Jose Bautista is not a winning baseball player, says Casey Stern, MLB post-season host for TBS.
Bautista is forever looking to be the hero, looking to hit a home run on every single swing, rather than try to put his team ahead by getting on base or tapping in a run, Stern told Dean Blundell & Co. this morning on Sportsnet 590 The FAN.
Stern pointed to a number of examples of Bautista’s plate approach during this post-season. Against the Rangers in Game 3, with two runners on base and one out, Bautista swung at pitch over his head in the bottom of the 10th inning, rather than take a walk and load the bases. “He had to be a hero,” said Stern.
Against Cleveland in Game 1, the Blue Jays had runners (Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion) on second and third in the first inning with one out. Bautista came up to bat next. “If you hit the ball the other way or hit it on the ground, a run scores,” said Stern. “Instead he strikes out because he’s trying to hit a home run. To me, that kind of player is not a winning baseball player.”
Stern said he understands why people in Toronto love Bautista. “I love him too,” he said. “Lots of home runs.” But he thinks fans should be worried about the slugger’s approach at the plate. “How many times have you seen him where he’s trying to do something to help the team score a run? The best approaches on this team every day are Encarnacion and Donaldson.”
Stern then pointed to more examples during Game 1 of the ALCS. “Every single pitch — we went through it during our post-game — literally every pitch the whole game was on the outside corner. Nobody was going nearly inside the plate. So you don’t have to look anywhere inside. Andrew Miller hasn’t thrown one strike on the inside part of the plate, I don’t think, in the last three weeks.
“So what you see is, you see a (Darwin) Barney go up the middle. You saw Donaldson hit that ball the other way to right field. You saw Encarnacion hit the ball yesterday to right field. You watch Jose Bautista looking like he’s trying to pull a home run on every swing.
“I think he’s been a fantastic player for Toronto, but I would question why I’m going to the plate with a hero mentality when all I need to do is score a run to take the lead.”
Stern also pointed to Ezequiel Carrera, who is 10-for-30 in this post-season, including the wild-card game, as the most underrated player in the post-season in both the American and National Leagues.
“I think it’s a travesty he’s not hitting leadoff,” Stern said. “Carrera’s plate approach is brilliant. He’s getting on base. You saw him when he kind of tried to bunt at one point yesterday. You want that. You’ve got a young pitcher on the mound in Merritt, who Bautista says is going to be shaking in his boots? You want to go ahead and make a move. I would move Carrera to the top of the lineup today. I think it’s very, very important he gets on base in front of the big bats.”
