Overhauls are overrated, says been-there Smoak
Fourth-year Blue Jay sees no need for a major rebuild
Justin Smoak is in a good place these days. His wife Kristin, three-year-old daughter Sutton and baby girl Berkleigh recently joined him in Toronto from his home state of South Carolina.
Berkleigh was born earlier this spring and the family couldn’t travel for a few weeks. But now they’re all together.
So on the home front, Smoak is relaxed and content. On the work front, not so much.
What bothers the fourthyear Jay almost as much as losing is the idea that the Jays are said to be on the verge of a major rebuild.
There’s talk that some key veterans with expiring contracts — i.e. third baseman Josh Donaldson and lefty starter J.A. Happ — may get shipped out.
Smoak understands if the Jays don’t get back into contention soon, some moves have to be made. But a major rebuild is something he’s been part of before and he doesn’t think a major teardown is necessary or wise.
“I don’t think you totally have to rebuild. You got good pieces here,” Smoak said. “You got some young guys that are good coming up, so why would you want to tear it down?
“I’ve been part of a teardown in Seattle and we had a team of nothing but young guys and no veterans. And as a young guy coming up in that situation, it’s not easy because you don’t have too many guys that can help lead you,” Smoak continued.
“So you need those guys to help the new guys coming up. We have a good team, we just haven’t played how we should be playing. I don’t know. We win 10 in a row and then everybody is going to be saying something else.”
With their 8-6 victory over Washington on Sunday, the Jays have won three in a row and a sweep over the Nationals. Randal Grichuk went 3 for 3 on the day with two home runs and four runs batted in, including one on a bases-loaded walk, for Toronto (33-38), but he was overshawoded by his teammates’ late-game heroics.
“I’ve been a little more loose with my grip,” said Grichuk. “I’ve been able to be not as tense with my upper body, my forearms and shoulders, with that I think it’s allowed me to get to that fastball and not be too tight.”
Starting pitcher Sam Gaviglio struck out six and allowed three runs — two earned — over four innings. He left the ballpark immediately so he could fly to Washington state to be with his wife, who was giving birth to their first child.
Joe Biagini had two runs charged to him in 1 1/3 innings, while Seunghwan Oh and John Axford combined for 1 2/3 of scoreless relief. Tyler Clippard gave up a run in his 2/3 of an inning, followed by Ryan Tepera’s scoreless four outs. Tepera (4-2) earned the win.
Oh and Clippard both earned blown saves as Blue Jays manager John Gibbons tries to juggle a bullpen missing closer Roberto Osuna, who is still on administrative leave after he was charged with assault stemming from a domestic disturbance on May 8.