RICHARD GRIFFIN’S BASEBALL BULLPEN

YEAR 4 VOLUME XIII, JULY 20, 2015

GRIFF’S VIEW – TROUT BIGGEST FISH IN THE GAME’S BIGGEST POND

A popular question around baseball these days is “If you were starting a franchise, who would be the player that you would build around?” The choices usually come down to the Angels’ Mike Trout or the Nationals’ Bryce Harper. Following the All-Star Game, the debate has been muted. It’s Trout.

As Trout goes, so go the Angels. Since June 6 and through Sunday’s rare home postponement, in the 35 games he has played, the New Jersey high school product who broke in at age 19, has batted .344, with a 1.152 OPS, seven doubles, a triple and 13 homers. The team has responded.

The Angels have gone from third place, 5-1/2 games out in the AL West to taking over the division lead from the Astros, who had led all year. Yes, Anaheim in 2015 also is the home of future Hall-of-Famer, first baseman Albert Pujols, but he is not the piston that drives this engine.

Trout, the 6-2, 235 lbs. outfielder was selected 25th overall in the 2009 draft, which in and of itself demonstrates the imprecise nature of the baseball draft. Four other outfielders were selected by other teams ahead of him — Dustin Ackley, Donavan Tate, A.J. Pollock and Jared Mitchell. The Angels had been awarded that draft position from the Yankees for signing first-baseman Mark Teixeira.

A total of 21 other organizations passed on Trout, likely because he was playing high school in New Jersey and there is a bias against north-east high schools. The Jays chose (clears throat) Chad Jenkins, a college righthander from Kennesaw St. University, now pitching at AAA-Buffalo.

Trout led off Tuesday’s all-star game with a home run to right field against Zack Greinke. He also scored another run in the AL victory, being named the game’s MVP for the second consecutive season. This week’s Bullpen List (below) is the five All-Star MVPs that have accomplished it twice in their career. It should be noted that three of the previous four are in the Hall-of-Fame, other than Steve Garvey of the Dodgers. It should also be noted that Trout is the only one to do it consecutively and that he will not turn 24 until Aug. 7, meaning he has about 15 more years to add a third MVP.

“He’s just special,” said the AL’s manager Ned Yost of the Royals. “He can do anything that anyone can do on a baseball field. He can hit with power, he can run, he can drive the gap, he’s a great defender. He’s just special. You look at a guy that is one of the best baseball players on the planet.”

Here, courtesy of the fabulous Elias Sports Bureau and Major League Baseball notes, is a partial list of what Trout has accomplished in his four all-star games, compared to some of the game’s legends.

There are six players that have led off an all-star game for their team by hitting a home run. Trout was the first since Bo Jackson in 1989 and joined Frankie Frisch, Lou Boudreau, Mays and Joe Morgan. After the game on Tuesday, Jays catcher Russell Martin admiringly said he believed that if Trout was given the chance he could carry the ball for 200-plus yards rushing in an NFL game.

Trout is the 15th player in MLB history to collect a basehit in each of his first four all-star games. The five players in history with a longer streak are Morgan (7), Mays (6), Carlos Beltran (5), David Wright (5) and Garvey (5). Of course, once again, Trout is the youngest with four.

Prior to the game, as part of the Franchise Four promotion, which worked out really well for baseball, the four greatest living baseball players were introduced on the field, Willie Mays, Henry Aaron, Sandy Koufax and Johnny Bench. Trout and the rest of the current all-stars were in awe. If the all-star game promotion is repeated in 50 years, look for Mike Trout to be waving to the crowd.

THE LIST – MIKE TROUT AND MULTIPLE ALL-STAR GAME MVP WINNERS

The All-Star Game MVP Award was introduced by MLB in 1962. Since that time there have been just five players that have won the Award twice.

BLUE JAYS CORNER

THE WEEK THAT WAS (All-Star break; 2-1 vs. Rays; 47-47 overall)

The Blue Jays are 6-9 in July after going 18-9 in June. The Jays have outscored 74-70 in July, averaging 4.96 runs per game despite being shut out twice. Are just 13-17 since the end of an 11-game win streak at Citi Field. The Jays are now 28-19 at home and 19-28 on the road, including 10-10 in the last 20 away from the Rogers Centre. The Jays have lost 26 of their last 31 games in which they score four runs or fewer and are 7-38 for the season in those low-scoring contests.

