J.P. Arencibia may have surprised most baseball fans on Saturday by hitting his first Major League pitch over the fence and then homering again in the sixth inning for the Toronto Blue Jays. However, the Blue Jays organization has been expecting this kind of power from Arencibia due to his power production in the minors this season.
The 24-year-old Arencibia has hit 31 home runs and 79 RBI so far in the minor leagues this season and the two home runs Saturday gave him 33 for the season, leaving him one behind Jose Bautista, who leads all of professional baseball with 34 home runs.
He hit .313 for Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League while having an OBP of .367, slugging .658, and posting an OPS of 1.025 which leads all minor leaguers with at least 300 at bats.
Arencibia was called up after John Buck, who’s caught this season for the Blue Jays, was placed on the DL. However, Buck is scheduled to be back on August 20. If Arencibia continues to hit well, Buck may finish the season as the backup for Arencibia.
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