Gladiator must set the tone in Bronx
BOSTON— Samurai and Spartacus. Josh Donaldson is channeling both.
Samurai: From the ninja topknot he’s been sporting the last month, hair pulled tightly back, definitely not a metrosexual man-bun. Way more warrior-like than that. “A Samurai thing, just felt like doing it.”
Spartacus: From the U.S. television series, Blood and Sand season, origin of Donaldson’s Twitter handle, @bringerofrain20, that being one of the titles by which the heroic gladiator and slave-revolt leader was known. “Just took it because I thought it was a cool nickname.”
And that’s a whole lotta manlyman prowess. So maybe it should come as no surprise that the Blue Jays third baseman leads the majors in runs and RBIs and extra-base hits and first inning homers. He is fourth in doubles —he tried to stretch a single into extra bases here Wednesday evening on a slash into the corner and was tagged out on a hellacious throw by Rusney Castillo (a rare Donaldson miscalculation) — second in hits, third in homers, first in extra-base hits, first in Toronto MVP favours. But, increasingly, elsewhere too. Plenty of elsewhere.
One of the more curious watchers in the house, on this evening, when Mookie Betts swatted a double off the top of the Green Monster ledge which would, upon consultation, be called a home run, was Donaldson. His near replica 10th inning shot 24 hours earlier, which bounced hard off the edge — not the ledge — remained a triple, on a hard slide into third. He’d later cross the plate as the go-ahead run in an ultimate 5-1 win. That was Tuesday. Fickle Monster. Wednesday: The Green Thingy helped launch what turned into a 10-4 Red Sox barrage.
Toronto was lucky to escape Beantown, with even one win. The lastplace Red Hose played the Jays tough, racking up 26 runs versus the visitors, kicking them in the goolies on the way outta town. They can further exert spoiler status with another three games against Toronto and three against New York down the stretch.
The Jays’ pyrotechnic offence was ho-hum in Boston whilst they lacked commanding pitching turns other than R. A. Dickey in the middle contest. Drew Hutchison, starting his first road game since July 25, was down 4-1 before the third inning was done.
Onwards to the Big Apple, where the Jays are 5-1 this season. Donaldson has stroked two homers at Yankee Stadium, accounting for five runs. He has 11 hits on the season, there and at Rogers Centre, against the Pinstripes. So he’ll be a key to Toronto’s upcoming fortunes, after they failed to make much hay up the Eastern seaboard.
Donaldson states flatly the stars have all aligned for him in Year One as a Blue Jay. “I’ve been very fortunate to stay healthy through the season. But I also feel that anybody being part of this lineup, that’s a good thing. You go out there, you try to have your game plan each and every day and hopefully it works out.”
It’s more than that, obviously, as teammates have run out of superlatives to describe Donaldson’s marquee performances, the template he’s set.
Look at just that singularly extraordinary stat — 12 first-inning home runs. Manager John Gibbons is awed. “To hit so many early in a game like that, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it. Maybe they think, let’s go right at him, attack him early. I guarantee having (Jose) Bautista hitting behind him has something to do with it. They fear that.”
With just the leadoff hitter ahead of him, Donaldson comes to the plate in the first frame having seen very little of what the pitcher has to offer, and has a split-second to react. He’s made a study, however, the prep data stored in his brain and his computer.
“For the most part I already have a pretty good idea what I think I’m going to see in that at-bat. Sometimes I happen to (benefit) from mistakes that play into my plan — what I’m looking for, areas that I’m looking to do damage in. That has a lot to do with it.’’
And there’s Bautista in the on-deck circle. “They’re more apt to throw me strikes. They don’t want to me to walk, get on base. With that being said, pitch selection and stuff, it doesn’t really change for me, I don’t think. In fact, they’re probably being more aggressive in the zone.’’
Since the earlier part of the season, Donaldson has been subjected less to the infield shift as it’s become obvious he’s more than capable of hitting the other way.
“I still get it occasionally. But if I hit the ball on the ground, I’m not really doing what I want to do anyhow. I will pick certain times, depending on the game itself, depending on the count, where I will hit a ball if I need to in the hole, or I’ll try to at least.” Notes Gibbons: “It’s tough to face guys like him that can beat you in so many different ways. And he’s conscious of the game. You get a lot of guys, they hit a lot of home runs, that’s what’s on their minds. That’s what they do and that’s what they want to do. But he plays the situation. If a little single here might get a rally going or might drive in that run with two outs, he’s conscious of that.”
Unfortunately, last night the entire team looked unconscious. Better snap out of that coma before they venture into the Bronx.