DONALDSON BRINGS THE FIRE FOR BRAVES
Veteran slugger an emotional leader in the post-season
Until he carries it through to the end of baseball’s most treasured month for the first time in his baseball career, we’ll hold off the Mr. October coronation for Josh Donaldson.
But there’s little doubt the heartbeat of the two most recent Blue Jays playoff teams is mentally built for this time of the year.
Healthy and hitting, Donaldson is back in the spotlight again, and he’s a big reason the Atlanta Braves are favoured over the St. Louis Cardinals in the best-offive National League Division Series that gets underway here on Thursday.
At age 33, the Bringer of Rain tells us he’s rarely felt better as he prepares to continue an incredible career run that has included late fall ball in all but one season of his big-league career.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s anticipating having a big post-season,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said before his team’s Wednesday afternoon workout at a stifling SunTrust Park. “Everything he brings — the stability, the confidence, the energy — the guys feed off of him.
“He expects to be good. He expects to win.”
And most of all, Donaldson expects to be playing post-season baseball.
Since he became a full-time major-leaguer with the Oakland Athletics in 2012, the lone playoff miss is one well-rooted in the minds of Canadian baseball fans. That 2017 absence was notable, not only in that it officially began his fractured relationship with the Toronto Blue Jays, but it also signalled the beginning of the club’s plunge from competitiveness.
Even after a tumultuous 2018 campaign in which Toronto GM Ross Atkins swapped him to Cleveland for a song, Donaldson had another October taste, albeit a short one, given the Indians were swept in three games by the Houston Astros.
Over six years and appearing in nine different series, Donaldson boasts a career post-season batting average of .275 and has been an emotional leader for his teams. In a recent conversation, Jays first baseman Justin Smoak said the fire Donaldson brought to the Toronto playoff years has had a strong and lasting impact on his career.
“I feel like it’s one thing that I kind of pride myself on,” Donaldson said of his ability to make the post-season such a constant of his professional itinerary. “Last year, I didn’t really get to play
(in the regular season) but was able to get a shot with Cleveland, which didn’t work out.
“It’s one of those deals where I try to bring energy and I try to bring the best out of everybody on my team. Honestly? I feel like I produce. And when the production is there, it bodes well for the team.”
Donaldson’s presence with the Braves has had a profound influence on a talented team looking to challenge the Los Angeles Dodgers’ recent hold on the National League. For a franchise where third base was a position of excellence for so long, thanks to the Hall of Fame career of the great Chipper Jones, Donaldson has brought some sizzle back to the hot corner.
“He’s meant the world to this club,” Snitker said. “I mean, he solidified our team. He lengthened our lineup. He strengthened our club.”
For a one-year, US$23-million offer — the biggest one-year free agent deal in MLB history — it was viewed initially as quite a gamble by Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos. But tapping into his experience with Donaldson in Toronto, Anthopoulos thought it was a risk-reward opportunity for both parties.
The Braves were careful not to make the same mistakes the Jays were perceived to have made with Donaldson, however. Hooked up with former Jays head trainer George Poulis, Donaldson was eased back into action with an eye not on April and May, but the most important month of the baseball calendar: October.
Dogged by injuries the previous two seasons, Donaldson has basically been an everyday player since. Playing in 155 games — three fewer than in his American League MVP season with the
Jays in 2015 — he belted 37 home runs. rlongley@postmedia.com