DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Before their game against Baltimore on Thursday, Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos wasn't ready to grant outfielder Travis Snider a spot on the 25-man roster.
Then came the game.
Snider, who hit a solo shot the day before in Sarasota against the Orioles, pounded two home runs in his first two at-bats Thursday, both two-run shots. The first was an absolute bomb to centre while the second easily cleared the fence in right.
That gives him three homers for the spring and six RBIs.
Afterwards, manager Cito Gaston was beaming when Snider was mentioned.
"That was great. I like the way he was getting around on the fastball," Gaston said.
Asked if there's any way Snider doesn't make the club, he said: "I don't think so. He's a front-runner for us. He's part of our future.
"Why wouldn't we want him to make this club?"
Baby steps
Catcher John Buck won't go so far as to call it babysitting but is prepared to offer support and solace when needed to the younger members of the Blue Jays staff.
A little psychology doesn't hurt either.
"When dealing with young guys, you're searching a little bit more for what works for them and what doesn't and that's where I come in," Buck said of his role. "I've got to let them know that successes and failures are expected whether it's good, bad or ugly, it has to happen. My job is to be there when they fall."
Where's Edwin?
Because of weakness in his left wrist, which underwent off-season surgery, third baseman Edwin Encarnacion has yet to appear in a spring training game. On Friday, Encarnacion is scheduled to take part in a regular session of batting practice, his first of the camp.
With a little more than two weeks left before the start of the regular season, Encarnacion still has time to get ready for opening day. But according to Anthopoulos, the Jays aren't going to push it.
"We told him that he could play through the injury but we want to get it 100% (healed) and that if he misses a week or two, so be it," Anthopoulos said. "But he says he's starting to feel great so it's not out of the question that he breaks with us opening day."
If Encarnacion can't play, Jose Bautista will man the position.
Roster moves
Prior to the game the Jays assigned LHP Zach Jackson and RHP pitcher Lance Broadway to minor-league camp. They also returned RHP Zech Zinicola to the Washington Nationals. After the game the Jays optioned DH/1B Brian Dopirak and infielder Jarrett Hoffpauir to triple-A Las Vegas and re-assigned centre Kyle Phillips to minor-league camp. The Jays roster is now down to 44 players, 21 of them pitchers.
