The time is now to give Spencer Horwitz his everyday shot with Blue Jays

TORONTO — We’re so lucky to have Dan and Buck, you know?

On Sunday, Buck Martinez relayed a discussion he’d had with Spencer Horwitz in answer to a question from Dan Shulman about what position he would like to see Horwitz play.

Martinez said that Horwitz told him the difference between playing second and, say first base, is to “worry about base hits, and (while playing) first, I try to hit home runs.”

I mean, you’d like there to be no difference, but if that’s what Horwitz believes, it’s just further evidence of something Martinez has often said and with which I agree whole-heartedly: versatility is nice — it’s also cheaper — but there’s nothing wrong with having full-timers at a position.

Look, we all got excited about Davis Schneider’s hot start and who knows? Maybe Horwitz’s torrid run dissipates in the summer heat and, as colleague Caleb Joseph has noted, Horwitz does seem to have the ability to tell hitting coaches/offensive coordinators/khakis “Thanks, but I’m good.” 

Being a left-handed hitter will give him an edge — and considering the difficulty this organization has had producing lefty hitters since Carlos Delgado was doing his thing, I’d leave him at second every day, hit him first or second against righties and not be so quick to pinch-hit against lefties, and let it play out with an eye toward 2025. The Blue Jays already have enough on their off-season plate without creating more issues for themselves. Take the obvious road, gents. For once.

Closing down the demons

Eric Gagne, who was feted recently by the Los Angeles Dodgers on the 20th anniversary of his record 84^th consecutive save, underwent Tommy John surgery in 1997, needed a repair in 2005 when a tear was discovered near the site of that previous graft, and pitched the final few years of his 10-year, 402-appearance career with nagging pain.

He had interesting insight on the path ahead for another Canadian-born closer, Jordan Romano, who is rehabilitating from arthroscopic surgery to remove an impingement in his throwing elbow. Asked what quality is needed by Romano or any other rehabilitating pitcher, Gagne — a native of Mascouche, Que. — had a one-word answer: "Trust."

“The biggest thing I heard from Dr. Jobe (Frank, the orthopedic surgeon and Dodgers team specialist who was the father of Tommy John surgery) when he gave me my first surgery was that you have to go back out there and almost try to break it again,” said Gagne. “Mentally, that’s almost how you get over it, and I think it’s why you’ll often see guys need another surgery a few years later.

“It’s very difficult. Your brain is telling you it’s going to be easier to get hurt from that point on. But you need to realize that the doctors understand it. They’ve done the procedure many times, while for you it might be your first or second.”

The Blue Jays confidence level in Romano seemed based more on necessity than outright faith — witness the acquisition of Jordan Hicks at the last trade deadline. He’ll be shut down for a minimum of six weeks, and with the team's already-full shopping list and free agency on the horizon following the 2025 season, both sides need a positive resolution.

A Pillar of the game

Congratulations to Kevin Pillar on doing something roughly seven per cent of Major Leaguers ever do: acquiring 10 years of service time.

Financially, it’s a boon for players — especially those who missed out on big free-agent paydays such as Pillar — because it means his pension is fully vested. And it’s for that reason that Pillar’s accomplishment is extra special: he has never been a star, drafted in the 32^nd round of the 2011 draft by the Blue Jays.

Pillar, whose career earnings are a shade under $24 million, is earning $1 million this season after signing a minor-league contract with the Chicago White Sox, his second minor-league deal in as many seasons. Pillar was released by the White Sox and signed with the Angels on April 30 — hitting .299 with six home runs. The only multi-year deal of Pillar’s career was a two-year, $6.5-million pact with the New York Mets covering the 2021-2022 seasons.

The most Pillar as earned in a single season came was $5.8-million deal with the San Francisco Giants in 2019. The Giants acquired him in a trade with the Blue Jays in April 2019 for Juan De Paula, Alen Hanson and Derek Law. The deal saved the Blue Jays money at a time when the organization was in transition and wanted to get a better read on youngsters such as Anthony Alford. Pillar played four games in centre before the trade, after no less than six players saw time in centre — with Teoscar Hernandez (79) and Randall Grichuk (62) getting most of the work. It was also the Summer of Socrates — as in Socrates Brito.

Pillar played in 695 games for the Blue Jays and was a fan favourite (he could have made more money if he’d simply asked media members to pay him $100 every time he was described as playing with a “hockey player’s mentality,” whatever the hell that means) but you can’t tell his story without talking about his demotion to triple-A Buffalo in June 2014, after he pitched an equipment-tossing tantrum in the dugout when then-manager John Gibbons pinch-hit for him. He was sent out following the game but was back in 2015 and was a key member of that beloved post-season team. Pillar was hitting .225 at the time.

