JoJo Reyes finally got his win! And what a win that was - he pitched a complete game only giving up 1 run off a HR by Shelley Duncan in the 4th. He broke the 28 game winless streak with an impressive effort.
So, on to my thoughts...
I decided to keep score for today's game and it went pretty well. That 4th inning was a little difficult to squeeze in the extra at bats for Arencibia and Hill, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. And if I were less lazy, I'd scan my scoresheet and post it here on the blog. But next time I think I'll use pencil...
Apparently both Jayson Nix and his brother Lance, who plays for the Washington Nationals hit home runs today. So that was interesting...
Tonight's 3 Stars:
1. JoJo Reyes - Gets his 1st win in 28 games, allowing only 1 earned run and going the distance
2. Rajai Davis - 3 for 4 with 3 runs and 2 RBI
3. Jayson Nix - 2 for 4 with a home run and 2 RBI
A blog about the Blue Jays with minimal references to sabermetrics while still acknowledging their existence and validity...
Monday, May 30, 2011
Weekly Standings Check in - Boston's Back
So Boston's having a pretty good May, eh? Other than the AL Central, looks like everyone's living up to their expectations. The only thing that's somewhat surprising is that the Reds are at .500. I expect them to be leading the division, but we've still got over 100 games left to play, there's lots of time left. Anyways, looking forward to the Cleveland - Toronto series to start this week. Should be some entertaining baseball to watch.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Blow Out Edition
I caught a few innings of today's game, but I missed most of it due to a little Sunday afternoon grocery shopping. And in a completely unrelated note, is it me, or does Loblaws never have anything in stock?
Looks like the Jays had a huge first inning with both Edwin Encarnacion AND Aaron Hill hitting HR's. I said yesterday that Aaron Hill has lost his power swing, and although Hill did hit a grand slam, I'll wait until he can consistently hit a few more before I take that statement back.
Anyways, nice win for the Jays!
Here are today's 3 Stars based entirely on the box score...
1. Corey Patterson - 4 for 5, 1 HR, 3 RBI's
2. Aaron Hill - Grand Slam, 4 RBI's - gets 2nd star status because that was his only hit in 5 at bats
3. Edwin Encarnacion - 3 for 5, with a Home Run
Looks like the Jays had a huge first inning with both Edwin Encarnacion AND Aaron Hill hitting HR's. I said yesterday that Aaron Hill has lost his power swing, and although Hill did hit a grand slam, I'll wait until he can consistently hit a few more before I take that statement back.
Anyways, nice win for the Jays!
Here are today's 3 Stars based entirely on the box score...
1. Corey Patterson - 4 for 5, 1 HR, 3 RBI's
2. Aaron Hill - Grand Slam, 4 RBI's - gets 2nd star status because that was his only hit in 5 at bats
3. Edwin Encarnacion - 3 for 5, with a Home Run
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Walk-Off Home Run By Corey Patterson?
Nice walk-off win by the Jays today. But without Jose Bautista's bat, this game wouldn't have been close.
Not much to say about this game other than a couple things:
I think that we can officially say that Aaron Hill has lost his power. He's transformed into a single/double hitter and it's looking like a good decision by Alex Anthopoulos not to pick up his option.
Jose Molina has been running the bases really well the past couple games. The downside is that he's given up too many passed balls, which allowed a few White Sox runners to advance, so his defensive issues may have evened out his heads up base running.
3 Stars:
1. Jose Bautista - He hit his 20th HR in the 1st inning and a double in the 9th
2. Corey Patterson - Hit the game winning HR and went 5 for 7 at the plate
3. Brent Lillibridge - Hit a HR and a triple
Not much to say about this game other than a couple things:
I think that we can officially say that Aaron Hill has lost his power. He's transformed into a single/double hitter and it's looking like a good decision by Alex Anthopoulos not to pick up his option.
Jose Molina has been running the bases really well the past couple games. The downside is that he's given up too many passed balls, which allowed a few White Sox runners to advance, so his defensive issues may have evened out his heads up base running.
