Blue Jays manager Montoyo holds Happy Hour call with coaches

TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo came up with a curveball to spice up the regular video conferences he’s been holding with his Toronto coaches while baseball is shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’re having so many Zoom conference calls and stuff, I changed it up a bit and we even did a Happy Hour conference call so we can have fun with it,” Montoyo said Thursday.

Montoyo’s chat session led to another idea: a conference call exclusively for Blue Jays players to check in on each other and keep their spirits lifted during the shutdown. The first such call is expected to happen before the end of the week

“We had great momentum going into the season,” Montoyo said of his young team’s performance in Florida before baseball was put on pause. “Our culture was great, spring training was awesome, and we don’t want to stop that.”

An optimist by nature, Montoyo remains focused on finding silver linings amid the confusion and anxiety created by this crisis.

“There’s a saying that when things go bad, there’s going to be something good that comes from it,” Montoyo said. “I don’t know if I made that up or it’s a saying, but I think I heard it before.”

NOTES: Montoyo said LHP Ryan Borucki has resumed throwing in Florida after being shut down in February because of lingering pain from surgery last August to remove bone spurs from his left elbow. “He’s building intensity and volume and he feels great, no setbacks,” Montoyo said.