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As if that situation was not hard enough, Arencibia dealt with vision problems stemming from an astigmatism throughout last season.

During the day, Arencibia had no problems. It was a completely different story at night. That might explain why the catcher hit .227 in 97 night games and .284 during 19 afternoon contests during the 2009 campaign. Watching TV, recognizing street signs or trying to read stadium scoreboards became increasingly difficult.

After years of trying different contact lenses and glasses, Arencibia decided that undergoing Lasik eye surgery was the best option.

"Every doctor I talked to said, 'Wow, you're playing with that vision?'" Arencibia said. "So that was my indicator."

jalenrose#5 wrote:

As if that situation was not hard enough, Arencibia dealt with vision problems stemming from an astigmatism throughout last season.

During the day, Arencibia had no problems. It was a completely different story at night. That might explain why the catcher hit .227 in 97 night games and .284 during 19 afternoon contests during the 2009 campaign. Watching TV, recognizing street signs or trying to read stadium scoreboards became increasingly difficult.

After years of trying different contact lenses and glasses, Arencibia decided that undergoing Lasik eye surgery was the best option.

"Every doctor I talked to said, 'Wow, you're playing with that vision?'" Arencibia said. "So that was my indicator."

Arencibia Article

Any thoughts on this. I found the day/night splits quite glaring and if his vision is back to normal and he can actually see the ball, I really hope to see him hit .280 plus with around 25 HR's and 90 RBI's in AAA this year. It's wishful thinking that he'll make the team out of spring, but maybe a September callup might be in the cards?

Schadenfreude wrote:In the first two weeks, most pitchers work on their command and loosening up, and don't throw a tonne of off-speed stuff. That's perfect for a dead-fastball hitter like Arencibia...hopefully this gives him some confidence going into the year.

Then again, he closed with a strong (OPS well over .800, 10 HRs in 142 ABs, and ten whole walks!) Aug/Sept, so perhaps he's starting to figure things out.

jalenrose#5 wrote:His power potential is what I'm really intrigued by. Not alot of catchers have that 25-30 HR power. Mauer, Martinez and maybe McCann.

OldNo7 wrote:JP was always a power prospect for a catcher. I really hope this helps him cut those strikeout numbers in half and improves on his plate discipline, as well as improve defensively. 1 more full season at AAA and hopefully he is ready for 2011 with the big club.

Dont forget that Eric Hinske had 8 HRs in ST during his last full year with the Jays (I think it was that year), so dont take everything from ST seriously.

Schadenfreude wrote:In the first two weeks, most pitchers work on their command and loosening up, and don't throw a tonne of off-speed stuff. That's perfect for a dead-fastball hitter like Arencibia...hopefully this gives him some confidence going into the year.

Then again, he closed with a strong (OPS well over .800, 10 HRs in 142 ABs, and ten whole walks!) Aug/Sept, so perhaps he's starting to figure things out.