Outfield pieces fall into place
Roster comes into focus with Granderson deal done and Grichuk eager to play
The Blue Jays’ new-look outfield officially took shape on Tuesday, with the club confirming the signing of veteran Curtis Granderson just days after announcing it had traded for Randal Grichuk from the St. Louis Cardinals.
The addition of Granderson, who inked a one-year deal worth $5 million (U.S.) with Toronto, means the Blue Jays now have nine outfielders on their 40-man roster. The free agent has been billed as part of platoon in left field. Grichuk, on the other hand, looks poised to take over from the departed Jose Bautista as Toronto’s new everyday right fielder.
Speaking with Toronto media for the first time in a pair of conference calls on Tuesday evening, both players seemed amenable to those roles.
Granderson said he spoke briefly with both manager John Gibbons and general manager Ross Atkins, though they didn’t get into specifics about playing time or positions. The 36-year-old, who split last season between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers, hit .212 in 2017 with 24 doubles, 26 home runs and an OPS of .775.
Even without getting into the nitty gritty, he’s well aware of the depth in the outfield at the moment, and the flexibility that offers management.
“Those are the type of thing that you want in order to be a successful ball club,” he said. “When I do finally get a chance to sit down and talk to Gibbons and Atkins about that, I’m sure they’ll let me know what (his role) is, they’ll ask from some input from me, what I’m feeling, what I’m thinking but it’s going to be up to them.”
For Grichuk, the picture is more clear; he was told by the manager and the general manager that he is being looked at to man right field regularly.
That opportunity is a welcome change from last year in St. Louis, where an abundance of outfielders had the 26-year-old constantly looking over his shoulder. There were games, he said, when Cardinals outfielders worried that they wouldn’t be on the field the next day if they couldn’t produce two hits, or a hit and a walk.
“That wasn’t good for anybody’s confidence or anybody’s state of mind stepping in the box,” he said.
The chance to show his stuff day in and day out reminds Grichuk of a time in August 2016, when he was told he would be in the Cardinals lineup regardless of what happened the day before. From that conversation until season’s end, he hit .275/ .303/.579 with 12 home runs in 178 at-bats, better than his career .249/ .297/.488 slashline.
The Blue Jays’ confidence in Grichuk’s ability to be involved regularly is “big for me,” said the native of Texas, who has yet to cement himself as an everyday outfielder. He owns a single-season high of 132 games, 446 at-bats, in that 2016 season.
“Moving forward, I’m just hoping to get every day at-bats and be able to stay consistent at the box, limit the ups and downs,” said Grichuk.
Like Granderson, Grichuk said he is happy to play across the outfield. But right field, a position he has played fewer times than either left or centre field in his career, is his preferred spot.
“I won the Gold Glove in the minor leagues in right field and then obviously I kind of had to move around,” he said. “I’m excited to be able to stick in one, to be able to take fly balls, ground balls in right and work on throwing to bases in right, understanding just the tail of the balls from the lefties and righties in one position.”