DUNEDIN, Fla. – And so welcome to another spring training in which Ryan Goins leads the Toronto Blue Jays in causing wishful thinking.
Considering the myriad questions surrounding the right side of the infield, Goins’ ability to tease manager John Gibbons and the Blue Jays decision-makers is on full display. Friday, while Devon Travis stayed behind for a morning workout, Goins continued his impressive Grapefruit League campaign going 1-for-3 with a home run and more impressively two walks in an 11-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Port Charlotte, Fla.
Say this for Goins and Travis – who carried former Detroit Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland’s seal of approval with him when the Blue Jays acquired him for Anthony Gose – they are at least staking a claim to the spot by hitting.
Perhaps Justin Smoak’s two home runs and Daric Barton’s pair of doubles on Friday signal a new engagement in the battle for first base. Perhaps. But the Blue Jays are concerned enough that general manager Alex Anthopoulos said he’s at least open to going outside the organization to find an answer.
“We’re deep enough into spring training that we want to see results,” Gibbons said. “Guys have had enough at-bats. I mean, you always recognize when a guy hits the balls on the screws and gets nothing to show for it. You want to see some balls squared up, at least.”
Sportsnet Magazine’s Toronto Blue Jays Special: From the heart of the order to the bottom of the bullpen, we’ve got this team covered in our preview issue. Download it right now on your iOS or Android device, free to Sportsnet ONE subscribers.
The second base picture had a new twist added to it when Maicer Izturis sustained a groin injury that will necessitate an MRI on Saturday. It’s lousy timing for Izturis, who needs to show Blue Jays management that he’s back from last season’s knee injury.
“I want to see how he moves in the field,” Gibbons said earlier this spring, knowing that there is a roster permutation that might limit the number of backup infielders he can take – a permutation that makes Goins’ ability to play superb defence at shortstop valuable, given that Jose Reyes will be given more days off this season, even if, in the words of one Blue Jays source, “he has to be dragged kicking and screaming,” to do so.
The Blue Jays will privately admit that until Edwin Encarnacion’s status is cleared up – and he took batting practice on Friday at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, demurring when asked how it went by saying “I want to wait until I played in a (minor league) game before I say anything,” – they are in something of a box. Until his status is cleared up, at least three areas are in flux: first base, designated hitter and by extension the composition of the Blue Jays bench. That, in turn, impacts the middle infield.
Even before Izturis’ injury, Anthopoulos was decidedly low-key in talking about Izturis’ spring, although it was interesting to note that on Thursday the first thing he mentioned was one particular ball that he didn’t get to. “I’m kind of looking at the lineup as something of a composite, instead of position by position,” Anthopoulos said.
The Blue Jays second basemen were atrocious offensively in 2014, but given the heavy lifting the Blue Jays did in upgrading behind the plate and at third base, fixing that issue fell by the wayside. Settling for defence first at the position will be made easier if Dalton Pompey keeps body and soul together in centre field; that would mean the Blue Jays would simply take a second baseman who could do small things at the bottom of the order – for example, getting on base and helping turn the lineup over.
Goins has made harder contact this spring, while Travis’ defensive abilities have, so far at least, come better than advertised.
“I like everything I’ve seen from Goins,” Gibbons said. “He’s down here on a mission; he wants to be the guy and his at-bats are much better. Where he’s gotten in trouble in the past is chasing pitches out of the zone – pitch recognition, mostly.”
Gibbons pooh-poohs the assertion that Goins was rushed to the Major Leagues, or that the revolving door of Blue Jays hitting coaches has stunted his development. “I’ve been around the guys that have been here with him; I know what they’ve been telling him and I agree 100 per cent with what they’ve said. Really, it’s about recognizing a pitch you can hit and putting a good rip on it.”
As for Travis, who out there doesn’t seem to buy into the notion that in a perfect world he would be at Triple-A Buffalo?
“He’s playing good,” Gibbons said of Travis, who has impressed the coaching staff with his understanding of his swing and ability to make pitch to pitch adjustments after an 0-for-11 start. “He started off slow, but he’s settling in and gained a little confidence. He’s a little guy – but he’s put together, now. He’s not a singles hitter. He can run some balls into the gaps. He’s going to hit some home runs.
“You watch certain guys in the batters box and they look – I don’t know if ‘lost’ is the word – but they don’t look as confident as you’d like. Not him; there’s something to his swing that is a little different. He’s got what the good ones got.”
And the Blue Jays? Well, right now they have what they have at second base. It could be better … but there are other, more pressing issues. In the meantime, they’ll settle for players forcing their hand.