RealGM

After the Jays fired Chad Mottola and hired Seitzer, the new coach called his hitters to say hello and said he would be pleased to provide room and board at his Kansas City home if they were interested in a day or two of winter workouts. Goins jumped at the offer and spent last weekend with his new tutor.

“I picked him up at the airport, I fed him, kept him at my house, took him to work out and watched movies with him, just to get to know him,” Seitzer said during a break from working at the club’s prospect camp this week.

“I felt like he needed to kind of simplify some things with his stance and his setup, keeping his legs underneath him a little bit more and letting his hands work in a little better position, staying inside the ball,” Seitzer said. “He had a little tendency to get out and around on pitches that were in. We just did some drill work and I showed him a couple little techniques that he could do with his hands that got him pretty excited.”

Seitzer owes his new job to the relationship he developed with Toronto manager John Gibbons when both were coaches with Kansas City from 2009 through 2011. He says much of his work involves helping hitters cope with the inside pitch.

torontoaces04 wrote:Smart move by Goins. He hasn't ever been tagged as a good hitter, at any level coming up, so just assuming he will be once he hits the majors is a stretch. I think he is going to struggle to hit .225 next season, given a full-time role next season.

satyr9 wrote:Goins is almost assuredly going to be the 9th guy. As long he provides actual, rather than matador, defense in the middle, I think I can stomach it.

I checked it out a bit and I'd really like to add Jeff Baker for the 13th man this year. He's a great lefty hitter, a corner OF who has/can? manned 2B, leaving tons and tons of time for him to give Melky, Ryan, and Adam days off.

MikeM wrote:Well now I like Ryan Goins.

dagger wrote:

torontoaces04 wrote:Smart move by Goins. He hasn't ever been tagged as a good hitter, at any level coming up, so just assuming he will be once he hits the majors is a stretch. I think he is going to struggle to hit .225 next season, given a full-time role next season.

I'd take .225 with plus D and a few more walks if we added a starting pitcher or two. The JPA impact on the batting order is history now, hopefully a healthy Melky can raise his averages a bit, Lawrie and Jose Reyes gets off to a better start, etc.

Idontknowurlife wrote:if he's going to hit 225 they should just use kawasaki.

“If we’re down by three runs and Encarnacion’s up and it goes to a 3-1 count, we need to be taking that pitch right there,” Seitzer said. “He’s not going to hit a three-run homer with nobody on and we’ve got a chance to start a rally, get a baserunner that will put us in position to bring the tying run to the plate late in the game.”

spykelee wrote:

“If we’re down by three runs and Encarnacion’s up and it goes to a 3-1 count, we need to be taking that pitch right there,” Seitzer said. “He’s not going to hit a three-run homer with nobody on and we’ve got a chance to start a rally, get a baserunner that will put us in position to bring the tying run to the plate late in the game.”

Idontknowurlife wrote:if he's going to hit 225 they should just use kawasaki.

BigLeagueChew wrote:
Not sure If I agree with this. Understand the concept but we are talking about Encarnacion here not Arencibia. Edwin is not one of the hitters we need to change their approach or improve that much more he's fine and does not need to change very much in his approach. Very rarely does he chase a bad pitch anyways and his walk rate has been more than acceptable the last 2 years. They could use someone to stay healthy and hit well behind him, last year we would be asking Edwin to walk and trust Arencibia to do something.

spykelee wrote:

BigLeagueChew wrote:
Not sure If I agree with this. Understand the concept but we are talking about Encarnacion here not Arencibia. Edwin is not one of the hitters we need to change their approach or improve that much more he's fine and does not need to change very much in his approach. Very rarely does he chase a bad pitch anyways and his walk rate has been more than acceptable the last 2 years. They could use someone to stay healthy and hit well behind him, last year we would be asking Edwin to walk and trust Arencibia to do something.

I don't quite get it either. The guy is our best hitter. Down 1 run, 3 runs or 10 runs, I'd really prefer if he'd swing the bat. Like you said, we really don't need to be messing with E5's approach. I get the idea, but I was dumbfounded to actually read that quote.