Brett Lawrie could make his major league debut as early as Friday in Baltimore following an injury scare Tuesday night.
The Toronto Blue Jays' top prospect was hit on the left wrist by a pitch from Tucson's Anthony Bass in the first inning of an eventual 4-1 loss in Las Vegas, where Lawrie has worked on his defensive game since big-league spring training.
X-rays determined Lawrie suffered only a bruise, paving the way for the much hyped Langley, B.C., native to join the Blue Jays on their upcoming road trip to Baltimore and Kansas City. Several media outlets reported on Tuesday that Lawrie was expected to be promoted later this week.
A few hours before Lawrie hurt himself, Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos talked at length with reporters, and praised the 21 year old for preparing himself for a chance to play in the majors.
"He's really done everything that we've asked," said Anthopoulos, who had courted Lawrie for about one year before obtaining him in a trade with Milwaukee at last December's winter meetings in exchange for starter pitcher Shaun Marcum.
A number of the Blue Jays' talent evaluators have watched Lawrie in Las Vegas over the past week, including assistant GM Tony LaCava. Minor league infield instructor Mike Mordecai also came away impressed at how the player has adapted to a positional change after playing at second base until this season.
Lawrie has torched Pacific Coast League pitching this season, entering Monday's game against Tucson with a .354 batting average through 51 games at AAA. His other numbers are equally impressive — .413 on-base percentage, .677 slugging percentage, 1.090 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), 15 home runs and 49 runs batted in.
One of the main reasons Lawrie has yet to see major league pitching this season has nothing to do with his offensive potential and everything to do with his play in the field, which has steadily improved.
"Two of those throwing errors were made throwing into a 30-mile-per-hour wind," said Jays manager John Farrell, who hinted recently that Lawrie's arrival wasn't too far away. "He really doesn't have anything left to prove. … He just keeps getting better."
Besides improving his defence, Lawrie was asked by Toronto management to be more selective at the plate after posting a 4-23 walks-to-strikeouts ratio in April.
Next, the team discussed "controlling the strike zone, improving that walk rate, lowering that strikeout rate, all those things," Anthopoulos said. "I wanted to see if we ask him to make those changes, can he start doing it?"
In May, Lawrie boasted a 14-17 walks-to-strikeouts ratio.
"He's consciously made an adjustment to his approach," the GM added. "I wanted to make sure is he doing it for a week, two weeks, three weeks, is this cemented? I'm starting to believe now it's become part of his game."
Lawrie's arrival seemingly would be a nice boost to a team that hasn't found the desired consistency from the revolving door of third basemen.
Before Tuesday's 6-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Edwin Encarnacion, Jayson Nix, John McDonald (currently on disabled list), Mike McCoy and Chris Woodward combined to hit a major league-worst .179 with four homers, 19 RBIs and 18 runs scored.
The Toronto Blue Jays' top prospect was hit on the left wrist by a pitch from Tucson's Anthony Bass in the first inning of an eventual 4-1 loss in Las Vegas, where Lawrie has worked on his defensive game since big-league spring training.
X-rays determined Lawrie suffered only a bruise, paving the way for the much hyped Langley, B.C., native to join the Blue Jays on their upcoming road trip to Baltimore and Kansas City. Several media outlets reported on Tuesday that Lawrie was expected to be promoted later this week.
A few hours before Lawrie hurt himself, Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos talked at length with reporters, and praised the 21 year old for preparing himself for a chance to play in the majors.
"He's really done everything that we've asked," said Anthopoulos, who had courted Lawrie for about one year before obtaining him in a trade with Milwaukee at last December's winter meetings in exchange for starter pitcher Shaun Marcum.
A number of the Blue Jays' talent evaluators have watched Lawrie in Las Vegas over the past week, including assistant GM Tony LaCava. Minor league infield instructor Mike Mordecai also came away impressed at how the player has adapted to a positional change after playing at second base until this season.
Lawrie has torched Pacific Coast League pitching this season, entering Monday's game against Tucson with a .354 batting average through 51 games at AAA. His other numbers are equally impressive — .413 on-base percentage, .677 slugging percentage, 1.090 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS), 15 home runs and 49 runs batted in.
One of the main reasons Lawrie has yet to see major league pitching this season has nothing to do with his offensive potential and everything to do with his play in the field, which has steadily improved.
Improved defence
After posting seven errors in his first 12 games with Las Vegas, he has made just five in his most recent 39 contests, four on throws."Two of those throwing errors were made throwing into a 30-mile-per-hour wind," said Jays manager John Farrell, who hinted recently that Lawrie's arrival wasn't too far away. "He really doesn't have anything left to prove. … He just keeps getting better."
Next, the team discussed "controlling the strike zone, improving that walk rate, lowering that strikeout rate, all those things," Anthopoulos said. "I wanted to see if we ask him to make those changes, can he start doing it?"
In May, Lawrie boasted a 14-17 walks-to-strikeouts ratio.
"He's consciously made an adjustment to his approach," the GM added. "I wanted to make sure is he doing it for a week, two weeks, three weeks, is this cemented? I'm starting to believe now it's become part of his game."
Lawrie's arrival seemingly would be a nice boost to a team that hasn't found the desired consistency from the revolving door of third basemen.
Before Tuesday's 6-3 loss to the Cleveland Indians, Edwin Encarnacion, Jayson Nix, John McDonald (currently on disabled list), Mike McCoy and Chris Woodward combined to hit a major league-worst .179 with four homers, 19 RBIs and 18 runs scored.
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