“It didn’t help him,” Gibbons said at the time, when he was asked if the tantrum was the final push toward Pillar’s return to the minors. Pillar came back on Aug. 24 … and was on his way, with Gibbons noting: “We think we have a good player here.”

I’m sure there have been similar examples in the game, but the two I’m most familiar with are Felipe Alou telling Jose Vidro that he needed to go to winter ball if he wanted to be a full-time second baseman (mission accomplished: Vidro had a 12-year career and was a three-time All-Star at second) and Lourdes Gurriel Jr., essentially suggesting to the Blue Jays that they send him to triple-A Buffalo in April 2019, after his erratic throwing at second base led to concerns he’d developed the yips and resulted in a mid-game removal. Gurriel went down … moved to left field and, well, let’s just leave it there, shall we?

Start spreading the news …

They’re piling in to Yankee Stadium. This is a little surprising, given our assumptions about the Yankees, but you need to go back to 2019 to find the last time the Bombers had as many consecutive home crowds of 40,000-plus as they have in 2024: 17 after last night’s game against the Boston Red Sox. They had 29 consecutive crowds of 40,000-plus from June 25-Sept. 2, 2019.

The Yankees' average attendance is second-highest in the Majors behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, and with Aaron Judge in the middle of one of the greatest seasons ever and Juan Soto, there will be ample reasons for fans to fill it up in the Bronx the rest of the way.

Judge’s historic season is going to create a fascinating scenario for Soto in free agency: if he dares ask for more than the $40 million per year that Judge will earn through 2031, does it shut the door on the Yankees? Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, might feel the need to lay down a marker after this past winter’s comeuppance and Soto’s combination of statistics, skills, ability to stay healthy and age (remember: he doesn’t turn 26 years of age until October) will make him one of the most sought-after free agents (non-Ohtani category) in years.

Would Judge, as captain, be OK with not being the highest-paid Yankee? Would ownership even entertain that? Baseball’s always better when the Yankees are throwing their weight around. Can’t wait to see how this plays out …

The Teoscar goes to …

Those of us who said at the time that we understood the Blue Jays' decision to trade Teoscar Hernandez — he was prone to going walk-about on the basepaths and found wanting defensively by a front office convinced that defence was its undoing, and likely to leave as a free agent, anyway — should be pleased to know there’s a similar sentiment in Seattle.

The Blue Jays haven’t had a run producer since he’s left and their pop-gun offence has brought pain to the summer of 2024. But the Mariners are also scuffling at the plate, while Hernandez is off to the All-Star Game, and is making just $2 million more than Justin Turner.

“They got rid of Teoscar Hernandez and Eugenio Suarez because they were striking out too much,” said former Mariner Bret Boone, host of the Bret Boone Podcast. “They’re still leading the league in strikeouts. They have a bad formula going right now. Everybody strikes out now, anyhow. So, I’m looking at Teoscar ‘s (26) home runs and (96) RBIs. They gave up (189) RBIs in letting those two go. They don’t grow on trees.” Tell us about it.

Dumbing down the discourse

I get that the All-Star Game is for the fans, and that with 32 first-time All-Stars it would be symbolic for the Pittsburgh Pirates Paul Skenes to start for the National League. Would I love to see Skenes against the best in the American League? I mean, yeah: Anybody who remembers Randy Johnson’s matchups with Larry Walker and John Kruk or Pedro Martinez striking out Barry Larkin, Walker and Sammy Sosa to start the 1999 game then started the second inning by striking out Mark McGwire. The head-to-head nature of MLB’s All-Star Game separates it from all the others.

But here's the thing: as brilliant as Skenes is (and make no mistake: I haven’t enjoyed watching a pitcher this much since Pedro), there are more deserving starters — beginning with the Philadelphia Phillies' top three.

Skenes will have fewer than 70 innings pitched when the game rolls around. Historically great 70, but still. If it was in Pittsburgh? Hell, yeah. That would be different. But there’s still something about being selected to start the All-Star Game. That includes how it fits into his turn in his team’s rotation, which has always struck me as kind of cool.

Skenes will get the chance to earn the chance to start. He hasn’t done so, yet.

Jeff Blair hosts Blair & Barker from 4-6 p.m. ET on Sportsnet 590/The Fan and Sportsnet. He also hosts weekday editions of Blue Jays Talk.