Rios blending into Blue Jays' high-octane offence

[LittleOzzy]

When the Toronto Blue Jays offence was leading the American League in hitting for much of April, there were undoubtedly a few fans calling for the struggling Alex Rios to be dropped in the batting order.

Perhaps they weren't around in the early 1990s when manager Cito Gaston, in one of his two previous tours of duty with the team, became well-known for submitting the same lineup game after game.

It worked then, in the form of back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and '93, and has so far this season as Toronto carries an AL-leading 20-10 record into Thursday's contest against the hometown Los Angeles Angels (7:05 p.m. PT).

Despite a .255 batting average through the first 26 games this season, Rios remained in the third slot in the batting order, and only recently has Gaston been rewarded for his patience.

"Moving him out of that spot is not going to help him," Gaston said of the right-fielder earlier this month. "When things are going bad, you look around, and it seems like everyone is looking at you. I don't want him to ever think that we've given up on him or I think poorly of him.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story ... eview.html

[s e n s i]

Thanks for the articles, Oz. Keep it up.

Rios has been great lately. He has-- so far, restored most if not all of the confidence I lost in him earlier in the season. And he's only going to get better. The guy has unquestionable power and a lightning-quick bat.

[Mustard_Tiger]

The guy has unquestionable power and a lightning-quick bat.

I actually think his power is quite questionable. He's only hit 17 HR in his last 755 AB. I'd be very surprised to see him ever reach the 30 HR plateau in a season.

[s e n s i]

The guy has unquestionable power and a lightning-quick bat.

I actually think his power is quite questionable. He's only hit 17 HR in his last 755 AB. I'd be very surprised to see him ever reach the 30 HR plateau in a season.

For a pretty slender guy, he's got quite the cannon in that right arm. And his bat speed is a testament to his upper body strength. He's no Albert Pujols, but he can send a fastball pretty god damn far.

But sure...it's questionable then. Very questionable.

[Mustard_Tiger]

The guy has unquestionable power and a lightning-quick bat.

I actually think his power is quite questionable. He's only hit 17 HR in his last 755 AB. I'd be very surprised to see him ever reach the 30 HR plateau in a season.

For a pretty slender guy, he's got quite the cannon in that right arm. And his bat speed is a testament to his upper body strength. He's no Albert Pujols, but he can send a fastball pretty god damn far.

But sure...it's questionable then. Very questionable.

Not sure what his great arm has to do with his power at the plate. At 28 now, he's running out of time to show this power stroke that Cito believes he has.

[Alfred]

Wasn't Rios a home run derby runner up?

[Avenger]

I'm disappointed in Alex's running game, he hasn't looked like a base stealing threat which he's fully capable of. He should be a 30 steals guy minimum but i don't know if he'll get there

[[]D [] [V] []D]

I heard he struck out once while playing tee-ball!

He'll get more powerful as his body gets mature, I hope anyway. So I guess I'm on the "questionable" crowd.

[joeyt618]

Wasn't Rios a home run derby runner up?

Not sure if this was meant to be rhetorical, but yes he was. And if I remember correctly, he had the most home runs throughout the derby, but lost the final round to Vladdy.

There was an interview last year, and I can't quite recall which Jay it was that said it, but he was saying Rios is the strongest player on the club and can bench press the most out of everyone. It coulda been Vernon who said it, not sure.

[Zuul]

Strictly from memory I have always remembered Rios as being a streaky player, especially in regards to power. I would be fine if the rest of the lineup carries Rios in the first half if could find a way to have a huge second half and carry the team while others inevitably cool.

In addition power does imply only HR's to me but extra base hits (HR's Triples and Doubles). I think Rios is capable of 20 - 25 HR's, 5 - 10 Triples and 45 - 50 Doubles. If you include the 20 - 30 Stolen bases that turn one bag into two you can see how Rios is very important to the middle of the order.

[RiZ]

good ol' cito, knows much more than we do

[gp2015]

Rios was killing it two years ago. He was my favourite player on the Jays but I have lost a lot of confidence in him. He seems to have lost all his power and he's 3-21 in the past 5 games. I think he needs to be dropped in the lineup so he will have less pressure on him and bring him back up later.

[Raps in 4]

it's the home-run derby, it's evil.