A most fearsome power duo
If sluggers Bautista, Encarnacion can avoid injury, they could set Jays offensive on fire
DUNEDIN, FLA.— When Jose Bautista hit his first home run of the spring — a long cascading drive that sailed far beyond the left centrefield wall — the collective relief of Blue Jays’ fans was palpable.
In just his second pre-season plate appearance, the 2010 and 2011 home-run champ shed any lingering concern over his surgically repaired left wrist.
“Now I’m getting a little itch to start the season,” he said, a few days and a few long balls later.
Make no mistake: despite the Jays’ off-season overhaul, Bautista remains the club’s most important player.
He is the undisputed leader of the clubhouse and he is still — as Reggie Jackson would say — the straw that stirs the drink.
Bautista is the man for whom this new Jays’ kingdom has been built.
When Alex Anthopoulos signed him to a team-friendly five-year contract extension in 2011, Anthopoulos made a commitment to his all-star slugger that he would do what he could to build a contending team around him. The young GM did not want to see another superstar walk away, like Roy Halladay did, in search of success elsewhere.
This off-season, Anthopoulos made good on his promise.
“He really stuck to his word,” Bautista said in January. “It’s hard to put into words how we feel as players going into a season knowing how good our chances are of winning.”
For the Jays to be as successful as Bautista hopes, he will have to stay healthy.
Last season provides ample proof. Even after injuries decimated their starting rotation, the Jays were still .500, among the league leaders in runs scored and very much in contention for the AL’s second wild-card spot when they travelled to New York City for a midsummer series against the Yankees.
After an early season slump, Bautista looked like he was back to his old self, hitting 15 home runs and posting a 1.058 on-base-plusslugging percentage in the six weeks leading up to the Yankees’ series. Then in the eighth inning, with David Robertson pitching, Bautista hit that loud foul before crumpling to the ground and clutching his wrist in agony. He would miss all but two of the remaining 72 games as the Jays’ season entered a miserable tailspin. In Bautista’s stead, Edwin Encarnacion carried much of the Jays’ offensive load, hitting 42 home runs and standing on baseball’s offensive leaderboards alongside the game’s elite sluggers. If both he and Bautista are healthy this season, they have a chance to be among the game’s most fearsome power duos, joining the likes of Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera in Detroit, Matt Kemp and Adrian Gonzalez with the Dodgers and Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols with the Angels. Beyond Bautista and Encarnacion, the Jays will have three other players in their opening day lineup who have hit at least 20 home runs in their career: Adam Lind, J.P. Arencibia and Colby Rasmus. Melky Cabrera and Jose Reyes have hit 18 and 19 respectively, while Brett Lawrie was projected to hit as many as 25 a year ago but saw a dramatic drop-off in the power stroke he showed off in his late-2011 debut, managing only 11 bombs in 125 games. So there is potential for this Jays club to be among the league leaders in long balls.
And as straight-shooting Jays’ manager John Gibbons put it earlier this spring: “Homers win.”
But there is plenty of doubt hanging over the other hitters. Can Lind hit lefties well enough to stay in the everyday lineup? Ditto for Rasmus, who last year showed a penchant for prolonged, rally-killing slumps. Arencibia, though blessed with substantial pop for a catcher, still strikes out far too often. Who knows what a clean Cabrera will provide power-wise? And though Reyes went yard 19 times once in his career, his yearly average is 12.
So the bulk of the Jays’ power production will rest in the heart of the order, as it should, with Bautista and Encarnacion.
Bautista should be eager to wrest back the home-run crown he conceded to AL MVP Miguel Cabrera.
Even after missing 70 games last season, Bautista has still hit more bombs than any other player since 2010, Cabrera included.
But Bautista and Encarnacion say they only care about one statistic this year: wins. Neither has played in the post-season and that remains their objective.
“My goal is going to be the playoffs and be in the World Series. That’s my first goal,” Encarnacion said. “This is the year to do it. And I’m very excited for my team.”
Encarnacion says he isn’t concerned about duplicating his 2012 breakout.
“I just want to be healthy, that’s what I pray for. If I do that, my numbers are going to be there.”
Bautista, meanwhile, likes what he sees in the Jays’ lineup one through nine.
“You look at these guys’ career numbers and what they’ve set as a standard. If everybody just does what they’re capable of doing without anybody having a great year, we’re in good shape.”