Andres Gimenez stayed in John Schneider's game Wednesday after taking a 95 mph sinker to the ribs against the Rays.
That was the first thing the Blue Jays needed to hear. Gimenez got drilled by Garrett Cleavinger, went down in pain, then stayed in after trainers checked him out on the field. The pitch was clocked at 95 mph, according to the in-game report shared by Thomas Hall.
Any shot like that gets a dugout's attention fast, especially when it catches a middle infielder in the ribs instead of glancing off a guard or pad. Gimenez looked like a player who felt every bit of it.
But he did not walk off. He stayed in, and that matters for a Blue Jays club that has already spent too much of this season juggling injuries all over the roster.
The play fit the tone of this series, too. Toronto came into the finale against Tampa Bay already trying to avoid a sweep, so losing another regular in the middle of the game would have made a bad spot even worse.
Gimenez is not just another name on the lineup card. He gives Toronto range in the middle of the field, speed on the bases, and one of the cleaner gloves on the roster. Over the 2022-24 span, his defensive run totals ranked among the best in the majors.
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Toronto can't afford another everyday hit
That is why this one felt bigger than a routine hit-by-pitch. The Blue Jays have already been forced to patch around lineup absences, and Gimenez has been one of the few steady everyday pieces they can keep penciling in.
He also had been one of the more productive Toronto bats in this Rays stretch. ESPN's game log shows Gimenez entered this week batting .264 with 17 RBI, and he already had a 2-homer night against Tampa Bay earlier in the series.
So when he took that sinker to the ribs, the concern was not just about pain. It was about whether Toronto was about to lose another everyday player in the middle of a game it badly needed.
Instead, Schneider got the better outcome. Gimenez absorbed the pitch, got checked, and stayed on the field. That does not mean he will wake up feeling great, because a shot to the ribs at that speed usually leaves a mark.
Still, staying in tells you plenty. It says the Blue Jays did not see an obvious reason to pull him, and it says Gimenez felt good enough to keep going through it.
For Toronto, that counts as a win all by itself. Andres Gimenez took a brutal pitch from Garrett Cleavinger, and the Blue Jays avoided turning one painful moment into their next injury problem.
Were the Blue Jays lucky Andres Gimenez stayed in the game after that pitch?
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