Top of the 49th: Inside Rajai’s head
Posted April 11, 2011 8:55 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
By MIKE CORMACK – sportsnet.ca
Should the Blue Jays be more concerned about Rajai Davis’ ankle, or his head?
The centre fielder gave a surprising answer for the reason why he dropped a routine fly ball that led to two unearned runs in yesterday’s 3-1 loss to the Angels.
“Just lack of focus,” Davis told reporters. “I was thinking about too much and I’ve just got to go out there and focus on the game. It’s tough when you’ve got other things that are bothering you but it’s MLB (Major League Baseball) and we have to make the adjustment.”
He then hinted his mind may have been on other things in addition his bum ankle that will now keep him out of the next few games.
“There’s a lot of things going on,” Davis replied. “There’s ah …. you’ve just got to focus on all those things happening and make the play.”
We’ve all been distracted at work at times, but as Davis rightly points out, big-league ball players need to be focused on the field at all times, otherwise they should be on he bench, which is where he will find himself for the next few days in order to rest his right ankle, and hopefully, clear his head.
Below: Davis’ long road to the majors.
Jays won’t see Bedard:
One man the Jays won’t be seeing in their series this week in Seattle is Navan, Ontario’s Erik Bedard, who was smacked around Sunday in Seattle’s 6-4 loss to Cleveland, giving up 10 hits (including two homers) and six runs in four innings to raise his early-season ERA to 9.00.
Nevertheless, Bedard says his surgically-repaired shoulder is holding up fine so far, and his problem right now is rust, not health.
“It’s been a year and half since I’ve thrown, so it might take awhile,” Bedard told the the Seattle Times. “I’m working hard and trying to get back as quick as I can.”
Also Sunday, Victoria’s Michael Saunders went deep for the M’s for his first homer of 2011.
Harden goes under the hood: In his weekly MLB notebook, Shi Davidi writes Victoria native Rich Harden has been going about diagnosing the root cause of his shoulder troubles the same way a mechanic inspects a car.
Martin lighting up New York: Ken Rosenthal of foxsports.com writes Monday that Russell Martin continues to impress the Yankees with play at and behind the plate. The 28-year-old is batting .300/.344/.633 in 32 plate appearances in 2011 with three homers and eight RBIs.
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