Editor’s Note: This post was updated to include info published Thursday about the 4-year-old boy being out of the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
Toronto Blue Jays reliever Erik Swanson will be missing some time from Blue Jays camp after his 4-year-old son was hit by a car and airlifted to a hospital Sunday, the Blue Jays said in a statement.
Swanson’s son Toby was apparently hit by a 2024 Ford Expedition near a hotel in Clearwater, Florida, according to the Toronto Sun. A helicopter took him to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg where he was listed in critical condition, according to the Sun.
The Blue Jays announced he was “on the road to recovery.”
“Thanks to the incredible work from Clearwater first responders, Toby is on the road to recovery and is surrounded by his family,” the Blue Jays statement reads. “Erik will be away from the team for a while, family comes first. Our love, support and prayers are with Erik, Madison, Toby and the entire Swanson family. Out of respect for Erik and his family, we’re not going to comment further on this.”
Swanson’s wife posted Wednesday on Instagram that Toby is out of the hospital.
“Toby is out of the PICU and we are continuing to take it day by day. God is so good and we are so blessed,” the pitcher’s wife wrote on her Instagram story Wednesday.
“We are so grateful for the speedy first responders to the accident, to the pedestrians that helped as we waited the next step, and to the AMAZING staff at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital someone has truly been watching over my little man,” her post concluded.
Story on the difficult news this morning that Erik Swanson’s four-year-old son, Toby, was airlifted to hospital Sunday after being hit by a car, with comments from #BlueJays manager John Schneider: https://t.co/1Rh6OKuGuU
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) February 27, 2024
Blue Jays manager John Schneider shared his thoughts in an emotional statement to reporters, according to MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson. (RELATED: MLB Team Forcing Players To Shave But Allowing Them To Wear Gigantic Chains Makes No Sense)
“As a dad, I have two boys who are 7 and 5, and it hits home,” Schneider said. “Baseball is just baseball, you know? You pray. You hope for the best. Thankfully, that has been the case so far. You realize how quickly things can change. You don’t take things for granted.”
John Schneider just shared with us that Erik Swanson’s 4-year-old son, Toby, was hit by a car Sunday and airlifted to hospital.
Toby is “on the road to recovery and surrounded by family.”
Swanson will be away from the team. An emotional Schneider expressed his love and support.
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) February 27, 2024
Swanson was a staple of the Blue Jays‘ 2023 bullpen, posting a 2.97 earned run average with 75 strikeouts in 66.2 innings pitched.