BALTIMORE – Delmon Young spotted Devon Travis by the batting cage Saturday afternoon, walked over, put his arm around the Toronto Blue Jays rookie, and asked if he was all right.
A day earlier, the burly Baltimore Orioles slugger clipped the second baseman on the knee with his cleats while trying to unsuccessfully break up a double play, and he was concerned. All good, the 5-foot-9, 190-pound Travis assured the 6-foot-3, 240-pound Young, he was no worse for the wear.
“Those double plays are so big for the team, the pitcher gets his groundball, my job is to stick in there regardless,” Travis said of his fearlessness. “If I can get out of the way, obviously I always try, but I’ll never back down from that double play. When he’s on me, my job is to turn that ball.
“I’ll always stick in there, for sure.”
That mindset, while admirable, isn’t always ideal for an infielder’s self-preservation, a point Blue Jays third base and infield coach Luis Rivera made to Travis on Saturday. At the time, the Blue Jays were up 11-2 and weren’t holding Young at first, meaning he had a big secondary lead.
As he came barrelling in on Manny Machado’s grounder to short, Travis held his ground and made an outstanding turn. He was also lucky his kneecap wasn’t obliterated.
“You do pick your spots, depending on the score, depending on the throw, depending on how the ball was hit, depending on how quick is the guy that’s coming from first to second,” Rivera said. “You don’t worry about the guy going home to first, the one coming from first to second is the one you’ve got to avoid.
“You’ve got to protect yourself in a way that you get the out at second base, get out of the way, and if you still have time throw to first base.”
Techniques for that range from using the base to protect one’s self to timing one’s charge to the bag so the second baseman can step across and make the relay to first.
A host of variables are at play which can make knowing what do when difficult.
“There are a lot of times you’ve just got to go with the throw, wherever it’s leading you,” explained Travis. “Anytime you can go across, especially when a guy is bearing down at you, it’s definitely the right thing to do, and I’ve got to get better at that.”
Still, Rivera praised Travis’s instincts and quick hands, but planned to show him video of different plays and offer tips for how to better protect himself. As much as the Blue Jays like his courage, they also want to keep him on the field.
“That was almost really bad, he got me pretty good with his cleats there. It definitely can get scary a little bit,” Travis said of the play with Young. “He said, ‘Hey, you all right man? Sorry.’ It’s all part of the game. No guys are out there trying to kill anybody, he’s just trying to break up the double play. That’s a big guy for sure. He’s a dude I’ve got to make sure to get out of the way of as much as I can.”