DUNEDIN, Fla. (AP) \u2014 Teams aren\u2019t rushing to copy contact, the Toronto Blue Jays\u2019 blueprint for a revival that nearly resulted in a World Series title.<\/p>\n
Toronto had a .265 team batting average last year and nearly became the first World Series champion since the 2018 Boston Red Sox<\/a> to lead the major leagues in batting.<\/p>\n \u201cWe train to be able to do anything in the batter\u2019s box,\u201d said Bo Bichette, who finished second in the major leagues in batting average<\/a>, then left Toronto as a free agent to sign with the New York Mets<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019t think this is by accident. We\u2019ve worked really hard for it.\u201d<\/p>\n 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<\/a>. The Dodgers were sixth in batting average at .253 but were second in OPS<\/a> at .768, trailing only the New York Yankees\u2019 .787<\/p>\n 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\u2019s batting average was seven points ahead of second-best Philadelphia.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have always felt that contact would turn into more damage,\u201d sad Ross Atkins, who became the Blue Jays\u2019 general manager before the 2016 season.<\/p>\n Toronto also led the major leagues in hitting in 2022 and was second in 2021. <\/p>\n \u201cThe ability that they had to make contact and drive the baseball, really rare to be able to do that,\u201d Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly said. \u201cSomething that I think all hitters are always working on is finding that ability to blend the hitting ability with the power.\u201d<\/p>\n Toronto was tied for 11th in home runs last year but third in OPS at .761 behind the Yankees and Dodgers.<\/p>\n \u201cLook, they made more contact. They also hit the crap out of the ball,\u201d Tampa Bay Rays president of baseball operations Erik Neander said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t strike out and you\u2019re impacting the ball for extra bases the way they were, that\u2019s a really special combination.\u201d<\/p>\n John Schneider, starting his fourth full season as Blue Jays manager<\/a> and 18th working for the organization, said a dual focus on contact and clobbering is the goal.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t want to just, I always call it like just playing ping-pong,\u201d he explained during the World Series. \u201cWe 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 \u2019em.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Detroit led in batting average from 2013-15, losing in the AL Championship Series, the Division Series and then failing to reach the playoffs.<\/p>\n 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<\/a>, increasing for the seventh straight season and up from 91.9 mph when tracking started in 2008.<\/p>\n Major League Baseball\u2019s overall batting average hasn\u2019t reached .250 since 2019 and .260 since 2009. <\/p>\n \u201cOne of the things we talked about going into last year was reducing our chase,\u201d Philadelphia Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. \u201cIt\u2019s tougher and tougher to make contact all the time with the pitching that\u2019s out there.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n