TORONTO --What has been a tough week, a tough season, so far for J.P. Arencibia seemed to be getting more troublesome by the inning Thursday night.
In the top of the second the Blue Jays catcher set himself up perfectly in front of the plate, shading down the third-base line, ready to field Jose Bautista's throw from shallow right field. Rays outfielder Matt Joyce was charging to the plate, testing Bautista's arm, and looked to be an easy out. But as the ball came in on target it took an unexpected bounce, short-hopping Arencibia and sailing past his glove, directly into the collarbone of Blue Jays pitcher Henderson Alvarez, who was backing up the play.
Joyce scored the go-ahead run, Alvarez needed a few minutes to regain his bearings and Arencibia could only shake his head.
After the inning, Arencibia went in to the Blue Jays clubhouse and watched the replay over and over—he estimates 20 times—obsessing over how that ball got past him.
A lot this season has gotten past him.
Arencibia came into Thursday night hitting just .063 over his first eight games and tied for the team-lead with 13 strikeouts. Considering those numbers the freak hop off the Rogers Centre carpet seemed almost cruel.
The play must have felt a lot like his season so far; doing everything he can but not finding the results. Baseball is a funny game like that. Sometimes the harder you try, the more things go wrong.
But baseball is also a game of breaks and by his third at-bat Thursday, Arencibia already had a couple, doubling his hit total for the season in the process. First, a seeing-eye single up the middle in the first inning snapped an 0-for-15 slide that had stretched for more than a week as he struggled to find his timing at the plate.
Then in the fourth, he roped a long double to right-centre field, cashing in Colby Rasmus from first base. The 1-2 pitch he hit—after fouling off three before it—was practically below his knees but Arencibia lowered his bat and stabbed at the pitch, slicing it the other way. It was the kind of fluke hit that breaks slumps.
Not that Arencibia thought he needed the help.
"I'm not worried about my hitting," Arencibia said after the game. "I got a couple hits today. But helping the team win, that's what it's about."
Getting Arencibia going at the plate is of some concern for the Blue Jays coaching staff. Manager John Farrell said after the game that his team's offence was still slightly out of sync after the Blue Jays 12th game of the season. He's looking for a more consistent approach at the plate from his hitters, and some timelier hitting.
Arencibia, who will see the lion's share of starts behind the plate this season, needs to be a big part of that. For his part, Dwayne Murphy has seen a recent improvement in Arencibia's at-bats.
"The last two games he's swung the bat really well," Murphy said before Thursday night's game. "It's about 'see it, hit it' with him.'"
Like in the sixth inning Thursday when Arencibia got a 0-1 fastball out over the plate and pushed his bat right through it. The sound, and surely the feel, said home run all the way. Off the bat, Arencibia must have thought it was leaving the yard as he tossed his twig aside and put his head down to round the bases.
But on Thursday the Blue Jays were playing under the skies at home the first time this season; all those gears and wheels retracting that big, white egg shell north toward Front Street, opening the diamond to the cold, dark night.
And when Arencibia looked back up, he saw the ball hanging in the cool Lake Ontario air. It travelled just about as far as a baseball can without leaving the park, falling mere inches from the top of the left field fence where Joyce was waiting with an open glove.
Arencibia, rounding first, threw his head back in disbelief and muttered some words you can't say on TV. Jeremy Hellickson, the Rays pitcher, threw his head back as well, but in relief, chewing on the laces of his glove as he knew he just dodged a bullet.
That was the kind of night—and season, really—it was and has been for Arencibia. Up and down. Hot and cold.
"He's the kind of guy that puts a lot of pressure on himself," Murphy said. "We always talk about just relaxing."
Arencibia is trying to relax, trying to keep his mind on better things. After the game he emerged from the bowels of the Blue Jays clubhouse to a flock of media gathered hesitantly near his locker. Few of the Blue Jays who contributed to Thursday night's 9-4 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays were hanging around to be quoted at the time and Arencibia, never one to shy away from the cameras, was an easy target for questioning from reporters.
He started to approach the media hoard but suddenly stopped and doubled back, reaching deep into his locker for a crisp black hat with yellow lettering on its front: HMCS Toronto FFH 333. That's the name and pennant number of a Halifax-class frigate currently serving in the Canadian Forces. It's essentially a heavily-armed patrol boat—it carries 24 torpedoes—and has served Canada's military interests around the world since 1993, coincidentally, the last year the Blue Jays made the playoffs.
The team won the World Series in October that year while the HMCS Toronto was on one of its first voyages, patrolling the Atlantic Ocean.
From there the ship went on to patrol the coast of Yugoslavia during the Bosnian war in 1994. It protected the Arabian Sea in 2002, preventing the flow of arms to terrorist organizations shortly after September 11th. In February of last year it spent a month in the Caribbean Sea, helping the United States hunt drug smugglers. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, struggled mightily to keep up in a rapidly improving American League.
Nearly 20 years later, they're still searching for success.
At any one time the HMCS Toronto can hold a crew of 225 men and women; and this winter it had four more as Arencibia toured the boat along with Robbie Alomar, Brett Cecil and Eric Thames. The Blue Jays ate a meal with the crewmen, toured their living quarters and posed for pictures.
"These guys are a lot braver than I would ever be," Arencibia said on the massive ship. "Even just walking around here is dangerous."
At the end of the visit they were each presented with an HMCS Toronto hat and Arencibia told the crewmen that he would get it on TV after a game sometime. Thursday night he made good on that promise.
"They actually have TV on the boat," Arencibia said, admiring the cap in his locker. "They said they watch our games all the time while they're out at sea."
If they were watching Thursday night they would have seen just the second game this season in which Arencibia hasn't struck out at least once. They also would have seen the ugly bounce in the second that led to a two-run inning. The way things are going, it wouldn't be hard to blame Arenciba for being a bit up and down emotionally.
But much like the HMCS Toronto, wherever in the Atlantic Ocean it may be tonight, Arencibia will keep working.
A baseball season, like the sea, can be unpredictable at times. Things will happen that confound you and test your mettle.
Arencibia is just trying to stay the course, setting his sights on calmer waters.
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