Blue Jays’ Cam Eden Focuses On Making More Contact
As Cam Eden walked up to the plate for his first career big league at-bat, a Rogers Centre crowd of 42,394 recognized the moment, rose to their feet and cheered.
Initially, the 25-year-old center fielder was confused before realizing the ovation was for him. There were more cheers even after he struck out, too.
“I can’t really put it much into words, but it was a big surprise,” Eden said. “I’m just so grateful and excited for the opportunity. The love and support from the fans was incredible.”
Eden collected his first big league hit, a line-drive single, two days later and then was included on the Blue Jays’ roster for the Wild Card Series.
That capped a strong year of development that included 53 stolen bases in 57 tries and a .354 on-base percentage at Triple-A Buffalo.
“I came into this year with pretty high hopes and confidence in myself, and I kind of was telling myself all year, ‘I’m going to debut,’ ” he said.
“The last few weeks, I was like, ‘Maybe next year.’ But I kept believing in myself.”
Eden’s speed is a plus-plus tool that makes him a menace on the bases and a solid defender in the outfield. At Triple-A, he focused on making more contact after working to flatten his swing the previous offseason as a way “to cover the high fastball.”
To that end, he cut his strikeout rate from nearly 33% across three levels in 2022 to nearly 25% this season. His walk rate increased from 7.9% to 9.8%.
More balls in play helped Eden, a 2019 sixth-rounder out of California, boost his batting average from .233 to .257. That in turn helped the righthanded batter leverage his speed.
“I’ve put a lot of work in to be able to make more contact this year,” said Eden. “I still don’t think I’m exactly where I want to be. And I know I have a lot more I can do.
“But I definitely made some strides there and learned how to hit at a higher level.”
