SALTY? SWEET
Jarrod Saltalamacchia could give the Blue Jays a little jolt of offence to go with a steady hand behind the dish — and a fondness for Toronto fans.
It was one off-season move by the Blue Jays that surely flew under the radar.
In mid-January, they signed freeagent catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia to a one-year contract. He had endured a subpar 2016 with the Tigers and remained unwanted. The 31year-old Floridian was a first-round pick by the Atlanta Braves in 2003, chosen one spot ahead of Orioles centre fielder Adam Jones. His career has not matched that initial promise.
However, he can have an important role with the Jays in 2017. Recall that starting catcher Russell Martin was worn down by injury and workload by the time the 2016 playoffs rolled around. The Jays needed a solid option so he could rest his wounded knee and other nagging injuries. With Josh Thole as his main backup for most of the season, primarily as R.A. Dickey’s valet, Martin was relied upon far too often when he should have been resting his knee. The Jays went 17-21 with Thole catching, including all 29 of Dickey’s starts. It’s a low bar that has been set for Saltalamacchia.
“I know I like being on this side of (the field) rather than the other,” he said of his new Jays mates. “As a catcher, trying to call a game against these guys is not easy. It’s a battle the whole game through. You can never let up. The biggest thing is, they compete. As a player you want to be part of a team that’s in it every year. They’ve done a great job the last two years, obviously haven’t reached their goal, so hopefully I can be a part of that and we can reach that goal.”
In terms of how much playing time he will receive behind Martin, the two men have already formed a bond in the short time they’ve shared a clubhouse. On Wednesday, prior to the first official session of pitchers and catchers, Martin strolled over to his new teammate in the extended Mattick Complex ’pen to have a chat.
“Before I caught one of the guys (Ryan Tepera) today, Russ was telling me what he does, how the ball moves,” Saltalamacchia shared. “That’s huge for guys like us. We get in there once or twice a week and you want to be able to contribute. You don’t want to mess up and be the reason that your team loses.
“Preparation is huge for me, and he’s been helping me with that. This game can humble you in a heart- beat, so you’ve got to know all aspects. You’ve got to understand the situation. I told Russ the other day, my thing is preparation. I’m not going to have my team lose because I wasn’t prepared. If we lose, it will be because I screwed up physically. It’s not going to be a mental mistake. It’s not going to be because I wasn’t prepared.”
Saltalamacchia won’t lie and suggest that the reason he chose to sign with the Jays is because he loved the fact they had a chance to win. He admits that in mid-January, unsigned, he was a little panicky, never having been without a major-league deal that close to spring training. But now that he’s a Jay and back in the competitive AL East, he couldn’t be happier. One of the attractions of Toronto is being back in the same division where he won a World Series, with Boston in 2013.
“It’s full of a bunch of good sports towns,” Salty observed of the East. “I feel like with every town in the East, it’s baseball. It’s big. The rivalries are bigger. I’m not sure if it’s because they’re so much closer together, I don’t know. But it just feels like the rivalries are stronger.”
Make no mistake, when he played with Boston from 2010-13, the 10year vet noticed the Jays’ fans and the enthusiasm they carried with them into Fenway Park.
“The (Jays’) fans have grown,” Saltalamacchia said. “They travel great. I mean, I know, being in Boston you rarely get fans that come in and kind of take over the ballpark. They definitely come in and you know they’re there. You feel them. I’m excited to be on the road and still (have it feel like) a home game.”
One of the assets that Salty carries with him is the power of observation. As a backup catcher — no, make that just as a catcher — he pays attention to detail because it’s the sort of stuff that could help him contribute to a win. He hasn’t played for manager John Gibbons before, but he has watched him at work.
“I just watch the way Gibby manages a game, the way he deals with his players,” Salty said. “He’d be the first guy to go out and defend his guy, fight for him, and as a player that’s what you want. You want a manager who’s going to defend you. You don’t want to see the manager just sit there and say, ‘Hey, get in the dugout, come on.’ You want to see a guy get on the top step and yell at an umpire, yell at the other team, and that’s something I’ve noticed him do, which is big.”
If Saltalamacchia can bounce back offensively while working to learn the Jays’ pitchers — contributing at the plate when Martin gets some much-needed rest — it would help the Jays notch the four or five extra wins that could make a difference in a tight AL East or wild-card race.
“I feel like with every town in the East, it’s baseball. It’s big. The rivalries are bigger.” JARROD SALTALAMACCHIA BLUE JAYS CATCHER