Should Brett Lawrie Turn it Down a Notch?
By Gideon Turk
Brett Lawrie is the epitome of the Blue Jays 2010 and 2011 motto of “Heart and Hustle”. But after yesterday’s game against the Yankees, where Lawrie tried making a catch over the rail against the camera bay, and fell more than 5 feet, the question is being asked; Should Brett Lawrie lower his intensity? Lawrie got lucky yesterday.He fell over 5 feet onto a pure cement floor, and only came away with right calf contusion. Imagine if he would have fallen onto his head. Concussion, maybe worse? The guy plays with such high intensity, so should he lower it to decrease injury risk and give his club a better chance of competing?
My opinion on this matter is quite simple I believe. In a year that has seen the Blue Jays lose 4 starting pitchers, 3 key members of their bullpen, and the most feared power hitter in all of baseball due to injury, Brett Lawrie can play as hard as he wants(to a certain extent as I will explain).
Why you ask? Because the Jays have no chance of competing this season, and a minor injury to Lawrie, like the one he has suffered, isn’t going to affect the Jays chances. It might actually be good as a young prospect could get a chance to prove himself on the big league club(in this situation nothing like that occurred obviously, as Yan Gomesis a non-prospect player with a future of splitting time between AAA and the major league bench). But, that reasoning only goes for small risk plays, unlike the one he attempted at Yankee Stadium in the loss to the Bronx Bombers Wednesday afternoon. If he wants to go for a catch over the
dugout rail, where he knows a player or two will help him land safely, go for it. Or even if he wants to attempt the same play as yesterday but at a park with a safe camera bay, so basically most parks, then yes, in that case he should also go for it. But I don’t believe risking major injury to get one out in a game that means nothing because your team isn’t making the playoffs anyways is something anybody should do, even if you believe you could make it (which Lawrie thinks for everything he attempts, and clearly is not wrong most of the time as we have been witness to this season). What we have to remember is that Lawrie is only 22, and hopefully he has a long major league career ahead of him. He will get smarter, and he will be able to decide whether or not it is worth sacrificing his body for one little out.
As you may have already noticed, I said nothing about if he should have attempted that play if his team was in a competitive race. The reason: I can’t say I feel strongly for either side of this debate in a playoff game. If that same pop up were to occur in a hypothetical 2013 ALCS Game 7 with the Jays about to eliminate the Dark Side from the playoffs, would I want Brett Lawrie to dive into the camera bay at Yankee Stadium, where the camera bay is so deep that the odds of obtaining a major injury are dramatically higher than other parks? I don’t know. Would I rather get one out closer to a World Series championship, or would I prefer to let it go foul, and thus not risk jeopardizing the player’s career for one play in one season? If you want to discuss that more leave a comment below.
I asked people on twitter what they thought about this question, and I think it was tied at 3-3 or something like that. That is what it is always going to be like when people ask this question.But my final answer to the question of whether or not Mr. Lawrie should turn down his energy a notch is……. No. Minor injuries like this will occur, and that’s the price to pay by having somebody who, as Mike Trout said at last week’s All-Star game “Plays the game crazy hard”. Trout finished his statement by saying this: “And that’s good.” I agree with the Angels 20 year old superstar. What I also do believe is that he needs to learn which plays to attempt and which not to, and he will, as he matures, because he is only 22.
Or you know, Lawrie could have made the play, not gotten injured, and this entire discussion wouldn’t have happened.
I would love to hear what you guys think about this, so leave your comment below in the designated section! For more content written by myself, check out BlueJaysPlus.