Learning From The Past: Hi Melky, join our team’s other three new switch hitters!

You see a photo of Randy Choate. You remember Joe Maddon walking out to the mound every-single-goddamned-time Adam Lind came up to bat in the 6th inning or later in a situation of leverage to bring in this weird-arm-slotted MF’er. Why? Why everytime? and why do Jays fans remember Choate? Because he devastates Adam Lind to the point where Lind might as well bunt.

The past half- decade or so the Blue Jays have seemingly been reliant on compromise type offensive players. All power, no patience. Hitters that can smash righties, but can’t scratch out a single against lefties to save their life.

Jose and Edwin’s rises to prominence as elite batters against both LHP and RHP has helped the offense become more consistent… but the LH batters? Lind? Rasmus? Kelly Johnson? All horrifically ineffective against LHP last year and in years past. Alex Anthopoulous is a smart man. He could make a bunch more compromises and run platoons and finish fourth some more, or he could do what he has done.

Bring in 4… FOUR… SWITCH HITTERS.

Career OPS/OBP (Blue Jays Average OBP last season: .309, in 2011 it was .317)

Reyes
RHP: .780/.338
LHP: .794/.356

Izturis
RHP: .726/.338
LHP: .694/.333

Cabrera
RHP: .752/.337
LHP: .749/.339

Bonifacio
RHP: .658/.325
LHP: .707/.337

Cabrera is a fine addition as, if healthy, he will provide a stable .750+ OPS against all types of pitching with good base-running FROM LEFT FIELD. When was the last time the Jays had left field locked down? The lowest OBP of the projected three SH starters against LHP is Izturis at .333 — still well above league average.

Alex Anthopoulous has purchased a much more consistent and overall dangerous offense by acquiring three starting switch hitters, and a super utility with good .OBP as a fourth SH.

The Blue Jays, in the span of less than a week, have become one of the hardest to neutralize offenses in the MLB. Match-ups won’t work, specialist relievers are kinda screwed, and those dominant left handed starters such as Price suddenly became a lot less foreboding.

Adam Barnes
23 yearold graduate of the Goodman School of Business at Brock Univeristy in St. Catharines, Ontario. I've been a Jays fan since I was a clueless toddler on the living room floor lost in the excitement of the family when Joe hit his homerun that "touched em' all". Born and raised in St. Thomas, Ontario.