Davidi on MLB: Jays’ kids quick learners

TORONTO – They are just kids, really.

Brett Lawrie and Henderson Alvarez, both just 21, arrived to the big-leagues full of hope, excitement, and promise, and with their feet barely wet, are surrounded by expectations, buzz and possibilities.

Their presence shows the future is quickly becoming the present for the Toronto Blue Jays, with the home fans getting their first glimpse of Lawrie in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Oakland Athletics. The third baseman from Langley, B.C., went 0 for 3 but received a standing ovation from a crowd of 20,521 before his first at-bat.

On Wednesday, Alvarez gets his inauguration when he takes the Rogers Centre mound for his major-league debut. Just called up from double-A New Hampshire on Tuesday afternoon, he was a Canadian trending topic on Twitter for a while, despite never throwing a pitch above double-A.

Such is the excitement that potential can stir within an anxious fan base, one eager to embrace a pair of unproven talents with the type of skills that may herald better days ahead for the team, while perhaps overlooking the growing pains that may come along with them.

“Pitching is harder,” manager John Farrell said when asked which one of his precocious kids has it tougher. “And I say that not just because of being a former pitcher, but you can’t hide out on the mound. You’re fully exposed and from a pitch execution standpoint, to your mound presence, to how you execute certain pitches or pitches in key spots, those instances probably rear their head a little bit more than four or five at-bats on a given night.

“That’s certainly not to downplay a position player, or Brett in this case, but a starting pitcher can’t hide. You can’t ease him in and out. He’s the guy on that given night.”

BLUE JAYS AUDIO: Tuesday Lawrie pre-game scrum

The reality is that both Alvarez and Lawrie will be focal points for the rest of the season. Lawrie has been talked about non-stop since a strong spring training signalled that he was on the verge of breaking through, and a productive series in Baltimore over the weekend that included a home run among his five hits only turned up the spotlight.

A large media scrum was waiting for him on the field Tuesday afternoon before batting practice and his name drew perhaps the loudest ovation during pre-game introductions.

“I don’t consider myself the centre of attention but I don’t mind it, for sure,” said Lawrie. “At the same time you have to know how to control it.

“I like to go out there and play the game hard, and be known that way, not for a guy off the field and stuff like that. I like to be known as a guy who plays his butt off, goes out there for his teammates, for the fans and for his family. I think I do a good job of that.” Alvarez stands out in a different way.

Having hit 101 m.p.h. on the radar gun, the electric right-hander inspires visions of an untouchable fireballer who strikes out batter after batter after batter. Instead, he pitches with a maturity beyond his years, pounding the ball down in the zone and letting overwhelmed batters roll over his fastball.

Not only does he not fear contact, he seeks it.

“I never pitch to strike out anybody, I pitch to contact,” the Venezuelan said in comments interpreted by coach Luis Rivera. “They mentioned to me in double-A that’s how you get outs in the big leagues, by just forcing people to swing early.

“I’m not thinking about striking out, I’m thinking about quick outs, pitching deep in the games, and now with the slider, that’s going to be the pitch that’s probably going to increase my strikeout ratio.”

The development of his slider will indeed by the key for him, allowing him to remain more unpredictable as he goes through batting orders for the second and third time in a game. His fastball is also complemented by a changeup that New Hampshire pitching coach Pete Walker has described as “devastating at times” but the slider can pull the package together.

Alvarez has worked on the slider since spring training, when the Blue Jays asked him to mothball his curveball.

“Pete Walker told me that to be effective, I need to have a breaking ball and I needed to work on a slider,” said Alvarez. “I was using the fastball and then I was going back to the slider, and that’s how I was getting people out in double-A.”

The challenge for both is to translate their skills and minor-league performance into success in the majors, amid a period of transition for the Blue Jays.

Along with fellow youngsters Colby Rasmus, Eric Thames, J.P. Arencibia and Brett Cecil, and likely September call-ups Travis Snider and Kyle Drabek, additions to the core continue to be made.

Nothing, however, is certain.

“What’s clear is the overall level of talent continues to grow and increase,” said Farrell. “That gives (people) every right to have increased expectations as we go forward. What their ultimate performance level is, time will tell.

“But when they come with a skill-set and package of tools that project to be better than average, that’s exciting for everyone.”