J.P. Arencibia and 51s start season’s last home series

By Case Keefer (contact)

Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

CONTRIBUTED ART

51s catcher J.P. Arencibia

Frankly, J.P. Arencibia hopes he's done with Las Vegas forever after this week.

Arencibia has enjoyed his two years playing catcher and serving as one of the staples in the middle of the lineup for the Las Vegas 51s, but he doesn't desire a third go-around.

"It's been fun," Arencibia said. "It's been a learning experience, but I feel it's time for me to move on as a player."

Arencibia very well could be appearing in his last four games at Cashman Field Thursday through Sunday as Las Vegas takes on Reno in its last home series of the year. The 51s lost the first game of the series, 5-1, to the Aces on Wednesday night.

Arencibia, one of the top prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, optimistically believes September will be the start of his career as a full-time major-league player.

That's when MLB teams are allowed to expand their roster to 40 players by calling up prospects from the minor leagues.

Arencibia said he hoped to finish off the season strong in Toronto and use that momentum to become an everyday player for the Blue Jays next year.

"I just want to go up there and keep learning, keep getting better and learning the hitters of the American League," he said. "Hopefully next year, I'll get my opportunity and I'll be ready to do it."

Arencibia proved he was capable at the big-league level earlier this month when he spent two weeks with the Blue Jays. The squad called him up after placing starting catcher John Buck on the disabled list.

Arencibia wasted no time. On Aug. 7, Arencibia stood in the batters box and saw his first pitch as a major-league hitter from Tampa Bay pitcher James Shields. He smashed it out of the park for a home run.

"It was crazy," Arencibia said. "I felt I had been ready by having a good season down here, and I felt I wanted to take what I was doing down here and do it up there. Obviously, it happened to turn out well."

That was far from the craziest part. Arencibia finished the game 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double and three RBI in Toronto's 17-11 victory.

It was an all-around historic debut. No player in more than 100 years has had four hits and two home runs in his debut.

"There were a lot of text messages and a lot of calls," Arencibia said. "But since we were in Canada, we didn't have SportsCenter and I didn't get to see any of that stuff. I was getting play-by-play from my friends and family."

Arencibia only managed to record one more hit during his time with the Blue Jays. He was sent back down to Las Vegas last week when Buck returned from the disabled list.

Despite the slump, Arencibia posted a respectable .250 batting average during his first stint in the big leagues.

"I actually performed great," Arencibia said. "Everyone looks at numbers, but that's not all baseball is as a game. I had good at-bats, I played good defense, and I did what I needed to do as a player. I'm very happy with how I played up there, and I showed I belong there."

Arencibia's season in Las Vegas might also support the idea that he belongs. He has batted .294 with 31 home runs and 79 RBI. He made the Pacific Coast League All-Star team.

Despite his success, Las Vegas still is at the bottom of its divisional standings with a 61-71 record. Arencibia likely won't be around to fix things next season.

"As a player, you want to be in the big leagues, and you want to play every day in the big leagues," Arencibia said. "That's my goal. I'm going to get up there."