Spring training offered some hope for offensive rebound
After a disappointing season, Jays hitters are in a better place
As the Blue Jays prepare to take the first of 162 steps toward what they hope will be their fourth playoff berth in five seasons, they’re dealing with last year’s offensive frustrations the best they can — by using them as fuel.
“Lot of people motivated, hungry, headed into the off-season to come to camp this year and be the best versions of themselves,” said Kevin Kiermaier, the centre-fielder who tested free agency in the off-season but wound up returning to the Jays on a one-year deal.
“I know there are a lot of guys who want to have bounceback years, and hopefully we get back to that Toronto Blue Jays offence that I played against for years (with the Tampa Bay Rays).”
The bats certainly did the job in spring training: hitting .269 as a team with an .804 on-base plus slugging mark, while scoring 5.7 runs per game. But that was spring training. The regular season starts Thursday in Tampa.
“I always want to play well, no matter where I am, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter,” said shortstop Bo Bichette, who hit .345 for the spring.
After a moment’s consideration: “I take that back. I think it matters. It’s good that everybody … had a good spring and (they’re) ready to go.”
Among those players were first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and leadoff man George Springer, who hit an eye-popping .463 and .415, respectively, each with an OPS over 1.200. They’re coming off their worst full seasons offensively.
“Last year was a crappy year,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron, “but I believe that happens to teams sometimes. It’s not that you don’t work hard, it’s just things that happen in baseball.” Springer agrees.
“Do we believe that we could have done better (in 2023)?” asked the right-fielder, second all-time in leadoff home runs with 57. “Absolutely
... but at the end of the day, I just think you learn from it and you move on. Every year is different. You can’t go back, you can only go forward and I expect that from everybody.”
While that disappointing offence returns nearly intact — with Brandon Belt and Matt Chapman swapped out for Justin Turner and Isiah Kiner-Falefa among the starting nine — there’s been a leadership change.
Six-time all-star, three-time Silver Slugger winner and career .307 batter Don Mattingly took over the hitting portfolio for this season, adding offensive co-ordinator to his bench coach duties with the re-assignment of last year’s hitting strategist, Dave Hudgens. Mattingly’s influence was clear throughout the Grapefruit League schedule.
“I think what Donnie and the entire hitting group have done is, they’ve kept it very simple,” manager John Schneider said before the Jays’ spring finale, a 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday in Bradenton, Fla. “Their job is to sift through (all the data) and then see how it pertains to every player.
“Something we talked about in the off-season is just … having guys understand where they do damage and where they handle the ball. That’s easy to do, that’s public knowledge. But then how do you get a pitch in that spot every at-bat has been the cool part of it, and that’s something Donnie is passionate about.”
The addition of Turner, who posted a .788 spring OPS that ranked eighth among the team’s nine regulars but would have been third on the club last year, figures to help the offence as well, even beyond the four or five plate appearances the bearded redhead will get every game.
“He’s a calm presence,” Bichette said of the 15-year veteran. “He’s a professional. He goes about it in the right way. He’s very convicted in what he does, obviously. Being around as long as he has and as consistent as he has been, and still doing it, you have to have a pretty good knowledge of what you’re doing. I think it brings a calming influence and it’s only a positive.”
He also brings significant production to the middle of the order after driving in a career-high 96 runs in his age-38 season with the Boston Red Sox last year.
Converting opportunities on the bases into runs was something the Jays had major issues with in 2023, finishing 15th in the majors in runs scored despite ranking eighth in OBP.
It feels as though they can’t help but turn that luck around this season.
“We have all the keys, the recipe to be successful,” said Kiermaier, “but at the end of the day, we’ve got to go out there and execute at a level we’re capable of.”
Which would be a major change from last season.