As explosive as the Toronto Blue Jays offence was last year, Vernon Wells knows its long-ball output will be impossible to duplicate for the 2011 season.
The Blue Jays of 2010 boasted seven players who blasted at least 20 home runs, led by Jose Bautista, the major-league leader with 54.
Toronto cranked out a franchise record 257 homers, by far the most in the majors with its closest rivals, the Boston Red Sox, finishing a distant second with 211.
“We’re not going to do what we did last year from a home run perspective,” said Wells, the veteran centre fielder whose 31 dingers helped pad the Toronto total. “Nobody can expect or think that’s going to happen again. But I think we still have the makings of having a good offensive team.”
Wells believes the Blue Jays’ offence, under new manager John Farrell, will not be as staid as it was under Cito Gaston, who stepped down as the manager at the season’s end.
Under Gaston, the Blue Jays excelled in playing long ball but tended to have an all-or-nothing approach – their .312 on-base percentage was among the worst in the majors.
The .248 team batting average was also low in the league pecking order.
If the Blue Jays didn’t score via the home run, they generally didn’t score.
Farrell has stated his desire to manufacture more runs in 2011 without having to rely so heavily on the homer, and Wells believes more emphasis on team speed will help achieve that goal.
“If you look at the offensive year that we had, I think if we were able to manufacture a few more runs we could have had a few more wins,” Wells said. “That comes with speed, that comes with taking extra bases, that comes with hitting and running a little more. But you have to have the people in place to do that.”
Wells said the addition of Rajai Davis, in an off-season trade with the Oakland Athletics, is a step in the right direction.
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