Toronto Blue Jays

Blue Jays’ Tulowitzki hopes to play this season

Published Jun. 12, 2018 7:09 p.m. ET

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) It's likely to be more than a year between Troy Tulowitzki's appearances in a major league game, but the injured shortstop for the Toronto Blue Jays says he's getting there.

''I can honestly say for the first time in a while I feel like I'm headed in the right direction,'' Tulowitzki said Tuesday before the Blue Jays' game at Tampa Bay.

The 33-year-old Tulowitzki, a five-time All-Star, had surgery April 2 to remove bone spurs from both heels. He's just getting back to the point of taking ground balls, hitting and starting to run in the outfield. He last appeared in a game on July 28, 2017, but did not elect to have the surgery until this year.

''This spring training it just got to be a little bit too much,'' he said, ''and at this point in my career I wanted to give myself a fair chance to come back and be the player I know I can be, and also end my career when I want to end it, not because it's being forced.''

His recovery process is ''all on feel, there's really no schedule,'' Tulowitzki said. But at this point there is no pain, and he said he will fight the temptation to hurry back onto the field.

''I don't want to sit here and say for sure I will be back, but I like my chances,'' he said. ''I'm in a good spot. I feel like this needed to be done. I feel like I'm getting better.''

Notes: The Blue Jays signed 2018 first-round pick Jordan Groshans, a shortstop from Magnolia High School in Texas. Groshans was taken 12th overall.