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Dalton Pompey on Choosing to Play in the WBC

DUNEDIN – It was a good day for Dalton Pompey. After battling illness for the first week of games, the switch-hitting 24 year old finally found his way into the lineup in Grapefruit League action. One walk, one nice catch at the fence, and one opposite field home run later, a solid first 2017 impression was in the books.

It was exactly what Pompey needed to do, as he is involved in one of the few roster battles in big league camp. He is trying to earn a spot either as the full time starting left fielder or as the strong side of a platoon with Melvin Upton. He won’t be here much longer, however, as he will leaving to join Team Canada’s World Baseball Canada squad on Sunday the 5th.

There are basically two schools of thought on this decision, both entirely defensible. It could easily be argued that Pompey should be staying with the Blue Jays, keeping himself in front of the eyes of the club’s decision makers as long and as often as possible. On the flip side, the WBC presents some high level competition and lots of playing time that he wouldn’t otherwise receive in the early parts of Spring Training.

When I asked him about it, the Mississauga native admitted that it was a tough decision:

“I had to evaluate all my options in terms of who I would be competing against and all that stuff, but it’s still something I’ve wanted to do since ’09 when I saw the one in Toronto. So I would have to be absolutely convinced that I was pretty much a shoo-in to make the team at that point for me to not want to go.”

Pompey obviously has a certain level of national pride, but that last note is a particularly interesting viewpoint. The comment about needing to be a “shoo-in” compares closely to the rationale players who have just switched teams provide for declining WBC invites (like Michael Saunders). The fight for a job wasn’t going to keep him away; only the need to get acclimated with his teammates for the upcoming year would have stopped Pompey from donning the maple leaf.

In addition, Pompey also feels there is real value to the WBC. He thinks “the overall competition and environment” of the tournament will be very beneficial to him in terms of prep for the season, while still managing to keep his standing with the Blue Jays:

“I feel like you can’t really duplicate that unless you’re in the season. So it’s not like I’m going on vacation. I’m still going to play baseball, so I don’t think it’s going to be detrimental to what I’m trying to do.”

He’s right, of course. An opposite field home run against Julio Teheran or Chris Archer looks a lot more impressive than one against Sandy Baez, who has yet to see Double-A. And what Pompey is trying to do is make the big league roster. He is certainly not assured of a spot, however, and also seems to be aware of the battle he is facing to make this 2017 team as a pre-arbitration player with options remaining:

“There are other guys I’m competing against that are guys who have guaranteed money. So I don’t know, my chances are still kind of up in the air. It’s not that I’m losing hope, I’m just being realistic.”

“I’m still preparing for the season – doing what I need to do to put myself in the best possible situation to be successful. Just in terms of the WBC, I was just evaluating, ‘ok, who am I going up against and what do I need to do,’ and I just felt as though I could go to the WBC and still remain competitive and still get the ABs I need for the season and then come here and continue where I left off.”

I just felt as though I could go to the WBC and still remain competitive and still get the ABs I need for the season and then come here and continue where I left off.

It was a refreshing level of honesty from a player about the situation he is facing in camp. He’s certainly right, things are up in the air, but Pompey is happy with his decision to play for Canada and a good performance in the WBC could go a long way. The Blue Jays will follow his progress closely; he won’t be out of sight out of mind. In fact, he won’t even be out of sight for a long time. Team Canada will play an exhibition game against the Blue Jays on March 7th and Pompey will be donning the red and white to play against Toronto.

His goal?

“Try to get some bragging rights.”

That would be a good start, and hopefully just the beginning of a big spring for a local ballplayer who could really help this big league team.

OTHER SPRING NOTES

  • Tim Mayza made a statement on Wednesday, touching 98 mph a couple of times, and putting away Andrew Romine and Steven Moya with vicious sliders, the latter hitting 90 mph. The 25 year old is coming off a very good season where he posted a 2.25 era with 65 strikeouts in 64 innings across two minor league levels. With a wide opening for the second lefty spot in the pen, Mayza will likely get a good, long look.
  • Chris Smith followed Mayza and looked almost as sharp. He mixed in a solid breaking ball with a fastball that touched 96 in a quick inning that ended with a strike-em-out-throw-em-out double play. Smith popped up last year after absolutely destroying the upper minors and is likely ticketed for Buffalo, but he is a dark horse candidate to open the season in the bigs.
  • Joe Smith, who happens to actually have a job locked down, struggled a little bit in his one inning of work, but he was throwing 87-88 mph, which is well within his reasonable range for the first outing spring training. With his low arm slot, command will likely rebound a bit slower. He should be fine though.
  • The only position player note for the day, Kevin Pillar had another nice day at the plate. He didn’t notably chase any pitches and turned nicely on a Michael Fulmer fastball for a first inning double. All talk of him as a leadoff hitter is still silly, but the early results on his attempts to be more selective are encouraging.

Lead Photo: © Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

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