TAMPA, Fla. – What we need, here, is for somebody to step up and seize the first base job with the Toronto Blue Jays. Seriously. Before anybody gets hurt.
Perhaps it was the fact that the Blue Jays were on Tuesday night playing the New York Yankees, who will provide the opposition when Toronto opens the regular season at Yankee Stadium. Perhaps that’s what made it permissible to look ahead, and as the discussion focused on the likelihood of R.A. Dickey getting the assignment, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons had an idea: if it’s Dickey and Josh Thole gets the start behind the plate … why not have Russell Martin make the start at designated hitter, especially against a left-hander such as CC Sabathia? “Or first base,” he said.
Now, this being spring training, stuff like this gets said all the time. The sun is hot, the days are slow. George King, the New York Post’s estimable Yankees beat writer, raised an eyebrow and reminded Gibbons of the time Davey Johnson managed the New York Mets and decided to put Gary Carter at first base. That was Aug. 17, 1986. Carter suffered a ligament tear in his left thumb on a play in the field early in the game, went on the 15-day disabled list and was replaced by a 24-year-old catcher named John Gibbons, who stuck around as an extra for the Mets’ run to the World Series.
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Danny Valencia started at first base Tuesday night, as the Blue Jays continue to search for an answer to what has emerged as their most pressing position issue. The feeling is that between Maicer Izturis, Ryan Goins and maybe even Devon Travis, second base will work itself out – not optimally, maybe, but at least to the point where the Blue Jays will have an answer. Nobody knows what to expect at first base, what with Edwin Encarnacion’s spring training back injury a reminder that the valuable middle of the order hitter might be too brittle to play first, especially on artificial turf. Justin Smoak’s size, hands and footwork around the bag are an asset given the sometimes scatter-shot throwing of third baseman Josh Donaldson and shortstop Jose Reyes – he has literally saved runs with his defence this spring – but he and Daric Barton have been making mostly soft contact.
“They’re swinging the bats a little better, lately, but they have to hit this spring,” Gibbons said matter of factly when asked about the pair.
The first base issue is a multi-faceted one for the Blue Jays, because it involves decisions at backup catcher — must accommodate Dioner Navarro — and also encompasses the lefty-righty balance off the bench. The issue was exacerbated when Michael Saunders blew out his knee shagging fly balls in a pre-spring training workout. Saunders took full batting practice at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium on Tuesday and is expected to be used as a designated hitter in a minor-league game on Thursday with a restriction on running the bases.
It’s clear that the Blue Jays would love to have Encarnacion be the full-time DH. Encarnacion took “dry” swings Tuesday afternoon before bidding adieu to his Tampa bound teammates — he also killed some time standing in as a right-handed hitter as Aaron Sanchez worked in the bullpen — and said later he would move to at least hitting off the tee on the weekend.
“I’ll do the same routine Wednesday, and then we’ll decide what to do after that,” said Encarnacion. “I hope what we’re doing works; I know it’s better to get it right than risk it.”
Encarnacion said he would ideally like 30 at-bats to be ready for opening day; he also said he was prepared to play first base, although he certainly wasn’t demanding it.
“I really don’t have a preference,” Encarnacion said. “If you’re a DH, you don’t have to move as much. So, that’s something. But, you know, whatever they need me to do, I’ll do.”
Gibbons said that Encarnacion has expressed to him on several occasions that he likes playing first base, that it makes him feel as if he’s in the game more. But he has also told Gibbons that being a DH allowed him to do some in-game video work, something he enjoyed. “You’d like to have him for 150 games, at least,” Gibbons said. “So, we’ll have to protect him early in the season. But you can only do so much; we’ll need him in the field in interleague games, for sure.”
In the meantime, a job lies in the waiting for someone. If push came to shove right now, the guess is that Smoak would be the starting first baseman, because the dependability he gives in the field offsets the offensive edge of anybody else. But it’s clearly a default position – and playoff-bound teams don’t have many of that commodity.