TORONTO – Experience? Cashing in on natural talent? Health? The hunt continues for the mysterious “it” that explains the materialization of Michael Saunders’ 2016 campaign; a season that has led his manager to admit on more than one occasion that he had no idea Saunders was this good.
And know what? Maybe he isn’t this good. Maybe Saunders can’t keep it going. Maybe he can’t continue to be one of the most productive left-handed hitters in the majors – third in the American League in OPS among outfielders going into Tuesday’s game, behind Mike Trout and Jackie Bradley Jr. But know this, too: If the native of Victoria, B.C., emerges as the winner of the AL’s Final Vote competition for a spot in next week’s all-star game in San Diego, he will continue to demonstrate one trait not even he could have believed he possessed: An exquisite sense of timing.
“I knew what was inside me,” Saunders said Tuesday. “There’s been glimpses of it, and I think those glimpses are what got me here.”
Oft-injured, Saunders spent the best Canadian baseball summer in over 20 years playing in just nine games after a freak knee injury sustained in an informal workout on the eve of spring training. Nice way to make an impression on the team that just traded for you. This spring, he was effectively traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Jay Bruce by the new Blue Jays administration … but the deal fell through because of concerns about one of the player’s medicals. Yet here he is, putting up career numbers in his final year before free agency, watching the numerals on his 2017 salary rise every day like some sort of National Debt Clock because he will be part of what is the worst free-agent class in recent memory. Timing, baby! It’s everything, as another potential Blue Jays free agent, Jose Bautista, might be on the verge of discovering, albeit in a different way.
It’s a sign of how good the Blue Jays are and how far this team has come that even with the potential of four all-stars – Josh Donaldson, Marco Estrada and Edwin Encarnacion were named as reserves on Tuesday night – several of the game’s leading pundits believe the organization was snubbed because gilt-edged right-hander Aaron Sanchez was not named to the American League team.
This is, after all, more than ever a young man’s game and if you need evidence, consider this: For the first time in history, one of the leagues – the AL – will run out an infield (including catcher Salvador Perez) composed of players 26 years of age or younger. And if you enjoy torturing yourself, consider this, too: Noah Syndergaard is in line to start the all-star game for the National League and his manager, Terry Collins of the New York Mets. Oh, what might have been…
Seeing Sanchez on the the AL team might have mitigated the hurt for Blue Jays fans, since when he held AL manager Ned Yost’s Kansas City Royals to three hits over eight innings on Monday night it continued his voyage toward establishing himself as one of the game’s dominant young starters.
No other pitcher as young as Sanchez (who turned 24 on Canada Day) has recorded at least eight innings pitched in three different starts this season and his winning percentage (.900) is the highest of any pitcher in club history before the all-star break. There is a scenario where Sanchez might be asked to go to the game if Estrada can’t actually pitch, or some other player or pitcher gets injured. But there is also a scenario where Sanchez’s next Blue Jays start is pushed back to Sunday, which would prevent him from actively participating in the game, since pitchers who start on the Sunday before the all-star game cannot pitch on Tuesday.
Snubbed? Shoot, there have been seasons when three Blue Jays all stars would be unthinkable. Besides, what exactly is a snub? Leaving aside the obvious – that if you try and sell a game as being ‘for the fans,’ don’t then pick apart their selections – it’s hard to find fault with who fans voted in as starters. Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles might have been a better choice for AL first baseman than Eric Hosmer. But that’s hardly a crime. As for the NL team, well, c’mon: Addison Russell of the Chicago Cubs as all-star shortstop? Over Corey Seager? Still, has there been a better story than the Cubs or, for that matter, a better team? Why shouldn’t Cubs fans have their day? Dexter Fowler? Whatever …
“Just because the fans voted these guys in doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have been voted in by the players as well,” noted Collins, who might have added that many of the perceived snubs or notable omissions in both the AL and NL weren’t all down to fan balloting, but owed to balloting among major league players, managers and coaches.
Besides, stuffing ballot boxes is now a time-honoured tradition which begs the question of you, Blue Jays fan: With the team attracting more than half a million more fans to its home games this season and being among the biggest road draws while having a better record than it did last season at this time … how on earth did no Blue Jays player get voted in? True, voting rules were tightened up to mitigate against the usual overzealousness and it worked: Perez, the Royals catcher, received nine million fewer votes this year than last year’s leader, Donaldson. The Blue Jays third baseman received 14,090,188 votes last season, an all-time record, while Bautista – who has dominated balloting in the past – had 9,0505,339. This season, Donaldson received 2,130,329 (second among AL third basemen) and Bautista received 2,142,853 (sixth among AL outfielders).
At any rate, time now to turn our attention to the final vote. Yeah, the whole #VoteCaptainCanada thing is a little schmaltzy but – what the hell? – it’s all good, clean fun. We have less than three days to get this done, Canada, and while that might not seem like much time you have to like Michael Saunders’ chances. Time has very much been on his side in 2016. Finally … and it’s bringing a big whack of free-agent cash along for the ride. Not bad for a few glimpses, eh?