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Oct 17 '17
CLEARWATER, Florida – Jose Bautista isnt getting worked up about his red hot spring training. William Gay Jersey . After all, established players dont concern themselves with Grapefruit League statistics. "Im just trying to make sure I keep working on my game plan and my mental preparation for each at-bat and the situation that I have in front of me," said Bautista, before offering a glimpse into the extent of his own expectations. "Its been a little bit inconsistent but thats to be expected in spring training." After Thursdays 3-1 win over the Phillies, which marked the first time this season Bautista had played into the eighth inning, hes hitting .304/.465/.717 (1.182 OPS) with five home runs and 11 RBI. Hes looking to regain the form from 2010 and 2011 that catapulted him to superstardom. He led baseball with 54 and 43 home runs, respectively, in those two seasons and in 2011 led baseball with an otherworldly 1.056 OPS. Those are lofty standards and Bautista has battled injuries (wrist, hip) since then but he feels he still can be a consistent threat. "Overall, I feel pretty good about camp and Im seeing the ball well and I think Im staying within the strike zone," said Bautista. "Any time Im doing that I normally do well." Bautista has had a strong start in the field, too. Showing no ill effects from a jammed hip that cost him the final six weeks of last season, he made a great sliding catch on a Jimmy Rollins shallow fly ball in the first inning of Thursdays game; then in the third was credited with his fourth outfield assist of the season on a play at second base. There is legitimate concern about the state of the starting pitching heading into the regular season but Bautista believes improved defence will help the rotation. "Im healthy. So is Colby. So is Melky and the little bit of games he played (last year) he was hurt the whole time. Same with Brett; he started the season on the DL. Jose (got hurt) in the third week of the season and we missed him a lot," said Bautista. "We had two new guys getting used to the turf in Maicer (Izturis) and Bonifacio who struggled a little bit at second. Now, Maicer is more used to it; Goins is really good defensively and the rest of the infield is healthy and ready to go. We have Dioner (Navarro) at catcher. Thats different than J.P. (Arencibia) and J.P. didnt have his best defensive year last year and thats no secret. Not that hes bad defensively, he just didnt have a good year defensively. Overall, we should be better but at the same time we cant just be complacent and think that its going to automatically happen." Earlier this spring, veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey told TSN.ca he believed this incarnation of the Blue Jays could be "blown up" if it underperforms for a second consecutive season. Bautista, about to begin what would be his sixth full season in Toronto, said he doesnt dwell on negative thoughts. "Plus, thats a question better suited for Alex Anthopoulos, not me, because I cant make decisions when it comes to anything like that," he said. Bautista hopes to be spending his 34th birthday, on October 19, in a playoff setting. Nobodys found the tonic to slow down Father Time but Bautista has no more a sense of urgency to win now, in his mid-30s, than he did in his younger days. "Its always your number one driver is wanting to win," said Bautista. "I feel that this team is capable of winning, this organization is pretty close to accomplishing that. Let me just say theres nowhere else Id rather be than on this team." Bautista is aware that fans are anxious after the clubs relatively quiet offseason. He reads his Twitter account. "They have to trust the team," he said. "They have to be not only fans but they also have to love their organization and love the team and love their players. Hopefully theyve created some sort of bond with us over the last couple of years because a lot of us have been here for a while. Hopefully they get to know us as people, as athletes and they believe in us as much as we believe in ourselves. Were going to go out and leave it out on the field every single day and hopefully they can do the same either at home or at the stadium when they come out to support us." McGOWAN TO LONG RELIEF Dustin McGowan has been saying since late last season hed like to take one more shot, likely a final shot, at returning to the starting rotation. Manager John Gibbons has been hesitant to embrace the idea and with time running out in spring training, the focus is on building up McGowan to be one of the long men out of the bullpen. "Hes kind of in limbo there," said Gibbons. "We want to be able to stretch him out anyway. If hes in the pen for multiple innings that would benefit us quite a bit down there. We know he can do two. If he can do three that would do wonders for us." McGowan, who turns 32 on Monday, threw three scoreless innings against the Phillies in Clearwater on Thursday. He considered the accomplishment a milestone. "It felt good to finally go three innings," said McGowan. "Its been quite a few years since I reached that mark." After multiple shoulder surgeries which cost him the entirety of the 2009 and 2010 seasons, most of 2011 and all of 2012, McGowan returned in 2013 as a reliever, posting a 2.45 ERA in 25 appearances. "Im kind of interested to see how Im going to feel tomorrow," said McGowan. "The way I feel right now I think Im going to be just fine. I can usually tell right after I come out of the game how Im going to feel. Its one of those days I feel good." He won 12 games for the Blue Jays back in 2007. Gibbons managed that team. "We think hes beyond that kind of stuff and I thought he thrived in the bullpen," said Gibbons. "I thought that was a good role for him." McGowan was set back this spring by a stomach virus that kept him away for the club for a couple of days and resulted in him dropping eight pounds. The calendar isnt his friend. "He had desire to do it," said Gibbons of McGowan starting. "A lot of people had desire to see if he could do it but myself, personally, kind of had some reservations." THE RUNNING GAME The Blue Jays stole 112 bases last season, which tied the club for ninth with Colorado. More than half of those stolen bases, a combined 57, are gone with the departures of Rajai Davis (45) via free agency and Emilio Bonifacio (12), who was traded last August. Anthony Gose stole four bases last year and is expected to begin the season with Triple-A Buffalo. "Thats not one of our strengths," said manager John Gibbons. "Our speed has definitely dropped off. Thats now how the team is built." Toronto was fourth in the major leagues in home runs (185) last season, a number which figures to climb if the club gets injury-free seasons