TORONTO – Julio Rodriguez’s average bat-speed of 75.5 m.p.h. ranks in the 93rd percentile and at 76.2 m.p.h., he definitely got his A swing off while whiffing through Eric Lauer’s first-pitch curveball in the third inning Sunday afternoon. But the Seattle Mariners centre-fielder was also long in his follow-through on the cut, the top of the bat slamming directly into the left side of Alejandro Kirk’s helmet.
For some two minutes, the Toronto Blue Jays catcher tried to gather himself from the blow to his temple. He finished the inning, doubled and scored in the fourth and then left the game right after when he didn’t feel right in the dugout. “That part of the head is dangerous,” he said. “I get a lot of…