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3 Up, 3 Down: John Gibbons’ three most clutch hitters

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Carlos Delgado

In no particular order, Gibby starts us off with the “old-timer” Carlos Delgado. Making his MLB debut late in the 1993 season, Delgado played parts of 11 seasons with the Blue Jays from 1993-2004. Although he didn’t play in the 1993 postseason, Toronto still awarded him a World Series ring. Delgado batted .269 with 336 home runs during 11 full seasons with the Jays.

Gibbons spent two seasons as first base coach (2002-2003) and one season (2004) as manager while Delgado was with the Jays. Delgado had some of his best major league seasons in that time, particularly in 2003 when he hit a career-high 145 RBIs and notched 42 home runs, the second highest total of his career.

“One of the sweetest, purest, swings you will ever see and I witnessed it first-hand,” Gibbons said about Delgado.

4 Up, 4 Down?

So, who’s next on Gibbons’ list of most clutch players? Gibby had to extend his list to include three more players, Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion.

“You can’t leave any of them out.”

There’s no surprises there as Bautista, Donaldson and Encarnacion were arguably the three most important Blue Jays players in 2015 and 2016 when Toronto made back-to-back appearances in the ALCS, something Gibbons doesn’t fail to appreciate.

“They helped me keep a job an extra couple years, so for that reason I gotta mention them all.”

Jose Bautista

Bautista was a six-time All-Star (2010-2015) and three-time Silver Slugger Award winner (2010, 2011, 2014) while in Toronto. He also both led the MLB in home runs and won the Hank Aaron Award in 2010 and 2011. There’s perhaps no better defining moment for that Blue Jays era than Bautista’s iconic bat flip after hitting a go-ahead three-run home run in Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS, Toronto’s first postseason appearance in 22 years.

Josh Donaldson

Known as “The Bringer of Rain”, Donaldson also enjoyed his most successful years in Toronto. During his stint with the Jays, Donaldson was a three-time All-Star (2014-2016) and won two Silver Slugger Awards (2015, 2016). In 2015, he was named AL MVP after leading the American League in RBIs and winning the AL Hank Aaron Award.

Edwin Encarnacion

Encarnacion, who is known for his “Parrot Walk”, was a three-time All-Star (2013, 2014, 2016) under Gibbons. He was the AL RBI leader in 2016 and often served as a reliable, clutch, designated hitter.

It’s pretty simple why Gibbons had to name four clutch players on his list.

“They were all impact players for the Blue Jays. They all had that star power. People came to watch them and you know what? They delivered over and over and over again.”