from Jose Bautista, Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie. "The teams built for those guys in the middle to drive in a bunch of runs, hit some home runs and Reyes to get things going. We think were strong. Weve got some pop. Weve got some guys that can produce some runs, top to bottom in the lineup." Still, Gibbons wants to mitigate the all-or-nothing approach he feels his team had too often last season. "Well cut down on the strikeouts a little bit I think will definitely help us and (hitting coach Kevin) Seitzers really good about that and hes working some game plans but that takes time," said Gibbons. "I think these guys have all been receptive to him." ROTATION JUGGLING Drew Hutchison has been dropped from his major league start on Saturday in favour of Todd Redmond. Redmond was scheduled to pitch against the Rays on Friday in Port Charlotte but has been pushed back a day. Aaron Sanchez will start on Friday, while Hutchison will pitch on Saturday but in a Triple-A game. While the Blue Jays havent confirmed publicly that Hutchison has made the team, the fact the coaching staff doesnt feel the need to see him versus major league talent this close to opening day bodes well for the 23-year-old. Martavis Bryant Jersey . Eller said the Oilers were a "junior team" that was "all over the place" before Edmontons 4-3 victory over Montreal on Tuesday night, Oilers head coach Dallas Eakins took offence to Ellers comments and used it to motivate his youthful team. Mel Blount Jersey . Ashton scored a hat trick -- giving him 13 goals in 16 AHL games this season -- to power the Toronto Marlies to a 5-2 victory over the visiting Lake Erie Monsters in AHL action on Sunday.ANAHEIM - The West Regional has played out just as planned, with top-seeded Arizona taking on second-seeded Wisconsin for the right to move on to the Final Four. You can watch all the action on TSN beginning at 8:45pm et/5:45pm pt. Arizona, which is now 51-27 officially in this event over the years and won it all in 1997 under Lute Olson, made it through the second and third rounds of the 76th NCAA Tournament with victories over Weber State (68-59) and Gonzaga (70-64) before going up against San Diego State in the round of 16 on Thursday night. The teams had met earlier this season, with the Wildcats pulling off a 69-60 win on the road, but this time around the Aztecs had a considerable fan base making the trip to Anaheim to support SDSU and while early on the local favorites appeared to be well on their way to advancing, Arizona came storming back in the second half to secure the 70-64 victory. Meanwhile the Badgers, winners of this tourney back in 1941 with a 39-34 decision against Washington State in Kansas City, Missouri, now have a mark of 28-18 in the event all-time. The second-round matchup with American was anything but a challenge, as Wisconsin breezed to a 75-35 win, but in the third round Oregon refused to go away quietly before suffering the 85-77 setback. Two nights ago, a powerful Baylor squad was brought to its knees as Wisconsin served up a 69-52 victory in order to advance to the Elite Eight yet again. In terms of an all-time series between these two programs, the Badgers cling to a 3-2 advantage thanks to three wins in four chances on a neutral floor. However, when it comes to competing against each other in the NCAA Tournament, the squads have split a pair of meetings. Back in 2000, they clashed in Salt Lake City during the postseason, with Wisconsin capturing a 66-59 win, while six years later it was Arizona with a massive 94-65 decision on St. Patricks Day in Philadelphia. The survivor in this regional final is headed to the Lone Star State next weekend where it will contend with the team representing the Midwest Regional (Kentucky/Michigan) next Saturday. It was a lows-scoring first half on both sides when Wisconsin hit the floor against the Bears Thursday, but Baylor looked particularly awful as it shot a mere 5-of-25 from the floor and 1-of-6 behind the 3-point line through the first 20 minutes of action. It was one of the worst performances before intermmission this season for the Bears and while they did improve in the second half, to 40. Anthony Chickillo Jersey. 6 percent from the field, they were just 1-of-9 out on the perimeter. Frank Kaminsky played a major role at both ends of the floor as he not only tallied a game-high 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting, but he also recorded all six of his teams blocked shots as well. Ben Brust checked in with 14 points and Nigel Hayes tallied 10 to go with six boards in only 18 minutes off the bench for a group that shot a disappointing 11-of-20 at the free-throw line. Kaminsky is far from a glamorous, household name, but for the Badgers he has become an essential piece of the puzzle in the paint, from scoring 13.7 ppg and clearing 6.2 rpg, to posting 64 blocked shots, just over half the teams total (124). Brust (13.0 ppg), Sam Dekker (12.5 ppg), Traevon Jackson (10.7 ppg) and Josh Gasser (9.1 ppg), all of whom have started every game this season, have put forth a strong effort at the defensive end as well where opponents have been limited to just 63.8 ppg. The 2013-14 Pac-12 Player of the Year was invisible for the first 37 minutes of the game against San Diego State, missing his first 10 field goal attempts, although he did have a mid-court prayer answered at the end of the first half that was waved off because it was released after the buzzer. However, in the final 2:45 Nick Johnson came alive with all 15 of his points in the win against the Aztecs, converting all 10 of his free throws and finishing with eight rebounds. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Aaron Gordon both tallied 15 points as well for the Wildcats, followed by T.J. McConnell who dropped in 11 points as the team held SDSU to just 38.9 percent shooting from the field and 4-of-14 behind the 3-point line. Despite the rough start on Thursday, Johnson still closed in on his season scoring average of 16.3 ppg and doubled his efforts on the glass, which now stands at 4.1 rpg. Gordon (12.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Kaleb Tarczewski (9.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg) are still doing all they can to fill the void left by Brandon Ashley (11.5 ppg, 5.8 rpg) who has been watching from the sidelines after having surgery performed on his right foot last month. San Diego State was one of the top defensive teams in the nation, but of the remaining squads left in the tournament that title belongs to Florida (57.8 ppg), although Arizona (58.4 ppg) isnt far off the pace. Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys China NFL Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
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