Jays’ Donaldson finishing on a tear
• It has been a September like no other for Toronto Blue Jays star third baseman Josh Donaldson, and overall not one he’ll remember fondly.
Sure he’s on fire at the plate, belting two more home runs Sunday in a 13-7 loss to the Minnesota Twins to give him five in the past three games. On form, he’s rarely been better.
But for the first time in a full season as a major-leaguer, Donaldson is not in the thick of a playoff race and for just the second time won’t be in the post-season.
As you can imagine for the driven, competitive third baseman just two years removed from his MVP season, that has made for a frustrating 2017 campaign. From the calf injury that dogged him in spring training and kept him on the DL for 38 games in April and May, to intermittent struggles at the plate, it has been a battle.
Donaldson has been ripping it since the all- star break, however, with more home runs than anyone in the American League ( 21) in that stretch. It’s like he’s on a mission to erase all the bad taste of the past several months and take something positive forward.
How good is his form? The 481-foot monster blast he hit in the first inning Sunday was the third-longest homer in Target Field history and tied for the sixth longest in the majors this season.
When Donaldson added a second round- tripper in the next inning, it gave him 30 on the year, joining Joe Carter as the only Jay to have 30 or more in each of their first three seasons with Toronto.
Donaldson has once again resumed his role of offensive prominence with the team and will be a focal point of discussion over the next 12 months in terms of whatever potential rebuild team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins embark on.
THE JAYS’ FUTURE
During the off season, Donaldson will surely be the subject of trade speculation as free agency approaches.
There will be a big payday waiting for him soon and it stands to reason he will aim to be on a contender. From the Jays’ standpoint, given his torrid play of late, his stock has to be soaring in potential trade value.
Does Donaldson believe in the Jays and what, for now, is an uncertain future?
“I believe in any team that I’m on,” Donaldson told Postmedia. “I’m sure there’s going to be some things discussed this off- season and I’m sure there’s going to be changes made.
“Honestly? I feel like the last two weeks we’ve been playing really good baseball and that says a lot about the character of the guys in this room that they haven’t just checked out, which is very easy to do.
“There’s not a lot that we have to play for now except our teammates and if guys are trying to accomplish goals. Day in and day out we’ve done a great job of competing.”
TWINS KILLER
Donaldson was at his beastly best in the four-game series here, threatening to single-handedly compromise the Twins’ chance at an AL wild-card spot.
On Sunday, his two-homer outburst followed two the night before, giving him five against the Twins as he reached the distinguished 30 mark once again.
In his past 40 games against the Twins, Donaldson has 19 home runs and has a career slugging percentage of .839. Three of the five round- trippers in the series were classic Donaldson — mighty swats that left the park in a hurry.
“It’s fortunate for me that I’ve been able to make adjustments throughout the course of the season and take advantage of it,” Donaldson said of his stellar play of late. “I feel like the times when I struggle is when I’m not able to know where my body’s at and how it’s moving. Whenever I can identify what I need to adjust, I’m able to bounce back pretty quickly.”
NO PLAYOFFS
Donaldson was a September call- up on a weak Oakland Athletics team in 2010 and a full- timer on a poor 2011 A’s team that won just 74 games.
Every year since, however, the Florida native has seen post-season action including ALCS appearances with the Jays in 2015 and 2016.
Donaldson acknowledges it has been a drastically different experience facing the final month of the season without a shot — and one he doesn’t want to duplicate.
“Septembers we’ve always been playing for something,” Donaldson said. “It’s completely different for me. The past five years, every year the team I’ve been playing on has been playing for something, so it’s definitely new.
“It’s something where you have to go out there and constantly stay in the moment and really just focus on competing.”