I assumed either Eric Thames or Travis Snider would come up to help replace the injured Jose Bautista in right field in Toronto, but it appears the Blue Jays have other plans.
Anthony Gose, one of the fastest players in the minors, was pulled out of the game for Triple-A Las Vegas tonight, indicating that he could be called up Tuesday.
The 21-year-old Gose is hitting .293/.376/.434 with five homers and 29 steals for Las Vegas this season. That is one of the top environments for offense in the minors, but oddly enough, most of Gose’s production has come on the road; he’s hitting .323/.399/.469 in away games this season.
Gose is the best defensive outfielder in the Jays organization, which will make for an interesting decision for Toronto. Do they temporarily shift Colby Rasmus to right, even though he’s playing well at the moment? Or do they put Gose there, even though he’s the better defender and his entire career in right field amounts to six appearances in 2008-09? Given that Rasmus has a history of dealing with adversity poorly, Gose to right seems like the better move to me.
Frankly, I still think Snider or Thames makes more sense. Gose is an intriguing talent, but he strikes out an awful lot for a guy with middling power (93 times in 92 games this season). He’s still pretty raw, and since the Jays don’t need him as a center fielder, I think it’d be best to leave him in Triple-A until September.
