TORONTO – At one point Friday evening, the Toronto Blue Jays’ outfield consisted of a backup infielder, the bullpen coach and the team interpreter.
If fans had been there to witness it, they wouldn’t have noticed any dropped balls or errant throws. But still: backup infielder, bullpen coach, interpreter. With all due respect to Ruben Tejada, Matt Buschmann and Hector Lebron, no team wants to be that far down its depth chart, training camp intrasquad game or not.
“Hey, Matt Buschmann was looking pretty good,” manager Charlie Montoyo joked.
And he did, but that’s not really the point. In the few days since arriving in Toronto for training camp, the Blue Jays have been woefully underrepresented in the outfield. With only two weeks remaining before opening day, the shortage of outfielders was starting to look concerning.
Late Thursday night, that changed. Randal Grichuk, Cavan Biggio, Billy McKinney, Anthony Alford and Derek Fisher arrived on a flight from Florida and joined the team at Rogers Centre. On Friday afternoon, all five players took batting practice on the field. Before long, they’ll be playing in games again, too.
“For those guys that got here, we have to be careful,” Montoyo said. “I’m not going to rush them in there. You might see them in the games (Saturday).”
At that point, the likes of Joe Panik, Santiago Espinal and Andy Burns can return to the infield and Montoyo can direct his attention to more pressing matters. On that front, there’s plenty to choose from.
While those five outfielders successfully rejoined the team, two other candidates for the big-league roster have not been seen at Rogers Centre thus far. No reason has been given for the apparent absences of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Jonathan Davis, nor is one expected (Davis was among the four players placed on the injured list earlier this month). Regardless, the club does not appear to be operating at full capacity just yet.
Even beyond the outfield, plenty of hurdles remain for team decision makers. In a surprising move, Montoyo announced that Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s primary position will now be first base, rather than third. While many industry observers have wondered about an eventual shift across the diamond for the 21-year-old, the Blue Jays had to this point seemed intent on developing Guerrero Jr. at third base, growing pains and all.
Instead, he moves to first base after just 94 career games at third. If he can hit like Paul Goldschmidt, Joey Votto or Freddie Freeman, the Blue Jays will be thrilled, but there’s still the challenge of learning a new position in a few short weeks. First base may not be as challenging defensively as third, but the ground balls Guerrero Jr. took at first in March were just the start of his apprenticeship there.
Meanwhile, Travis Shaw becomes the Blue Jays’ primary third baseman and Rowdy Tellez, who homered twice Friday, will be fighting for DH at bats. Shaw homered too, incidentally, but it wasn’t his bat that landed him in the spotlight Friday. In a Friday afternoon tweet, he expressed skepticism that the Blue Jays could realistically remain quarantined within Rogers Centre beyond their current training camp.
“All summer isn’t gonna happen. Not an option,” Shaw tweeted.
At this point, it’s unclear whether the Blue Jays will even get the chance to play their home games in Toronto. They’ve stated many times that their strong preference is to play at Rogers Centre, rather than Dunedin, Fla. or another U.S. city, but they’re awaiting approval from the Canadian federal government on that front.
For now, players are left wondering what’s next. At the very least, a few more of them are in Toronto now, allowing the coaching staff to make the most of the limited time remaining before Opening Day. Still, the delayed arrival of Grichuk, Biggio, McKinney, Alford and Fisher underscores a pair of challenges facing the Blue Jays in this abbreviated 2020 season.
First of all, it’s yet another example of how challenging it’ll be to navigate through a baseball season in the midst of a pandemic. And second, it’s a reminder of how costly a few missed days can be. For starters like Grichuk and Biggio, less than two weeks remain to establish a sense of timing before the games start to count. For role players like Alford, McKinney and Fisher, there are even fewer chances to prove themselves.
Starting Saturday, expect to see more of the new arrivals in game settings. Finally, the bullpen coach and the translator can get some rest.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
