‘Of course I’d like to stay here’
Rumours swirl around Jays reliever Joe Smith, but he wants to stay
Reliever Joe Smith, one of the players who has been rumoured to be highly sought after and possibly on the trading block, has made it known that if he has his way, he’d like to stay with the Blue Jays for at least the rest of the season.
“Of course I’d like to stay here,” said the side-winding righty. “I love the people here, the guys in the clubhouse are unbelievable, the organization has treated me unbelievable, they’ve actually helped me a ton going back to spring training and getting my body just to be able to move the way I have been and help me get back and have a bounce back year so to speak.
“I enjoy it here. I enjoy Gibby (manager John Gibbons) and (pitching coaches) Pete (Walker) and Dane (Johnson) and everybody here,” he added. “It’s a good environment. Obviously, I wish the season was going a bit different, but it’s kind of how baseball goes.”
Smith signed a one-year, $3-million contract with the Jays in the off-season and became the club’s set-up man. He was put on the DL on June 19 with shoulder inflammation and recently returned, though he Gibbons said he isn’t quite ready to start throwing every day in the set-up role. That job has gone to Ryan Tepera and Joe Biagini for now. Once Smith is 100 per cent he’ll assume the set-up role again for closer Roberto Osuna. He has been a major contributor out of the bullpen for the Jays this year, and is 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA.
“Right now I’m just worried about getting back on the mound and feeling back to where I was before I came off the DL,” said Smith. “I feel like we’re going in the right direction and I feel better every time and try to concentrate on that.”
Gibbons wants production
Gibbons isn’t ruling out his team going on a major run and possibly getting back in the wild card race.
“Everybody’s got to contribute,” he said. “You need them all. We’ve painted ourselves in a corner. We really haven’t had that streak. But they all got to pitch in. It’s all got to come together. It’s been kind of sporadic (this season.)”
The manager acknowledged that his club has to tighten up defensively to go on a sustained run.
“We’ve had some rough games ... surprisingly,” Gibbons said of his team’s defence. “But, we’ve also played some pretty good defence. But that was one of our trademarks the last couple of years. We’re fully capable of playing really good defence.”
Love for Morales
Gibbons doesn’t feel that it’s fair that many Jays fans compare Kendrys Morales’ stats with those of former Jay Edwin Encarnacion, who signed with Cleveland in the off-season. After getting off the a slow start, Encarnacion has hit 21 home runs with an OBP .377 and 59 RBI. Morales, his quasi replacement, has a OBP of .308 with 17 homers and 53 RBI. The numbers are close, but Morales seems to be a fan target for their frustrations.
“You can’t point fingers at anybody (for our record,)” said Gibbons. “We haven’t played good enough as a team. But he’s dangerous. I think the longer he’s here, the better he’s going to be.
“He’s been streaky,” Gibbons added. “Any time you come into a new place it takes a while to settle in. I don’t care how long you’ve been in the league, you see it all the time. But, he’s had some big hits along way for us too.”
Trade rumours
The Kansas City Royals are reportedly “in talks” with the Jays on Francisco Liriano, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Kansas City has been rumoured to be looking at starters even after striking a deal to add Trevor Cahill from the Padres. The club may also have some interest in Toronto Marco Estrada according to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation. Liriano, 33, has struggled for much of 2017, going 6-5 with a 5.99 ERA, but looked good in his start on Monday against the A’s, firing five innings of two-run ball to beat Oakland.
Around the diamond
Jose Bautista, 36, played in his 101st game for the Jays on Wednesday night for the Jays (tied for most in MLB) and is one of nine players to have played in each of his team’s games this year ... Former Jay Rajai Davis leads the AL with nine stolen bases in the month of July. He has 135 career stolen bases as an Oakland Athletic, which ties Jose Canseco (another former Jay) for seventh place on the A’s career stolen base list ... Oakland slugger Khris Davis ranks third in the AL with 28 homers and leads the Majors in home runs off right-handed pitchers (28.)