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DUNEDIN, Florida – If Jose Bautista ends the season on the baseball field, itll mark the first time since 2011 but the Blue Jays slugger bristles at the suggestion he isnt a durable ballplayer. "Its not because I was neglecting my training regime or anything like that," Bautista said of his injuries. "It is disappointing and it is upsetting that I dont get to go out there and finish the season with the team and finish strong. Thats been the case in the last two years so hopefully it doesnt happen again." Bautista tore the tendon sheath in his wrist while taking a swing in a game at Yankee Stadium on July 16, 2012. The injury essentially cost him the remainder of the season, save for five plate appearances over two games in late August. Last year, Bautista jammed his hip while running the bases in July. He played with pain for about a month and then removed himself from a game at Yankee Stadium on August 20. He wouldnt set foot on the field for the rest of the year. Bautista continues to hit home runs at a prodigious pace. He went deep on 6.2 per cent of his at-bats in 2013, a trend that has steadily declined since his career-high 54 home run breakout season in 2010 (8.4 per cent in 2011, 8.1 per cent in 2012) when he rounded the bases in 9.5 per cent of his at-bats. Considering he was recovering from serious wrist surgery, a body part that when injured can sap sluggers of their power, his numbers remain impressive. The 33-year-old describes as "great" his just-getting-to-know-you relationship with new hitting coach Kevin Seitzer. The two have spoken briefly in Dunedin and had a couple of phone conversations during the offseason. Broadly put, Seitzers modus operandi is to encourage his hitters to use the entire field. Bautista is among a number of Jays, Edwin Encarnacion and Colby Rasmus included, who are almost dead pull hitters. "You just watch the way they throw the shift on him," said manager John Gibbons. "They leave some big holes (on the right side) for him. There are some cheap RBIs that way. I mean, the way I look at it, you get 500 at-bats in a season and say you hit 50 home runs, which is an unbelievable year. Thats still a lot of at-bats without home runs. If youre more of a complete hitter and youll take some hits (to the right side) to get a rally going or drive in a big run or something, that can only help." Leadership and its role on a baseball team continue to be topics of debate among those who follow the game closely. The consensus amongst players is that winning breeds camaraderie, something directly reflected in the success of last years world champion Boston Red Sox. The Jays buried themselves with a 10-17 April last season, injuries mounted and not even an 11-game winning streak in June could salvage the year. As a result, the clubhouse, while it didnt have any crippling divisions, wasnt a tight-knit unit. Players on winning teams, with something to play for, may be more willing to push a single through the opposite side to score a run instead of being concerned primarily with their own stats. "I think if everybody does as well as theyre capable of doing, with some leadership – and hopefully I get to help out in that area – I think we can be a much better team than we were last year and a closer team than we showed last year that we were," said Bautista. The slugger doesnt share fans angst over Torontos relatively quiet offseason. "Not at all," said Bautista. "I think we have a good group of guys. Were very competitive. Were really talented and I think if we remain healthy and everybody plays up to their capabilities, nobody needs to go do anything outstanding or hit 60 home runs or have a sub-1.00 ERA, we just need to play up to our capabilities." Pitching Depth The Blue Jays announced on Friday theyve claimed RHP Liam Hendriks off waivers from Baltimore. To make room for Hendriks on the 40-man roster, the team designated infielder Brent Morel for assignment. Hendriks, 25, was born and raised in Perth, Australia. Hes struggled in limited big league action over three seasons, all with Minnesota, compiling a record of 2-13, an ERA of 6.06 and a WHIP of 1.590. Morel is a former third round pick of the White Sox, selected off waivers from Chicago on December 23. A right-handed bat, there was thought that Morel would compete for a job off the bench. Understanding the Business Reliever Neil Wagner, 30, is caught in the middle of a numbers game and he knows it. "Taken in the 21st round in the middle of nowhere, youre forced to prove yourself and thats how Ive done it my whole career," said Wagner. "I plan on doing that in camp as well." The Blue Jays will consider going with an eight-man bullpen out of camp but that still wont guarantee Wagner a big league job. Casey Janssen, Sergio Santos, Brett Cecil, Aaron Loup and Steve Delabar are guaranteed spots. Dustin McGowan will be stretched out this spring but it seems more likely he will be a reliever. Wagner has an option remaining, whereas Jeremy Jeffress, Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond do not, which doesnt bode well for his chances to make the team. "They havent told me anything," said Wagner. "Im expecting that Ill be here until Im not. I plan on going out and pitching well and pitching my way onto the team and if things dont work out that way, then Ill go down to Buffalo and do the same thing." Wagner has a live arm, his fastball routinely clocking in the mid to high 90s and can touch 100 miles per hour. He allowed only one run, earned, in his first 12 appearances with the Blue Jays last season. He ended