J.P. Arencibia Ready for Breakout Season with Toronto Blue Jays

For Major League Baseball players there is a moment when everything just clicks. Some guys have it happen immediately and they never look back. For some however that magic moment happens later in their careers. The Toronto Blue Jays catcher J.P. Arencibia is having that moment this spring. He knows he will be the Blue Jays every day catcher and that includes the new knuckleballer as well. The confidence he has this year should carry over into the season.

Arencibia has shown some signs of promise and the Blue Jays have rewarded him by telling him that he is their opening day starting catcher. That might not be too surprising considering he was already going to be the starting catcher but the big deal there is that means he is catching new Blue Jays pitcher and knuckleballer R.A. Dickey. Obviously it takes a little extra skill to catch a knuckleball and there is no shame in having someone different for those duties.

The Blue Jays have seen enough good in Arencibia’s catching of Dickey that they believe he is as good of an option as anyone to catch him. It is a huge thing to Arencibia because that means he won’t have to sit out every fifth day. He wants to catch as much as he possibly can and being trusted to catch Dickey is a big step in doing that. Add to that the fact that his batting average this spring is .485, almost double that of a year ago, and you see that Arencibia has a different tone this season. Look out Blue Jay fans, this could be his year.

David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google₊.