TORONTO – There was always going to be some steadfastness needed from the Toronto Blue Jays in opening the season with six rookies. Given how rarely kids reach the big-leagues and enjoy a linear upward trajectory in their careers, growing pains are more rule than exception.
The Mike Trouts of the world are so very special for a reason.
All of which makes this a crucial time for the Blue Jays and some of their struggling kids, since it’s in times of adversity that teams get a better read on their youngsters. Sure, you can ball when things are rolling, but what about when they’re not?
In that regard, Dalton Pompey’s rebound performance in Tuesday night’s 13-6 slap-around of the Baltimore Orioles that included the latest instalment of Jose-Bautista-vs-the-Birds carried an importance beyond the final result.
The Blue Jays have some safety nets in their offence – which delivered a season high in runs – and in Mark Buehrle – solid over six innings while his hitters hammered away – but they need their kids to be OK.
Pompey, who bared his soul after a defensive miscue Sunday led to three runs in a 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, was more than that in collecting three hits and a walk with three runs scored, plus a strong defensive play that helped nab Chris Davis at home trying to score on an Adam Jones double.
It was precisely the type of response the Blue Jays were looking for.
"You understand that it’s going to happen," manager John Gibbons said before the game, speaking about all his young players. "And it really comes down to how they deal with it. Does it get to them? Does it weigh on them, and start affecting games, or outing after outing? That’s kind of what to look for. When you commit to them, you’ve got to give them a legitimate shot. If we didn’t think they were good enough to play here, they wouldn’t be here."
Later, he added: "There’s so many of them, you really can’t expect them all to be good all the time."
Pompey entered the game batting .188, too, which only compounded matters. He’s up to .231 now, his mind clearer after a day off to reset himself.
"I just tried to let go of the past, I can’t control it anymore, just tried to learn from it and move forward," said Pompey. "I feel like (Sunday) changed my career, it made me want to lock in for every single pitch, every single play, whether it’s on offence or defence, just try to help my team out in the best way I can, just kind of take the pressure off myself, be a team guy and do the things I need to do to help this team win."
Meanwhile, Daniel Norris, who didn’t look himself Sunday, has had consecutive rough outings and underwent an MRI to ensure a period of "dead arm," he described was just that. It was.
And the conversation around how to get the most out of Aaron Sanchez continues.
Everybody knows the pressures the Blue Jays are under right now – there’s only so much room for patience. So everything is being observed and monitored carefully.
"It’s the mental side of it and how they deal with failure," said Gibbons. "You know that going in. But until there’s some games under their belt, you’re guessing. You never know for sure how they’re going to react. And then in due time, you make your decisions. If you think they can handle it, you just keep them here to weather the storm. If you think they need to go down and regroup, you do that too. The majority of the guys in this game, after they get called up the first time, most of them – I don’t know the numbers – end up going back down a time or two. That’s just kind of the way the game works. So we’ll see. But that takes a little time to determine."
What doesn’t take time to determine is the growing rivalry between the Blue Jays and Orioles, centred around Bautista.
The Blue Jays slugger, who responded to a pitch behind him from Darren O’Day with an eighth-inning homer April 12, had to duck out of the way from another fastball, this one from Jason Garcia in the seventh inning.
Bautista glowered at Garcia, both benches were warned and Gibbons came out to complain to home-plate umpire Mark Carlson. Then Bautista lined his fourth homer of the season over the wall in left-centre, stood and admired it on its way out, flipped his bat and proceeded to circle the bases.
"I’m an emotional player, I play with a lot of passion, you throw at me, I’m not going to forget," said Bautista. "If I get you right after then I’m going to enjoy it. And I did. I’ve got no regrets about it."
As he rounded first, Steve Pearce had some words for him, and Ryan Flaherty piled on as he circled second. Once Bautista stepped on home, he stared into the Orioles dugout, before turning away.
The conversation picked up again as Bautista ran to right field for the top of the eighth, with umpires intervening to make sure trouble didn’t brew. Bautista then tried to throw out Delmon Young at first base on a single to right, his agitation and anger obvious in the aggressive way he charged the ball.
"For a team that complains and whines so much about when their guys get pitched inside, they should manage their pitching a little bit better," said Bautista.
Countered Orioles manager Buck Showalter: "Our guys know the reality of what went on with the young kid, but you can understand their player being upset. I think our guys were more upset that he just didn’t run around the bases and make your point by hitting the ball hard off of him, which I’m sure that he’s hit a lot of home runs off of 22-year-old rookies."
Playing with such fire is a Bautista speciality, of course, something he’s learned to manage and channel over the years. His younger teammates, meanwhile, are learning to manage everything right now, and Tuesday there was an up that followed a down.