Blue Jays History: 5 spring training performances that fooled everyone
Briefly

Blue Jays History: 5 spring training performances that fooled everyone
"It's hard to ever put any real stock in Spring Training results. After all, the level of competition varies from inning to inning and a lot of the top players are usually only giving it about 75% of their full effort. So it's hard to say that stats from Spring Training gave any indication that a player would be able to replicate that production when the real games started."
"A first round draft pick (15th overall) by the Blue Jays in 2001, Gross had made his big league debut in 2004. In 44 games he hit .209/.311/.310 with three home runs. Chalk it up to a young guy getting overwhelmed in his first taste of the big leagues. But during Spring Training the next year, it looked like Gross was ready to show everyone why he was a first round pick."
Spring Training results are unreliable because the level of competition varies and many top players often give about 75% effort. Five Blue Jays players produced eye-catching Grapefruit League numbers that suggested regular-season success but ultimately failed to sustain that production. Gabe Gross, a 2001 first-round pick, hit .392 and tied the Blue Jays spring record with eight home runs in 2005 but managed a .250/.324/.348 line with one home run in 40 regular-season games, was sent to Triple-A and later traded. Victor Zambrano allowed five earned runs with 14 strikeouts over 19.2 spring innings in 2007, began the season in the bullpen, struggled after moving into the rotation, landed on the IL and was released. Other players showed similar patterns of strong spring results that did not translate into lasting regular-season impact.
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