MONTREAL — Coming into this weekend, Toronto Blue Jays prospects Rowdy Tellez and Roemon Fields had never played baseball before more than a few thousand people in their short professional careers. Then they got to Olympic Stadium, where more than 100,000 turned up.
"It was pretty intense," Tellez said after he went 1-for-2 with a double and a strikeout in Saturday’s 7-4 Blue Jays loss to the Boston Red Sox. "It’s even just crazy to be around the major league team and be in the same clubhouse as all of these guys. Donaldson, Bautista, Tulo—those are big time guys to get to be around all spring."
The Blue Jays like to use this Montreal series, now in its third year running, to give a taste of major league life to some of the club’s more promising youngsters who are still working their way up the organizational ladder. Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez got to do it a couple years ago when they were still developing in the minor league system, and now they’ll anchor the Blue Jays rotation in 2016.
This year it was Tellez and Fields’ turn, along with several others including Dwight Smith Jr., Richard Urena and Andy Burns. Tellez, Fields and Smith Jr. were some of the first Blue Jays out on the Oylmpic Stadium turf shortly after the team arrived Friday afternoon, checking out the stadium and taking videos on their phones.
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The idea is to let the up-and-comers experience the atmosphere of playing in front of 50,000 fans hanging on to every pitch, so that when they make their major league debuts the experience isn’t quite as jarring.
"Some of these guys have never seen a place like this. They’re used to playing somewhere in the minor leagues where maybe ten thousand’s a big crowd," Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. "It does something to them. You kind of see that look in their eye, some of them young ones. It’s the first step. Then, when they come back in a few years when they make the big leagues, maybe it’s not as big of a shock."
Saturday’s matinee was a good opportunity for many of those younger Blue Jays to earn experience, as most of the major league regulars took just two at-bats before exiting the game to rest ahead of Sunday’s regular season opener.
"It’s got to pay off. I don’t know for sure about that, but I would think it has too," Gibbons said. "Especially the young guys who have never played before in an atmosphere like that. They get to face some of the guys they watch on TV. It’s got to be a help. And I think they all did a nice job with it, too."
The left-handed hitting Tellez hit a double to left field in the seventh inning Saturday against Red Sox left-hander Tommy Layne, who will pitch out of Boston’s bullpen this season. That double drove in Fields from second base.
"It was an amazing feeling. It’s always good to get a hit—but its especially good with runners in scoring position and two outs against a tough lefty," Tellez said. "I had those nervous butterflies going on in my stomach. But it was awesome."
Tellez has been in major league camp for most of the spring and says working every day with veteran first basemen like Justin Smoak and Casey Kotchman has helped him make strides in his defensive game. Of course, the 21-year-old Tellez—who the Blue Jays selected in the 30th round of the 2013 draft—is known for his bat, which Blue Jays coaches say has come as advertised.
"Rowdy’s got a great swing. I think he’s going to be a great hitter," Gibbons said. "He’s just paying his dues now. He’s learning a little bit more about himself. But he’s got a chance to be real good."
Fields added a double of his own with two out in the ninth inning. The 25-year-old is primarily known for his speed—he’s stolen 94 bases over his first two seasons in the minors—but showed he’s got some pop in his bat as well with the well-struck line drive to left-centre field.
"That was fun, getting that taste of major league ball and seeing what it’s like to get to that goal that we all want," Fields said. "I tried my best here. I got a couple hits and ran hard. I gave it all I’ve got. That’s all anyone can ask."