3 Stars:
1. Jose Bautista - He hit his 20th HR in the 1st inning and a double in the 9th
2. Corey Patterson - Hit the game winning HR and went 5 for 7 at the plate
3. Brent Lillibridge - Hit a HR and a triple
Post Game Thoughts - You're Booing Alex Rios...?
Nice win by the Jays tonight! Sorry for the lack of posting this week, it's been a bit of busy mixed with a lot of laziness. And I think that also describes the past week for the Jays...
Watching tonight's game, I noticed that Jays fans were booing Alex Rios whenever he came to the plate. I don't understand this. They should be singing JP Ricciardi's praise for getting rid of him. It makes Toronto fans seem uneducated to the rest of the baseball world. Using this logic, you think they'd boo Vernon Wells when he makes his return to Rogers Centre, but I highly doubt that's gonna happen.
It's official: Yunel Escobar is not allowed to even attempt a bunt with a runner on third. He always seems to miss, and the runner ends up getting called out. And the pitch that he always whiffs on always seems to be low and inside. It's like the other team knows that he's going to attempt the bunt. Appropriately enough, right before the bunt, I noticed Third Base Coach Brian Butterfield making a "choke" sign, so it was either prophetic, coincidental or a very poor sign to choose for the suicide squeeze...
Here's today's 3 Stars:
1. Juan Rivera - Hopefully this'll help increase his trade value...
2. Kyle Drabek - For managing to walk Adam Dunn 3 times
3. Mark Buehrle - Pitched well, keeping his team in the game and allowed only 3 runs
That's all for now... It's late and I have an early morning tomorrow.
Watching tonight's game, I noticed that Jays fans were booing Alex Rios whenever he came to the plate. I don't understand this. They should be singing JP Ricciardi's praise for getting rid of him. It makes Toronto fans seem uneducated to the rest of the baseball world. Using this logic, you think they'd boo Vernon Wells when he makes his return to Rogers Centre, but I highly doubt that's gonna happen.
It's official: Yunel Escobar is not allowed to even attempt a bunt with a runner on third. He always seems to miss, and the runner ends up getting called out. And the pitch that he always whiffs on always seems to be low and inside. It's like the other team knows that he's going to attempt the bunt. Appropriately enough, right before the bunt, I noticed Third Base Coach Brian Butterfield making a "choke" sign, so it was either prophetic, coincidental or a very poor sign to choose for the suicide squeeze...
Here's today's 3 Stars:
1. Juan Rivera - Hopefully this'll help increase his trade value...
2. Kyle Drabek - For managing to walk Adam Dunn 3 times
3. Mark Buehrle - Pitched well, keeping his team in the game and allowed only 3 runs
That's all for now... It's late and I have an early morning tomorrow.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Damn Yankees!
What a frustrating way to lose. Ricky Romero pitched well only giving up 1 run over 7 innings. And the normally reliable Jays bullpen gave up 4 runs to lose the game. All I have to say is "Aaargh!"
Bautista failed to reach base for only the 2nd time this season. In his first at bat, I noticed something that has become a bit of a pattern. On inside pitches he seems to exaggerate his reaction like he was surprised it came so close to him. I'm thinking that this is sort of a strategy for him like the way catchers frame pitches to make them look more like strikes.
Tonight's 3 Stars:
1. CC Sabathia - Complete Game, 4 Earned Runs
2. Curtis Granderson - 4 for 5, with a stolen Base, Scored the game winning run
3. Ricky Romero - 7 innings pitched, 1 earned run
Honourable mentions go to John McDonald for his safety squeeze RBI and his excellent double play to get Ricky Romero out of a jam.
Bautista failed to reach base for only the 2nd time this season. In his first at bat, I noticed something that has become a bit of a pattern. On inside pitches he seems to exaggerate his reaction like he was surprised it came so close to him. I'm thinking that this is sort of a strategy for him like the way catchers frame pitches to make them look more like strikes.
