Blue Jays to eye how Lind handles lefties

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- One of the things Blue Jays manager John Gibbons will be closely monitoring this spring is how Adam Lind handles left-handed pitching.

The Blue Jays are currently debating whether Lind will be an everyday player this year or instead be used in some sort of a platoon.

The final call likely won't be made for quite some time -- perhaps not even until the start of the season -- because results in the spring sometimes have to be taken with a grain of salt.

"We're looking at it," Gibbons said. "That's what we want to [evaluate], because we have some right-handed bats that could fill that hole if we're stronger that way.

"He has to get his timing [first] ... timing is a big thing this time of the year. But we'll see how the swings look."

Lind hit just .202 with a .553 OPS against lefties last season and owns a .220 average and .607 OPS versus southpaws in his career. Those numbers compare unfavorably to the .282 career average and .836 OPS he has against righties.

There has been some talk that center fielder Colby Rasmus would be a possibility for a platoon role this season as well, but Gibbons did his best to downplay that Friday afternoon.

Rasmus hit .182 versus lefties in 2012, compared to a .238 mark against righties. Gibbons said with the exception of an occasional day off, though, Rasmus will be in the lineup on a regular basis.

"We really haven't talked a lot about that," Gibbons said of a potential platoon. "We're really focused on Lind. Colby, we'll give him a day off every now and then against a tough lefty, but that hasn't been a focal point on platooning him. We haven't even talked about that."

Toronto has some intriguing pieces that could be used off the bench against righties. Emilio Bonifacio and Rajai Davis are expected to enter the fold at some point, while even the light-hitting catcher Henry Blanco has fared well against righties during his career.