Montoyo’s montage moment
Lucky for the team, adjusting on the fly is in the manager’s DNA
When Charlie Montoyo was hired by the Blue Jays in the fall of 2019, he was billed as a player-friendly manager. A guy who would go out of his way to make sure every member of the active roster had a role, and understood when he would be called upon to contribute.
Montoyo has never been the type of manager who goes with the same lineup every day, and he’s not someone who easily accepts a player rotting at the end of his bench. His nearly two decades of experience coaching in the minor leagues taught him the importance of keeping everyone involved and making sure they had specific goals to accomplish.
Those are some of the reasons why the native of Puerto Rico enjoys talking about platoons and openers. His passion is finding the right matchups for each player to put them in the best possible position to succeed. It’s a partial explanation for his tendency to move players all over the field, occasionally using them out of position just to get some atbats or master a new skill.
Montoyo’s all-in approach will soon be put to the test because this is a season when that strategy is no longer optional.
Managers from all over baseball will be following a similar path because 21⁄ 2 weeks of training camp won’t be enough to get the pitchers stretched out, and it might not be long enough for some of the hitters to get ready, either. Rosters have been expanded to 30 players and, at least for the first couple of weeks, all of them will be used in a variety of roles.
“That’s going to be an even bigger reason we have guys playing different spots and being ready,” Montoyo said on a Wednesday conference call, about the condensed training camp and upcoming schedule. “God forbid somebody gets sick. It’s not going to be a shock for somebody to go first to third, second to the outfield or whatever … There’s a big emphasis on guys playing different spots and making sure we are covered everywhere.”
The biggest challenge for Montoyo and pitching coach Pete Walker will be determining how long to stick with their starting pitchers. By the end of a normal camp, starters typically have thrown 85 to 90 pitches in at least one outing and are stretched out enough to throw in the range of 100 during their first appearance of the season.
That won’t be the case this year. Instead of six or seven outings to prepare, most starters will be limited to handful of appearances in intrasquad games, which begin Thursday night at the Rogers Centre. Montoyo estimated his starters will go anywhere from two to six innings once the season begins. It will depend on how the individual is feeling and how he responds at the end of camp.
The lack of innings from starters will mean an increased workload for the bullpen and with no games to be played at triple-A Buffalo, there’s a group of starters who will be looking to crack the big-league roster as relievers instead. Lefty Anthony Kay along with righthanders T.J. Zeuch, Thomas Hatch and Patrick Murphy are among those under consideration. Nate Pearson, when he’s eventually added to the roster, would remain in a starting role.
“We’ve got five starters and we’ve got some depth, too,” Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen said on a Wednesday evening conference call. “We’ve got some guys who have a chance and would be on a regular five-man rotation as well. A lot of guys. It’s all about the start this year, right? We’re just going to take our time right now to compete against each other in live (batting practices) and simulated games and do the best we can to communicate and get the ball rolling right away.”
On the position player side, fewer will be playing every day, at least during the first couple of weeks, which accounts for almost a quarter of the year. Some players might not even play a full nine innings as they get lifted for pinch-runners or defensive replacements late in games to provide additional rest.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. likely will receive regular days off like he did for most of 2019. Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Teoscar Hernandez and Randal Grichuk are the projected outfield starters, but the Jays remain adamant about giving Derek Fisher a long look as well. Anthony Alford will bring speed off the bench, and infielder Joe Panik could move all over the field in a superutility role that might involve full-time at-bats.
There will be a lot of moving parts to this season and Montoyo is the man tasked with overseeing it all. For a guy who spends a lot of his time trying to keep everyone involved, it seems like the perfect fit.
“That’s day-to-day stuff, how the kid is feeling, and communication,” Montoyo said when asked about Guerrero. “Part of my job is to communicate with players to see how they feel. Hopefully, our plan would be great if he could play almost all the games, but I don’t want to name a number because you want to go day to day and see how the kid feels. He’ll play, he’ll DH.”
Montoyo believes every player deserves an opportunity, and there will be plenty of them available this year. How well Montoyo executes the plan, and how well the Blue Jays’ young roster responds, will go a long way in determining whether Toronto contends or is forced to endure another year of rebuilding.