Tonight's 3 Stars:
1. CC Sabathia - Complete Game, 4 Earned Runs
2. Curtis Granderson - 4 for 5, with a stolen Base, Scored the game winning run
3. Ricky Romero - 7 innings pitched, 1 earned run
Honourable mentions go to John McDonald for his safety squeeze RBI and his excellent double play to get Ricky Romero out of a jam.
Monday, May 23, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Seriously, Why Are You Pitching to Jose Bautista...?
Just finished reading a biography of George Steinbrenner before turning on the game. It's got a lot of insight into how he ran the Yankees. Not knowing a lot of the back-story, I was surprised how many Managers and General Managers and employees in general that he fired and re-hired again. Spoiler Alert: It ended with the Yankees winning the World Series in 2009 while Steinbrenner was still alive, but with his health declining. It would almost seem fitting to add an epilogue after his passing, but even so, it was a fascinating read. If you're in Ottawa and have a device that can read e-pub files, it's available to download for free on the Ottawa Public Library website. And FYI, there are a lot of good books about baseball available on their website. I'll probably do a baseball book post in the near future, so watch out for that...
My first reaction to slotting Yunel Escobar into the cleanup spot was "interesting". He's an improvement over Aaron Hill, but not the traditional power hitter that you'd expect in the 4 slot. I know that they're trying to protect JP Arencibia and not put any pressure on him, but with his power it'd be worth trying him out as the cleanup hitter. Also JP helped his own cause tonight by going 2 for 4 with 4 RBI's.
Nice start to the game by Jose Bautista, hitting his 19th HR of the year. Interestingly, he didn't go deep into the count as he traditionally does. He, very coyly, took the 1st pitch after Davis and Patterson swung on the first offer they saw and on the second pitch connected on a mistake by Bartolo Colon. After that, the Yankees made sure not to pitch to him. Interesting fact: to my knowledge Jose Bautista has reached base safely in 37 out of the 38 games he's played this season.
Carlos Villanueva did a good job pitching on short notice today. As a side note, it seems that the Jays starting pitchers throw a lot more pitches than their relievers do. You'd think that maybe this is because JP Arencibia is calling the throws, but to my knowledge, it's Don Wakamatsu who's relaying the pitch selection to him. So either this is just an odd coincidence, or the Jays coaching staff (led by a former pitching coach in John Farrell) are over-thinking the approach to opposing batters.
Also, it's officially time to replace Edwin Encarnacion with John McDonald. His defensive abilities far outweigh his inefficiency at the plate. Encarnacion is showing that he's has no value in the field or at the plate.
3 Stars:
1. JP Arencibia - 2 for 4, 4 RBI
2. Jose Bautista - 19th HR & 2 walks
3. Carlos Villanueva - solid start earning the win and only allowing 1 earned run
Honourable mention goes to Bartolo Colon and a dishonourable mention goes to Edwin Encarnacion.
My first reaction to slotting Yunel Escobar into the cleanup spot was "interesting". He's an improvement over Aaron Hill, but not the traditional power hitter that you'd expect in the 4 slot. I know that they're trying to protect JP Arencibia and not put any pressure on him, but with his power it'd be worth trying him out as the cleanup hitter. Also JP helped his own cause tonight by going 2 for 4 with 4 RBI's.
Nice start to the game by Jose Bautista, hitting his 19th HR of the year. Interestingly, he didn't go deep into the count as he traditionally does. He, very coyly, took the 1st pitch after Davis and Patterson swung on the first offer they saw and on the second pitch connected on a mistake by Bartolo Colon. After that, the Yankees made sure not to pitch to him. Interesting fact: to my knowledge Jose Bautista has reached base safely in 37 out of the 38 games he's played this season.
Carlos Villanueva did a good job pitching on short notice today. As a side note, it seems that the Jays starting pitchers throw a lot more pitches than their relievers do. You'd think that maybe this is because JP Arencibia is calling the throws, but to my knowledge, it's Don Wakamatsu who's relaying the pitch selection to him. So either this is just an odd coincidence, or the Jays coaching staff (led by a former pitching coach in John Farrell) are over-thinking the approach to opposing batters.
