BAUTISTA BUYING IN
Jay likes addition of Morales
There’s no actual team choir at the Toronto Blue Jays training facility, but Jose Bautista joined the chorus on Friday of guys singing the praises of new DH/first baseman Kendrys Morales.
To a man, the Jays believe the former Kansas City Royals and Los Angeles Angels star will thrive at the Rogers Centre, considered one of the best hitters’ parks in the American League, and his presence will take away a lot of the sting of losing Edwin Encarnacion to free agency.
“Time will tell, but I think he’s a tremendous hitter,” Bautista said in his first media scrum of spring training. “I’ve played against him for a number of years and I’ve played against him in winter ball a great amount and I know how good of a player he has been and is and will continue hopefully to be if he remains healthy. And I’m happy to have him in my lineup and to see what he can do at this stage.”
The 33-year-old Morales hit 22 and 30 home runs (and 106 and 93 RBI) in the last two years with the Royals playing home games at a park (Kauffman Stadium) that yielded the second-fewest home runs (155) in the AL last season. Only Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum was stingier in terms of giving up homers (149). On average, 1.91 home runs were hit at Kauffman Stadium per game in 2016 compared to 2.51 at Rogers Centre.
There’s talk that if Morales can stay healthy, he can put up career numbers this season in a number of offensive categories, including home runs. His high is 34, for the Angels in 2009.
Bautista also believes having the luxury of a switch-hitter like Morales in the lineup will force some teams to change how they use their bullpen against the Jays, a lineup that featured predominately righthanded hitters last season.
“With some teams it definitely will,” said Bautista, who signed a one-year US$18-million contract with the Jays, a contract that includes a $17-million mutual option for 2018, as well as a $20-million vesting option for 2019.
“Some other teams are going to their go-to guys regardless of who’s at the plate,” Bautista added. “But more importantly, because of the quality of the switch hitter and not just because he’s a switch hitter, I think that will play into how some managers manage their bullpen.”
Bautista arrived at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium on Thursday to a resounding welcome as teammates rushed over to greet him. Manager John Gibbons said he expects a big year from the six-time all-star, whose numbers dipped last season after he was put on the disabled list twice, the result of two freakish injuries (a toe injury running into a wall and a knee injury on a routine throw to the infield).
“I mean, I was trying to make baseball plays both times and one I ran into the wall, the other one my cleat got caught in the turf. I can’t explain it,” he said. “Any other day in July, I could have been just running down to first and tripped over myself and maybe hurt myself worse. Those kinds of things are bound to happen to anybody on the field, it’s just unfortunate that it happened to me.”
Bautista also went to Gibbons at one point during the season when the Jays were struggling and volunteered to bat leadoff. That gave the team a kick-start, but the move likely brought down his RBI numbers. In 116 games, he hit 22 home runs with 69 RBIs and did not get the huge multi-year deal he was hoping for in free agency. But Bautista said he’ll do the same thing this year if need be.
“I’ll do whatever it takes to win,” he said. “I’ve proven that not only last year but throughout my career with just trying to do what the manager thinks is best and playing whatever position needs to be played.
“If things need to be shaken up, I don’t mind being the guy that gets sacrificed and moved around a little bit. If that plays into what the team believes is our best opportunity to win on any given night, I’m going to do that because I just like to win. And if being a trooper and taking the hit for the guys is something that I need to do from time to time, I don’t mind doing it.”
Bautista will kickstart his season by playing for the Dominican Republic in next month’s World Baseball Classic. The team plays in Pool C in Miami against Canada, the United States and Colombia.