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Donaldson to sit, Campos recalled by Blue Jays ahead of game with Tigers

Sep 8, 2017 | 3:15 PM

TORONTO — Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson will sit out Toronto’s game against the Detroit Tigers on Friday with an undisclosed illness.

Donaldson is hitting .254 this season with 25 home runs and 64 runs batted in.

The team also recalled right-hander Leonel Campos from triple-A Buffalo before the evening game at Rogers Centre.

Campos has a 3.09 earned-run average in 11 2/3 innings pitched with Toronto this season with 12 strikeouts. He has a 1.87 ERA with 41 strikeouts over 33 2/3 innings split between high-A Dunedin and Buffalo.

Blue Jays manager John Gibbons says that the team will give leave to any player or coach who needs to attend to their homes or families in the wake of Hurricane Irma. Bullpen coach Dane Johnson, who lives in the greater Tampa area, had already left Toronto to help his family brace for the storm. Pat Hentgen will oversee the Blue Jays relievers in Johnson’s absence.

“If something crazy happens and somebody had to get down there, we’d let them,” said Gibbons, who added that he’d set a precedent when he missed the past week attending to personal business in his home state of Texas. “Nobody’s talked about it but there are a lot of guys with homes down there (in Florida).”

Gibbons also noted that third base coach Luis Rivera’s wife and family were OK after the Category 4 hurricane hit Rivera’s home in Puerto Rico. He mentioned that designated hitter Kendrys Morales, from Fomento, Cuba, has many relatives in the direct path of Hurricane Irma.

Injured catcher Russell Martin and second baseman Devon Travis travelled to Toronto from the Blue Jays’ training facility in Dunedin, Fla., as the state evacuates ahead of Irma.

Martin (left oblique strain) and Travis (knee surgery) were in Dunedin rehabilitating from their injuries. They will continue with their recovery programs in Toronto.

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John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press