TORONTO -- Rowdy Tellez is doing and saying all of the right things through the first few days of Summer Camp. The only real thing working against him is something that’s out of his control, with yesterday’s news that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is moving to first base.
Tellez isn’t viewing this as an obstacle, though. Coming off an offseason that saw him change his body and approach, then a strong Spring Training between, he opened Summer Camp with three homers in the first two intrasquad games. Guerrero's move obviously impacts Tellez, but the latter isn't sweating it.
“I don’t think it changes anything in the way of our team,” Tellez said. “Having him over there is going to be just as beneficial as him at third. We just want as many bats in the lineup as we can. Him being right-handed and me being left-handed, it kind of plays into that platoon situation. Having all of us in the lineup is going to be beneficial. We’re just here to win.”
Guerrero has been leaning on the other first basemen on the roster, Tellez included, as he adapts to his new position.
“He’s always asking questions. He wants to learn,” Tellez said. “He’s always trying to be better. He’s a great teammate to start with so he’s not worried about certain things like playing time or any of that. He just wants everybody to be happy and everybody to be at their best.”
With that settled, the focus is back on how Tellez can impact this roster. Fortunately for him, Tellez was able to work fairly regularly through the shutdown, and he hit in a cage at his home in California. His trainer also lives just a half-mile away with a full gym on his property, so Tellez could keep up his fitness.
As a strict 1B/DH on a team built around flexibility, though, it’s a simple situation. Tellez has to hit, period.
“I’m a big fan of Rowdy Tellez. I’ve always been a fan of the kid,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “His approach at the plate looks really good. I don’t think anything’s changed when it comes to him, because I can rotate that DH spot, and he can also play first. If he keeps swinging the bat like he is, he’s going to get a lot of playing time.”
Borucki's back
There’s some fire to Ryan Borucki here in Summer Camp, typically one of the club’s more laid-back players. He’s come back from injuries -- again -- and he wants to show everyone that his strong 2018 debut is who he is, not the pitcher they’ve seen since.
Borucki feels good, has scrapped his slider for a cutter that he’s confident in and tossed three scoreless innings in Saturday’s intrasquad game. He considers himself part of the competition for the No. 5 starter’s job, in which Trent Thornton currently has the edge.
“Last year, I don’t think anybody got to see the true Ryan Borucki that I was in ’18,” Borucki said. “I was battling with a lot of things arm-wise. Mentally, it was just draining. Once I got the surgery and came into spring and got shut down, those demons came back. But as I started to progress and we kind of figured out that everything is good, it just brought me back.”
Eyes on Giles
Blue Jays closer Ken Giles who’s entering the final year of his contract, threw to live hitters on Saturday. Giles walked Teoscar Hernández, struck out Danny Jansen and forced a flyout from Joe Panik before Bo Bichette lined an RBI single into left field. Giles then walked Cavan Biggio, at which point the Blue Jays ended the inning early.