Also, it's officially time to replace Edwin Encarnacion with John McDonald. His defensive abilities far outweigh his inefficiency at the plate. Encarnacion is showing that he's has no value in the field or at the plate.
3 Stars:
1. JP Arencibia - 2 for 4, 4 RBI
2. Jose Bautista - 19th HR & 2 walks
3. Carlos Villanueva - solid start earning the win and only allowing 1 earned run
Honourable mention goes to Bartolo Colon and a dishonourable mention goes to Edwin Encarnacion.
We Interrupt This Regularly Scheduled Weekly Standings Check In...
I was going to do a Weekly Standing Check-in this week, but since not much has changed from last week (other than the AL East getting even tighter with 2.5 games separating 4th from 1st), I'm going to do a post about an MVP candidate not named Jose Bautista.
Adrian Gonzalez is not-so-quietly building his case for MVP. He's 3rd in the AL with a .342 average, 1st in RBI and has found his home run swing. The fact that he plays in an extremely hitter friendly park will help his cause as well. But the one uncontrollable factor that he has in his favour is that he plays in one of the biggest markets in the league. Sure technically Toronto is something like the 5th biggest market in MLB, but they don't get anywhere near the attention that Boston does. At this point in the season, it's obvious that Jose Bautista deserves the MVP, but assuming he keeps batting at this pace, Adrian Gonzalez may win based on the team he plays for. The only thing that could put Jose over the top in terms of attention would be if the Jays could make the playoffs this year.
Anyways if you were wanting to look at the standings here they are:
Adrian Gonzalez is not-so-quietly building his case for MVP. He's 3rd in the AL with a .342 average, 1st in RBI and has found his home run swing. The fact that he plays in an extremely hitter friendly park will help his cause as well. But the one uncontrollable factor that he has in his favour is that he plays in one of the biggest markets in the league. Sure technically Toronto is something like the 5th biggest market in MLB, but they don't get anywhere near the attention that Boston does. At this point in the season, it's obvious that Jose Bautista deserves the MVP, but assuming he keeps batting at this pace, Adrian Gonzalez may win based on the team he plays for. The only thing that could put Jose over the top in terms of attention would be if the Jays could make the playoffs this year.
Anyways if you were wanting to look at the standings here they are:
Sunday, May 22, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - The Hangover
Apologies for the lack of posting this weekend. Today's my birthday and I spent most of it hungover after much partying last night. So the Jays lost 2 out of 3 to the Astros. I thought I was going out on a bit of a limb with my distaste for interleague play in my last post but apparently I'm not alone in thinking that interleague play has become a bit of a novelty. That being said, I'm super excited because I got tickets to the Blue Jays-Phillies game on July 2nd, which is exactly the sort of match-up that interleague play was created for. Anyways, that's pretty much it. Looking forward to tomorrow night's game against the Yankees. Happy birthday to me!
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Well, That Was Aggrivating
Well, I feel bad for JoJo Reyes. He had the win wrapped up and then Rauch and Francisco lost if for him. Also, I found it quite hard to get excited for this game. Unless it's a quasi-rival like Philadelphia, Atlanta or even Milwaukee, this game just feels irrelevant. Maybe it's because they're playing the Houston Astros, who haven't enjoyed any relevance since losing to the White Sox in the World Series, but in general, I really don't care that this series is happening. I also don't care that teams like the Red Sox and Cubs are facing off for the first time in almost a century. Let's keep inter-league play to rivalries only, or just scrap it altogether. It's lost its appeal.
No 3 Stars tonight.
No 3 Stars tonight.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - To Error is Human...?
Here's today's Bizarro 3 Stars:
1. Edwin Encarnacion - 2 Errors (but should have been given a 3rd...), 0 for 4 at the plate
2. Jesse Litsch - 2 Errors, 5 Earned Runs
3. Sam Fuld - with a .235 average, should be called the Urban Legend of Sam Fuld...
Jose Bautista: Using Steroids?
