DUNEDIN, Fla. – The Toronto Blue Jays closed out their Grapefruit League schedule the same way they opened it – with a loss, this time to the New York Yankees. J.A. Happ pitched four dominant innings in the final tune-up before his April 5th sortie in Baltimore and Gregorio Petit went 3-for-3, but the loss means the Jays finished up at 11-18-2 in the citrus standings.
Here’s what stood out to me about the final game in Dunedin for another year:
SMOAK AND MELVIN MASHING
Much-maligned first baseman Justin Smoak seems to be getting his swing in gear as the fake games finish up, and so too does Melvin Upton, Jr.
Smoak had two hits in Wednesday’s loss, including a ground-rule double that got stuck in the wall in dead centre.
The switch-hitter struggled through the first month of the spring, starting out 4-for-33 with only one extra-base hit, but since then he has seven hits in sixteen at-bats, including three doubles and a home run.
Smoak has already replaced R.A. Dickey as the Blue Jay that many fans love to hate, but the Jays seem to be committed to starting the season with him at first base, loving the defence and the power and hoping he hits enough to make it worth keeping him in the lineup. If not, Steve Pearce will come in from left field and Ezequiel Carrera and Upton will get more work in the outfield, assuming Upton makes the team.
The Blue Jays see an upside in Smoak – the hard-hit rate, the walk rate, the power – and they hearken back to 2015 when he posted a .768 OPS on the strength of his 18 home runs in just 296 at-bats. After looking awful for most of the spring, he’s come around very nicely the last week and a half.
So has Upton, who hit two hard line drives in three at-bats on Wednesday with nothing to show for them.
Leading off the bottom of the first, Upton hit Jordan Montgomery’s first pitch on a line, a bullet right to Yankees third baseman Chase Headley, who dropped to a knee and caught the ball as much as the ball caught him.
In his second trip, Upton hit another line drive, this time up the middle, and it was snared by second baseman Starlin Castro on its way to centre field.
Upton grounded out in his final trip, but after starting the spring doing nothing offensively, those two line drives were nice to see – as well as the home run he hit Tuesday night and Sunday’s double.
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OSUNA MATATA
Making his second appearance since returning from the World Baseball Classic, and his second in three days, closer Roberto Osuna threw a blink-and-you-missed-it sixth inning against the Yankees.
The 22 year-old popped up Castro, got Aaron Hicks on a lazy fly to left and struck out Aaron Judge in a masterful frame that required only eight pitches to complete.
His stuff looked sharp and crisp, though we couldn’t tell how hard Osuna was throwing. The radar reading on the scoreboard at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium was blank – conspiracy theorists will say conveniently – for Osuna’s inning, and only for Osuna’s inning.
There’s some concern about a drop in velocity, but Osuna was putting up 94s on the gun earlier in camp. He’s still recovering from a back issue that cost him a couple of weeks of game action, but certainly appeared to be firing on all cylinders against the Yanks. He’ll get the ball one more time in Montreal before things start to count for real.
PROCESS OVER RESULTS
The losing pitcher on Wednesday was Mike Bolsinger, who remains a strong candidate to secure one of the final open spots remaining in the Blue Jays’ bullpen.
Bolsinger gave up two runs on three hits in the fifth inning, facing eight hitters and leaving the bases loaded – but he didn’t allow a single ball to be hit out of the infield. The three hits the righty allowed were all ground balls, none hit well, each one placed perfectly.
The inning began with a walk to Hicks, then Judge hit a weak grounder wide of short. Ryan Goins ranged far to his right to get it, spun and threw across his body to second, but Hicks was called safe by an eyelash. Darwin Barney threw to first, and Judge just beat that out as well.
After the runners advanced on a double steal, Austin Romine hit a slow chopper up the middle. Again, Goins went a long way to get it, and again his throw to first was just late – Hicks scored on the play to give the Yankees the lead. Bolsinger then popped up Ronald Torreyes.
Brett Gardner was next, and he hit a high chopper to the right side that bounced way over Smoak’s head at first base. Barney was there to get it behind Smoak, and he fired to first, but Bolsinger hadn’t quite gotten there yet. The infield hit scored a second run.
Bolsinger then walked Chase Headley – perhaps strategically – clearing the switch-hitter to load the bases for two tough righties, and he was up to the task. Matt Holliday popped up and Chris Carter struck out.
The pitching line looks far worse than the performance actually was, and Bolsinger didn’t hurt his chances to make the team at all. He could have helped himself by avoiding that first walk, not allowing Hicks to pick his pocket on the double steal and getting over to cover first more quickly, but that was an inning in which there was zero hard contact and if not for bad luck, no runs would have scored.
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The Blue Jays’ bags are packed and they’re saying goodbye to the Florida sunshine. It’s off to Montreal for a couple of packed-house games against the Pittsburgh Pirates, and we will have them both for you across the Sportsnet Radio Network. Join Jerry Howarth, Joe Siddall and Mike Wilner on Friday, March 31 at 7:00pm ET as Marcus Stroman gets his final spring tune-up at The Big O against Team Canada 2013 member Jameson Taillon. You can hear the game here.
