Tonight, I walked into the house and it smelled like the holidays. My wife decided to cook a tofurky and all the fixins (potatoes, turnips, stuffing). So I had no choice other than to watch the Jays game that I had been recording on the ol’ PVR. I managed to avoid any and all Twitter and Facebook updates just to have the pleasure of watching a ball game untainted by the knowledge of the final score.
After watching the pre-game show, I’m noticing that the folks at Rogers Sportsnet are dressing Greg Zaun up to look like Don Cherry. The only difference between the two are that Zaun actually offers relevant commentary on the game.
Please note that you are now witnessing an MVP season by Jose Bautista. Assuming he keeps up this pace, there’s no reason for the mainstream media to snub him two years in a row. He hit a home run tonight, singled and walked twice. Even when he made a bad decision and attempted to steal 2nd in the 6th inning, it still resulted in a run scored after a horrid throw by Yankee pitcher David Robertson.
Q - The difference between good defense and a broken face?
A – About an inch and a half…
Ricky Romero pitched well. He lasted 6 innings, struck out 7 and pitched himself out of a jam (Remember when Edwin Encarnacion could have ended it on a triple play by throwing an accurate throw to 2nd…?)
Also, Robinson Cano is good…
A blog about the Blue Jays with minimal references to sabermetrics while still acknowledging their existence and validity...
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Another Win Against the Rangers?
I missed yesterday afternoon's game against the Rangers. Apparently the Jays won again. Crazy, they just took 3 of 4 from the defending AL champs. So the reward for this strong performance? Demote Travis Snider? I don't get this move at all. Sure he's had a rocky start at the plate, but he's not the only one having troubles swinging the bat. It can't be his attitude, Snider puts up just as much effort as any other teammate and hasn't thrown any Cecil-esque tantrums to my recollection... Maybe there's something wrong with his swing that needs some tweaking in the minors? I have no clue.
So they're up against the Yankees tonight. I'm gonna PVR it and watch the game after I get home from work tonight, so don't tell me the score! Romero is pitching and I'm hoping to see at least 7 or 8 innings from him to give the bullpen a rest. They've been working hard in that Texas heat.
Meta Update:
So apparently, I was right. They're sending Snider to the minors to fix his swing. Just saw this posting on Getting Blanked.
So they're up against the Yankees tonight. I'm gonna PVR it and watch the game after I get home from work tonight, so don't tell me the score! Romero is pitching and I'm hoping to see at least 7 or 8 innings from him to give the bullpen a rest. They've been working hard in that Texas heat.
Meta Update:
So apparently, I was right. They're sending Snider to the minors to fix his swing. Just saw this posting on Getting Blanked.
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Post Game Thoughts After a Jays Loss to Texas 7-6
Defensive Subs are the New "Closer"
I'm noticing more and more that managers seem to be inserting their good defenders when it's into the late innings in a close game. Maybe I haven't been watching enough baseball, but this seems to be a new trend amongst managers.
Bautista's Approach
It is a thing of beauty to watch Jose Bautista's approach to an at bat. He seems to anticipate the speed, location and pitch type for every throw he faces. Watching his eyes, you know that he's coldly analyzing the opposing pitcher's artillery. For every strike he faces he knows when to chop a close pitch foul, or take an obvious pitch outside the strike zone. And when he makes contact, his swing is pure, powerful and awesome. He's casual and confident, still yet calculatingly deadly, the ultimate weapon in all of Major League Baseball.
Too bad they're hitting him between McCoy and Lind...
In Defense of Lind
Speaking of Adam Lind, he's looking very adequate at 1st base. Considering he has less than a year's experience, he's doing incredible so far! Too bad his approach to the plate isn't as great. He's almost the exact opposite of Jose Bautista at the plate. He never goes deep into the count and often swings at the first pitch he sees. He may have had a big game last night, but so far I'm not convinced that's the norm.
Jo-Jo's got no Mojo
Jo-Jo Reyes just can't seem to catch a break. Just when it seemed he had things under control, with 2 outs, the ump called a 3rd strike a ball, there preceded to be a shit show of 6 runs in the 3rd. Thank God Toronto has a good bullpen. These guys are gonna be the ones who keep Toronto alive in the dog days of summer.
Quick Ironic Prediction:
The bullpen will be so strong that they'll help push Toronto to a late season wild-card chase, only being let down by those very relief pitchers for throwing for too many innings.
Trade Juan Rivera before it's too late!!!!