I got wind of this article on the Bleacher Report via DHSpeedwagon on Twitter; you don't really need to read the article. The short version is: Sydney Hunte doesn't believe Bautista is naturally hitting all these home runs (and actually called this a "sudden and surprising power surge" - as sudden as "since last season" can be), and attributes his prowess at the plate to steroids.
I won't deny that it IS possible his power comes from The Juice; however I also don't think it's impossible that Bautista is doing this on his own. Matt has commented on Bautista's work at the plate before - he really works the count. And really, he has to; because of his consistent power, opposing teams would rather walk him than risk the wrath of the bat.
I'd like to find a statistic that shows how many pitches he's faced in the years where he wasn't hitting many dingers, to how many he faces now. I am fairly confident that we'd find that his pitch count against (is that even a real statistic?) is a lot higher in the last three years than earlier in his career.
I think this is more a case of the writer of the article not paying much attention. He's calling Bautista's power surge an overnight change, and that a change in his approach to hitting couldn't possibly be the answer. I think that it is, and I think many fans - and the league - believe Bautista is clean.
I won't deny that it IS possible his power comes from The Juice; however I also don't think it's impossible that Bautista is doing this on his own. Matt has commented on Bautista's work at the plate before - he really works the count. And really, he has to; because of his consistent power, opposing teams would rather walk him than risk the wrath of the bat.
I'd like to find a statistic that shows how many pitches he's faced in the years where he wasn't hitting many dingers, to how many he faces now. I am fairly confident that we'd find that his pitch count against (is that even a real statistic?) is a lot higher in the last three years than earlier in his career.
I think this is more a case of the writer of the article not paying much attention. He's calling Bautista's power surge an overnight change, and that a change in his approach to hitting couldn't possibly be the answer. I think that it is, and I think many fans - and the league - believe Bautista is clean.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Fool Proof Jose Bautista Strategy
So the Jays - Tigers game was rained out today and I have to say, it was an ingenious strategy by Detroit. I can't believe other teams haven't thought of this already. Forget walking Bautista after an inevitable Corey Patterson stolen base. Cancel the entire game. That way you're guaranteed not to get hurt by his bat. And building the Rogers Centre over 20 years ago was an amazing feat in foresight! Knowing that other teams might adopt this strategy, Paul Beeston, Pat Gillick and rest of the Jays brass came up with a foolproof plan to build a domed stadium in order to guarantee Future-Jose-Bautista would play at least 81 games, thus producing 40 home runs at the very least. Bravo, Detroit. Bravo!
Monday, May 16, 2011
Pre-Game Thoughts - Drabek!
I'm probably gonna miss today's game, so I thought I'd do a pre-game thought instead of the traditional Post Game Thoughts. The Jays are riding a 5 game winning streak and facing an equally hot opponent in the Detroit Tigers. On top of that, Kyle Drabek is up against Max Scherzer who has yet to lose this year. Unfortunately, I think that Toronto's winning streak will end today. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm also being realistic...
Weekly Standings Check In
So Tampa's turned their season around, eh? They've gone from worst to first in the clusterfuck that is the AL East. I'm also pretty enthused that the Jays are tied with the Red Sox after going through a real rough stretch in April. It's still very early, so at this point, the division is wide open for the taking with 3.5 games separating worst (Baltimore's still technically in this!) and first.
The NL East is mirroring the AL East story line as well - traditional powerhouses (Philadelphia & Atlanta) battling it out in the division along with an upstart team from Florida who's finding a way to win on a budget.
I caught some highlights from the Cincinnati-St. Louis series and that rivalry is alive and well. It looks like the contending teams in the NL Central (Milwaukee, Cincinatti & St. Louis) are starting to separate from the pack.
In the NL West, San Francisco is on top after Colorado lost 2 games in a row to San Diego (?). The Giants have a good pitching staff, so hopefully they'll stay in the race to make the battle for the division interesting. Early on, it was looking like Colorado would run away with the NL West title.
