A year ago, he was all the rage. The one that Blue Jays’ fans flocked to spring training stadiums across Florida to see.
This training camp, it feels as if Brett Lawrie has been around for years.
A lot has happened to the 22-year-old third baseman, just entering his fourth professional season since the Brewers drafted the Langley, B.C., native 16th overall in the 2008 draft one slot ahead of the Blue Jays.
Originally drafted as a catcher, the Brewers decided his best route to the Majors was as a second baseman and, at 19, Lawrie made his pro debut in the Midwest League (A) with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, based in the booming metropolis of Appleton, WI.
He posted a solid .802 OPS in 105 games and then played 13 more contests at the end of the season with Huntsville (AA). That is where he spent the entire 2010 season and was one of just four 20-year-olds in the league, along with Marlins’ star Giancarlo “Mike” Stanton. Lawrie finished at .285/.346/.451 with 30 stolen bases, was named to his second Futures Game and was a Southern League All-Star.
Then came a bump in his road to the bigs.
The Brewers had requested that Lawrie play in the Arizona Fall League (AFL), a late fall showcase of the top minor league prospects in the game. After playing a full double-A season, Lawrie asked out and the whispers started that perhaps the young Canadian had attitude issues.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee was looking to upgrade their rotation and strike while the N.L. Central was “average”. And upgrade they did, first sending Lawrie to the Blue Jays in return for their Opening Day starter Shaun Marcum, just coming into his own as a MLB starter. Then, 13 days later, they landed 2009 A.L. Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke in a six-player deal that cost them another top prospect, outfielder Lorenzo Cain.
The Brewers’ Canadian-run front office of general manager Doug Melvin and his pony pal Gord Ash were clearly in the mood to trade “what might be” for “what already is”. While Cain has been slow to start his MLB career, appearing just six games in 2011 with the Royals, Lawrie was slowed by a pair of injuries to his hands – his left hand broken in AAA and his right middle finger fractured with a week left in the 2011 season.
His Blue Jays arrival on the first Friday night of August set the tone for the rest of the season. An RBI single in his first Major League at-bat, two hits in the game and then, in the series closer on Sunday, his first MLB homer– a bomb to right-centre off Baltimore’s Alfredo Simon.
Lawrie then gave Blue Jays fans an indication of just how jacked-up he really is when, three days later, he launched his first career grand slam at Rogers Centre.
After he flew around the bases, Lawrie fired his helmet to the dugout floor, letting out a howl. It turned out to be the highlight of season, just nipping his walk-off solo homer in the 11th against the Red Sox which culminated with him flying into his surrounding teammates a la Michael Jordan.
Moments like these, especially within a small amount of time, can put a young athlete in this age of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on the minds of many.
It was interesting, as I continue to shake off my winter rust, doing research for Sportsnet’s first spring telecast (March 18 at 1:00 p.m. ET vs. the Phillies) how much is being written about Lawrie outside of the Toronto media.
He was named the Blue Jays’ “Breakout Player” in USA Today’s baseball preview magazine. Athlon Sports declared him a “future franchise cornerstone” in their 2012 preview edition. Comparisons are being made on Lawrie to reigning N.L. MVP Ryan Braun, who also came up through the Brewers chain and also had to go through a position change.
And then the on-line ‘Bleacher Report’ ranked Lawrie 98th on their top 100 players in the game right now list. That’s pretty high praise for a player that never plays on national television in the U.S., and only has 43 games of Major League experience.
It appears that hiding out in a baseball outpost like Toronto is no longer an option. Just ask Jose Bautista, ranked fourth on that same list.