Brett Lawrie's Debut

Well, it was the day Blue Jays fans had been waiting for ever since Brett Lawrie was acquired from the Brewers for fan favourite Shawn Marcum. Lawrie was impressive in camp making the switch from 2nd base to 3rd well.  Where he showed off his potent bat to the tune of 12-41 (.293 Avg.), 2 2B, 2 HR, 3 SB and a .326 OBP.  Some Jays fans were so upset when the 21 year old Canadian was sent to the minors, but as we have seen with Travis Snider, players need to prove themselves at the highest level of the minors. Brett Lawrie did just that, setting the AAA Pacific Coast league on fire as one of the youngest players.  Finally today, August 5th, 2011, the omnipotent Brett Lawrie made his Major League Baseball debut.

Lets review his debut!

At the plate: Lawrie showed some good plate discipline today, lets break it down At bat by at bat.


First Career plate appearance:  Single, Line Drive to CF.

0-0 Count: Takes a Cut Fastball for a Ball (90.3 MPH) pitch to the outside corner.  Gets a favourable call, as according to Brooks Baseball PitchFX, its about 3 inches from the bottom and outside of the zone.
1-0 Count: Takes a Cut Fastball for a Ball(90.3 MPH) pitch to the outside corner.  Close call, looks to be just outside the zone.
2-0 Count: Fouls off Four-Seamer (93.2 MPH) pitch down the middle of the zone.
2-1 Count: Fouls off Curveball (79.9 MPH) pitch down and away, in strike zone.
2-2 Count: Line Drive off Four-Seamer (92 MPH) pitch down and in, hit to centerfield for a single. Drives in a run.

Second Career plate appearance: Ground out to 3rd Base.

0-0 Count: Takes a Four-Seamer for a Ball (89.6 MPH) pitch high, 6 inches above strike zone.
1-0 Count: Takes a Cut Fastball called strike (87.5 MPH) pitch right down the middle.
1-1 Count: Takes a Curveball for a Ball (78.1 MPH) pitch outside of zone 3 inches
2-1 Count: Takes a Curveball for a Ball (76.6 MPH) pitch high, just at the edge of zone.
3-1 Count: Ground ball on a Fastball (91.3 MPH) pitch belt high, outer half of plate.

Third Career plate appearance: Called out on strikes.

0-0 Count: Takes a Four-Seamer for a called strike (91 MPH) pitch high and inner half of zone.
0-1 Count: Takes a Four-Seamer for a Ball (90.3 MPH) pitch way outside of the strike zone, 18 inches.
1-1 Count: Takes a Slider for a called strike (75.2 MPH) pitch belt high, inner half of zone.
1-2 Count: Takes a Changeup for a Ball (84.5 MPH) pitch low almost in dirt.
2-2 Count: Takes a Four-Seamer for a called strike (90.5 MPH) pitch high, outside corner, close call could be called a ball or strike three.

Fourth Career plate appearance: Single, Ground ball to left field.

0-0 Count: Takes a Curveball for a Ball (77.9 MPH) pitch in dirt.
1-0 Count: Ground ball off a Four-Seamer (90.8 MPH) pitch letter high in zone.  Hit to left field for a single. Base Runner thrown out at the plate.

In The Field

Not too many plays in the field for Lawrie, but breaking down the 2 that stand out for all the wrong reasons.

The Error:  On the error, Lawrie just played the ball too aggressively and got a bad bounce off the dirt.  Once he is talked to in the dugout about how he doesn't have to play it that aggressively (It was hit fairly sharply), and MLB players don't run faster then in AAA.

The Boot To Escobar: Again playing the ball too aggrassively trying to backhand it on the short hop, and the ball bounced in the dirt and off the glove bouncing to Escobar.  No real qualms with this play.  He knocked the ball down on the short hop, he would have had to play it on the in-between hop other wise and thats always dangerous.  If the ball gets by him on the hop, its going to be a run scoring and runners on 2nd and 3rd. So good on him for knocking it down.

In Conclusion

Brett Lawrie had a good showing at the plate (2-4, 1 K, 1 RBI).  He did a good job taking close pitches, and didn't swing at a single pitch out of the strike zone.  I was impressed by his patience and the fact that he got ahead in the count in 3 of his 4 Plate appearances.