DENVER – Mark Shapiro’s new team faces his old team for the first time Thursday night when the Toronto Blue Jays host the streaking Cleveland Indians in the opener of a four-game series, and the club president and CEO isn’t sure what he’ll be feeling.
“It’s hard for me to tell you until we’re actually playing them because I’m so locked into what we’re doing that I haven’t had a chance, other than knowing they’re coming, to actually think about it,” he says in an interview. “My overall takeaway is this: I’m heavily invested in the leadership group of people there, I care deeply about them and always will and pull for them to do well and I’m happy for their success. Yet I will be very clear that when it comes to playing against them, there’s zero confusion when you’re playing them.
“Just like my guess is that Serena Williams when she plays Venus Williams doesn’t feel any confusion wanting to win that match. When you go back and play ping-pong with your little brother growing up, I wanted to beat the hell out of my little brother, so there’s no confusion once you’re playing against them, whether you care about them or not. Apart from competing against them, I’m excited for them and happy for them. I’m not surprised, they’re an extremely well run organization with a difference-making manager and high-character players. That’s a pretty good formula for success.”
The Indians arrive in Toronto atop the American League Central at 47-30 having won 12 straight games, while the 43-37 Blue Jays return home from a 3-3 road trip against the Chicago White Sox and Colorado Rockies.
Shapiro took over the Blue Jays last November after 24 years in Cleveland, serving as general manager from 2002-2010 before moving into the president’s role in 2011. He brought over general manager Ross Atkins and Andrew Miller, executive vice-president of business operations, from the Indians and has been steadily working to acclimate to life in Toronto.
“For me on a personal level, the ultimate transition isn’t going to be complete until my family is here for seven days a week living here,” says Shapiro. “That’s finally within sight but still a month and a half away, unfortunately. On a professional level, I feel in the rhythm of the job, I feel very engaged in the task and thinking on a daily basis about short and long-term challenges and opportunities. I’m engaged and invigorated by it, and excited by the opportunities and love the market.”
This is likely to be Shapiro’s only time seeing his old team, as the Blue Jays visit Cleveland Aug. 19-21 but he isn’t planning to make the trip.
“It’s funny because my family literally moves that week and I’ve got owners’ meetings, so this may be one year that I miss that series,” he says. “But there will be trips back to Cleveland in future years for sure.”
—
PROGRESS ON NEW SPRING HOME: The Blue Jays will help pay for a new spring training facility in Dunedin, Fla., under the basis of current negotiations between the various stakeholders.
Mark Shapiro is aiming for clarity on the club’s future there by next spring, the team’s last in Dunedin under the current lease. The current plan involves renovating Florida Auto Exchange Stadium and the Bobby Mattick Training Center, where the Blue Jays’ operations would be moved, and construction may take place over a couple of springs before being fully completed.
Nothing, however, is set in stone just yet.
“There’s no benchmark that we’re reaching where we can say that a deal is imminent, or we’ve got a deal in place,” says Shapiro. “We’re continuing to work diligently, we have made progress in our needs assessment and our potential plan and design, we have progressed conversations with the city on how we would not just work with them to put a financial deal in place, but how we’d work together because it’s obviously going to require a four-pronged structure of Blue Jays, city, county and state. We’re continuing to work and I feel like it’s been slow but steady progress.”
A new spring facility has been one of Shapiro’s priorities since joining the Blue Jays.
“I like to work with a sense of urgency and I like those around me to work with that same sense of urgency so backing off a timeline would mean losing some of that urgency, I’m not going to do that,” he says. “When we reach a point that for some reason it’s obvious that we can’t reach a deadline, then we’ll look to reassess and push back.”
—
ALL-STAR BLUE JAYS?: All-star voting closes Thursday and while it appears the Blue Jays aren’t likely to have any starters in the contest, they should still be well represented in San Diego.
Reigning AL MVP Josh Donaldson, DH Edwin Encarnacion and left-fielder Michael Saunders all have legitimate shots at selection through either the player vote or as a manager pick on the position player side, while starters Marco Estrada, Aaron Sanchez and J.A. Happ plus closer Roberto Osuna are the leading candidates on the pitching side.
Donaldson has been on a torrid pace in his last 20 games, slashing .423/.511/.795 (33-for-78) with five homers and 22 RBIs. He hit a pivotal three-run triple in Tuesday’s 14-9 win over the Rockies and added a solo shot Wednesday.
“For the most part, I feel like I’ve been having a pretty good approach at the plate, so I’m not changing too much,” Donaldson said of his approach to hitting at Coors Field. “I would have liked to hit the ball in the air a little bit more, but it’s not really something you can force all of the time. A lot of it has to do with the types of pitches you’re seeing and locations. For the most part, I think they pitched me pretty well, but I was able to take what they gave me this series.”
—
EDDIE IN THE MIDDLE: Over the past two weeks two-thirds of Edwin Encarnacion’s 15 hits have come to either centre or right field, something that’s no accident for the usually pull-hitting slugger.
In part, it’s a result of how he’s been pitched but Encarnacion also made a mechanical adjustment at the plate after noticing that his swing had gotten too long, leading to too many groundouts to the left side.
“I’m a pull hitter naturally, but my swing has been too much around the ball, so I tried working to stay inside the ball more to drive the ball more to the middle of the field and that’s why I’ve been hitting a lot of balls to the opposite field,” he says. “I opened my front shoulder and my hip was going to left field, so that’s when I don’t feel good. I’ve got to try to stay closed and stick to the middle. If I start closed, when they hang pitches I’m still going to see it and going to pull it, but that’s the difference. I’m trying to work on that and it’s feeling better.”
Since June 14, Encarnacion has two singles and three homers to left field, compared to four singles (all to right), three doubles and three home runs to either centre or right field.
By keeping his front shoulder tighter to his body, he’s been able to shorten his swing and use his hands more, allowing him to shoot pitches away to the right side.
“They’ve been throwing me a lot of pitches outside the zone and I’ve got to make an adjustment,” he says. “If they try to come at me again, I’ll be ready.”