D-Backs hope for boost from new outfielder Jay
DENVER – Jon Jay covered his bat in a mist of resin and stepped into the batter’s box for his second at-bat with his new team on Friday night. The Diamondbacks’ new leadoff hitter proceeded to work a six-pitch walk to start the third inning. Moments later, he was jogging around the bases ahead of Paul Goldschmidt, who had launched a home run to center field.
The Diamondbacks can only hope it’s the first of many such trips around the bases for Jay, whom they acquired earlier this week in a trade with the Kansas City Royals to provide a boost to their struggling lineup. The Diamondbacks are banking on Jay being able to do for them what he has done throughout his career – get on base – and do so from the top of their lineup.
Entering Friday, no team in the National League had an on-base percentage worse than the Diamondbacks’ .292. The collective on-base from their outfield was .299, third-worst in the league, and that number drops to .285
when looking at all outfielders not named A.J. Pollock.
Listed at 5-feet-11, 195 pounds, Jay cuts an unimposing figure. He has 34 home runs in more than 3,700 career plate appearances and hasn’t posted a slugging percentage at or above .400 since 2012. But power is not what the Diamondbacks want out of him – a message manager Torey Lovullo said he conveyed to his new outfielder.
“I’m looking for a quality at-bat every single time he walks up there,” Lovullo said. “That’s what I told him. I don’t want him to change anything with his approach. I want him to be himself and feel comfortable here as soon as possible.”
Jay had a .363 on-base in 59 games with the Royals, and he owns a .356 onbase in his career. He said his success is rooted in being a difficult out for the opposing pitcher to record.
“That’s my goal every day,” he said. “I don’t measure my success on results or anything like that. It’s my quality of atbats. If I’m seeing pitches, making the pitcher work, that’s how I look at my atbats. If I’m working them and if I can get to a 3-2 count and ground out, I’m happy that I worked the pitcher and I’ll try to get them next time.”
With Chris Owings struggling to produce – he was hitting .189 with a .255 on-base at the time of the trade – and with Pollock and Steven Souza Jr. out with injuries, the Diamondbacks felt the time was right for an upgrade. They felt the tightly packed NL West, which the Diamondbacks led by a half game entering Friday, was reason enough to do the deal.
“Everybody’s lumped in at the top,” Diamondbacks infielder Daniel Descalso said. “The Dodgers have been playing really well. We’re still in first place, but there’s 100 games left. There’s still a lot that can happen. The front office saw an opportunity to make ourselves better, and they went out and did it. Hopefully, it is a turning point for us. I think we’ve been playing better lately, and hopefully we can continue to do that.”
Lovullo said he expects to use Jay on the outfield corners while playing Jarrod Dyson and Owings in a platoon in center field. He said Jay will be the leadoff man for the time being, at least through the three games in Colorado. But while he expressed confidence in Jay’s ability to find his way on base, he said there’s more to him as an offensive player.
“I’m not totally sold on that being the main reason why Jon Jay is the leadoff hitter,” Lovullo said. “He’s a good hitter. We want somebody up there who is a quality hitter.”