CLEARWATER, Fla. — Wearing one of his blue Superman shirts and carrying a pair of bats after exiting Friday’s 7-5 Blue Jays victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, Kevin Pillar walked past a pair of reporters idling about in the Blue Jays clubhouse, waiting for an interview.
“What,” he said, “you guys aren’t locked in on cycle watch?”
The cycle, unfortunately, was not to be. But Blue Jays outfielder Darrell Ceciliani at least took care of its more difficult half Friday, clubbing a fourth-inning triple that scored a run before crushing a grand slam onto Spectrum Field’s left field lawn an inning later.
The two loud hits provided immediate gratification for Ceciliani, who had felt out of sorts in his first at-bat of the afternoon when he popped up to short. After making the out, Ceciliani returned to the dugout and sat next to Blue Jays hitting coach Brook Jacoby and quality control coach Derek Shelton. They told him he was being too quick at the plate, and that he needed to slow himself down, let the ball travel and stay within himself.
“I just tried actually seeing the ball as opposed to getting a little jumpy,” Ceciliani said. “I was just trying to take it one at-bat at a time, one pitch at a time, and go from there.”
If that last bit sounds a little cliché, that’s because it is. But that’s also par for the course with Ceciliani, whose teammates rag him about his uncomplicated approach at the plate. Pillar predicted Ceciliani would say he closed his eyes and swung, and when he was asked if that was in fact what he did, Ceciliani smiled, grinned, and said, “yeah, pretty much.”
Of course, there’s more to Ceciliani’s offensive approach than that, enough to impress Blue Jays manager John Gibbons, who has taken a particular shining to the 26-year-old, running him out for nearly every game the club has played this spring. Ceciliani has paid back the confidence, going 10-for-36 with five extra-base hits. This, after he had an unbelievable camp last year, going 15-for-36 with three doubles and four home runs.
“I’ve always been a fan of his,” Gibbons said. “He’s an aggressive guy. He takes a rip in there. He’s got good power, he’s a very good outfielder, you can put him in any spot. Good baserunner. He’s got some good, solid speed. He’s doing a nice job. He’s a good, hard-nosed baseball player. He’s just waiting for that opportunity to open up.”
Ceciliani played the majority of 2016 at triple-A Buffalo, batting .266/.323/.441 with the Bisons. He got up to Toronto for 13 games over three separate stints and went 3-for-27 against major league pitching.
He’ll likely serve a similar role for the organization this year, providing valuable outfield depth while playing every day in Buffalo. Ceciliani was a much better hitter against right-handed pitchers than lefties last season. And he was a relatively streaky hitter, too, something Ceciliani says he’s learned to deal with.
“I think the biggest thing is you’re going to have a lot more bad days than good in this game,” he said. “On the good days, it’s easy to feel good about yourself. But trying to find something to be confident about on the bad days and on the tough days is where you’ve got to really be a little better to stick in this game.”
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Tulo’s coming along
Troy Tulowitzki started the spring in an 0-for-11 mini slump, but came out of it in a big way over his last two games with three hits and two walks in six plate appearances.
“Sometimes you ride out those hot streaks, sometimes you’re cold. You’ve just got to keep working,” Tulowitzki said. “It doesn’t matter how many years you play—you can still come in here and learn.”
The 32-year-old shortstop has been brought along very deliberately this spring. He was held out of games until March 5 and didn’t playing on back-to-back days until late this week. He’s scheduled to play again on Saturday afternoon, as the Blue Jays begin to ramp up his action.
Not that Tulowitzki needs excessive game time to prepare for the season. One of the most diligent workers on the team—if not in all of baseball—Tulowitzki lives in the batting cages, and spends hours on the backfields at the Blue Jays Dunedin’ facility, fielding endless groundballs.
Tulowitzki says he’s actually appreciating the reduced workload this year, his 12th in the majors. To him, the primary benefit of live game action during spring training is working on pitch recognition and getting comfortable in the batter’s box.
“I’m starting to see more pitches and see the ball a little better,” Tulowitzki said. “Hitting’s one of the hardest things we do. But when you stand in the box and you find that comfort level, your skill set just takes over after that.”
For Tulowitzki, it all comes with time. There’s no set number of at-bats he’d like to see during spring; no particular results he’s after. As ever with the workaholic five-time all-star, every day at the ballpark is another opportunity to improve.
“It never gets easier, I promise you that,” Tulowitzki said. “No matter how long you’ve been playing.”
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Saltalamacchia getting his reps
Blue Jays backup catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been a busy man this spring. He’s played in 10 of Toronto’s 19 games as the club tries to get him as many live reps as possible to help learn his new pitching staff.
Saltalamacchia’s been appreciating the opportunities. At the beginning of camp, he told Gibbons he wouldn’t mind coming into games during late innings in order to catch certain pitchers. But the Blue Jays manager did him one better, starting him frequently, including four times in the last five days.
“I think the more I catch these guys the better,” Saltalamacchia said. “I just want to be able to see what their stuff does. If I can see how it moves and I know how to react and how to call a game by hitter’s swings, that’s great. That’s the biggest thing during spring training for catchers.”
Russell Martin’s brief trip to the World Baseball Classic as a coach for Team Canada has helped open up plenty of playing time for Saltalamacchia. And even now that Martin’s returned, the backup will likely continue to see plenty of action with Martin getting at-bats as a designated hitter.
For his part, Saltalamacchia is happy to have Martin back around so he can pick the veteran catcher’s brain.
The Blue Jays don’t exactly have the easiest staff in the world to catch. Aaron Sanchez’s two-seamer is a bowling ball. Marcus Stroman throws six pitches and likes to call his own game. Francisco Liriano’s stuff moves all over the place. J.A. Happ relies on a delicate fastball mix and pinpoint location. And Marco Estrada refuses to shake his catchers off, putting even more emphasis on sound game-calling.
Martin has plenty of experience catching all five, and has been an invaluable resource for the Blue Jays newcomer.
“I’ve got someone to lean on and talk to as much as possible and learn what I can about these guys,” Saltalamacchia said. “We’ve done a good job and communicated every day. I’m feeling more and more comfortable.”