Baseball IQ: Donaldson and Dickey Put on a Show



The best part about R.A. Dickey being a Blue Jay, besides his being a very efficient and steady presence on the mound, is that his poetic impulses are used to describe the Blue Jays.

His description of Josh Donaldson, while not the most poetic, was a perfect one.

“He’s just a dirtbag, and it’s fun to be on a team with guys like that,” Dickey said.

Josh Donaldson did something last night that just isn't done. He scored on shallow pop out to centre. Tulowitzki popped out to Jason Kipnis and instead of settling, Donaldson forced the issue. It was an absolutely beautiful slide, where he flew around the tag by Yan Gomes. The tag, at first glance, looked a lot closer than it actually was. But, as evidenced in the great picture by John Lott above, the tag missed by quite a lot. He also didn't scrape his face. I know that's very important to some people who enjoy looking at it.

"It's something that I don't do very often -- that's probably not the strength of my game, I would say -- but I try to be on top of what I need to do and what the defence is going to be able to give me," Donaldson said. "People might call it baseball IQ, but I try to think as the game is going on and what opportunities I'm going to have, and when they show up I try to take advantage of it."

He also had a hustle double, advancing from first when Michael Brantley took a second too long to lobbed the ball back to the infield.

Dickey went on:

"He's in a special place right now. He has such a great game clock, and you can't really teach that. It's an intangible that some guys possess, and he's got it."

Dickey himself was pretty special last night. He threw a complete game, giving up only four hits, six strikeouts and walking none. He threw only 92 pitches. 

Terry Francona, manager of the Cleveland Indians, was impressed. 

“First time through (the batting order) you saw him show the fastball and then go to the knuckleball,” Francona said. “Once he got it rolling, man, for a ball to move that much and for him to command it that well, it was really impressive.”

Dickey was very grateful for finally getting run support. 

"I'll tell you what's worked, the bats have exploded when I pitch," Dickey said. "It's such a gift to come and watch these guys play, it really is. To watch Donaldson and Bautista and Tulo, everybody is playing a part, and it's a rare gift to get to come to the park and see these guys perform."

In other news that amazing (because there just isn't enough) Marcus Stroman had a very positive start in Lansing. He threw 69 pitches, 44 for strikes. He walked one and gave up no hits over 4 2/3 innings.

“I thought he threw really well,” Hentgen said, as reported by Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling. “His velocity was low to mid-90s. And that’s going to get better as he keeps pitching. It was good to see him covering first base. I don’t think he favoured his knee at all.”

... I got a million ways to get it, choose one....