by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/15/2013) Blue Jays backstop J.P. Arencibia had another powerful performance on Wednesday during an 11-3 drubbing of the Giants. Arencibia homered for the 10th time this season.
The catcher went 2 for 5 in the game and took starter Ryan Vogelsong deep for a two-run shot in the second inning. He added a single and scored twice in the game. Arencibia is batting .236.
The 27-year-old had been 0 for 12 in his previous three games. He's up to 10 homers, 20 RBI and seven doubles.
J.P. Arencibia endured quiet night vs. Red Sox
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (5/10/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia, who was hit by a pitch on the hand Thursday, endured a quiet night Friday against the Red Sox.
Arencibia went 0 for 3 with a strikeout in a 5-0 defeat. He is hitting .246/.263/.508 with nine home runs and 18 RBI.
J.P. Arencibia not dealing with any pain after HBP
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (5/10/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia told Sportsnet.ca his hand is fine after being hit by a pitch Thursday night against the Rays. Arencibia, who went 4 for 12 with a home run and two RBI in a four-game series against Tampa Bay, is in the starting lineup Friday against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
He is hitting .219 (7 for 32) with two home runs and six RBI against Friday's starter Jon Lester. Arencibia has a .252/.269/.520 line with nine homers and 18 RBI in 127 at-bats.
J.P. Arencibia has go-ahead two-run homer
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/6/2013) Despite not starting Monday in Tampa Bay, catcher J.P. Arencibia made a major impact. After popping out as a pinch-hitter in the sixth inning, Arencibia hit a go-ahead two-run homer off closer Fernando Rodney with two outs in the ninth.
Arencibia's ninth homer of the season gave the Blue Jays an 8-7 win. He finished 2 for 3 with two runs scored and two RBI. Arencibia is batting .254 with nine homers and 18 RBI.
J.P. Arencibia given night off
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (5/6/2013) The Blue Jays gave catcher J.P. Arencibia a game off Monday against the Rays in Tampa Bay. Arencibia had started in five of the last six games for Toronto.
Arencibia picked up two hits in his last game Sunday, but has gone 6 for 33 (.182) over his last 10 games with just one RBI. He's batting .243 overall with eight homers and 16 runs driven in.
J.P. Arencibia leading AL in home runs
by Michael Hurcomb | CBSSports.com (4/24/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia led the offensive charge during a 6-5, 11-inning win Wednesday at Baltimore. Arencibia had a team-high three hits, which included his AL-leading eighth home run.
Arencibia also had his sixth double in Wednesday's game, while finishing with two runs and two RBI. Arencibia has five home runs in his last 10 games. He's batting .289 (11 for 38) with two doubles and seven RBI in his last 10 games.
J.P. Arencibia gets a day off Tuesday
by Chris Cwik | CBSSports.com (4/23/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia is not in the lineup Tuesday.
Arencibia has played in nine straight games and will finally get a well-deserved day off. Henry Blanco will catch and bat ninth for the club in Arencibia's place.
J.P. Arencibia powers up for seventh HR
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/21/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia smacked his seventh home run of the season on Sunday in a win over the New York Yankees. Arencibia took David Phelps deep for a two-run blast in the seventh inning.
Arencibia helped put the game away as his homer gave the game its final score of 8-4. Arencibia went 2 for 4 in the game and added his fifth double. He scored twice and is batting .250 on the year.
The 27-year-old backstop has struck out 28 times over his first 18 games, but also has seven homers, five doubles and 13 RBI. As long as he's producing power numbers, few will worry about the strikeouts.
J.P. Arencibia adopts two-true-outcomes approach
by Chris Towers | CBSSports.com (4/16/2013) In sabermetric circles, the term "three true outcomes" has been used to refer to any player who ends a disproportionately high number of plate apperances with either a home run, strikeout or walk. Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia has decided three is just too many possibilities. He has done little besides strike out or go deep this season.
After slugging his fifth home run in 13 games Tuesday, a whopping 46.2 percent of Arencibia's at-bats have ended with him going down on strikes or blasting the ball over the fence. Entering the season, that mark was 35.7 percent in his previous two seasons. He has used this combination to great success so far, with a .269 batting average and .918 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Arencibia has been as all-or-nothing as anyone in the league, a style of play that makes his accomplishments so far seem like a mirage. He is unlikely to continue that success while striking out in nearly 40 percent of his at-bats. Arencibia's batting average on balls in play is .321, compared to the .264 rate he carries for his career. If -- and probably when -- that comes crashing down, his batting average is going to plummet, leaving him as a one-category contributor.
History suggests Arencibia is in line for some regression, either through his overall production coming back to earth, or by the manner he achieves that production reverting to normal. With a career .708 OPS entering the system, the smart money is on him falling off this pace.
J.P. Arencibia swats fourth home run
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/15/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia only mustered one hit in four at-bats on Monday during a 4-3 win over the White Sox. That said, that hit left the yard.
Arencibia homered for the fourth time this season in the first inning off starter Gavin Floyd. It was a solo shot. Arencibia finished 1 for 4 and has nine RBI. He's batting .250.
