Updated: Team Canada Injuries Continue

Canada’s injury woes continued on Wednesday at the World Baseball Classic.  Brett Lawrie was taken out of Canada’s exhibition game against the Cincinnati Reds with discomfort in his side.

The Toronto Blue Jays young third baseman left the game in the third inning of the 12-2 loss.

Lawrie is an integral piece to Team Canada’s 2013 entry in the tournament.  He is a high energy player who will be sorely missed if the injury forces him to withdraw from the Classic.

Manager Ernie Whitt said he did not know when Lawrie first suffered the injury.

“He was only going to play four innings tonight anyways,” said Whitt, and he added they would re-evaluate Lawrie during a team workout Thursday in Arizona. “We’re always cautious of individuals if they feel anything. We don’t want to hurt them or extend their injuries, so we just took him out.”

Whitt told Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi after the game that Lawrie had felt a “twinge” and it is a “wait-and-see” situation right now with regards to his ability to play in Friday afternoon’s opener against Team Italy.

Hopefully for all concerned this is just an over reaction to something minor.

Toronto’s major worry regarding the WBC has been the chance of injury with so many players competing from their roster.  Blue Jays General Manager Alex Anthopoulos and team manager John Gibbons have both joked they’ll be cheering against their own players, hoping they will return as quickly as possible.

UPDATE: After this mornings visit with doctors Lawrie said that he will miss the first two rounds of the tournament, essentially ending his time with Team Canada.  Reports are that Lawrie will be out between two and three weeks and that further assessment by Blue Jays medial staff will be done shortly. 

Lawrie previously competed in the 2009 World Baseball Classic as a pinch-hitter, but never drew an at-bat.

Canada opens the WBC on Friday against Italy before games against Mexico on Saturday and the United States on Sunday.

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