TORONTO – For most of the night, Tuesday’s game against the San Francisco Giants was all about the return of Kevin Pillar.
In his first trip to Toronto as an opposing player, Pillar got lots of love from his former fans. They cheered him from the moment he set foot on the field, stood as a video tribute played and called his name all night long. It was a much-deserved show of respect for a 32nd-round draft pick who turned himself into an elite defensive centre fielder before getting traded earlier in the month.
So as the Giants hit home run after home run against the Blue Jays’ pitching staff, it seemed likely that this game would be remembered only for Pillar’s return.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, that changed. With the bases loaded and one out, Rowdy Tellez crushed a Tony Watson fastball over the centre field wall for his first career grand slam. The Giants still prevailed, 7-6, but not before Tellez made an impression with a big swing.
“You never see me smile after a loss, but that was pretty cool,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “That’s what I was thinking on the bench the whole time: ‘wow, we don’t quit.’”
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Tellez’s continued production represents a positive for the Blue Jays, who traded away the likes of Pillar and Kendrys Morales to get longer looks at their young players.
The home run, Tellez’s fifth of the year, gives him a stellar .259/.333/.552 batting line 20 games into the season. It’s still a relatively small sample, but to his credit, the 24-year-old has only ever hit at the major-league level, even as pitchers have started adjusting to him.
“It’s major-league baseball,” Tellez said. “It’s the toughest sport to play. We’re the best athletes at what we do. It’s their job to get me out, and it’s my job to get hits. So they’re going to adjust. I guarantee that tomorrow I’m not going to see that same sequence.”
Adding to the significance of the slam, it was Tellez’s first lefty-on-lefty homer as a big-leaguer.
“He’s got power. Every at bat he’s got the chance to hit the ball out,” Montoyo said. “That’s why we left him in against the lefty. He’s been swinging the bat good.”
Eric Sogard also homered for the Blue Jays, while Socrates Brito collected his first extra-base hit with Toronto, a triple. Later in the game, Freddy Galvis pinch hit to extend his MLB-best consecutive games played streak to 349. All things considered, the Blue Jays have been hitting far better of late, with at least five runs scored in five consecutive games.
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The pitching staff looks more vulnerable than before, however, with Matt Shoemaker out for the year and recurrent finger issues for Aaron Sanchez. While the Blue Jays expect Sanchez to make his start Saturday, there are no guarantees on that front since he left his last start due to a broken nail.
Off days on Thursday and Monday will allow the Blue Jays to roll with a four-man rotation for now, but there’s less room for error than before. In that context, Trent Thornton’s now a necessity rather than a luxury.
Facing the Giants Tuesday, Thornton went five innings while allowing four runs on a day he threw nearly as many curves as fastballs. Afterwards, both Thornton and Montoyo indicated that balance could tilt more toward heaters going forward.
“I want him to be more aggressive with the fastball,” Montoyo said. “He was a little more today, but not as much as we want him to.
All things considered, it was a still respectable outing for the right-hander, just not at the level of his first two starts of the season.
Eventually, reinforcements could arrive, yet their arrival isn’t imminent. Ryan Borucki (elbow) will be re-evaluated Friday after a period of rest, Clayton Richard (right knee) will throw his first bullpen session over the weekend and Julian Merryweather (elbow) could be pitching in games before long.
In the meantime, the Blue Jays will continue patching things together on the pitching side and hoping that the likes of Tellez can sustain the lineups recent hot streak.
After the game, Tellez acknowledged some satisfaction at putting together a good at bat against a lefty, but ultimately described his grand slam as ‘meaningless.’ Presumably the Blue Jays’ coaching staff and front office would disagree.
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