Morales envisions better days ahead
Jays DH hopes new glasses will help his swing this year
TORONTO Blue Jays DH Kendrys Morales recorded a career-high 132 strikeouts last season.
That may have been a hint that something was amiss.
Turns out, the sight in Morales’ right eye is off. That was first diagnosed when he played in Kansas City a couple of years ago, but apparently he didn’t think much of it at the time. In spring training this year, the Cuban-born slugger wore contact lenses after having his eyes checked out again. And while the contacts helped with the vision in his right eye, they also didn’t feel comfortable. And so from now on, Morales will be sporting prescription eye glasses when he plays, believing they’ll help him at the plate this season.
Morales did hit 28 home runs with a .250 average last year, but the Jays are hoping for better numbers this year. He went 0-for-4 with the new shades on Thursday.
GUYS MAKING THEIR DE-BOOS
It was a tough day for a number of players making their Blue Jays debuts. Left-fielder Curtis Granderson dropped a routine fly by Brett Gardner leading off the game, resulting in Giancarlo Stanton’s home run later in the inning becoming a two-run shot.
Simcoe, Ont., native John Axford made his Jays debut in relief of J.A. Happ and gave up back-to-back doubles by Stanton and Gary Sanchez, allowing Aaron Judge and Stanton to score. Right-handed reliever Seung-hwan Oh pitched the eighth and while he didn’t give up any runs, he did give up a single and picked up an error when he dropped a Neil Walker dribbler when he went to throw the ball to first. Left-fielder Randal Grichuk went 0-for-3. Tyler Clippard gave up a homer to Stanton in the ninth.
“You know what? We like them all,” said Gibbons of the club’s newcomers. “(Yankees starter Luis) Severino, when he’s on, he’s dominating. He just keeps getting better and better every year.
“Pitching-wise, (the Yankees) are good. And (the Rogers Centre) is not an easy place to pitch, in this ballpark or really in this division, and that’s part of it,” Gibbons added. “But it’s good, though, to get everybody out there as soon as possible. I don’t care how long you’ve been pitching or playing this game, there’s still nerves, it’s a new season. It usually takes an appearance or two to really settle into your norm.”
AROUND THE DIAMOND
With his home run off Clippard, Stanton became the first Yankees player with multiple home runs on opening day since Joe Pepitone in 1963. Severino, who picked up the win for New York, pitching 52/3 innings while giving up one hit and striking out seven, had an 0-3 record and a 6.11 ERA (19 R/28 IP) in six career starts versus the Jays coming into the game ... Kevin Pillar’s eighth-inning smash over the wall in centre marked his first career opening day homer ... Axford became the 26th Canadian-born player to don a Jays uniform and 10th from Ontario.