It's never a bad idea to change things up during a slump.
Seems the Toronto Blue Jays had that idea on Tuesday night.
After a three-run home run from a very unlikely source — Jonatan Clase — in the second inning gave the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead on the San Francisco Giants, the left-fielder showcased a new post-homer celebration.
Clase was given a stuffed dragon toy on a stick in the dugout, which the Blue Jays called a 'home run dragon' in a post on X.
He also wore the red home run jacket normally worn on Canada Day after belting his first home run of the season.
"I knew it was in the cage before the game. It was kind of just sitting there with Vlad (Guerrero Jr. and Valey (Brandon Valenzuela)," Blue Jays manager John Schneider said after the team's 9-3 win. They were kind of petting it. And then George (Springer) brought it out for the homer, so you've got to go ask those guys about it. But yeah, stuffed dragon, good."
Sportsnet's Hazel Mae reported after the game that the idea for the dragon came from hitting coach David Popkins with the idea that it represented "fearlessness."
Assistant hitting coach Cody Atkinson found a toy store before the game and purchased a dragon puppet for batting cages and a dragon toy for use everywhere else.
Clase was playing in just his second game and making his first start of the season with the major-league club after he was recalled from triple-A Buffalo on July 1.
You can't blame the Blue Jays for trying something different.
A single swing by Clase matched the Blue Jays' run total from the first four games on the current road trip.
The Blue Jays were on a 29.2-inning scoreless streak before Kazuma Okamoto hit a solo home run in the sixth inning of a 10-1 loss to the Giants on Monday.
That hit prevented the Blue Jays from possibly matching or breaking the club record of 32 innings without a run set in 1981.
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