Bats Come Alive For Blue Jays

The Blue Jays brought out the big bats today as they defeat the Tampa Bay Rays 9-3 in Grapefruit League action Sunday.

Brandon Morrow had a tough first inning throwing over 20 pitches. He gave up a double to Johnny Damon to left and hit Manny Ramirez. He should have been out of the inning as the number-four hitter grounded one to second for a tailor-made double play, but Escobar air mailed the ball over first base, allowing Damon to score. But, he settled down only giving up three hits over four innings, while striking out six and only one earned run.

Marc Rzepczynski looked strong in his three innings of work. He retired the first seven batters he faced. He located pitches and established his fastball early in the count. Though he surrendered three consecutive hits in his final inning, Rzepczynski finished with a double play stranding a runner at third and only one run. He is in the battle for one of the last two jobs in the starting rotation. If he continues to have similar outings like he did today, he will make John Farrell's decision tough.

Toronto's offence had a little bit of everything today. We saw a little bit of small ball with Corey Patterson advancing the runner with a bunt, Jose Bautista and Eric Thames going deep with home runs and both adding sacrifice files combining for five RBIs.

Yunel Escobar looked good at the plate. He went 1-for-3 with a two-run double and a walk. He hit the ball with authority today. In 23 at-bats, he is batting .423 with an OPS of .978 (On-base Plus Slugging percentage).

Today was my first chance to see David Cooper. He made two great plays at first, showing some range and his glove scooping a couple of short hops. At the dish, Cooper went 2-for-3 with a pair of base hits and an RBI.

Notables:

B. Morrow: 4.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 1 HB, 65 pitches
M. Rzepczynski: 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 30 pitches

J. Bautista: 2-for-2; HR, 2 RBI
E. Thames: 1-for-3; HR, 3 RBI

I think a big key to the Jays success this year is their ability to drive in runs without relying on the home run. They were one of the worst when it came to average with runners in scoring position (RISP). The home runs will be there and the defence will be among the top again in the American League. But the ability to drive guys in down the lines or to the gaps late in games may give the Jays those extra wins for a potential run come September.

On a side note, Aaron Hill during the pre-game told Sportsnet that he will appear in a B-game on Tuesday and will either be in an A-game Wednesday or Thursday. Hopefully he can recover from his hamstring injury (which hampered him for most of 2010) and be ready for opening day.

Chase

Twitter: @ChaseHadden