Brett Lawrie era starts with a Victory over Orioles

Not unlike the arrival of Colby Rasmus just a little over a week ago, last night’s debut for 21-year old Brett Lawrie came with CN-Tower-high expectations; Lawrie himself had to quell the notions that his long-awaited tryout in the MLB was somehow the key to turning the Jays around, saying that he’s “no saviour” in an interview before the game. Well, saviour or not, Lawrie definitely made a notable impact – both good and bad – in a Blue Jays road win over the Orioles.

There were other players on the field, but being that this was a game of little consequence between the 4th and 5th team in the division, I got the feeling that most eyes from Blue Jays fans were on the team’s shiny new 3rd baseman. So let’s start with the good: with the Jays down 0-2 in the 2nd inning from a Adam Jones home run off starter Brad Mills and runners on first and 2nd, Lawrie wasted no time showing off his hitting ability, slapping a line-drive single in his first major-league at-bat for his first career RBI in the bigs. I think most of us were hoping he’d start things off with a home run, but then again, that’s probably based on the unrealistic hope that he would start his first game with a 4-for-4, 4 home run night.

That didn’t quite happen, but Lawrie did wind up 2-for-4 on the night with a pair of singles. He probably would have had a 2nd RBI too, as Rasmus was trying to score from 2nd on the play (he was 2-for-4 in the 6th hole), but was beaten at home on a fantastic throw from left fielder Nolan Reimold.

So it’s pretty clear that the kid can hit. Fielding, on the other hand, was a bit of a different story. It was always a concern with Lawrie, even when he was coming up through the Brewers’ system as a 2nd baseman, and it doesn’t look like the concern will go away anytime soon. A total of 4 balls were hit to 3rd last night, with Lawrie making just one play; maybe it was the first-game-jitters – you have to give him some credit for effort, and he certainly isn’t lacking athleticism – but Lawrie took a little bit of the sheen off his otherwise solid debut with his play. The first play, a sharp grounder down the 3rd base line, wasn’t entirely his fault. He showed off good range getting to the ball, and launched a impressive, but off-line throw to 1st while being off balance. Not a play that most 3B in the league would make, certainly.

He then followed that up with a pair of bobbles, one in the 2nd that was charged as an error, and one in the 6th that cost the Jays a run in a close game that probably could have gone as his 2nd error, but was called a deflection instead. Lawrie did complete his first play on a force-out a batter later. I’m not going to start calling the kid the 2nd coming of Edwin Encarnacion on the field or anything, but the truth is he’s being rushed to the majors at a young age, learning a new position this season with not-very-good results (16 errors in 214 chances for a poor .925 fielding %). Does he have the tools to get better? Certainly. This being said, his skillset probably doesn’t really fit into the infield over the long-term. I could see him moved into the outfield at a further stage of his career.

This was just an audition, after all, and as as far as auditions go, I’d say Lawrie looked as advertised. The rest of the Jays, meanwhile, were locked in a close battle against the O’s, ultimately coming on top with a 5-4 win. Mills went a decent 5.1 innings, allowing 3 runs on 4 hits and 4 walks (no control last night), and if it wasn’t for Aaron Hill’s sac fly in the 8th inning that put the Jays ahead 5-3, the run that was scored off Lawrie’s deflection would have proven to be very costly. The reason, of course, was our closer – who is still Jon Rauch at the moment – who came in to lock down the save in the 9th, but instead made things interesting, giving up a pair of hits with 2 outs, including a RBI double to Nick Markakis that brought the O’s to within a run.

It’s another unacceptable performance from a player who has been given responsibility in a high-leverage situation, and it’s only a matter of time now before the other cleat drops on Rauch’s time in the 9th inning. How is former closer Frank Francisco doing since Rauch took over? 10.1 IP, 7H, 1ER, 0BB, 10K. Go figure.