Garcia, Martin battery baffles Phillies
Left-hander coaxes plenty of grounders in five shutout innings Outfielder Anthony Alford’s hamstring strain will sideline him for three to six weeks.
CLEARWATER, FLA.— Jaime Garcia used to fantasize about pitching to Russell Martin.
Now, in real life and real time, they seem to have found a battery groove.
“He’s awesome,” the lefty moundsman enthused, following a five-frame blanking of the Phillies in the Jays’ 6-4 Grapefruit league win. Garcia allowed just two hits, didn’t walk anyone and struck out three. “When I came here, the first thing I told (Martin) was that I’d been a fan of his. I had a really good catcher (Yadier Molina) with the Cardinals, but I always wanted to pitch to him, wondered what it would be like. The way he does things, the way he moves, calls a game. To have him there was kind of what I expected, or a little bit better.”
It was Garcia’s second start, and second win, after a bit of a rough debut as a Jay. He induced a ton of easily corralled grounders off balls down in the strike zone.
“Making them hit into the ground, if they hit it,” he said, clearly pleased with himself.
Garcia was more than satisfied with all the pitches he used.
“It went well, man, it went well. I feel like we’re making progress. We’re getting where I need to be for the season. I feel good, I’m excited, it was a good day overall.”
Signed a month ago as a free agent and forecast as No. 5 in the pitching rotation, Garcia is bringing himself along a little more slowly than his colleagues when it comes to the pitch count. But that was the plan.
“It’s not so much about the pitch count. For me, the upsand-downs make a big difference.” Up and down, in and out of the dugout, through five innings.
While spring training may be a grind, especially for veterans, Garcia claims it’s no slog for him. “Obviously, I was a late signing. I came in with a purpose and a goal. I worked extremely hard this off-season to come in ready to go physically and I feel like I’ve been able to accomplish everything that I wanted to.” DO-RE-MI: Jays manager John Gibbons has been singing the praises of all his players at spring training. Kendrys Morales got the love from his skipper Friday and, frankly, the oft- maligned mostly DH can use a hug.
“Kendrys had his ups and downs last year but he also did some good things for us. He had some big hits along the way,” Gibbons said, adding he expects Morales to have a bounce-back season.
“I’ve seen it too many times, whether it’s a trade or free agency, usually that second year they take off. The tendency is for players to put a lot of pressure on themselves in new surroundings. That may seem so simple but in baseball, that … whatever you want to call it, can interfere with what you’re doing. You press a little bit. But he’s got a ton of power. He’s in great shape. He’s running better.”
Morales has said he wants to get the ball in the air more this season, or hit line drives, stay out of those wincing groundball double plays.
“That’s what he needs to do,” Gibbons said. “He’s so strong, if he gets it in the air, in our division, in our ballparks, that really benefits you. Most of your power guys, you want to see them do that.”
Morales went 2-for-4 with a double Friday, lifting his spring average to .250. CALF MEASURES: There was some good-natured patience from Josh Donaldson, confronting yet another media scrum about his calf, his cramp, etc. The former MVP was back at third base Friday and 1-for-3 at the plate. So how was it, Josh? “It was nice. The weather was great!”
The calf, J.D., the calf. “It’s not an issue. I’m not really going crazy out there right now. Just trying to enjoy the weather.”
Seventy degrees Fahrenheit and bright blue skies, in case you were wondering. POSITIVE TEST: Jays pitching prospect Thomas Pannone received an 80-game suspension without pay after testing positive for the performance- enhancing substance de hydroch lo rm ethyl testosterone, an anabolic steroid.
The 23-year-old left-hander was acquired in a mid-season trade with Cleveland last year.
Pannone has a 3.16 earned-run average over 102 career minorleague games, including 76 starts. He was optioned to Triple-A Buffalo earlier this week. CASUALTY UPDATE: That tweaked hamstring Anthony Alford has been contending with turned out to be a Grade 2 strain. The outfielder will be out for three to six weeks, just the latest injury blow for the top prospect in Toronto’s majorleague camp … Justin Smoak has a mild wrist sprain but is expected to be in the lineup for Saturday’s split-squad game.