DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Eric Hinske in right field might be the plan, but Alex Rios appears to be making headway toward restoring the old arrangement.
For the second day in a row, Rios was the talk of the Blue Jays camp when he hammered a Dustin McGowan pitch over the left-field fence for a two-run shot in yesterday's second and final intrasquad game of the spring.
The Jays' Grapefruit League schedule begins tomorrow.
On Monday, it was left-hander Gustavo Chacin on the receiving end of a three-run Rios bomb.
In six at-bats over two days, Rios is just a double shy of hitting for the cycle -- he also had a triple yesterday.
While it only is spring training, the early power surge has brought into question the idea of taking at-bats away from a young, developing ball player. Even before the two homers, the subject of a right-field platoon with Rios getting the more limited at-bats against left-handers already was in question.
Perhaps it's fortunate for the Jays' management that Rios won't be around for the next little while.
Rios leaves for Port St. Lucie, Fla., tomorrow to take part in Puerto Rico's training camp for the World Baseball Classic.
While he appeared to be doing everything he could to make a statement before he left camp, Rios said he merely was playing the games.
"I'm not putting any pressure on myself," Rios said. "I just came here to do what I can do. I won't try to do anything I can't. I'm pretty relaxed."
Rios, however, did say upon arrival in camp that his goal was to get the right-field situation back to the way it was last year when he was the every day player.
His early-spring hitting prowess, while certainly welcomed by the Jays brass, has made life more difficult for Jays manager John Gibbons. He finds himself defending the decision to try an untested outfielder, Hinske, in right at the expense of playing time to a defensively superior fielder and still-developing hitter.
"Look, if the guy is going to keep hitting a home run a day it would be tough to keep him out of there," Gibbons said.
"It's just two intrasquad games but the results have been pretty good. That's what we want to see. He's moving in the right direction," Gibbons said.
Gibbons was asked if the Hinske experiment could work in Rios' favour, perhaps lighting a fire under the mild-mannered former first-round pick.
"I don't think he lacks any (fire)," Gibbons said. "He's a good guy. He's easy going, but I've got no problem with him. I just think his confidence isn't where it needs to be just yet. I think there are times he doubts himself."
Building confidence, however, is not going to get any easier with reduced playing time. Not only would a full season of platooning with Hinske cost Rios at-bats, the only at-bats he would get would be against left-handers.
Last season Rios hit .270 with seven of his 10 homers against right-handers. His numbers against lefties: .249 batting average and three homers in 177 at-bats.
"He's still a big part of it," Gibbons said, "and as much talent as he has, when it all comes together, you would have to be crazy not to have him out there."
Either way, one of Rios or Hinske are going to be looking at a significant reduction in playing time over last season.
