Roden aims to make impact in return to Blue Jays
This browser does not support the video element.
This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson’s Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
TORONTO -- Alan Roden has forced the Blue Jays’ hand twice now.
First, Roden was the darling of camp, a Spring Training sensation who became the most newsworthy addition to the Opening Day roster. It didn’t work, though, at least not the first time.
Roden, who just graduated from being the Blue Jays’ No. 5 prospect, hit just .188 (13-for-69) with a .541 OPS over his first 25 games, so while the decision to option him back to Triple-A Buffalo on May 7 wasn’t exactly a stunner, Toronto knew how this would go. The organization still believes in his talent -- not just as a contributor, but a future everyday player -- so what happened next didn’t surprise anyone. Roden went down, dropped a 1.029 OPS on Triple-A pitching over 18 games with the Bisons and earned a trip right back to Toronto.
Now, Roden has a shot to stick. Daulton Varsho is dealing with a week-to-week left hamstring injury while Anthony Santander’s left shoulder injury will keep him out a while longer. The door is wide open for the next couple of weeks, but even beyond that, as he competed with Myles Straw and Jonatan Clase for a more permanent role. This time, he knows how it feels to stumble.
This browser does not support the video element.
“Pitching is obviously good in the big leagues and they can make adjustments, so the thing that was missing was making the adjustment back,” Roden said, “and doing things to recognize patterns and how I was being pitched. You have to do that quick enough so you don’t get the ball rolling on a bunch of poor outings, you try to be more consistent.”
The adjustment game is what got Davis Schneider last year and this April. It’s the same game that will try to bring down Addison Barger now, each opposing pitcher doing everything in their power not to end up in a viral clip of another Barger blast.
You hear it all the time now, that the gap between Triple-A and the big leagues may be wider than it’s ever been, which is really a statement about pitching.
“It’s the consistency of the stuff and the ability to execute every pitch that they have, that’s the big difference,” Roden said. “In Triple-A, there’s obviously good arms and pitchers are good there, too, but it’s the consistency of night in, night out, every guy you face has it. That’s a big difference.”
This browser does not support the video element.
Knowing what went wrong is the first half of solving the problem for Roden. The other half, looking forward now, is finding a way to make this next crack at the big leagues better.
This is where Roden’s mental makeup comes in. He’s long been praised up and down this organization -- from player development staff to coaches at each level -- for his ability to process information and adjust to pitchers. It didn’t happen quickly enough in April, but this time, the Blue Jays hope that Roden will be able to find the right speed. They’re betting heavily on it, and while he’s in a big, messy timeshare in the outfield, Roden will still see plenty of playing time against right-handed pitchers.
Since Roden has returned, John Schneider continues to point to the idea of Roden getting “his pitch” to hit. That definition can vary from player to player.
This browser does not support the video element.
“I think it can be anything,” Roden said. “I’m confident I can hit any pitch if it’s in the right zone. I think part of this was me expanding too much and being uncommitted to whatever I was trying to do. I was trying to do everything with everything. Obviously, that’s never going to work. It’s about getting pitchers in the zone and putting my commitment into the at-bat.”
This is the type of response coaches and front offices want to hear from young players, and Roden captures his early struggles perfectly. When you try to do “everything with everything,” as Roden puts it, that gives more control to the pitcher, who already has enough to begin with.
It’s up to Roden now to produce, and the Blue Jays are willing to give him the space to do that again. This team is already benefiting from its decision to believe in Barger and his upside, as the club continued to roll him out regularly before his recent explosion. The same approach should suit Roden well, particularly while Toronto has Varsho and Santander on the IL.