the season with a 3.79 ERA over 36 appearances, striking out 7.8 batters over nine innings while walking 3.1 hitters per nine innings. He had a 1.368 WHIP over what, to this point, was his longest stint in the majors. "I feel like I proved that I can pitch at the big league level but in this game, nothing is given to you, nothings owed to you, so anything could happen at any time and Im perfectly okay with that." Nickeas Cant Lose Catcher Mike Nickeas kept an eye on the Canada-USA semi-final hockey game in Sochi. "Im a winner today, either way," he joked in passing. Nickeas was born in Vancouver in 1983, while his father, whos English, was playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps of the now-defunct North American Soccer League. His mother is American and Nickeas grew up in California, which explains his allegiances to both sides. Guess is hell be cheering for Canada in Sundays gold medal game against Sweden. Gibbons Talks Haircuts Manager John Gibbons, himself sporting a new, shorter haircut this spring, didnt appreciate my efforts to update my do. "It looks like a ducks ass," Gibbons joked before starting his daily scrum with the media. Well, I cant change the haircut now. My pride wont allow it. NEWARK, N.J. -- Jaromir Jagr and Martin Brodeur still know how to make the key plays that lead to wins. And the New Jersey Devils are thankful for that. "Our older guys were great," Devils coach Pete DeBoer said after Jagr scored two goals and Brodeur made 27 saves to lead the New Jersey Devils to a 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. "I dont know what kind of statement we can really make," Brodeur said of he and Jagr contributing to the Devils. "Its kind of nice. I think it goes a long way when you enjoy the game of hockey. At our age, if we didnt do that, it would be really, really hard to play this game. "And me and (Jagr), everyone can tell you we love being around here." Andy Greene and Adam Larsson also scored for New Jersey, which has won three of its past five. "Its big for us," Brodeur said. "Were looking to get back to .500 and from there, lets go forward. Were not there yet." Chris Kunitz scored for Pittsburgh. The Penguins have lost four of six. Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 18 of 21 shots. "Weve been in tight games, one-goal games," Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. "We havent been able to win them. Thats a common theme." Jagrs first goal of the third period put the Devils up 3-1 at 14:06. Dainius Zubrus forced and recovered Kris Letangs offensive zone turnover before setting up Jagr for his sixth of the season. Jagr added an empty netter at 18:43. "He wasnt the weakest link on our line," Jagr joked when asked about Zubrus. "He was good." Despite being outshot 10-3 in the first period, it was the Devils who went into the first intermission with a 1-0 lead. Greenes second of the season opened the scoring with 18.4 seconds left in the period. Zubrus hit on Letang forced a turnover that Greene recovered at the half wall. The New Jersey defenceman fired a shot that appeared to ricochet off Fleurys pads and rolled into the net. "They get three shots in the first period and the puck gets deflected, bounces, and Marc-Andre Fleury never sees the puck until it hits him in the chest," Bylsma said. Kunitz tied the game 4:18 into the ssecond with his ninth of the season.dddddddddddd Adam Henriques pass from behind the Penguins net eluded Marek Zidlicky, and Kunitz outraced the New Jersey defenceman to the loose puck before flipping the puck past Brodeur. Larsson gave the Devils a 2-1 lead with 1:38 left in the second. Zubrus weaved his way through the neutral zone before finding Travis Zajac on the right wing. Zajac fired a cross-ice pass to a cutting Larsson, who roofed a shot over Fleury for his first goal of the season. The goal was Larssons first since Nov. 26, 2011, and only the third of his career. "It was pretty important for us," Larsson said of his goal. "Got a nice pass from (Zajac) and tried to get it to the net, and was lucky it went in." Brodeur and New Jerseys penalty killers made the lead hold up. Brodeur made 12 saves in the third, and the Devils killed both of Pittsburghs power plays in the period. Pittsburgh did not score on any of its four power plays. "We had our chances to score," Penguins star Sidney Crosby said. "I think (taking away the middle of the ice) is pretty typical of their team. Thats something we expected and we were willing to fight through that. We didnt turn the puck over that much. We got it deep and tried to generate things from there, but thats kind of the way they play. We understand that and we tried to get through it." New Jersey went 0 for 3 on the power play. NOTES: Pittsburgh called up centre Zach Sill from its AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before the game. Sill skated on the fourth line with Craig Adams and Tanner Glass. ... New Jersey defenceman Anton Volchenkov missed his second game in a row with what the team is calling "a lower body injury." Volchenkov suffered the injury in the first period of the Devils 3-2 win over the Rangers on Nov. 12 in New York. ... DeBoer did not know if defenceman Jon Merrill, who has missed five games after suffering facial lacerations and a concussion in the first period of New Jerseys 4-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Nov. 3, would travel with the team on its upcoming West Coast trip. Merrill participated in an optional skate Saturday morning. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
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