The Jays have played 44 of 94 games within the AL East. The Jays are 24-26 outside the AL East. NEXT UP: a six-game west coast swing to Oakland and Seattle followed by a 10-game homestand vs. the Phillies (2), Royals (4) and Twins (4).

STAR OF THE WEEK: LF Chris Colabello came up big against the Jays’ nemesis starting pitcher RH Chris Archer. The Jays’ left fielder slammed a 2-run homer in the fifth inning in a game that the Jays could ill-afford to lose that would have left them two games under .500 heading west. Teammates RH Marco Estrada and RH Roberto Osuna took care of the rest in a 4-0 win.

GOAT OF THE WEEK: LH Aaron Loup. The Jays had put themselves in position to win on Saturday, leading 2-1 behind RH R.A. Dickey into the seventh. The Jays’ middle man lefthander got an out and then surrendered a solo blast to Brandon Guyer that tied the game. In the following inning, rookie catcher Chad Casali homered off Ryan Tepera with the Rays win.

“When I make a mistake, I’m paying for it,” Loup said. “I’ve had some bad luck and at times I haven’t pitched well. It’s been a little combination of everything. I don’t think I’ve pitched as bad as the numbers show, but at the same time they are the numbers and they are what they are.”

INJURIES: RH Aaron Sanchez is on the 15-day DL retroactive to June 6 with a strained right lat. He is in Buffalo on an injury-rehab option and has stretched out to 2-2/3 innings and 65 pitches . . . LF Michael Saunders is out indefinitely with inflammation and a bruise to surgically repaired left knee . . . RH Marcus Stroman (left knee) insists he will be pitching in Sept. with the doctors’ approval . . . the original prognosis was out for the season . . . 2B Maicer Izturis (shoulder) is on the 60-day DL out for the season.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE WEEK: 7/16 RH Aaron Sanchez sent to AAA on injury rehab assignment.

JOHN GIBBONS has posted a career record of 509-519 in two stints as Blue Jays manager. Gibbons recorded victory No. 500 in the majors on June 22 at Tampa Bay. The Jays need 86 wins in 2015 for Gibbons to climb to the .500 mark for his career. His win total is second in franchise history, behind Cito Gaston (913). His losses also rank second to Cito’s 851.

THE CONVERSATION – BLUE JAYS CENTRE FIELDER KEVIN PILLAR

We caught up with Kevin Pillar after batting practice on Saturday to talk about his all-star break, his expectation of himself and comparisons to others in the game.

RICHARD GRIFFIN: What was your all-star break like? Where did you go?

KEVIN PILLAR: I went back home to California, the San Fernando Valley, and just wanted to see my parents. My wife was there. See my brother and his fiancee and soon-to-be baby and just kind of get away from baseball and Toronto and just go back home and relax. Just give my mind a break and, more importantly, my body a break. Being part of my first full season and pretty much playing every day, the three days off were huge for my body just to relax and not do a whole lot.

RG: Is that the toughest adjustment, playing every day in the major-leagues. I mean is it different, more stressful, than, say, every day at Buffalo or a level below.

KP: Yeah, definitely. Every game in the big leagues is important. I think the physical aspects are very similar if you’re playing every day. You’re playing every day, but in the big leagues I think mentally is where you get worn out more. You’re that much more locked in every pitch, every at-bat, every time you’re on the field. The big leagues is a perfect place to get yourself embarrassed if you’re not prepared. Mentally you’ve got to be locked in for as long as the game is.

RG: When you went home and you saw people that you knew over the years, how many people the first thing they say is about your defence and the plays, the highlight plays they see on television.

KP: For the people that I don’t see very often, like maybe some friends that I saw when I was home, yeah. Normally the conversation starts with we enjoy seeing you on Top 10, or we enjoy watching the plays you’re making in the field. But for my family, people closest to me that have seen me play growing up, like in high school or college, I don’t think it’s anything new to them. For most people, everyone knew I could hit. No one talked about my defence for a long time and those people are amazed by what they see, but for the ones closest to me, it’s things they’re used to seeing.

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RG: From a personal standpoint, how would you rank the Top 3 plays that you’ve made this year and could you describe what makes them special. I assume the first one is the Spiderman catch.

