Better know your Blue Jays 40-man: Dalton Pompey

Timing is everything in life.

Dalton Pompey came into the 2015 season as the Blue Jays center fielder. Then he had a bad month, hitting .203/.276/.354 and Kevin Pillar had a good month, very good timing. So Pillar took over in center.

Pillar would have a crappy May, hitting .181/.237/.257 but, since he started off so hot, those numbers were hidden. And first impressions are hard to get past.

2017 rolls around and we had bad luck with injuries. We called up outfielders, many outfielders. And they got hurt. Darrell Ceciliani injures his shoulder hitting a home run. Anthony Alford breaks his hamate bone. Dwight Smith gets called up, but soon after he’s up players come off the DL and, soon Teoscar Hernandez and Norichika Aoki come in trade.

Had Pompey been healthy, he very likely would have gotten a callup at some point. But he got a concussion playing in the WBC. Not that there is ever good timing for a concussion, but this wasn’t good timing.

I am afraid that Pompey has missed his chance, more than once now.

Sometimes that’s how life goes. You miss your moment. I’m hoping he gets another moment, but now it is going to be tougher. Now he gets to battle with Hernandez, Alford, Smith and, maybe Roemon Fields to get a call if we need an outfielder.

And he’s at a disadvantage in the battle. He has ‘carpal boss’ and will have surgery after the season. He might be able to play through it but he might not be at 100%.

Dalton is out of options after this year. I’m not sure what will happen with him after this year. I’m starting to think he might be better off to go to the different organization, go somewhere where maybe little further away from home. Maybe there is a little too much pressure being close to home for some. I do believe that sometimes having family close can tend to cause difficulties for a player, not that I know if it has in Dalton’s case. It’s hard not to have the family chime in on baseball issues, but I don’t know if that’s going on here.

PECOTA predicts that Dalton will hit .262/.337/.400 in 90 PA. ZiPS figures him to hit .231/.298/.340 in 475 PA (but then ZiPS doesn’t try to guess playing time).

I’m thinking the 90 PA is a little high, I think there is too much competition in the outfield and I’m thinking the front office really sees that much of a future with him.

I’m still a fan. He’s still the type of player I’d like on my team. Speed and defense isn’t a bad thing. Line drive power and someone exciting on the bases, I wouldn’t mind that. But last year’s concussion really put him back.

In some alternate universe Dalton had a good start to the 2015 season, and is entering his fourth season.