Arencibia is just 2 for 16 in his last four games with two RBI and six strikeouts. He has already struck out 19 times in his first 48 at-bats.
Strikeouts adding up for J.P. Arencibia
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (4/9/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in a 7-3 loss Monday at Detroit. It was the fourth consecutive outing Arencibia has struck out multiple times (nine total) as his modest four-game hitting streak was halted.
After having three doubles and three homers in his first five games, the 27-year-old has gone 1 for 8in the past two to drop his batting average to .296.
J.P. Arencibia swats another home run
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/6/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia continued swinging his powerful bat on Saturday in a 5-0 win over the Red Sox, homering for the third time this season.
Arencibia went deep off starter John Lackey in the fourth inning with a runner on base. He finished 2 for 4 in the game with two RBI.
Arencibia, who is batting .368 on the year, homered twice Thursday against Cleveland. He's 6 for 12 (.500) in his last three games with three homers, two doubles and four RBI.
J.P. Arencibia blasts two home runs in win
by R.J. White | CBSSports.com (4/4/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia blasted two solo home runs off Indians starter Brett Myers in Toronto's 10-8 win over the Indians Thursday. Arencibia also added a single in the game to boost his average to .364.
Arencibia didn't hit his second home run of last season until May 3 as he dealt with a very slow start during the month of April. Even with the quick start in 2013, he may end up losing playing time if he can't prove that he can handle R.A. Dickey's knuckleball.
J.P. Arencibia won't catch R.A. Dickey
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/3/2013) Toronto manager John Gibbons has decided not to give J.P. Arencibia another opportunity to catch R.A. Dickey Monday against Boston, reports the National Post Wednesday.
Arencibia, who had an adventure in Dickey's debut with the Blue Jays, was expected to be given another chance. He may get another shot later in the year, but for now that chance goes to Henry Blanco, who was brought in for the sole purpose of handling Dickey's knuckleball.
J.P. Arencibia struggles catching R.A. Dickey
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (4/3/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia had a tough task Tuesday in catching knuckleballer R.A. Dickey on opening day against the Indians.
Toronto signed Henry Blanco for just this purpose, but manager John Gibbons proclaimed Arencibia fit to catch Dickey's starts. Tuesday's opener did not go well.
Arencibia was charged with three passed balls over six innings and one of them led to an unearned run for the pitcher.
Fotunately for Arencibia, Gibbons will continue to let him catch the National League Cy Young award winner from last season, the Toronto Sun reports.
“Frustrating wouldn’t be the word for it,” Arencibia said. “I would say it was a challenge. First thing they told me was you’re going to miss balls. You’re going to miss balls with guys on third base and they’re going to score and you have to put it behind you. There are going to be pitches he throws that no one is going to catch unless you have a fish net that is for large fish.”
Arencibia went 1 for 4 at the plate with a double to start the year. He also struck out twice.
J.P. Arencibia goes deep vs. Phils
by Igor Mello | CBSSports.com (3/29/2013) Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia launched his fifth home run of the spring in Friday's contest against the Phillies.
Arencibia took Phillippe Aumont deep in the fifth inning for a solo home run. He finished 1 for 3 with a run scored and an RBI in a 1-0 victory. Arencibia is batting .439/.477/.902 in 41 at-bats this spring.
J.P. Arencibia behind plate on opening night
by Jeff Lippman | CBSSports.com (3/25/2013) The Blue Jays will start J.P. Arencibia behind the dish on opening night, says manager John Gibbons, the National Post reports Monday.
The Jays optioned Josh Thole on Sunday and CBS Sports Baseball Insider Jon Heyman says Mike Nickeas won't make the team. Gibbons will have Arencibia and Henry Blanco handle the pitching staff, including R.A. Dickey all season. Both catchers will see time with Dickey on the mound, though Arencibia does start the first time around.
Nickeas hit just .226 this spring over 31 at-bats and will begin the year in the minors. Blanco, who should see plenty of at-bats during the season, has hit .320 this spring with a homer and three RBI over 25 at-bats. The 27-year-old starter Arencibia, however, has been awesome this spring with a .448 batting average, two homers and six RBI over 29 at-bats.
J.P. Arencibia notches three hits for Jays in spring game
by Jack Moore | CBSSports.com (3/20/2013)J.P. Arencibia popped two doubles as part of a 3-for-4 game against the Orioles on Wednesday. The catcher has looked in top form since returning to camp from his WBC stint with Team USA. He is now hitting a sharp .435/.458/.696 in 23 spring at-bats.
Jays' Arencibia catching interest
by Bill Passonno | CBSSports.com (12/1/2012) With the team loaded with an abundance of quality catchers, the Blue Jays have discussed the possibility of trading J.P. Arencibia for a starting pitcher, Fox Sports reports. Two names that have been discussed in a possible deal are Rays right-hander Wade Davis and Mets left-hander Jonathon Niese, according to the report. Arencibia, who turns 27 in January, posted a .233 batting average with 18 homers in 102 games last year.