KP: Yeah, robbing the home run is probably No. 1. Number two is probably the one in Baltimore early in the year, the one diving down the line where I lost my glove. I mean that came in a one-run game in the ninth inning, so that was a pretty crucial time of the game. I would say probably . . . maybe the one in Cleveland where I went into the right-centre field wall. I mean that was max effort, full speed and I hit the wall as hard as I could hit the wall and was able to hold on.

RG: Do you think that because of the defence, people overlook some of your offensive contributions. I mean you talk about people who see you all the time knew you could hit. Do you think that’s a revelation, maybe, to some Toronto fans, what kind of an offensive player you are.

KP: Yeah, I think I set the bar pretty low when I first came up and struggled offensively when I felt like that’s what people expected me to be was a guy that could hit, since I hit everywhere I went. That wasn’t the case right away. But yeah, I would say it’s kind of flip-flopped to where my defence is kind of overshadowing what I do offensively. I put together a pretty good first half, offensively, and I still know there’s more in the tank, so I’m not too concerned with the way maybe fans, or the people view my hitting. I know what I’m capable of doing. I know what I’ve done this year offensively, the challenges that I’ve had to overcome, the strides I’ve made. To me, the biggest thing is just about being consistent every day, going out there and trying to put together good at-bats and try to get on base and try to get myself in scoring position to score runs or drive in runs, just try to help us win games.

RG: Do you see a lot of yourself in (Rays centre fielder) Kevin Kiermayer.

KP: Yeah, I mean I heard he had some nice things to say about me the other day and I feel the same way about him. We’re both guys that were drafted later, probably weren’t expected to make it this far and we’re both really just trying to seize the day and make the best of the opportunity to go out there and play centre field every day. I would say we’re similar in the sense that, I think, what we’ve been able to do defensively has overshadowed what we’ve been able to do at the plate. He’s the type of guy that puts a lot of pressure on the defence with how fast he is when he steps in the box. Not only the infielders have to rush, but the outfielders that field the ball have to rush. I know that the pitcher and catcher feel the same way when he’s on base. The things he’s been able to do in the outfield are pretty phenomenal. I enjoy watching him play, just because he plays the game the right way. I would say to a lot of people that watch him play, you hear terms like “little league” or “ticky-tack” but he plays the game the way the game was intended to be played. He runs every ball out hard. He takes big turns at first base. He takes extra bases and I feel like I do the same thing. It’s nice, especially playing against him head-to-head. He makes me raise my bar of aggression and try and match the intensity, as in I’m trying to put the same pressure on their defence that I know he’s putting on our defence.

RG: Last question. Do you believe a key to your career and being here is that every time you got sent down to Buffalo, you worked hard on improving and getting back as opposed to just sulking and drifting like some guys may do.

KP: Yeah, definitely. Not only being sent down and working hard, but you have to remember that people have always said, it’s harder to stay in the big leagues than to make it to the big leagues and even for a guy that’s playing every day, there’s no job security in this world, in this industry, and you’ve got to continue to work hard. Even when things are going well, you’re having success, success can be taken from you real quick in this game. You can be the best player in the world for an entire month, then the next month you can be the worst player and find yourself back down in Buffalo. It’s just a matter of trying to stay even-keeled and continue to put in the work every day, whether you’re going good, bad or indifferent. You’ve just got to go out there and work, understand it’s your job. As professionals, we’re expected to go out there and perform. Just continue to work hard.

RG: Thanks Kevin and good luck.

BLUE JAYS DOWN ON THE FARM

The Jays’ eight farm teams currently in action have a combined record of 250-242 (.508).

AAA-BUFFALO (47-48). . . beat Columbus 4-3 in 12 innings on Sunday. RH Chad Jenkins (7-2) was the winner in relief of LH Matt Boyd (3.38) (7.0 IP; 5H; 3R; 3ER; 1BB; 6SO) . . . 1B Matt Hague was 2-for-6 with a game-tying 3-run homer in the eighth. CF Dalton Pompey singled home a run in the 12th for the win and earlier stole base No. 7.

AA-NEW HAMPSHIRE (48-43) . . . lost 2-0 to Portland on Sunday. RH John Anderson (5-4, 4.09) was the starter and loser (6.1 IP; 9H; 2R; 1ER; 1BB; 2SO).

A-DUNEDIN (43-51) . . . lost 5-3 to Daytona on Sunday. RH Murphy Smith (5-5, 2.99) was the starter and loser (4.2 IP; 6H; 4R; 1ER; 4BB; 3SO). DH Rowdy Tellez (.289) was 2-for-4 with a homer. 2B Andy Fermin (.257) was 1-for-3 with a triple and 2 RBIs.

