With the Toronto Blue Jays down 2-0 in the ALCS to the Cleveland Indians, slugger Jose Bautista cried wolf about his perceived lack of fairness from officiating in the series.
Bautista cloaked criticism towards umpires suggesting the Indians were getting the benefit of calls due to “circumstances.” It’s easy to pick up on the implication – the 35-year-old doesn’t believe the game is being called fairly.
There are numerous problems with Bautista’s public grievance.
The first issue is Bautista is flat-out wrong. As Mike Axisa of CBS Sports points out, PitchFX data shows Toronto and Cleveland have been at the mercy of a wide strike zone throughout the series. The Indians have thrown more pitches on the corner, meaning they were the beneficiaries of more strike calls. Toronto did not pitch the same. The Blue Jays could have taken advantage of the strike zone but chose not to. Baseball Prospectus’ Mike Gianella broke down the first two games, determining nine calls hurt Toronto, while eight hurt Cleveland. There’s no secret conspiracy by umpires against Bautista and the Jays.
The Indians Twitter account had the proper response for the remarks.
What does Bautista gain from airing his complaints publicly? He’s already thought to be a divisive player who isn’t shy about expressing frustration at umps’ calls. Bautista is a joy to watch, but his attitude outside Toronto isn’t exactly pristine. Throwing around wild, probably false accusations isn’t going to yield any positive results. Are umpires going to hear Bautista’s complaints and try to give more close calls to Toronto? Highly doubtful.
Perhaps,the most disappointing aspect of Bautista’s comments is they come as he’s likely about to split from Toronto. The Blue Jays probably won’t spend the money necessary to retain the all-time Toronto great, so the playoffs represent a potential sendoff for Bautista. The 2015 playoffs ended with an unforgettable bat-flip, but at this rate, Bautista’s 2016 playoffs will be remembered for his poor attitude – which would represent a crappy finale for such an important Blue Jays force.
Bautista can’t dwell on the umpires. His focus should solely be on contributing to help Toronto overcome a tough 2-0 deficit. He’s doing himself no favors with his poorly timed, ridiculous remarks.