What a weekend he's had! Hitting around .500 with 2 HR. We are all now witnessing his peak. If Alex Anthopolous literally does not trade Rivera this instant, we will never recover from his negative-karmic energy.
Analogous Quasi-Palindrome of the Week
E5 got his 5th E (in the 5th?)
I'm noticing more and more that managers seem to be inserting their good defenders when it's into the late innings in a close game. Maybe I haven't been watching enough baseball, but this seems to be a new trend amongst managers.
Bautista's Approach
It is a thing of beauty to watch Jose Bautista's approach to an at bat. He seems to anticipate the speed, location and pitch type for every throw he faces. Watching his eyes, you know that he's coldly analyzing the opposing pitcher's artillery. For every strike he faces he knows when to chop a close pitch foul, or take an obvious pitch outside the strike zone. And when he makes contact, his swing is pure, powerful and awesome. He's casual and confident, still yet calculatingly deadly, the ultimate weapon in all of Major League Baseball.
Too bad they're hitting him between McCoy and Lind...
In Defense of Lind
Speaking of Adam Lind, he's looking very adequate at 1st base. Considering he has less than a year's experience, he's doing incredible so far! Too bad his approach to the plate isn't as great. He's almost the exact opposite of Jose Bautista at the plate. He never goes deep into the count and often swings at the first pitch he sees. He may have had a big game last night, but so far I'm not convinced that's the norm.
Jo-Jo's got no Mojo
Jo-Jo Reyes just can't seem to catch a break. Just when it seemed he had things under control, with 2 outs, the ump called a 3rd strike a ball, there preceded to be a shit show of 6 runs in the 3rd. Thank God Toronto has a good bullpen. These guys are gonna be the ones who keep Toronto alive in the dog days of summer.
Quick Ironic Prediction:
The bullpen will be so strong that they'll help push Toronto to a late season wild-card chase, only being let down by those very relief pitchers for throwing for too many innings.
Trade Juan Rivera before it's too late!!!!
What a weekend he's had! Hitting around .500 with 2 HR. We are all now witnessing his peak. If Alex Anthopolous literally does not trade Rivera this instant, we will never recover from his negative-karmic energy.
Analogous Quasi-Palindrome of the Week
E5 got his 5th E (in the 5th?)
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Baseball Celebrity Lookalikes: Jamie Campbell is Not an Alien
Whenever I watch/listen to Jamie Campbell I'm always reminded of this SNL Sketch:
(apologies for the backwards text, this is the best quality version I could find online)
Enough said...
Lind d'Or
A 5-run first inning (which I MISSED because I was busy watching the latest Doctor Who), and 5 more runs before the 5th inning was enough to give the Jays a big win last night. Oh, and some solid defense from one Jesse Litsch.
As amazing as that catch was by Litsch (can't remember the inning, but there was a laser right to his glove at one point), the story of the night was Adam Lind, who went 3-for-5; those three hits included two (2!) homers, his 9th triple of the year, and 5 RBI. What a frigging night for this guy.
If Lind keeps putting on golden performances (see what I just did there) like that, the Jays will be just fine. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of faith that our offense will be so consistent. The good news is, however, that Jose Bautista might see some better pitches if Lind continues to be such a threat at the plate.
So, Adam Lind? Please stay healthy, and keep up your productivity. Jose can't carry the Jays all on his own.
As amazing as that catch was by Litsch (can't remember the inning, but there was a laser right to his glove at one point), the story of the night was Adam Lind, who went 3-for-5; those three hits included two (2!) homers, his 9th triple of the year, and 5 RBI. What a frigging night for this guy.
If Lind keeps putting on golden performances (see what I just did there) like that, the Jays will be just fine. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of faith that our offense will be so consistent. The good news is, however, that Jose Bautista might see some better pitches if Lind continues to be such a threat at the plate.
So, Adam Lind? Please stay healthy, and keep up your productivity. Jose can't carry the Jays all on his own.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Drabek!
I'm currently watching the Jays game on my I PVR. I made the mistake of checking my twitter page for updates, so I know that they won this game 6-4. While listening to Pat Tabler comment on Bautista's low RBI total, a solution occurred to me. Bat Bautista in the #2 spot. When he's not hitting solo HR's, he gets the Barry Bonds treatment and walks. All those forward thinking, progressive sabermetrics folks believe that slotting your best hitter in the #3 spot is ineffective. I'd suggest slotting in Aaron Hill when he's healthy, but for now Travis Snider could be a good fit too.
