Jays keep quiet about difficult road to Toronto
From Baltimore, there were images of infield drills.
From Yankee Stadium, video of a simulated game with starting pitcher J.A. Happ on the mound.
And there was more video from Boston’s Fenway Park, including some Jackie Bradley taking batting practice.
All around Major League Baseball, in fact, the sights and sounds of what the league is calling summer camp were on display over the past couple of days, at least attempting to build excitement for July 23 opening day, as difficult as that has become given the challenges of playing pro sports in a pandemic.
In Toronto, however, it’s been a wall of silence from the Blue Jays.
We’re told from someone involved directly that the Jays indeed had workouts on Monday and Tuesday — the last team to hit their home stadium since MLB declared camps open for business last Friday.
Whether it’s a deep level of paranoia from the executive offices or a pile of logistical concerns too high to navigate, next to nothing is known about what’s happened at the Rogers Centre, other than the roof being open.
Transparency is lacking and we’re left to wonder why.
It has been far from good news around baseball, but many teams have at least been up front with developments off the field, some even naming names of those players and officials who have recorded positive COVID-19 tests.
In Toronto though, there has been next to nothing. Other than a distant panoramic shot on the team’s official Twitter account, an Instagram story from pitcher Nate Pearson that has since expired and a short Jays Twitter video of Hyun-jin Ryu (complete with a face mask) throwing late Tuesday, the content has been lighter than light.
At the top of the list of concerns with the Jays, we surmise, is the desperation the team has in its late push for federal government approval to have the Rogers Centre cleared to play host to the Jays’ 30 home games.
That can’t be an easy sell given the team came from Florida with a fifth less players than anticipated. Now the Jays’ front office must convince the government to allow the team to host home games AFTER going to Florida and Washington to start its season.
Furthermore, in the Jays’ first home stand they are scheduled to face the Philadelphia Phillies, who on Tuesday revealed three players and three coaches tested positive for the virus.
Understandably (if to a fault) then, the Jays are being extra careful.
But while other stadiums have
Next to nothing is known about what’s happened at the Rogers Centre, other than the roof being open.
been opened to the media this week — allowable under MLB’S health and safety protocol for return to action — the Rogers Centre has remained a closed shop and is expected to be that way until at least Thursday.
This in part can be attributed to some of those logistical concerns we mentioned. Toronto was always playing catch-up in this treacherous return to action because of the delayed clearance to have the downtown dome used for training camp. Intake testing had to be done in Dunedin, but because of the time it took to process the results, the team charter didn’t arrive at Pearson until late Sunday night.
Unlike other teams, the Jays didn’t have delays in getting the verdict on testing for players and coaching staff in Florida. Testing on the Toronto-based staff was a different story, however, with delays that meant many were unable to access the stadium to help prepare for camp the past few days.
Naturally, that has forced altering the way they go about their business.
What we do know is somewhere between 45 and 47 players participated in workouts as manager Charlie Montoyo and his staff oversee morning and afternoon sessions.
We get there are no tickets to sell this year, though that’s hardly cause for keeping fans in the dark. Remember, those are the same fans who suffered through three consecutive miserable seasons and many have bought into the legitimate club spin touting the optimism of the bright young team.
We can pretty much guarantee you that those same fans would love to be hearing how ace starter Ryu is looking, if he’s even in action. Same with Bo Bichette, Vlad Guerrero Jr. and the rest of the young guns who make the Jays such an intriguing entry in this shortened season.
Did Randal Grichuk carry over the good form he was showing at the plate in March? Is Vlad in shape? And is Pearson still dealing that triple-digit fastball? Who knows? If the team is going to celebrate the release of its schedule (as it did Monday night), why not sell what’s coming?
The team scheduled a conference call with Montoyo for Wednesday, which will at least update some of the baseball-specific questions.
On a straight news level, however, it is perplexing that the organization has gone so deep underground.
Not all of this is the Jays’ fault, of course. The team is operating under far stricter protocols than other teams, a reality negotiated in their exemption from border closing/quarantining regulations here. So yes, it’s been tough.
For now though, just how difficult it has been is anyone’s guess.