Atkins seeks a stronger defensive 8
Blue Jays general manager ross Atkins has been on the defensive for a while now. And for the sake of his team, that has been a good thing.
To his credit, Atkins has been up front about his team’s defensive shortcomings, dating back to last August when he brought up “run prevention” as a looming priority for one of the first times.
“As you watch the games, it’s more decision making and concentration levels, which comes with young teams,” Atkins said at the time. “We need to be better than that.”
Zoom forward to the present, where after a busy off-season thus far, the GM feels the addition of George Springer and Marcus Semien will be a big fix to some of those struggles.
“I feel like we’re in a good position where we’ve made ourselves better in the run prevention category,” Atkins said on Thursday. “I feel really good about putting guys in positions where they don’t get exposed. Having options and then having guys as established as George Springer and Marcus Semien is really important.”
Several times in recent weeks, Atkins has stressed the off-season work put in by several of the young Jays, which the team is hopeful will translate into more consistent play. So the hope from the front office and coaching staff is that internal improvement will complement the additions.
As Semien mentioned earlier in the week, sometimes it’s just a matter of young players getting comfortable with the pressure of being in the big leagues before they settle in for solid play, a notion endorsed by Atkins.
“repetition and coaching over time makes a huge impact,” Atkins said. “When you talk to elite defenders in the game, guys that have been above average as defenders and have sustained it, that’s never by chance. There’s always a process to every single rep they have, there’s always attention to detail.”
despite some of the miscues last summer, Atkins felt there was improvement among some of the players on the Jays roster, even though it was at times frustrating to witness some of the growing pains.
“defence is an area you can really make a lot of progress,” Atkins said. “We’ve seen it here with the progress of bo bichette and Cavan biggio and danny Jansen. We’ve been able as an industry to really help defenders improve, so experience is a big part of that.”
SPRING FORWARD
Less than two weeks from the official report date for pitchers and catchers, Atkins said Jays players already are gathering in dunedin for an anticipated on-time start to spring training.
Pitcher Hyun-jin ryu made his way to Florida from Korea this week and several players have been in the area throughout the winter. Manager Charlie Montoyo plans to arrive on Feb. 14, three days before physicals for pitchers and catchers. The first full-team workout is scheduled for Feb. 22 with the Grapefruit League opener slated for Feb. 27.
“We’re prepared to start spring training on time and are prepared and excited to start the season on time,” Atkins said. “right now, the plan is for (players) to come to spring training and we’ll take it a day at a time. every day is huge for us.”
There has been some speculation that a full 32-game Grapefruit League schedule is a tad ambitious, so we will see how that plays out. The focus will be on getting as much work in as possible and being based at the renovated, state-of-the-art training complex in dunedin will be a plus for the Jays.
As for the regular season, the team isn’t saying where it expects to play its scheduled April 8 home opener, though dunedin would seem to be the front-runner.
“We will always do everything in our power to control what we can control and put players in the best possible situation to compete and to win,” Atkins said. “And Toronto is the best place to be.
“We have contingency plans that we’ve worked on and we will have timelines (regarding decisions) that we will communicate to our players. We feel good about our alternatives, feel good about our contingencies but can’t wait for that first day we are playing in Toronto.”
MIX AND MATZ
While the Jays starting rotation remains the most obvious area of concern heading into camp, Atkins remains hopeful that somewhere between five and seven pitchers are “in position” to give the team between five to seven innings a start.
It’s certainly something that will be worth following through February and March as starting depth will be crucial for the return to a 162-game season.
As for one of the potential additions to the rotation, former New york Mets starter Steven Matz remains a front-runner for a spot but will have to win it in Florida.
“My hope is that (Matz) slides into the rotation and he’s giving us effective starts right out of the gates and we don’t have to think about a creative situation for him,” Atkins said of the player he acquired via trade last week. “but they’ll have to earn that and performance will dictate that.”
COACH ’EM UP
The Jays coaching staff that worked so well under Montoyo last season will remain intact. One small change will see hitting instructor dante bichette, who spent the season with the Jays in buffalo, will spend less time with the big team, working instead as a roving hitting consultant.