The Jays will take a new offensive approach this season, focusing more on speed and small ball.
If we believe what the Toronto Blue Jays are selling, then fans should expect an up-tempo offence this season.
Personally, I'm looking forward to that. Not that I didn't enjoy watching each and every home run that flew out of parks all across North America last season, 257 to be exact, besting the old club record by 13 and tying for fourth most all-time by any franchise in the history of the game. ,br> But, let's be honest: this offensive power show came out of nowhere. And while swinging for the fences helped lead the Jays to an 85-win season, something that even the most optimistic fan could have even dreamed of, the rest of the offensive numbers all fell near the bottom of the league. It was a direct reflection of Cito Gaston's preference to have his hitters look for a certain pitch during every at bat and when they got it, hope they didn't miss it.
Now, there's a new sheriff in town and his name is John Farrell. While he's a former pitcher and pitching coach by nature, he's been around the game long enough to have a strong opinion on what direction he would like his team to take at the plate. Based upon his introduction to the Toronto media and subsequent comments at the winter meetings, you Cito-bashers out there -- and I know there are more than just a handful of you -- must be enjoying the fact that the Jays will be bringing a lot more 'small ball' into the mix.
Look no further than the Nov. 17 trade with the Oakland Athletics that brought outfielder Rajai Davis to the Jays as the indicator that changes were coming. The 30-year-old outfielder has stolen 120 bases over the last three seasons while being caught just 29 times, good for an 80.5 per cent success rate. His 50 steals last season were second best in the American League, three more than Carl Crawford, considered the top base stealer in the game. He just signed a seven-year, $142-million deal with the Boston Red Sox to upgrade their aging offence.
If the season were to start tomorrow, Davis would be batting lead-off and playing right field with Jose Bautista shifting to third base full-time. While most feel that Bautista’s rocket arm is better utilized in right, playing third certainly upgrades the infield defence. While the Jays are set in left with Travis Snider and centre with Vernon Wells, they need Davis -- and his speed -- in right on an everyday basis if the Jays are to change from a power team to a speed team. But his legs alone won't do it.
While in Toronto as part of the resuscitated Blue Jays winter caravan, Wells appeared on Sportsnet Radio Fan 590 on Monday and intimated that he's expecting to be in the middle of a more aggressive lineup and embraces a chance to steal more bases, something that has fallen to the wayside while hitting in the middle of the order.
While injury sapped his strength in 2009, leading to just 15 home runs, Wells did steal 17 bases while being caught just four times. There is no doubt that V-Dub still has above-average speed. I remember when he first burst into the scene as the everyday centre fielder in 2002, there was talk that Wells had the skills to be a 30-30 player, not just once but several times in his career. But as the home runs went up, the base stealing went down and he became a one-dimensional player at the plate. Those days, for the time being and barring injury, appear to be a thing of the past.
But Davis and Wells can't do this alone. Bautista, Snider and Yunel Escobar also possess above-average foot speed and should be expected to run. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out during the exhibition schedule; not that the home run won't be part of the process. You don't go from a home run hitting team to a speed team overnight. But they did lose 40 of their record-setting home run total from a year ago with the free agent defections of John Buck and Lyle Overbay. And it would also be ridiculous to believe that Bautista will come close to the major league-leading 54 that he hit in 2010.
Perhaps this change in philosophy to a more in-your-face, forcing-the-issue style will bring more fans down to the Rogers Centre. I'm expecting a lot of excitement in the coming year. Will it be successful? Only time will tell. The fact they slugged their way to just a fourth-place finish a year ago shouldn't be lost on anyone.
