My name is Craig Ballard, and I am a Jays fan...
No this is not another one of our AA meetings that we hold on this blog site (AA being Alex Anthopoulos - the GM of YOUR TORONTO BLUE JAYS), but we will be looking at someone that AA will have a TON riding on going forward...
I think we would all agree that the strength of this organization 2012+ is the young, high-upside pitching...Let's remember that talent works for a few innings, or every fifth day...The common thread is the C that talent is pitching to...J.P. Arencibia could be our guy...Let's take a look...
The Jays got a very good 2010 from C John Buck, but the time for J.P. to play everyday at the MLB level was surely now...He spent 2009 and 2010 at AAA Las Vegas where his power stroke was on display...Jonathan Paul Arencibia (who was drafted back in 2004 by Seattle, but did not sign with them allowing our old friend J.P. Ricciardi to draft him in the 1st round in 2007) hit 31 HR's at AAA in '10 with an impressive .301 average...in '09 and '10 he hit 30+ doubles...He has always shown above-average power (to all fields)...Things really began to go BOOM for J.P. after he had LASIK eye surgery prior to his monster 2010 season...Arencibia projects to around .255 with 20+ HR's which is pretty good for a MLB C, but as Jays fans we are hoping for a star here...For that to happen a major improvement needs to be his #'s as far as walks vs strikeouts...Way too few walks vs way too many strikeouts...The words "free swinger" will appear on every scouting report for the rest of his life...That is the book on J.P. and he needs to be able to make adjustments at the MLB level...He will need to work on shortening his swing a tad too...MLB hurlers will run 90+ mph heaters underneath your hands if you are not quick enough to get around on those
That all speaks to how J.P. fits into the batting order...What will really be asked of him is to handle this pitching staff...John Farrell is a great pitching mind...Pat Hentgen is a great pitching mind...Both will add to the already great work of Pitching Coach Bruce Walton to steer and guide the pitchers up until 7:05pm during the week...1:05pm on the weekends...10:05pm on the West Coast...Those are game times...Those are J.P.'s times...The staff is his to guide approx 5 out of every 6 games...I guess in football the Center-QB exchange could be muffed and lead to a turnover on any given play so surely that relationship is important, but does any other relationship in sports compare to what a Pitcher needs from his/her Catcher?!?! I am already struck by things like Kyle Drabek throwing 2-3 pitches in a row that are not his best and J.P. making the jog to the mound to interact with Drabek to calm him, and re-focus him...The fear is that a rookie C may not want to be a leader to a guy like a Romero, or Cecil, or Morrow...Guys who have been here already...For J.P. there are critical things like do the scouting work necessary - put in the appropriate film and study session - contribute and learn from every meeting...BE the leader...The #hustleandheart (I keep seeing that for the Jays on twitter!) leader...This city loved Buck Martinez, Ernie Whitt, and Pat Borders and in all honesty none of them were great at O, but they all led/supported the pitching staff...They all put in the necessary homework to have high baseball IQ's...J.P. has great potential...His bat will get him 125+ games so we need to see improved D too...
2011 has to be a year of development for the Jays, and for J.P....Currently Jose Molina is the #2 C...Molina usually C's for Brandon Morrow...That is one specific we will look at this season with J.P....Imperative that he get the starting nods on days where Morrow is pitching as these two need to develop their chemistry asap as both have potential to be huge for the Jays in 2012+
J.P. is already moving looser and easier behind the plate than we have ever seen him...If he continues to develop like he has been the Jays may have their guy at C...The Jays have a lot of C talent in the minors to be excited about...Guys like Carlos Perez, Travis D'Arnaud, and A.J. Jimenez will all get their shot to be every-day MLB C's, but the first opportunity to take the ball and run with it belongs to J.P. Arencibia...Good luck brother...
craig.ballard@hotmail.com and/or follow me on twitter @craigballard77
