Young Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia is starting to get the swing of the things.
Watching the development of Blue Jays' rookie catcher J.P. Arencibia has been something to behold.
We all knew that he could hit. But when he debuted last August, it was like something right out of a Hollywood script. With his mother looking on and beaming with pride, Arencibia stepped to the plate and hit a home run on the first pitch he ever saw in the bigs. By the time his first game as a Blue Jay was in the books, he had hit another home run, a double and a single. As debuts go, it was one of the best ever.
But after that, the hits - and at-bats for that matter - were few and far between. Veteran Jose Molina got the majority of the starts, with No. 1 catcher John Buck on the D.L. with a split thumb, and when Buck returned to active duty Arencibia was the odd-man out and returned to Triple A. His return to Toronto didn't happen until after the rosters were expanded in September, and playing time was reserved for some of the toughest pitchers in the American League - CC Sabathia, Jon Lester, Felix Hernandez and David Price. So was there any surprise that Arencibia only hit a solitary RBI single during his final 32 at-bats in 2010? Any young player would be in tough to get a sniff off those guys without regular playing time.
Sure, the fans were upset by the lack of action for Arencibia, and it was understandable. The team was playing out the string left on Cito Gaston's career who, as usual, remained loyal to the veterans which had been his style throughout his two tenures as bench boss.
But there was more to the story, as Alex Anthopoulos revealed at the 'State of the Franchise' night at Rogers Centre in January. During a Q&A with the assembled season-ticket holders, the dais, which also included team president Paul Beeston and new manager John Farrell making his first public appearance, heard some pointed questions, especially why the young catcher wasn't given his shot in September. Anthopoulos closed off that line of questioning quite deftly when he informed all that it was he who insisted that Buck play as much as possible down the stretch, as he was promised that by AA during free agent contract talks, and the Jays' G.M. wasn't about to go back on his word. If he did, then future free agents might not consider the team, which could hurt the franchise when they need to sign the best players to get them over the top like in '92 and '93. Made perfect sense after getting that explanation.
Fast forward to this spring and while Arencibia was anointed the No. 1 catcher when camp opened, he was still a work in progress, learning the nuances of the pitchers. His hitting was, quite frankly, an afterthought and that's okay, it's spring training. And his catching skills still looked pretty raw.
But Arencibia was able to flip the switch on Opening Night against the Twins, slamming a pair of home runs and a triple, good for five RBI. Over the next six weeks, though, he saw his average drop all the way down to .200, while still learning about the staff. Lately, though, it seems to all be coming together. Since May 14, Arencibia is batting at a .340 clip with 14 RBI, fifth best in the A.L. behind Jose Bautista (17), Mark Teixeira (17), Adrian Gonzalez (15) and Alexei Ramirez (15). With Arencibia finally in the offensive swing, and with Yunel Escobar, Corey Patterson, Juan Rivera and Rajai Davis also swinging hot bats, the opposition is finding it troublesome to pitch around Bautista.
Now, if Adam Lind could finally return to active duty and pick up where he left off before his back started acting up then we might finally see just how potent the Jays' offence truly can be.
With Arencibia now anchoring the catching position, the foundation is being set for which all perennial playoff teams can lay claim to: a solid core up the middle. Escobar is finally comfortable in Toronto and playing like an All-Star-calibre shortstop.
Two more pieces are still a couple of years away, but by all accounts Adeiny Hechavarria and Anthony Gose, both currently with New Hampshire (AA), are making great strides. While it's still being decided who will stay at SS and who will move to 2B between Escobar and Hechavarria, Gose is the CF of the future which likely means that Davis moves to LF or will be with another organization.
With all that is currently going right with the Blue Jays, the advances being made by their core youngsters should have all baseball fans buying new sunglasses. That's how bright the future is.
SAY WHAT?
White Sox starter John Danks' post-game comments were laughable, calling Blue Jays' slugger Jose Bautista a "clown" after they exchanged words following a pop out in the fourth inning. Apparently Danks didn't appreciate the Major League's most prolific home-run hitter slamming down his bat and cussing to himself, not at the left-hander. Perhaps the Chicago should be a little more worried about his job in the Majors, (now 0-8, 5.25 ERA), than any slight that he perceived from Bautista. But we also have to remember who Danks' manager is. The modern-day ballplayer is way too sensitive.
THE WAITING IS THE HARDEST PART
It took 1,080 days - or two years, 11 months and 16 days - but Blue Jays' starter Jo-Jo Reyes finally tasted the thrill of victory with his first career complete game on Monday night at Rogers Centre. That broke off his winless start streak at 28, leaving him tied with Matt Keough and Cliff Curtis for one of the most forgettable records in the history of the game. It's interesting to note that all three pitchers ended their streaks with a complete game. Also of interest is that Jays' hitting coach Dwayne Murphy witnessed the end of Reyes and Keough's streaks. Murphy was a teammate of Keough's in Oakland and his three-run homer in the sixth inning on September 5, 1979 helped break open a tight contest against the Brewers to end that streak.
