TORONTO – Toronto Blue Jays fans might have a new favourite player.
Kevin Kiermaier played the villain in Tampa Bay for many years, diving for heroic catches, swiping bags, and terrorizing Toronto in all the peskiest ways imaginable. He was everything the Rays embodied and had all the tools the Jays envied: hustle, defence, and relentlessness every time he stepped on the diamond.
It seemed like this revamped Rogers Centre playing surface was built for an outfielder of Kiermaier’s ilk. In an offseason renovation, the wall in centre was reduced by a few feet, practically begging someone to make a game-saving catch.