BALTIMORE – In the top of the ninth inning, after a one-out Luke Maile single, the tying run came up to the plate for the Toronto Blue Jays and in place of Gift Ngoepe, manager John Gibbons sent up pinch-hitter Devon Travis.
Under ordinary circumstances, it’s the right move and includes defensive congruence. But Wednesday night, the decision was anything but clear cut since also sitting on the bench was Josh Donaldson, the MVP-calibre third baseman who like Travis and Russell Martin, was given the day off.
The obvious question, then, was why Travis and not Donaldson in that spot? Was Donaldson not available?
“If I had wanted to use him I would have used him,” replied Gibbons.
OK, why wouldn’t you want to use Donaldson?
“I chose not to,” countered Gibbons. “Manager’s prerogative.”
Earlier in the day Gibbons said resting Donaldson ahead of an off-day would help to “keep him strong,” and the slugger explained more of the rationale after the Blue Jays dropped a 5-3 decision to the Baltimore Orioles that prevented a three-game sweep (Travis, by the way, lined out to left field for the second out).
By pairing a rest day with an off-day, Donaldson said, he could really maximize the recuperation time with the aim of coming back stronger Friday for the opener of a three-game series in Cleveland. And while some were surprised not to see him pinch hit in the ninth, it made sense to him given that even for a single at-bat, he would have needed to prepare his body given the weather, which was a cool 9 C or so by the ninth inning.
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“I don’t want to say the weather had something to do with it, but it’s one of those things where you get me going and now if I’m getting ready for a game, I might as well have played it, you know what I mean?” explained Donaldson. “It’s not like I can just get off the bench and go out there.”
Donaldson continues to work on strengthening and rebuilding mobility in his right shoulder after experiencing what the team described as “a dead-arm” period at the beginning of the season. He had one assist at third base Tuesday, his throw effective but lacking his normal zip, and he said since returning to the field April 3 with his arm at 85-90 per cent, his progress has plateaued.
“It’s the same,” Donaldson said. “There hasn’t been any regression but it hasn’t drastically improved where I feel 100 per cent about it.”
As for pinch-hitting in the ninth, well, that would have defeated the purpose of the rest day.
“That’s the whole deal,” he said. “If I’m out there playing, I’m not really getting the chance to rest.”
Here are some other talking points from the Blue Jays’ loss Wednesday:
• Marco Estrada started off strong with three innings of no-hit ball, a Chance Sisco walk with two out in the third the only blemish against him. Then he proceeded to give up four runs on six hits and two more walks over the next inning-plus, a tab that would have been far worse if not for Danny Barnes’s wizardry (more on that later). What happened? “I had a little something pop up but it wasn’t a big deal,” said Estrada. “I don’t know what happened – lower back got me a little bit today and I don’t know if it’s the cold or what, but it spasmed up a little bit and I was struggling to follow through on certain pitches and obviously got hit around. When I’m missing like that, you get hit. But it’s nothing major, it’s something small, get a little treatment on it and I’ll be fine for the next one.”
• The right-hander experienced back problems in 2016 but avoided any major outbreaks last year. He didn’t want to use it as an excuse. “It started early and got worse as the game went on. Whatever, it wasn’t a big deal, I just wasn’t making pitches,” said Estrada. “I was fine today going in, I don’t really know what happened, it’s one of those things. It wasn’t a big deal, it was more me missing with my pitches, leaving a few changeups up and I got hit. Unfortunate, but I’ll be ready to go for the next one.
• The damage Wednesday: Back-to-back doubles by Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop to erase a 1-0 lead in the fourth, followed by a Chris Davis RBI single and Tim Beckham’s sacrifice fly. After the Blue Jays pulled to 3-2 on a Yangervis Solarte RBI single in the fifth, things really went off the rails for Estrada, helped along by a Machado single on a fly ball down the right field line that nicked off a diving Randal Grichuk’s glove and was initially ruled foul. The Orioles challenged and the play was overturned loading the bases, and Schoop followed with an RBI single that made it 4-2. That’s when Barnes got the call, after Estrada, at four-plus innings, recorded the shortest Blue Jays start of the year.
• About Barnes. As a service to you, our valued readers, we’ll skip the intricate details of how run expectancy is calculated, although if you’re determined to read up about it, an explanation can be found here. What’s important for you to know for the purposes of our conversation here is that when the bases are loaded and nobody is out, the run expectancy is just about 2.3. So when Barnes took over from Estrada with the bases loaded and Adam Jones up, the likelihood was that the deficit would grow substantially. “In the minor-leagues, coaches always tell you if you come in bases loaded, no one out and you give up one run, you did a great job. Two is OK, and you obviously don’t want to cash them all in. I think if you can get out of it at one run, that’s pretty good managing that situation.” Well, Barnes, a Princeton grad who majored in economics, one-upped himself, using strike outs of both Jones and Pedro Alvarez before a long and loud Chris Davis flyout to centre field equalled a zero and kept the game within reach. “Especially with the bases loaded, you can’t be afraid to challenge people,” said Barnes. “If you fall behind in the count early, especially with nobody out, things can really spiral out of control. When you’re coming in, you’re going after them with your best pitch, try to get ahead, and then you can start fooling them a little bit.”
• Aledmys Diaz hit his third homer of the season and five of his seven hits this season have gone for extra bases (three homers, two doubles). The drive in the sixth pulled the Blue Jays to within 4-3, but John Axford got bled for a run in the bottom half.
• Travis and Martin were both off on the Blue Jays’ two games on, one off plan.
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