February 28, 2021

By Andrew Hendriks

Canadian Baseball Network

In baseball, nothing happens in a vacuum.

When the hot stove kicks into high gear, players are often caught in its crossfire.

That's where Lourdes Gurriel Jr. found himself this past January when, days after landing George Springer, the Blue Jays were heavily involved in the Michael Brantley sweepstakes.

"It was complicated, especially in the off-season. There were a lot of people calling me and asking about the trade rumours," said Gurriel, who led the Blue Jays in base hits with 64 last year, through a translator on Saturday.

"It wasn't easy, but I just concentrated on myself. I prepared myself very well to play baseball, which is what I love to do. I'm in camp right now, and I'm ready."

Even though Brantley eventually re-signed with Houston, Gurriel knows that there's still a wealth of big-league outfield talent in the Blue Jays' organization. In an effort to create as many offensive options as possible in 2021, management approached the 27-year-old with the idea of picking up additional innings in the infield this spring.

"I prepared myself to play left field in the off-season," he said. "When I got to camp, I sat down with Charlie (Montoyo), and he told me that I was going to take some ground balls at first and third. I don't have a problem with that. I'll be ready."

Gurriel broke into the majors as a middle infielder in 2018 but experienced a string of defensive struggles that, in turn, appeared to have a negative effect on his offensive output. Through his first 13 games in 2019, Gurriel was batting just .175 with a pair of errors in 24 defensive chances.

He returned to triple-A that April and transitioned to a full-time role in the outfield. Since coming back from Buffalo that May, the Blue Jays' outfielder has hit .299 (144/482) while supplying strong defence in left field.

"I have the ability to come back to the infield again. I have no doubts in myself about that," Gurriel said confidently. "I'm not going to lie; the transition's going to be a little bit hard, kind of like before when I moved from the infield to the outfield. It took me basically two years for that. But the desire is there."

REVISED FORMAT

Due to the pandemic, teams now have the ability to decide how many innings they play in exhibition contests, and Montoyo is a fan of the new format.

"I think it's great," said the Blue Jays skipper on Saturday. "Usually, the starters go two at-bats anyways, and then it's almost like nobody cares. I have a feeling that, from this year on, they're going to continue doing the seven-inning games."

Including Sunday's opener, each of the Blue Jays' first five games up until Friday will be seven-inning affairs.

KICKING THINGS OFF

The Blue Jays will kick off their Grapefruit League slate with a 1:05 p.m. E.T. tilt against the New York Yankees in Tampa Bay.

Charlie Montoyo will be sending out the following lineup;

Biggio (5)

Semien (4)

Bichette (6)

Gurriel Jr. (7)

Guerrero (5)

Tellez (0)

Jansen (2)

Palacios (9)

Davis (8)

Anthony Kay will start, with T.J. Zeuch, Jacob Waguespack, Bryan Baker, and Joe Murray expected to follow.

- Follow Andrew Hendriks on Twitter (@77hendriks)