Jays’ Pompey eyeing 2017 breakthrough

HOMETOWN KID

with the Jays after playing 34 with the big team in 2015. He was the opening day centre-fielder two years ago. In the off-season the Jays picked up yet another outfielder in Steve Pearce, so it’s not getting any easier to crack the lineup.

“We gave him an opportunity so quickly and he had a tough time with it,” said Gibbons. “(But) we think he’s going to have a great career. He just needs to go out there and play and not worry about anything else. Because he’s got a ton of talent. He’s really got everything he needs to be really, really good.” There’s always friends and families there. Sometimes it’s a distraction I wish I didn’t have. But I’ve kind of got used to it. This will be my fourth year with the (big) team, so it’s just something you become accustomed to and I’ve learned to deal with.”

Pompey, who hit .270 with a .349 OBP, four home runs and 18 stolen bases in Buffalo last year, said it depends on the day whether being the hometown guy is good or bad.

“One day I could be like, ‘Man, this is amazing and I’m getting so much love from people’. And other days it’s, ‘Man, I wish I played for another team because there’s just so much attention brought to myself.’

“But I feel like I’m ready (to step up),” he continued. “I’m going to be ready and that’s what I’ve been preparing myself for, preparing myself for that moment and just take a hold of it. All I can control is getting myself ready, sticking to my routine, sticking to the stuff that makes me successful and just going out there and competing and that’s what I plan on doing.”

Pompey is hoping that playing for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic will give his season a jump start. Canada opens the tournament on March 9 in Miami against the Dominican Republic.

“The experience is going to be great for me,” said Pompey. “I competed for Team Canada when I was a junior. I remember going to the WBC in ’09 and thinking, ‘Man, this is something I want to play in some day.’ And now I get the opportunity to do that. To get that energy early (in the season) I definitely think is going to be a key for me throughout the whole year.”