Blue Jays’ Michael Saunders Tears Meniscus In Freak Sprinkler Accident

It’s that time of the year again.

For some reason, MLB spring training brings about the strangest and most unfortunate injuries. And Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders was 2015’s first victim, tearing his left meniscus after stepping on a sprinkler head while shagging balls.

Saunders said he felt a pop when it happened.

“I just tried to walk off the field and not draw any attention to myself, then when I got into the training room, my knee felt like it was getting tight on the inside,” Saunders said, per ESPN.com. “I’ve never had any issues with my knees, so that’s when I knew that something was wrong.”

Saunders came to Toronto in December from the Seattle Mariners in exchange for pitcher J.A. Happ. He was expected to start in the outfield for the Jays, but now general manager Alex Anthopoulos said he’ll be out until the All-Star break and likely will need surgery.

Anthopoulos said the Blue Jays will look internally to replace Saunders before dipping into the trade or free-agent market.

“I actually started making some calls last night with respect to seeing who else could be out there,” Anthopoulos said, per ESPN.com. “There are some teams out there with some outfield depth. If we do something, it will be toward the end of spring. We’ll see what we have internally first.”