Brett Lawrie was removed from Team Canada’s Exhibition game against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday. The Toronto Blue Jays third baseman left the game in the third inning of a 12-2 loss to Cincinnati, Apparently after tweaking his openly. Manager Ernie Whitt said he didn’t know when Lawrie suffered the injury. Canada opens the World Baseball Classic on Friday against Italy before games against Mexico on Saturday and the United States on Sunday.
“He was only going to play four innings tonight anyways,” said Whitt, who added they would re-evaluate Lawrie during a team workout Thursday. “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.”
Lawrie missed 30 games last year with an oblique injury. Lawrie is looking to rebound from a subpar 2012 season after posting a .273 batting average with 11 home runs in 494 at-bats. The former first-round pick made a big debut in 2011 batting .293 with nine homers, seven steals and a .953 OPS in just 43 games.
Team Canada roster for the World Baseball Classic, includes Justin Morneau, Joey Votto, John Axford and Lawrie.
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