything else, he is accountable and he handled it the right way."
Romero's level of frustration Monday was understandable considering his recent string of bad luck on the mound. The 26-year-old has allowed just 15 runs over his past 60 1/3 innings, but is just 4-3 over that span because of a lack of run support.
Toronto is 6-9 in games Romero has started and in those nine losses, the club has managed to score a total of 13 runs.
"All I worry about is pitching," Romero said on Monday night. "I can't worry about the offense ... We can't rely on [Jose] Bautista, we can't rely on [Adam] Lind, we have to get somebody else to step up and get on base, drive them in.
"Those guys are getting pitched around. Everybody has got to step it up or else we're not going to keep winning ballgames. We're going to keep losing ballgames like this."
In recent games, the club's woes at the plate have extended beyond Romero's starts. Toronto entered Tuesday night's game having managed to score just 29 runs in its past 11 games.
Despite the slump, Toronto's offense ranked fourth in the American League with a total of 338 runs. The club also ranks third in homers (81) and fourth in total bases (1,043).
"Every team goes through their spurts of time when you can't get a lot going on the offense," Bautista said. "We had it a couple of times earlier in the year, but we're in the top five in the American League in probably every major offensive category.
"Throughout the whole year, I think we've done a good job at it ... We might have just run into some good pitching [lately], too."
Farrell also sat down with Romero for a one-on-one meeting. He declined to state who initiated the conversation or what was said, but did indicate he thought Romero was handling the situation well.
"He spoke his mind, but I think it's also important for Ricky to realize the position he has grown into and that some might view those [comments] differently than they were intended," Farrell said.
"The fact that they were said, he followed it up with where his thoughts were just so there wasn't any misunderstanding in them, and I think that's what speaks volumes to him as a person, and he had taken accountability for the actions that he demonstrates."
Janssen likely to resume throwing Thursday
ATLANTA -- An MRI revealed that Blue Jays right-hander Casey Janssen does not have any structural damage in his injured right arm and he is expected to resume throwing Thursday.
Janssen was placed on the 15-day disabled list on June 16 with soreness in his right forearm. He underwent an MRI earlier this week that required a dye injection and received a clean bill of health.
"He is letting the medication take its normal course," Toronto manager John Farrell said.
"There is going to be that three-four days of no throw. After you receive the injection of dye, you have to let that clear up, which would put him on pace for a projected throwing program to start Thursday."
Janssen has become one of Toronto's most reliable bullpen arms. He is 2-0 with a 2.93 ERA in 28 appearances this season.
Worth mentioning
Left fielder Travis Snider was set to visit a neurologist on Tuesday afternoon, but the test results were not immediately known.
Snider suffered a concussion when he was struck in the bill of his helmet while playing with Triple-A Las Vegas on June 17. He was batting .324 with two home runs and 27 RBIs at the time of the injury.
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