A-LANSING (52-41) . . . lost 7-2 to Great Lakes on Sunday. RH Justin Shafer (4-2, 2.49) was the starter and loser (2.1 IP; 4H; 3R; 3ER; 0BB; 1SO). 2B Christian Vazquez was 2-for-2 with a double, a homer and 2 walks.

A-VANCOUVER (12-19) . . . beat Eugene 16-5 on Sunday with a 10-run first. RH Josh DeGraaf (1-0) was the winner in relief of starter RH Clinton Hollon (4.01 ERA) (4.0 IP; 5H; 2R; 2ER; 2BB; 1SO). Canadian 1B Justin Atkinson (.383) was 4-for-4. 2B Lane Thomas doubled with 4 RBIs. DH Gunnar Heidt was 3-for-5 with 2 doubles.

A-BLUEFIELD (10-14) . . . was rained out vs. Johnson City on Sunday.

Rk-GCL BLUE JAYS (13-9) . . . beat the Yankees 9-6 on Saturday. RH Griffin Glaude (2-1) was the winner in relief of RH Dennis Diaz (3.0IP; 4H; 3R; 1ER; 2BB’ 3SO). CF Edward Olivares was 2-for-3 with 3 runs, a double, a homer and 2 RBIs.

RK-DOMINICAN BLUE JAYS (25-17) . . . beat the Reds 8-0 on Friday.

MLB POWER RANKINGS (Through 07/20)

TEAMLAST WEEK

ON THE ROAD AGAIN:

Monday morning at the All-Star Game has become a little bit like Tuesday’s Media Day at the Super Bowl, minus the costumed, buffoon media trying to make a name for themselves. Major-league baseball takes a downtown hotel and brings the all-star players to a ballroom, giving each their own table on a riser where for 40 minutes you can stop by and ask whatever questions you want.

On Monday in Cincinnati, I wandered down the street from the horrible Millennium Hotel to the square, the site of the iconic fountain from the opening credits of WKRP in Cincinnati, across from the MLB headquarter hotel. Most fans and autograph seekers are kept outside the hotel by security, while some make it into the lobby where they try and blend in. But when I made my way up to the mezzanine area where the ballroooms are, there was my 22-year-old son Pat, with his buddy, Derek Reed, the centre fielder for the College of St. Rose baseball team in Albany. “We just acted like we knew what we were doing,” Pat said. In any case, he knew how to act and he didn’t ask for autographs.

Pat and Derek went to the Home Run Derby and sat in the left field upper deck, but were about seven rows too deep for the longest home run. It turns out Bobby Tewksbary, who acted as pitcher for Josh Donaldson in the Derby was also Derek’s summer-league coach three years earlier. Small world. They had a great time at the derby, anyway, even though coming away with no baseballs. I met them afterwards at the MYNT night club on the WKRP square, where they also had a great time.

On all-star game day Tuesday, the southern Ohio weather was pretty iffy all day, but despite one 45 minute squall at the ballpark that threatened to destroy the MLB Network talent tent, by game time it was perfect. The Franchise Four promotion was well done. The NL pitching was dynamic, but the AL remained in charge most of the game to secure home field advantage in the World Series.

Then it was off to the MYNT again to meet Pat and Derek. Father of the year? By then, the bartenders and manager knew us and we were able to stay at last call and finish up. The highlight of the trip for the two Golden Knights from St. Rose was meeting Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Whuhh?

On Wednesday it was back in the car for the long drive back to Oakville, with a stop at the Buffalo Airport for Derek to catch his flight home to Boston. They slept, I drove. The next day, Thursday was spent napping, then a noon Live Chat, a column and a preview of the Jays and Rays series. On Thursday night, there was a Junior game to manage against a solid Martingrove team. We scored three in the bottom of the ninth to tie 6-6, at which point they melted down at the umpires, refusing to play extra innings, having three players ejected and forfeiting the decision.

I covered Friday and Saturday’s Blue Jays games, that resulted in a win and a loss against the Rays, then on Sunday I lucked out with weather, playing golf with my elder son, Matt, in the early morning, shooting 86 from the blues at Burlington Springs, despite seven three-putts. Sunday night it was my A’s beating Toronto Playground at home. Now it’s on the road again, to Oakland and Seattle.