TORONTO — As the Toronto Blue Jays took on the Seattle Mariners in the American League Championship Series last fall, Arjun Nimmala and the other prospects at a developmental camp in Dunedin, Fla., gathered in their hotel rooms to watch the games at night.
George Springer’s dramatic Game 7 home run turned into a lasting memory.
“Different TVs have different delays,” recalled Nimmala, who was watching with Sam White, Owen Gregg, Tim Piasentin and Jake Cook. “I remember Springer's homer in the championship series … everyone's going crazy and our room's a little delayed, and we're like what just happened? And then we see Springer's homer, the entire hotel's just shaking, everyone's screaming. That was a very, very cool moment.”
No doubt his experience underlines the wide impact made by Springer’s drive, which was commemorated with a bobblehead giveaway Friday night as the Blue Jays beat the Minnesota Twins 10-4. Despite cold, wet weather, fans began lining up in the morning to ensure they received one upon entry, and hours before it had even been handed out, it was already being resold online for up to $195.
Since that two-run homer in the seventh inning of a 4-3 win Oct. 20, Springer’s heard countless stories about where various people were when he helped send the Blue Jays to the World Series.
The way Blue Jays prospects celebrated resonated with him.
“It's all special,” he said. “I've been a part of that before where you're watching the major-league team play and you think it’s awesome. Even though I was in the minor-leagues in '12 and '13 (when the Houston Astros, his original club, lost 107 and 111 games), you're getting updates on the major-league team and all that stuff. For me, individually, obviously it's a very cool moment in my life and in my career, one that I'll never forget. And I don't think I'll probably truly understand it until I stop playing and have time to sit back.
“But it's just a huge moment for us as an organization.”
During spring training, several Blue Jays minor-leaguers in big-league camp made a point of asking him about the at-bat, “not necessarily what that was like, more of what the moment is, what was I thinking in that moment and how I go about certain things,” he explained. “It's cool to go back and forth and have that kind of conversation with guys I hope are one day in the same spot as me.”
Springer’s answers to them about how to handle such situations are telling of his approach, his mindset.
“It's a culmination of everything, right?” he explained. “In the regular season, you find yourself in those moments at times, obviously not as magnified, not as Game 7-like, but throughout the course of 162 you'll hopefully be in that spot and you have to go through it to figure it out. There's no substitute for experience. It's what everybody always says: You've got to control your heart rate, you've got to slow down, you've got to try to enjoy the moment. Because those are ultimately the moments that you dream about as a kid.”
Rotation rehab
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said he received “very good reports” on Trey Yesavage’s rehab outing with low-A Dunedin on Thursday, when he threw 52 pitches in 2.2 innings and struck out six.
Yesavage, returning from a shoulder impingement, touched 96.1 m.p.h. and his fastball averaged 94.7, both in line where they should be, while getting 10 misses on 20 swings as St. Lucie pushed across four runs on four hits and a walk.
That sets him up for an outing in the middle of next week, level-to-be-determined, in part based on weather with the goal of “at least 70 pitches and see where he goes after that.”
“I don't really mind where or who he pitches against,” added Schneider. “Kind of want to just see him do what he did (Thursday) again.”
If all goes to plan, the Blue Jays could consider returning him to the majors at that point, or have him make one additional rehab outing, keeping the situation with the big-league club in mind.
Jose Berrios, working his way back from a stress fracture in his elbow, threw two innings of live batting practice Friday and was up to 94-95, said Schneider, and his next outing will be in a minor-league game next week. He’ll likely begin at 50 pitches.
Shane Bieber (foreram fatigue) and Yimi Garcia (elbow) are both slated to throw bullpens Saturday as they work their way up to game action.
Corbin connection
Thanks to Max Scherzer, Patrick Corbin knew plenty about the Blue Jays before they came calling once Cody Ponce suffered his season-ending knee injury, so the veteran lefty didn’t need to check in with his old Nationals teammate before signing.
“Our wives were talking, but there was some contractual stuff that I just left for him, we really didn't have to talk too much,” Scherzer said laughing. “But I didn't have to because of how much we talked in the off-season, how much I talked to him about Toronto and how much we loved it here. We're good friends. We live in Jupiter together, we have kids of similar ages, backyard-pool parties throughout the whole off-season. I've already had those conversations about what Toronto is like.”
The lefty made his Blue Jays debut Friday, allowing four runs in four innings while throwing 85 pitches in his second outing of the season. His first game came last Saturday with low-A Dunedin, allowing an unearned run in five innings while throwing 74 pitches, a quickie build up necessitated by the Ponce injury.
The 36-year-old is one of only four pitchers to have made 30 or more starts in each of the last five seasons, new teammates Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman and Jose Berrios being the others.
“He can fill a role for us,” said Scherzer. “He can help us win a ballgame. It's going to be great to have him in here, great to be back with him."
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