Now that we're about a quarter of the way into the season, I think that we can proclaim that the Cleveland Indians are for real. They're 3.5 games up on a surging Detroit Tigers team and surprisingly the Royals are one game over .500. After watching the Jays man-handle the Twins this weekend, they are in serious trouble.
The NL West seems to be a three team race between Anaheim, Oakland and Texas. I give the edge to Texas based on their strong offense and defense and the fact that Anaheim has dug themselves a karmic hole by acquiring Vernon Wells.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Jack Morris is the Most Intersting Man in the World
Jose Bautista. Wow. What an amazing game, I don't understand why pitchers are giving him a chance to actually hit the ball. My only theory on how he still gets good pitches to hit is that he goes down 0-2 on purpose. It seems like he always falls behind in the count early, only to battle back to a full count and slam the ball out of the park. And a quick thought about those who compare Jose between this year and last - he was batting leadoff all of last April and his production didn't really kick in until he was moved down in the order. Comparing his pace to last year's is a tad misleading. That being said, Jose Ro-Bautista is on track for a monster bionic year if he keeps hitting home runs at this pace (1 HR every 8 at bats).
I guess I can't argue with the line-up too much since the Jays have won 5 straight, but I don't understand why John Farrell moved Rajai Davis to the 7 spot. Ideally, I'd rather have him as the leadoff hitter, but the next best option is hitting Davis 9th. His speed is a threat when Escobar and Patterson are hitting ahead of him after they go through the order. I suppose that if he wasn't batting 7th, there'd be a bunch of weaker hitters in a row at the bottom of the order (Rivera, McDonald, Cooper, Molina). Mostly due to injury, the Jays just don't have many good bats available at the moment.
Nice to see Aaron Hill get a couple hits today. He needs some success at the plate, hopefully this'll give him the kickstart he needs to start producing consistently.
Bonus Baseball Celebrity Lookalike:
Jack Morris is the most interesting man in the world...
Today's 3 Stars:
1. Jose Bautista - Hit his 14th HR in the 3rd
2. Jose Bautista - Hit his 15th HR in the 4th
3. Jose Bautista - Hit his 16th HR in the 6th
An honourable mention goes to Jason Kubel - he's the only bright point for the Twins this season. A dishonourable mention goes to the rest of the Minnesota Twins. They did more to lose the game than the Jays did to win.
I guess I can't argue with the line-up too much since the Jays have won 5 straight, but I don't understand why John Farrell moved Rajai Davis to the 7 spot. Ideally, I'd rather have him as the leadoff hitter, but the next best option is hitting Davis 9th. His speed is a threat when Escobar and Patterson are hitting ahead of him after they go through the order. I suppose that if he wasn't batting 7th, there'd be a bunch of weaker hitters in a row at the bottom of the order (Rivera, McDonald, Cooper, Molina). Mostly due to injury, the Jays just don't have many good bats available at the moment.
Nice to see Aaron Hill get a couple hits today. He needs some success at the plate, hopefully this'll give him the kickstart he needs to start producing consistently.
Bonus Baseball Celebrity Lookalike:
Today's 3 Stars:
1. Jose Bautista - Hit his 14th HR in the 3rd
2. Jose Bautista - Hit his 15th HR in the 4th
3. Jose Bautista - Hit his 16th HR in the 6th
An honourable mention goes to Jason Kubel - he's the only bright point for the Twins this season. A dishonourable mention goes to the rest of the Minnesota Twins. They did more to lose the game than the Jays did to win.
Post Game Thoughts - Better Late Than Never
Awesome extra innings win for the Jays last night. Jose Bautista hit the game winning homerun. He has been downright bionic this week! I feel bad for JoJo Reyes - he pitched well but yet again didn't earn the win. It's been something like two years since he's won a game. And it got me thinking that he's shown incredible composure for a guy who's gone 26 straight starts without a victory. So that's a positive, right? Based on the way he's pitched the last few games, he'll stop the streak soon.
