In advance of Tuesday’s game against the Chicago White Sox, the Blue Jays will be promoting corner infielder Matt Dominguez to the big league club according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.
Source: #BlueJays will recall Matt Dominguez tomorrow, as expected. Dominguez is a right-handed hitter who defends well at 1B and 3B.
— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) April 26, 2016
To make room on the active roster, Drew Hutchison is expected to be sent down as soon as he clears optional waivers, which are a formality for certain players. This move comes in the wake of Chris Colabello’s 80 game suspension that has left the Blue Jays a little short on the position player side since Friday. John Gibbons told the media on Monday afternoon that the team was looking for a right handed batter who could play both corner infield positions defensively. With that being said, Dominguez getting the call over Andy Burns is quite puzzling.
The team should be looking for someone who can platoon with Justin Smoak and face left handed pitching. That guy is NOT Matt Dominguez. For his career, Dominguez has batted .247/.284/.384 against lefties, while that slash line is virtually the same when facing righties at .228/.272/.371. A platoon split is nowhere to be found in Dominguez’s case. However, the same cannot be said for Burns. Via BP Toronto’s Joshua Howsam, here are Burns’ numbers against lefties throughout his minor league career:
He’s raked at every stop he’s made!
Even more perplexing is the fact that Burns is a lot more versatile than the corner infielder Dominguez, and can play every position on the diamond except for catcher and center field.
But what’s done is done, and in Dominguez, the Blue Jays are getting a guy with a good glove at the corner positions, as well as some pop in the bat. In 2013 and 2014 with the Houston Astros, Dominguez hit a combined 37 home runs. Although the Blue Jays will likely try to upgrade at the first base position in the coming months and leading up to the trade deadline, Dominguez will be around for a little while barring any injuries. He also gives the Blue Jays another alternative at third base when Josh Donaldson needs a breather or is playing at DH.
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Yes he has raked. With Donaldson on the limp is Burns defense good enough to fill in at 3rd. Burns does make more sense offensively.
What the basis for BNS saying he defends well. I seem to recall he graded fairly well in 2013 but fell off in 2014.