Jose Bautista merely looked like a clean-up hitter for the Blue Jays
on Friday in Dunedin, Fla. Toronto manager Cito Gaston has no plans to
move him off the top of the order.
"I
think I'll leave him right where he's at," Gaston said after Bautista,
the front-running candidate to be the Blue Jays' leadoff batter,
knocked a home run off Philadelphia starter Cole Hamels and added a
pair of doubles in a 14-9 victory over the Phillies.
"He's
been swinging the bat ever since he got the chance to play at the end
of last season," Gaston said, getting no argument from Bautista.
"One
of the most important things is what happened last year, having
consistent at-bats," he said. "That allows you to make adjustments. My
better years are the ones where I've been playing consistently. It's a
little tough when you're coming off the bench."
Bautista is not the prototypical leadoff batter. Speed is not a major part of his arsenal.
"It's
picking your times to go," he said. "I know I'm not going to try to
bunt for hits all the time. I don't have that kind of speed. But
there'll be times when I think if Cito allows me, I'll be able to take
some bags.
"I'm not going to go out there
and try to steal 50 bags, but there'll be situations and pitches and
counts with certain hitters at the plate that I'll be able to take it
if the situation commands it."
Bautista's homer was the only run allowed by Hamels, who allowed two hits in two innings.
Brandon
Morrow, who bounced between Seattle's starting rotation and bullpen
before being traded to Toronto in December, staked his first claim to
being a full-time starter with two hitless innings. He allowed a
two-out walk in the first and retired everyone else in order.
"I
was rushing a little in the first inning but that's hard not to do when
it's your first outing facing the two-time NL champs with five
all-stars in a row starting it off," Morrow said.
"Maybe
I was trying to throw too many strikes in the beginning. In the second
inning I came out and was a lot more aggressive," striking out Jayson
Werth and Domonic Brown.
The Phillies
tied it in the top of the third on Ross Gload's triple and Brian
Schneider's grounder, but Toronto got the run back in the bottom of the
inning against J.C. Ramirez on Bautista's double and Adam Lind's
grounder.
Then the Blue Jays erupted for
eight runs in the fourth inning, two on Bautista's second double off
Ramirez and three more on Lyle Overbay's double off Ryan Vogelsong.
Toronto
built its lead to 14-2 after five innings. Five relievers followed
Morrow to the mound, and only right-hander Casey Janssen was unscathed.
Tyson Gillies homered off David Purcey.