I prefer Alan Ashby doing the play by play. Buck Martinez is a good colour commentary guy, but when he's doing the play by play, he becomes Captain Obvious.
That's all I got...
Here's Last Night's 3 Stars:
1. JP Arencibia - JP had a great night - going 2 for 5 with a Home Run
2. Jose Bautista - tough night at the plate, but hit the game winning HR in the 11th
3. Yunel Escobar - rough start defensively, but solid at the plate going 3 for 6
Honourable mentions go to JoJo Reyes & Nick Blackburn.
Also, isn't it more grammatically correct to say "an home run"...?
I prefer Alan Ashby doing the play by play. Buck Martinez is a good colour commentary guy, but when he's doing the play by play, he becomes Captain Obvious.
That's all I got...
Here's Last Night's 3 Stars:
1. JP Arencibia - JP had a great night - going 2 for 5 with a Home Run
2. Jose Bautista - tough night at the plate, but hit the game winning HR in the 11th
3. Yunel Escobar - rough start defensively, but solid at the plate going 3 for 6
Honourable mentions go to JoJo Reyes & Nick Blackburn.
Also, isn't it more grammatically correct to say "an home run"...?
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Jose Ro-Bautista
Looks like Ricky Romero benefited from the extra rest after a short outing against Detroit last week. He pitched the best game of the year for Toronto going 8.2 innings and giving up no runs and only 4 hits. It would have been nice to see him get a complete game, but it's just as nice to see the Jays string together 3 wins in a row.
I'm getting the impression that Jose Bautista is some sort of human-cyborg-hybrid. Everyone was saying that there was no way to match his success from last season, but if it's even possible, he's gotten better. He has a more patient approach to the plate and he consistently gets on base, whether it's by hit or a walk. He went 3 for 4 tonight, hitting a single, double and his 12th home run and on the year, he's hitting around .360 and his OBP is over .500. I'm pretty sure that mere humans are not capable of producing those numbers. From now on, Jose Bautista will be known as Jose Ro-Bautista (Get it? He's a robot!).
Aaron Hill is pretty much a space filler in the #5 spot. He's not making good contact at all. At the very least, both JP Arencibia and John McDonald should be moved up. By the way, is it to early to start an Adeiny Hechavarria watch?
Also, Corey Patterson should have been much more alert on the basepath in the 7th. Luckily his speed made up for his hesitation, but in such a close game, his mistakes are inexcusable.
Tonight's 3 Stars:
1. Ricky Romero - so close to a complete game!
2. Jose Ro-Bautista - I for one welcome our new robot overlord...
3. Carl Pavano - did well to allow all those baserunners without giving up any runs
I'm getting the impression that Jose Bautista is some sort of human-cyborg-hybrid. Everyone was saying that there was no way to match his success from last season, but if it's even possible, he's gotten better. He has a more patient approach to the plate and he consistently gets on base, whether it's by hit or a walk. He went 3 for 4 tonight, hitting a single, double and his 12th home run and on the year, he's hitting around .360 and his OBP is over .500. I'm pretty sure that mere humans are not capable of producing those numbers. From now on, Jose Bautista will be known as Jose Ro-Bautista (Get it? He's a robot!).
Aaron Hill is pretty much a space filler in the #5 spot. He's not making good contact at all. At the very least, both JP Arencibia and John McDonald should be moved up. By the way, is it to early to start an Adeiny Hechavarria watch?
Also, Corey Patterson should have been much more alert on the basepath in the 7th. Luckily his speed made up for his hesitation, but in such a close game, his mistakes are inexcusable.
Tonight's 3 Stars:
1. Ricky Romero - so close to a complete game!
2. Jose Ro-Bautista - I for one welcome our new robot overlord...
3. Carl Pavano - did well to allow all those baserunners without giving up any runs
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Don't Give Patterson the Greenlight!!!
Huge win for the Jays tonight against the Red Sox. Rajai Davis absolutely dominated at the plate and on the basepaths going 4 for 4 with 2 stolen bases. John McDonald had a great night as well, hitting his second home run of the season.
