Though he continues to knock off rust after being waylayed for six weeks with a broken hand, Blue Jays third base prospect Brett Lawrie is quickly rounding out not only with his bat but even his glove.
The 21-year-old former first-round draft pick returned to the Las Vegas 51s last week and quickly put up a 9-19 streak, raising his Triple A batting average to .352, with a .412 onbase percentage and .655 slugging with 16 homers in 261 atbats. He also has stolen 14 bags.
Questions persist about his defensive play at third base, as he has 14 errors, but many came early in the season. Now he is beginning to look pretty flashy around the bag, and at any rate he probably could not do much worse than Blue Jays potential starting third baseman Edwin Encarnacion, a 29-year-old veteran who is anything but a defensive whiz.
After showing flashes of brilliance during spring training, Lawrie, a former catcher and second baseman, continues to demonstrate major league readiness in the field, as he barehanded a hard-hit grounder last week to keep it from going for extra bases, then fielded another tricky bounce to help turn a 5-4 double play.
Meanwhile, fans are becoming inpatient, especially after the Blue Jays made it clear the team is in no hurry to call him to Toronto.
"I've just got to keep playing, and hopefully I'll get an opportunity," Lawrie told The Las Vegas Review Journal.
Showing posts with label Brett Lawrie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brett Lawrie. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Friday, April 15, 2011
Blue Jays Weigh Brett Lawrie's Readiness for Majors
If former Toronto Blue Jays manager Buck Martinez had anything to say about it -- top organizational minor league prospect Brett Lawrie would be in the majors already.
"If it were up to me, I'd take him north," Martinez told his former colleagues at Sirrius-XM Radio after watching Lawrie closely at the conclusion of spring training.
Now working as a Blue Jays television announcer, Martinez, however, must leave the decision entirely to a committee of others, none less important than Marty Brown, Lawrie's manager with the Triple A Las Vegas 51s. Brown sees things differently.
Hitting at a .441 clip in the early going, Lawrie is doing all that can be expected of him in the Pacific Coast League, at least at the plate. But he has four errors, and neither Brown nor anyone else seems willing to rush him into the field before he's ready.
"He's pretty special," Brown recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "(His bat) is what's going to take him wherever he needs to go. But we have to make sure, when he gets his opportunity to go, he's prepared to play third base."
Some observers have speculated it may take at least two months before he can be considered capable of playing the hot corner without embarrassing himself. Others, such as Blue Jays announcer Alan Ashby, a former Toronto catcher, think he is ready today despite what might be considered anomalous errors.
A Canadian native, Lawrie, 21, was traded from Milwaukee to Toronto on Dec. 6 for pitcher Shaun Marcum. He is a former No. 16 overall pick, and has seen time at second base and the outfield during his brief career, reps which might better have been spent learning third base, seeing as the Blue Jays are determined to convert him. Coaches are working on Lawrie's footwork and throwing.
Favoring Lawrie for a quicker callup is the fact that so far this season, it appears that he can't do much worse than anyone else Toronto has at third, especially struggling third base starter Edwin Encarnacion. Need, it should be remembered, is the tie that binds.
"If it were up to me, I'd take him north," Martinez told his former colleagues at Sirrius-XM Radio after watching Lawrie closely at the conclusion of spring training.
Now working as a Blue Jays television announcer, Martinez, however, must leave the decision entirely to a committee of others, none less important than Marty Brown, Lawrie's manager with the Triple A Las Vegas 51s. Brown sees things differently.
Hitting at a .441 clip in the early going, Lawrie is doing all that can be expected of him in the Pacific Coast League, at least at the plate. But he has four errors, and neither Brown nor anyone else seems willing to rush him into the field before he's ready.
"He's pretty special," Brown recently told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "(His bat) is what's going to take him wherever he needs to go. But we have to make sure, when he gets his opportunity to go, he's prepared to play third base."
Some observers have speculated it may take at least two months before he can be considered capable of playing the hot corner without embarrassing himself. Others, such as Blue Jays announcer Alan Ashby, a former Toronto catcher, think he is ready today despite what might be considered anomalous errors.
A Canadian native, Lawrie, 21, was traded from Milwaukee to Toronto on Dec. 6 for pitcher Shaun Marcum. He is a former No. 16 overall pick, and has seen time at second base and the outfield during his brief career, reps which might better have been spent learning third base, seeing as the Blue Jays are determined to convert him. Coaches are working on Lawrie's footwork and throwing.
Favoring Lawrie for a quicker callup is the fact that so far this season, it appears that he can't do much worse than anyone else Toronto has at third, especially struggling third base starter Edwin Encarnacion. Need, it should be remembered, is the tie that binds.
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Doctor X -- the 'Baseball Medic' -- is an anonymous U.S. government trauma specialist with a Duke University sports medicine background and more than 20 years experience in emergency medicine. From time to time he considers MLB rumors, events and news reports as they pertain to baseball players' injuries, illnesses and various other disabilities, both on the field and off.
MLB Rumors editor Greg Fieg is a former sports news editor and award-winning writer whose bylines have appeared on the wires of the Associated Press and in numerous publications, including San Antonio Express-News, San Antonio Light, Houston Chronicle and Philadelphia Bulletin. He formerly was posted in various positions on the U.S.-Mexican border with Freedom Newspapers, and was a regular, independent contributor to United Press International.