Vote of confidence for ice-cold Morales
ST. PETERSBURG— For most big-league players, facing Tampa Bay Rays ace Chris Archer is no walk in the park.
Tuesday night’s starter has been particularly hard on Blue Jays players, with a 3.16 ERA through 23 starts.
But for Kendrys Morales, the 28-yearold’s presence on the mound is no worry. Upon arrival at Tropicana Field, the designated hitter was one of baseball’s best against the righthander, going 16-for-28 with three home runs and eight RBIs.
Fingers were crossed that Morales would have another one of those hot nights here, not only to help the Blue Jays on the night but to spur their slugger back into action. Morales is 7-for-44 in August, starting just12 of19 games this month. He went 1-for-4 in last night’s loss.
“He’s due to heat up, too,” manager John Gibbons said. “You sit for three days, basically one at-bat a day, that doesn’t help you either when you’re struggling. He needs some at-bats, I know that.”
This most recent slump comes in what has been a forgettable season for Morales, whose .242/.305/.438 slashline leaves something to be desired for the slugger.
The 34-year-old veteran’s -0.8 WAR makes him one of the worst everyday players in Major League Baseball, according to analytics website FanGraphs.
As the heir to Edwin Encarnacion’s role in the lineup, few have benefitted more from Justin Smoak’s career-high year than Morales, whose own shortcomings have been easily overshadowed by the first baseman.
Still, Morales has played 115 games in a Blue Jays uniform this year. While the likes of Steve Pearce, another candidate for designated hitter, and Ezequiel Carrera, who could replace Pearce at left field, are hitting .271 and .291 respectively, Gibbons has no plans to move Morales out of that everyday designated-hitter role.
“There may be a day here or there that Mo could use a day and one of those guys would benefit from that; it could be Jose (Bautista), it could be Josh (Donaldson), even (Smoak) could probably use a day and put Mo over there at first base but he’s our DH and he’ll play the majority of time in that spot,” Gibbons said.
“We brought him over here to do it every day. That’s when he’s going to be at his best.”
An alternative to getting those hot bats in the lineup is the new-look lineup the Blue Jays have rolled out over the past two games, with Donaldson at shortstop and Bautista at third base.
That leaves room to bring in the likes of Carrera and Nori Aoki, Toronto’s leadoff hitters on Sunday and Tuesday respectively, both of whom Gibbons has said possess the skill to spark the team’s offence.
“It just gives us a chance to get a different outfield look,” Gibbons said. “Give Zeke and Aoki a little more playing time. That could be a good thing, too.”
As for Donaldson in the shortstop role — he made his first start in that position on Sunday — Gibbons said the move is not a permanent one but the 31-year-old could pop up in the middle of the infield from time to time over the remaining six weeks of the regular season.
“Good-hitting shortstop. They’re harder to find than good-hitting first basemen,” Gibbons joked. “More money for Josh.”
Donaldson is not the first player who Gibbons has offered the shortstop role to this season. The manager said he also told catcher Russell Martin earlier this year that he would try to get the Canadian in a game at shortstop before the season came to a close. Martin has already played in the infield on multiple occasions this year, at third base.
Martin, who remains on the disabled list with an oblique strain, has been rehabbing in Florida. The regular catcher was in the visitors’ clubhouse catching up his teammates on Tuesday, but there is no indication when he’ll return.
“I don’t know how far, but he’s not ready to come back, I know that,” Gibbons said. “Those things can be touchy. If you don’t completely heal them up it can go again. That’s the problem.”