OAKLAND, Calif. – This time of year almost every lineup decision is viewed through a non-waiver trade deadline lens, so when Emilio Bonifacio made his first start post all-star break Tuesday night against the Oakland Athletics, the conspiracy theory set instantly had showcase outing on the brain.
In reality, manager John Gibbons was simply looking for more defence in left field than the hobbled Melky Cabrera could offer, and the slumping utilityman delivered that and more, hitting his third homer of the season to back another strong outing from Mark Buehrle in a 5-0 victory.
The solid team effort came after Monday’s 9-4 debacle, which prompted Gibbons to say that his team “looked dead” afterwards. Things were much crisper in this one thanks in large part to Buehrle, who followed up a two-hit shutout of the Houston Astros with seven scoreless frames of five-hit ball.
“That makes a big difference,” said Gibbons. “Guys play well behind Buehrle because he works fast, throws strikes, the game goes good, umpires love being back there for him, and it generally picks up on the other side, too.”
That Tuesday passed without a trade by the Blue Jays — as the Athletics picked up Alberto Callaspo from the Angels, while the Red Sox added Jake Peavy from the White Sox in a three-team deal that sent shortstop Jose Iglesias to the Tigers — suggests Alex Anthopoulos may stand pat when Wednesday’s 4 p.m. ET deadline comes and goes. The general manager hates making deals in the dying hours, comparing it to shopping for Christmas gifts on Dec. 24.
There should be no surprise about that given the kind of roster adjustments the Blue Jays need to make are better done during the off-season. With $110 million committed to 13 players, they need either a payroll bump or to move some salary in order to make significant changes.
How Bonifacio — who drew calls from other teams as soon as the Blue Jays acquired him in November, and still has teams that are interested in him — fits into things is an interesting question.
Cabrera continues to struggle with his legs and while The Associated Press, citing two sources, reported Tuesday that he, Bartolo Colon and Yasmani Grandal won’t face further discipline for their links to Biogenesis, Gibbons noted that the left-fielder still isn’t “moving like he can or should” despite improvements.
With Sergio Santos’ rehab assignment expires Saturday — “Sergio isn’t going to triple-A,” said Gibbons – a roster spot needs to be cleared and barring a trade, the manager suggested an eight-man bullpen was once again a possibility.
Placing Cabrera on the disabled list again would open up a spot, and allow Bonifacio and Rajai Davis to share duties in left field for a spell.
Seeing if Bonifacio can recover is worthwhile for the Blue Jays, given the sense that he could hit his way up into the top of the order before the season started, serving as another havoc-maker on the basepaths behind Jose Reyes.
As Gibbons put it, “there’s so much more in there that we’ve all seen. It just came down to who’s going to play and who’s not, basically.”
With Davis headed for free agency, Bonifacio could fill his role as the fourth outfielder while providing infield depth, without a significant loss of speed on the basepaths. But he’s making $2.6 million this year and headed to arbitration again, the Blue Jays must be sure that the value is there.
“It’s my timing at my plate, but lately I’ve been feeling a little bit better,” Bonifacio said before the game about what’s gone wrong for him this season. “When my timing is good I see more pitches, I hit more ahead in the count, so I get better pitches to hit. When you’re kind of lost at the plate, you swing at almost everything, and then it’s 1-2 and you have to protect home (plate).”
Forgotten amid his troubles this season is that in 2011 Bonifacio posted a .360 on-base percentage with 40 stolen bases, and last year missed significant time with a thumb sprain that required surgery and that he subsequently reinjured.
This season, he never settled in early, struggled defensively from the outset, and had been largely forgotten coming out of the all-star break.
“It’s not the way you want things to go, especially the way we’ve been playing,” said Bonifacio. “Sometimes, even when you’re not hitting, if you’re winning it’s a different situation. When you don’t win you feel frustrated. I don’t want to make excuses but I got hurt in May (last year), and my timing is not the same.
“It’s really hard but there’s nothing I can do about it, just keep preparing myself to be ready when they need me.”
Much like Josh Johnson, who has been working on moving toward the first base side of the pitching rubber and has been dealing with minor tendinitis in his knee according to Gibbons, Bonifacio still has two months of season to change the initial impressions of him.
Tuesday’s effort was a step in the right direction, and a reminder of the many things the 28-year-old brings to the table.
“I just be me,” Bonifacio said of how he’s coped with his struggles. “I’m always happy, cheering for my teammates because that’s my goal, being here, helping the team. You have to be happy everyday no matter the situation, I know it’s hard, you get frustrated, but you can’t put that in your mind because it’s going to make it worse if you’re down. It helps me to be positive every day.
“That’s the thing about baseball, it’s not about two months, it’s about every day you have an opportunity, you never know.”
No you don’t, with today’s afterthought becoming tomorrow’s integral part, and the Blue Jays appear to be intent on using August and September to continue sorting out who’s who.
Notes: Steve Delabar struck out the side in the eighth inning on nine pitches. “It’s pretty cool to do,” he said. “I came in and was like, ‘I don’t think I’ve ever done that in my life, and I just did that in a big-league game. It’s crazy.” … With his inning of work in the ninth, Darren Oliver surpassed 1,900 innings in his career, a milestone he wasn’t aware of until manager John Gibbons mentioned it a few days ago. “It’s great, it just goes to show you I’ve been around for a long time, and if you stick around long enough anything can happen,” said Oliver. “I know I’m not going to get to 2,000.” … Drew Hutchison’s rehab assignment was assigned to double-A New Hampshire on Tuesday and he allowed three runs on three hits and a walk with three strikeouts over three innings of a 9-7 loss to Bowie. Kyle Drabek was promoted from single-A Dunedin to the Fisher Cats on Monday, and Gibbons expects both to join the Blue Jays in September. Ricky Romero is also a candidate for a September promotion once rosters expand: “I think he needs to come back, I think he needs to be a part of it,” said Gibbons. “But I haven’t talked to Alex about that.” … J.A. Happ can make two more starts at triple-A Buffalo before his rehab assignment expires and Gibbons said he’d make one if not both of them. Happ needs to be activated by Aug. 12.