TORONTO – As a part of three World Series teams during his playing career, two of them champions, Mike Mordecai gained a strong appreciation for how big a difference the little things can make on a baseball field.
Promoted Monday to co-ordinator of instruction for the Toronto Blue Jays farm system after serving five years as the infield co-ordinator, one of the primary focal points for the long-time infielder will be instilling the fundamentals of the game in each of the club’s prospects on their way up the ladder.
“Quite frankly, the little things win games, they win you a lot of big games,” Mordecai says during an interview. “That little adjustment here, that little adjustment there, they add up very quickly over the course of 162 games, and you would hate to miss out on the playoffs by a game because a guy got called up from the minor leagues and in an extra-inning game you ran through the bunt defence and it wasn’t run properly on his behalf.
“If we can say emphatically, ‘Yeah, he was ready, he just didn’t perform,’ then hey, that’s on the player. You don’t want it to be on the staff or the organization for not having the player ready. That’s what we’re about, getting those players ready to play up there for John Gibbons.”
Mordecai, 47, takes over from the well-regarded Clayton McCullough, who left last month for a promotion to field co-ordinator with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and takes over what’s become a stepping-stone position in the Blue Jays player development system.
McCullough’s predecessors were John Mallee, now the hitting coach for the Chicago Cubs, and Tim Leiper, now the Blue Jays first base coach, underlining the type of coaching talent that’s served in the role.
Mordecai, who played 793 games over 12 years for the Atlanta Braves, Montreal Expos and Florida Marlins, will work closely with field co-ordinator Doug Davis in ensuring the club’s fundamentals are coached in a consistent fashion across the various levels of the farm system.
“We want it to be very fluid, that when they get up there they’re used to doing this, because it can be a little difficult at times when you have a triple-A team made up of six-year free agents coming from other organizations,” explains Mordecai. “They’ve got one way of doing things and they’ve got to learn your way of doing things at the big-league level.
“With Gary Allenson and his staff there in (triple-A) Buffalo and Bobby Meacham and his staff there in (double-A) New Hampshire, we have to make sure that the fundamentals of the cut-offs, relays, bunt defences, base-running (are taught in a way) that at the big-league level, (players know) this is what you’re expected to do.”
Taking over for Mordecai in his previous role will be Danny Solano, who gets the title roving infield coach. Solano has coached in the organization since 2007, mostly with the Gulf Coast League affiliate.
The Blue Jays also named Aaron Matthews hitting coach at rookie-league Bluefield, while Fred McGriff, who spent the past two years as an advisor, left to join the Atlanta Braves as a special assistant to baseball operations.
The moves are the latest in a larger reshuffling in the player development department triggered in part by Dane Johnson’s promotion to big-league bullpen coach.
Sal Fasano replaced Johnson as pitching co-ordinator, Rick Langford was promoted to senior pitching advisor, with Darold Knowles taking over as pitching rehab coach.
