Blake Murphy Sports Writing

Title: Brett Lawrie’s Debut Weekend, Play-by-Play
Date: August 7, 2011
Original Source: The On Deck Circle
Synopsis: Mega-prospect Brett Lawrie finally made his much-anticipated Blue Jays’ debut, and what a weekend it was! This was the somewhat tongue-in-cheek recounting of the events.

On the odd chance you somehow haven’t heard, Toronto Blue Jays’ top prospect Brett Lawrie made his MLB debut this weekend, joining the big league club for the three-game series in Baltimore. Lawrie, of course, is the Canadian uber-prospect acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers in the offseason for Shaun Marcum. He is also the most important fantasy add of the season, the future face of the franchise, the man-crush of all baseball-bros, and undisputed king of Edward Forty-Hands.

Hyperbole was out in full force all week in anticipation, but baseball scribes tend to be more low key on the weekend, so you may not have heard about his exploits, baseball or otherwise. Allow me, then, to take you through his debut weekend, play-by-play.

Friday
Pregame: Brett Lawrie arrives at Camden Yards. Upon putting on his #13 jersey, he immediately surpasses Roberto Alomar (coincidentally, #12) as the best Blue Jay of all time.
2nd inning: Lawrie works a 2-2 count and singles up the middle off of Tommy Hunter, scoring Edwin Encarnacion. 2,999 more hits to immortality.
2nd inning: Lawrie commits an error on a Nolan Reimold ground ball, proving he is human after it takes an awkward hop.
4th inning: Lawrie grounds a 3-1 pitch to third base for an out. Related note – Lawrie allegedly gets from home plate to first in under 4.0 seconds, which is obscenely fast for a right handed batter.
6th inning: Lawrie is called out on strikes after watching five pitches from Troy Patton. Good to see some patience in what was probably a nerve-filled debut. Take notes, Travis Snider.
6th inning: Lawrie deflects a ball hit by Matt Wieters (who, despite these facts, has nothing on Lawrie) to Yunel Escobar, but runners are safe all around. Lawrie then fields a Reimold grounder, throwing to Aaron Hill to retire Wieters at second.
8th inning: Lawrie pulls a 1-0 Chris Jakubauskas offering into left field for a single but Colby Rasmus is thrown out at home trying to score from second.
Review: Lawrie goes 2/4 with an RBI, a K, and an error. After the game, JP Arencibia, Ricky Romero, and Brett Cecil give him the treatment pictured above, and he handles himself with an obvious but respectful confidence in post-game interviews. Despite claiming the contrary, we all know that he is, in fact, the saviour.

Saturday
Pregame: With some of the excitement having worn off, Lawrie is given some reprieve when the mob of reporters only reaches double digits instead of triple digits. Brett Lawrie jerseys are on back order.
3rd inning: Lawrie pulls a hard grounder to third on a 1-1 93 MPH fastball from Chris Tillman for an out.
3rd inning: Reimold, who has a thing for grounders to Brett, sends another one his way, and Lawrie makes a throw on the move to retire him with ease.
5th inning: Wieters pops out in foul territory to Lawrie, and it’s pretty clear at this point who the better demigod is.
6th inning: Lawrie battles back from 0-2 to 2-2 against Tillman and pulls a groundball through the left side for a single.
6th inning: Nick Markakis pops out in foul ground to Brett…obviously, he played a lot of “500” growing up, as he handles these pop-ups like a pro.
8th inning: Jim Johnson strikes Lawrie out with four pitches, all fastballs taken by Lawrie. It’s possible he may have been too patient on his two strikeouts thus far, but the club has preached plate discipline to him at Triple-A, so this is much better than the opposite issue.
Review: Lawrie goes 1-for-3 with a strikeout. Obviously not a flashy second game, but at this point it’s clear he can handle himself with the bat and has the plate discipline lacking in some of the other 2011 call-ups (Snider, Thames, Cooper).

Sunday
Pregame: After a miserable 1-for-3 performance, Lawrie was looking to bounce back and remind everyone that he is The Man (Wooo!).
1st inning: Robert Andino grounds out to Lawrie, who makes the throw with his eyes closed and with his left hand.
2nd inning: Groundballs from Vlad Guerrero and Reimold (again), ho hum.
3rd inning: Working a 2-1 count against Alfredo Simon, Lawrie lines a two-seamer the opposite way for a single, scoring on Jose Bautista’s double later in the frame.
4th inning: With a runner on second, Lawrie sends a 2-2 slider to mid center field, moving Johnny Mac to 3rd (but it won’t be a Sac Fly, for the record)
6th inning: Lawrie swings-and-misses on an apparent hit-and-run, and Johnny Mac is thrown out at second. What a shame, because two pitches later Lawrie dumps a 2-1 fastball into the right-center field seats, taking Simon opposite field for the first of what will surely be at least 500 career homers. This shot chases Simon from the game and gives the Jays a 6-1 lead.
7th inning: Old buddy Nolan Reimold grounds to Lawrie for the 5th time this weekend, and for the 4th time Brett handles it with no issues.
8th inning: Lawrie chops a 1-0 fastball back to pitcher Brad Bergesen for a fielder’s choice. Really thought they’d give him a chance to take second here, but they spared Wieters the embarrassment.
8th inning: Two more ground balls, two more outs. Seems Lawrie is comfortable after the initial blip on Friday.
Review: The first major league homerun will obviously stick out, on top of which Lawrie looked very comfortable in the field, and added a single. He was more aggressive at the plate today, and while he saw fewer pitches overall, he seemed ready to jump on good offerings early.

Weekend Totals: 5/11, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 HR, 2 K, 1 E (and if it matters in this small of a sample size, it’s a slash line of .455/.455/.727/1.182 OPS)

In all seriousness, it was a phenomenal debut weekend for Lawrie. It’s usually impossible for any prospect to meet the hype associated with their debut, but Lawrie delivered across the board. He appears to be everything the franchise has been toting him as – hardworking, disciplined, exceptionally talented, and with a mature but obvious confidence that will hopefully infect the clubhouse as the young core matures together. It seems (via Twitter) like he’s bonded with several of the young guys in the clubhouse, and while care-free would be going too far, a fun and supportive clubhouse is one best suiting a young up-and-coming team, in my opinion.

After months of speculating and mining Triple-A box scores, it’s exciting to finally have a chance to view the future of the Blue Jays in the present.

I’d assume, also, that no lineup spot is out of the question once John Farrell feels he’s comfortable with the big club…that bat will play at any lineup spot, and the #2 and #5 holes seem like potential long-term settling places (he hit 9th this weekend).