BOSTON – It had been a while since Devon Travis went deep, so after a 10-month wait that included surgery and extended time on the disabled list, it felt pretty good to send one over the Green Monster.
“I think I forgot that feeling,” Travis said afterwards. “It was nice.”
Before hitting the home run, Travis fouled off tough pitches from Koji Uehara, displaying a sound approach that’s nearly as encouraging as the homer itself.
“This kid can hit,” manager John Gibbons noted. “He’s got a great, short stroke. He’s got the ability to foul off tough pitches. That’s one of the things that makes him so good. As his timing improves and he gets more comfortable, he’s got a chance to be really productive.”
So far in 2016, Travis has a .258 batting average and a .690 OPS in eight games. Last year he posted an .859 OPS with eight home runs before shoulder issues ended his season prematurely.
If R.A. Dickey’s endorsement of Travis is any indication, Travis’ teammates appreciate his work. Hitters who can foul off tough pitches can make life miserable for opposing pitchers.
“He certainly is representative of a team where we need a guy who can get on base, who can work counts,” Dickey said. “He is that guy for us and we’ve needed that guy in the lineup. Good things happen when he’s in the lineup.
“There’s a lot of guys in here that have the potential to put together great at bats,” Dickey continued. “We’re just waiting on that and maybe he’s exemplary of what we need to do.”
With Travis back at second base and Darwin Barney earning regular playing time at shortstop, Ryan Goins is back on the bench. Still, Gibbons expects there will be times later this year when the Blue Jays turn to Goins for production.
“He’ll find his way back in there somehow,” Gibbons said. “There’ll be stretches where he’s playing a lot.”
ROTATION SHUFFLE: There’s more than one reason Marcus Stroman starts against the Boston Red Sox Saturday instead of Friday, as initially scheduled.
First of all, a an extra day here and there won’t hurt. He’s 25, has yet to pitch more than 130.2 big league innings in a season. He’s a vital part of the Blue Jays’ short- and long-term chances.
“We’re looking out for him,” Gibbons said.
But by bumping R.A. Dickey ahead of Stroman, the Blue Jays also ensure that Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, who are similar in pitching style if not in stature, don’t pitch in consecutive games. The Blue Jays’ rotation includes plenty of variety with Dickey’s knuckleball, Marco Estrada’s change-up and left-hander J.A. Happ. Splitting Stroman and Sanchez up forces opponents to adjust every game.
“It’s a different look,” pitching coach Pete Walker said. “Stroman and Sanchez (are) the closest two to having similar stuff. Ideally we’d like to have those guys broken up.”
Sanchez wouldn’t have pitched against the Red Sox regardless, but he and Stroman had both been scheduled to face the Detroit Tigers next week. By bumping Stroman’s Fenway Park start to Saturday, the Blue Jays make sure the Tigers see just one of their sinkerballers.
FACING THE BEST: R.A. Dickey’s been coming up aces this year. Consecutive starts against fellow 2012 Cy Young winner David Price are just the most recent examples of a year-long trend: Dickey has faced more than his share of elite starters.
Dickey has already faced Price, Chris Sale and Clayton Kershaw — easily three of the top left-handers in baseball (somehow he missed Madison Bumgarner in San Francisco, though he did appear in the game Bumgarner started as a pinch hitter). Throw in southpaws Drew Smyly and Martin Perez and it’s as if the baseball gods are conspiring against Josh Thole, Toronto’s left-handed hitting catcher, who went 0-4 Friday.
“Part of the job,” Thole says. Fair enough, but presumably not one of the most fun parts.
