MLB teams aren't rushing to copy Toronto's contact-hitting blueprint

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MLB teams aren't rushing to copy Toronto's contact-hitting blueprint

2026-03-13 02:03 Last Updated At：02:10

DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) — Teams aren't rushing to copy contact, the Toronto Blue Jays' blueprint for a revival that nearly resulted in a World Series title.

Toronto had a .265 team batting average last year and nearly became the first World Series champion since the 2018 Boston Red Sox to lead the major leagues in batting.

“We train to be able to do anything in the batter’s box,” said Bo Bichette, who finished second in the major leagues in batting average, then left Toronto as a free agent to sign with the New York Mets. “It’s not perfect all the time, but we train to be able to move a runner over, get a big hit when we need to, get the ball in the air, hit with two strikes, whatever the situation may call for. So I don’t think this is by accident. We’ve worked really hard for it.”

Toronto came within two outs of its first World Series title since 1993 before losing Game 7 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 11 innings. The Dodgers were sixth in batting average at .253 but were second in OPS at .768, trailing only the New York Yankees' .787

Four Blue Jays were among the top 25 qualified batters in average, with Bichette joined by George Springer at .309 (fourth), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at .292 (12th) and Alejandro Kirk at .282 (24th). Toronto's batting average was seven points ahead of second-best Philadelphia.

“We have always felt that contact would turn into more damage,” sad Ross Atkins, who became the Blue Jays’ general manager before the 2016 season.

Toronto also led the major leagues in hitting in 2022 and was second in 2021.

“The ability that they had to make contact and drive the baseball, really rare to be able to do that,” Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said. “Something that I think all hitters are always working on is finding that ability to blend the hitting ability with the power.”

Toronto was tied for 11th in home runs last year but third in OPS at .761 behind the Yankees and Dodgers.

“Look, they made more contact. They also hit the crap out of the ball,” Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said. “If you don’t strike out and you’re impacting the ball for extra bases the way they were, that’s a really special combination.”

John Schneider, starting his fourth full season as Blue Jays manager and 18th working for the organization, said a dual focus on contact and clobbering is the goal.

“You don’t want to just, I always call it like just playing ping-pong,” he explained during the World Series. “We say all the time: What club do you take out of your bag? I think last year we had a lot of guys just hanging out with like a 7-iron the entire time. So when to use that, when to use a driver, and knowing that they can make contact is kind of a little safety net for ’em.”

A high batting average rarely correlates with titles in 21st century baseball emphasizing power and tolerating strikeouts. Since 2002, the only World Series champions to top the majors in batting average were the 2018 Red Sox and 2017 Houston Astros.

Detroit led in batting average from 2013-15, losing in the AL Championship Series, the Division Series and then failing to reach the playoffs.

And hitting for average has become more difficult as power pitching increasingly dominates. The average four-seam fastball velocity was 94.5 mph last year, increasing for the seventh straight season and up from 91.9 mph when tracking started in 2008.

Major League Baseball's overall batting average hasn't reached .250 since 2019 and .260 since 2009.

“One of the things we talked about going into last year was reducing our chase,” Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “It's tougher and tougher to make contact all the time with the pitching that’s out there."

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The Latest: US hits Iran with intense strikes as Iranian air campaign drives oil prices higher

As American and Israeli strikes pound the Islamic Republic and Iran attacks Persian Gulf shipping and energy infrastructure with no sign of an end to the war, U.S. President Donald Trump posted a new threat to Iran's leaders on his Truth Social website.

“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” Trump wrote. “What a great honor it is to do so!”

Intense strikes hit Tehran and areas surrounding Iran's capital, as Iran continued striking at neighboring Arab Gulf States, helping to drive oil prices back above $100 a barrel.

The first week of war cost the United States $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon. The U.N. refugee agency says up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced, and authorities in Lebanon say 800,000 have been forced from their homes as Israel’s military destroys buildings linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

More than 600 have been killed in Lebanon, as well as more than 1,300 in Iran and a dozen in Israel. At least seven U.S. soldiers have died during the fighting.

Here is the latest:

Israel’s military issued a warning Friday morning that Iranian missiles were inbound to the country, with air defenses actively targeting the fire.

U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new threat online to Iran, writing: “Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.”

Trump made the post Friday on his Truth Social website, saying that “Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.”

A missile alert sounded on mobile phones in Dubai on Friday morning as authorities said air defenses were targeting incoming Iranian fire.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said early Friday that its air defenses downed 10 more drones headed toward the kingdom’s Eastern and Central Provinces, bringing the total to nearly 50 drones entering Saudi airspace over the span of a few hours.

The barrage represents a higher-than-usual number of aerial threats for the kingdom, which has seen sites including the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, oil infrastructure, and a military base hosting U.S. troops targeted as the war involving Iran has intensified.

Thick black smoke rose over Dubai’s skyline early Friday after what authorities described as a fire in an industrial area of the city-state.

An Associated Press journalist saw the fire in Dubai’s Al Quoz neighborhood. Bystanders gathered to watch the smoke from the blaze.

Police stopped an AP journalist from going closer to the site of the blaze, which was in a cul de sac.

The Dubai Media Office, which issues statements for its government, said “debris from a successful interception caused a minor incident on the façade of a building in central Dubai.” It said there had been no injuries, though the black smoke curled over the skyline as far as the sail-shaped Burj al-Arab luxury hotel.

An Israeli strike early Friday hit a car in Jnah, a coastal neighborhood in southwestern Beirut, and killed one person, the Lebanese health ministry said.

Separately, an Israeli strike hit an apartment in the Nabaa neighborhood, leaving it engulfed in flames, local media reported. Nabaa, on Beirut’s northern outskirts within the densely populated Burj Hammoud district, is home to a sizable Armenian community. No casualties were immediately reported.

It was the first time such an area has been struck in this conflict or during the 2024 war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Following the strikes, the Israeli army said it had targeted a Hezbollah member in Beirut. Both neighborhoods are far from the southern suburbs of Beirut, which the Israeli military has declared unsafe and issued evacuation notices for.

Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service said some 58 people were hurt in a missile attack on Zarzir, a city around 100 kilometers (60 miles) north of Jerusalem near the border with Lebanon. The service said one person was in moderate condition and 57 sustained very minor injuries from glass shards.

Footage shared by the ambulance service from the impact site showed damaged cars and scattered debris.

The Israeli military said it was operating with emergency services at the scene to clear debris.

Hezbollah said early Friday that it had fired several rocket salvos toward northern Israel and Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.

The attack targeted Irbil in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, President Emmanuel Macron said Friday on the social platform X.

Macron identified the soldier as Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins from Varces.

“To his family, to his brothers in arms, I want to express all the affection and solidarity of the nation,” Macron said. “Several of our soldiers have been wounded. France stands by their side and with their loved ones.”

France said earlier that six soldiers were hurt in a drone attack in Irbil. French troops are in Iraq as part of a multinational counterterrorism mission supporting local forces in their fight against Islamic State militants.