Blue Jays have gem in Kendrys “Clutch” Morales

The Toronto Blue Jays offseason signing has a flair for the dramatic and apparently a penchant for launching round-trippers when the score is tied or when the homer locks up a victory for his new squad.

To date, Blue Jays designated hitter Kendrys Morales has 10 home runs on the season however 7 of those have been game-tying or have given the Jays the lead. Further to that, 5 of his round-trippers have come with 2-outs and only 1 of those 2-out homers was the bases empty.

Can you say “Clutch”? Morales takes it to an entirely new level when the game is on the line.

Morales has quickly made fans forget about certain someone who used to jog with an imaginary parrot on his arm after each home run. The fact of the matter is that Morales is having a better season than Edwin Encarnacion for half the money.

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2017 Stat Line:

Kendrys Morales: 202 PA- .259/.317/.476 with 10 home runs and 30 runs batted in.

Edwin Encarnacion: 219 PA- .234/.349/.418 with 10 home runs and 22 runs batted in.

The 3 yr/ $33 million dollar deal may look like a steal before it is all said and done especially after the Blue Jays brain trust were criticized for panicking and signing Morales to soon in the offseason rather than waiting it out.

Similar to the Justin Smoak extension maybe Mark Shapiro and company need to be credited with making savvy baseball moves that initially on the surface don’t make sense to the common fan. The lads in the big comfy offices at the Rogers Centre obviously know a thing or two from their days in Cleveland.

Here is the log of all 10 of the slugger’s home runs thus far this season.

2017-04-06- Top 3rd, Tied 0-0, Grand Slam home run off Blake Snell.

2017-04-15- Bottom 9, Tied 1-1, Walk-off solo home run off Tyler Wilson.

2017-04-20- Bottom 9, Down 1-0, Solo home run off Craig Kimbrel.

2017-04-27-Top 5, Down 6-1, 3-run home run off Adam Wainwright.

2017-05-05- Top 7, Down 3-1, 2-run home run off Chris Archer.

2017-05-05- Top 8, Tied 4-4, 3-run home run off Jumbo Diaz.

2017-05-13- Bottom 6, Down 2-1, Solo home run off Tony Zych.

2017-05-23- Top 5, Ahead 2-0, 2-run home run off Jimmy Nelson.

2017-05-26- Bottom 5, Ahead 5-3, Solo home run off Austin Bibens-Dirkx.

2017-05-30-Bottom 8, Tied 4-4, 2-run home run off Blake Wood.

Home run data obtained from Baseball-Reference.

The 33-year has 172 career home runs and 81 of the have come in the 6th inning or later throughout his career.

Next: Blue Jays: The bandwagon is filling up again

It’s time to start showing the home run swatting designated hitter some love Blue Jays fans. This man is “Clutch”.