The Toronto Blue Jays may have found their long-term answer at center field.
Toronto traded Kevin Gausman to the Chicago Cubs for a package that includes Brett Bateman, who has already made his MLB debut. Bateman has become an impact player for the Blue Jays, and now Caleb Joseph, who played 7 years in the MLB, compared him to Steven Kwan.
“He’s a very well-rounded batter, and there’s a little bit of Steven Kwan in him,” Joseph said on the Blue Jays broadcast on Sunday.
Joseph had plenty of praise for Bateman, calling him a prototypical leadoff hitter for Toronto. Bateman has plenty of speed and can cause chaos on the basepaths. And if he can come close to the career that Kwan has, the Blue Jays would jump at that.
Kwan is a two-time MLB All-Star and four-time Gold Glove Award winner.
Blue Jays Manager Praises Brett Bateman
GettyBlue Jays manager has high praise for Brett Bateman.
After Bateman was called up and made an impact both at the plate and in the field, Blue Jays manager John Schneider had high praise for him.
“I like the zone control, I like the contact ability and I like what’s going on between his ears… You never know when you’ll find a dude. It’s whatever handful of games, but he has the potential,” Schneider said.
Bateman is a contact-first hitter with speed and good fielding. After he was acquired by the Blue Jays, he said he just wanted to make an impact and give Schneider no choice but to play him.
“Just trying to be the person that I am, that’s what got me here,” Bateman said. “I know people say ‘he doesn’t have power, he doesn’t have power.’ But if you do one thing right, then Skip doesn’t have an option to not put you in the lineup. I try not to focus on the things that I’m not good at and focus on things I’m really good at, because ultimately, baseball is a team sport; if you do something really well, contribute to a team, that’s going to help them a lot.”
Bateman has done that, which is why he remains in the lineup. He’s hitting .305 with 0 home runs and 5 RBIs in 59 at-bats for Toronto.
Toronto Battling for Playoff Spot
The Blue Jays are 1.5 games out of the final Wild Card spot.
Toronto has struggled this season but is playing much better baseball. They stayed afloat during a tough stretch and now don’t play a team above .500 for the rest of the season.
“It’s a tough stretch. It’s good teams. A .500 road trip against in-division teams that are at the top. You want to say that’s good, but we need to be a little bit better in certain situations,” Schneider said. “But, big picture, you get through this stretch and enjoy the off day. I like the way that we’re playing and hopefully continue to take another step forward when we get home on Tuesday.”
The Blue Jays will kick off a three-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
Former Blue Jays Veteran Compares Brett Bateman to 2-Time All-Star