Drabek pitched OK today and lasted 6 innings, and for Jays pitching so far, that qualifies as deep. For a young starter who had some tough jams to pitch out of, it actually made me feel kind of hopeful when I'm thinking big picture about the future of the team. Oh, and my wife pronounces his name like "Trebek!" but with a D, a la Sean Connery on SNL, which is pretty funny.
Also, sorry for breaking my sabermetrics mandate...
Drabek pitched OK today and lasted 6 innings, and for Jays pitching so far, that qualifies as deep. For a young starter who had some tough jams to pitch out of, it actually made me feel kind of hopeful when I'm thinking big picture about the future of the team. Oh, and my wife pronounces his name like "Trebek!" but with a D, a la Sean Connery on SNL, which is pretty funny.
Also, sorry for breaking my sabermetrics mandate...
Monday, April 25, 2011
Weekly Standings Check in
It's been a rough couple weeks after an exciting start for the Jays. Here's a link to the standings. By the way, if anyone knows how I can embed the standings in this post, I'd love to know how to do it. The whole luddite thing rings true when it comes to web design.
Toronto's facing the Texas Rangers who are leading the AL West with a 14-7 record tonight, so it's not going to get any easier. Kyle Drabek's going to start tonight's game, but I don't anticipate him going more than 6 innings. I liked how the bullpen performed yesterday afternoon and hopefully they'll be able to duplicate that performance today. And let's hope that the Jays are more patient and take a few 1st pitches (I'm looking at you Adam Lind...). This is going to be a rough road trip - Texas, then the Yankees and they finish off in Tampa.
I'm wondering how long it will take for Kansas City and Cleveland to move down to the bottom of the AL Central, and it looks like the White Sox will have company in May. They've both got 3 game losing streaks going and Detroit and Minnesota are slowly gaining momentum.
Also, I keep forgetting that the Houston Astros have a team in the MLB...
Toronto's facing the Texas Rangers who are leading the AL West with a 14-7 record tonight, so it's not going to get any easier. Kyle Drabek's going to start tonight's game, but I don't anticipate him going more than 6 innings. I liked how the bullpen performed yesterday afternoon and hopefully they'll be able to duplicate that performance today. And let's hope that the Jays are more patient and take a few 1st pitches (I'm looking at you Adam Lind...). This is going to be a rough road trip - Texas, then the Yankees and they finish off in Tampa.
I'm wondering how long it will take for Kansas City and Cleveland to move down to the bottom of the AL Central, and it looks like the White Sox will have company in May. They've both got 3 game losing streaks going and Detroit and Minnesota are slowly gaining momentum.
Also, I keep forgetting that the Houston Astros have a team in the MLB...
Sunday, April 24, 2011
The Inaugural Post
I decided to start a Blue Jays blog. I've been watching games and a lot of thoughts enter (and quickly exit) my mind. I'm not as knowledgeable as folks such as Drunk Jays Fans, Getting Blanked and The Tao of Stieb - 3 blogs that I visit often. So fear not, I will not be spewing any sabermetric stats at you, just my observations, opinions and other random information that I feel you should be interested in (hence the whole luddite thing). That's not to say I don't appreciate or agree with the sabermetric school of thought - I've read Moneyball and I agree with its principals, but I'm lazy and don't feel like analyzing numbers and learning new acronyms. I've only learned WHIP and OPS this off-season...
So to start, I just finished watching the Jays - Tampa game today which (spoiler alert) they lost 2-0. This game just whizzed by, James Shields pitched a complete game, but I don't want to extend too much credit to him. He owes many thanks to all the 1st pitches the Jays swung at. Not sure of the exact number of 1st pitch hits, but it was really evident in that inning where he faced Rivera, Arencibia and Snider and threw a total of 4 pitches. That inning alone could have changed the flow of the game if the Jays could have been more patient and take a few pitches. So yeah, Shields owes today's Jays lineup a big "thank you" for making his job a little bit easier.
Also that strikeout by Bautista was ugly...
So to start, I just finished watching the Jays - Tampa game today which (spoiler alert) they lost 2-0. This game just whizzed by, James Shields pitched a complete game, but I don't want to extend too much credit to him. He owes many thanks to all the 1st pitches the Jays swung at. Not sure of the exact number of 1st pitch hits, but it was really evident in that inning where he faced Rivera, Arencibia and Snider and threw a total of 4 pitches. That inning alone could have changed the flow of the game if the Jays could have been more patient and take a few pitches. So yeah, Shields owes today's Jays lineup a big "thank you" for making his job a little bit easier.
Also that strikeout by Bautista was ugly...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)