‘Now it’s my turn to come out and do what I can do’
New Jays slugger Morales confident he can make up for Encarnacion
DUNEDIN, Fla. — Perhaps it’s just the sights and sounds of spring training after a long winter away from baseball that heighten the feeling.
Or maybe it’s the intrigue of his arrival with the Blue Jays and the uncertainty of just how much of the Edwin Encarnacion hole he will refill.
But you can say this about new Jays cleanup hitter Kendrys Morales: When his bat hits ball you know it.
As unfair as the comparisons between the newest big Jays bat and the popular slugger he’s paid well to replace, Morales knows what he’s walking into. He’s also confident he can hit for power and help an offence that last year slipped to fifth in the American League in runs scored return to the booming form of 2015.
“I don’t feel any pressure,” Morales said through an interpreter prior to Friday’s Grapefruit League meeting with the New York Yankees. “Edwin is a great hitter and a guy who hits for power and he did his job here. He did great here. Now it’s my turn to come out and do what I can do.
“I don’t think about that. I just think about doing my job and if it doesn’t go well, I’m just going to have to work harder.”
So far, his teammates have been quietly impressed with Morales approach. They see the talent and have had a sniff of power he brings. And they see a veteran player keen to subtly fit in with his latest major league team.
Making his fourth spring training appearance here on Friday, Morales had a strikeout and was hit by a pitch before retiring for the afternoon. But in nine plate appearances so far, he has four hits — two for extras — including a homer.
With a second consecutive single-home run afternoon, the way Jose Bautista is hitting in front of him in the likely Jays batting order, there should be plenty of opportunities for Morales to cash in runs.
“I think his character and type of person he is walking around the clubhouse … he draws respect,” Jays infielder Darwin Barney said of the early read on Morales. “He’s been around the game and baseball wise he’s just one of those guys that he’s just got the gift … he can hit.
“It hasn’t been that long. That’s just early impressions.”
The full evaluation on the 33-year-old native of Fomento, Cuba, won’t have measurable relevance until a couple of months into the season. Already, however, there is reason for optimism that he’ll cover at least a chunk of the EE void.
The switch-hitting component Morales brings to the plate is one, a welcome bit of diversity for the Toronto offence. And then there’s the salivation of pounding the ball at hitter friendly Rogers Centre and others in the slugging ready confines of the AL East.
While Morales will appreciate being sprung from Kansas City’s sprawling Kauffman Stadium, where he spent the previous two seasons, he isn’t following into the trap of assuming a bump in his power numbers is automatic. under enough pressure to begin in Toronto. He told close friends and family.
“The hardest thing for me was to keep my mouth shut,” said Granato. “I wanted to talk about how great this kid was but I never thought it would be fair to put that on the kid. That’s added expectations. So I bit my tongue a lot.
“I remember calling (my brother) Tony and I said ‘I have a kid who’s going to be the next Crosby.’
“And he said ‘Are you out of your mind? You’ve only had him for 10 days.’
“And I said ‘This one’s different. Believe me.’ ”
Marc Crawford coached Matthews at Zurich of the Swiss League. He knew Matthews was going to be a good-to-great NHL player. But like Granato, he didn’t want to put additional pressure on Matthews.
“I was convinced of it when I watched him in the world championships and I saw John Hynes play him as his first-line centre,” said the Ottawa Senators associate coach. “He did exactly with the U.S. team what he’s doing in Toronto. To me, he’s right there with McDavid. When you’re in the position he’s in, you’re playing against the top centre, you’re playing against the best defenders. That doesn’t phase Auston. He welcomes it.”
Pierre McGuire, the NBC broadcaster, was having a conversation recently with Mario Lemieux, who asked him about Matthews.
“I told him ‘There’s a Mario Lemieux cool to his game.’ And Mario just smiled. Not a lot of kids have the ability to not get rattled by anything. Jaromir (Jagr) was moody and temperamental when he was a kid. Sidney (Crosby) would get angry and frustrated. You’d see the same sometimes from Malkin. You don’t see that from Auston.
“I have amazing respect for the way he carries himself as a person, the way he plays and with the consistent growth. I think we’re all a little amazed by what he’s doing. And this is just the beginning.”
“You still have to hit the ball hard,” Morales said. “In any park that’s hitter friendly, you’ve still got to go out there and put the work in and hit the ball hard to have a good season. You can’t get too confident because your playing in the AL East.”
Without saying as much, it’s clear that Morales has some unfinished business in his career. And if general manager Ross Atkins and the rest of the Jays braintrust gambled correctly, he could be trending upwards.
The loudest season in his career came back in 2009, a 34 home-run campaign with the Angels. But when he broke his ankle in a freak accident after a home-run celebration 51 games into the next season, fortunes turned for Morales.
He missed the rest of the 2010 season and all of 2011 and it took some time for the power to come around. A 30-homer effort last season was a formidable show of strength, however and enough to earn him the three-year, $33-million deal from the Jays.
“Of course it was really hard after I got hurt, not playing for two seasons but I think I’ve been pretty consistent since then,” Morales said. “I always just try to work hard every time I go out there.
“I feel great now. I feel comfortable. I feel confidence. And I think it’s going to go well.”
So far so good, with the asterisk of it being early March. But there was another moment away from the field earlier this week that impressed manager John Gibbons. When the team played a road game in Bradenton on the weekend — a trip light on veterans — Morales didn’t utter a peep when his name was on the travel list.
“He’s really a professional hitter,” Gibbons said. “He’s not just out there slugging.. I think that’s really going to help us out. He’s a student of the game. He’s always watching. He was more than happy to hop on a bus and go to Bradenton the other day. That’s kind of rare.
“There’s something different about him. He’s a baseball guy.”