Now that Davis seems to be swinging his bat well, I think it's time to move Corey Patterson out of the 2 spot. He made a couple really bad decisions on the basepath tonight. In the 3rd inning with Bautista at bat and a 2-0 count, he stole 2nd base. With first base open, that pretty much guaranteed a walk for Bautista. The bigger mistake was when he tagged up on what ended up being a single off the wall by Bautista. He badly misjudged that play and should have reached third. It could have cost the Jays a win if this game was close. So yeah, it's time to move Patterson into the 9 spot and bat Davis and Escobar 1-2.
Also, the Jays should avoid pitching to Adrian Gonzalez at all costs. He hit his 3rd opposite field home run in the past 2 games. That Red Sox lineup is pretty tough - if you walk Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz are batting behind him. Good on the Jays to squeeze 2 wins against Boston, though. It seems like everyone on that team is swinging the bat well lately.
Tonight's 3 Stars:
1. Rajai Davis - 4 for 4, 2 stolen bases, 2 runs scored & 2 RBI
2. John McDonald - 2 for 4, 1 home run, 1 double, 3 RBI
3. Adrian Gonzalez - solo homerun in the 6th - his 3rd opposite field HR 3rd of the series
Honourable mention goes to David Ortiz. He's also been teeing off against Jays pitching, hitting 2 HR's in the past 2 games. Also, David Cooper has looked really good defensively at first base.
Now that Davis seems to be swinging his bat well, I think it's time to move Corey Patterson out of the 2 spot. He made a couple really bad decisions on the basepath tonight. In the 3rd inning with Bautista at bat and a 2-0 count, he stole 2nd base. With first base open, that pretty much guaranteed a walk for Bautista. The bigger mistake was when he tagged up on what ended up being a single off the wall by Bautista. He badly misjudged that play and should have reached third. It could have cost the Jays a win if this game was close. So yeah, it's time to move Patterson into the 9 spot and bat Davis and Escobar 1-2.
Also, the Jays should avoid pitching to Adrian Gonzalez at all costs. He hit his 3rd opposite field home run in the past 2 games. That Red Sox lineup is pretty tough - if you walk Gonzalez, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz are batting behind him. Good on the Jays to squeeze 2 wins against Boston, though. It seems like everyone on that team is swinging the bat well lately.
Tonight's 3 Stars:
1. Rajai Davis - 4 for 4, 2 stolen bases, 2 runs scored & 2 RBI
2. John McDonald - 2 for 4, 1 home run, 1 double, 3 RBI
3. Adrian Gonzalez - solo homerun in the 6th - his 3rd opposite field HR 3rd of the series
Honourable mention goes to David Ortiz. He's also been teeing off against Jays pitching, hitting 2 HR's in the past 2 games. Also, David Cooper has looked really good defensively at first base.
Post Game Thoughts - A Tale of Two Pitchers
Nice win by the Jays tonight. They really needed this one after a rough weekend against the Tigers. Drabek started the game nicely with a pick-off on Ellsbury that shifted the momentum his way and helped pitch his way out of a jam. In the bottom half of the 1st, Lester looked really flustered after giving up 3 runs. It's kind of funny, Drabek pitched like the seasoned veteran and Lester was acting like a rookie. But after the 1st, the roles reversed. Drabek was falling behind in the count far too often. He was over 100 pitches through only 5 innings of work. Lester pitched much more efficiently, but in the end, they both put up the same numbers, leaving their respective bullpens to try to hold off the opposition.
Also, the Jays need to either get healthy or add some bodies to the disabled list. After subbing David Cooper in for an injured Yunel Escobar, they only had one body left on the bench - Jose Molina.
And without further adieu, here are tonight's 3 Stars:
1. David Cooper - hit his 1st HR and drove in the game winning run in the tenth
2. Adrian Gonzalez - hit 2 opposite field home runs
3. Jose Bautista - lets be honest, anytime he hits a home run, he will earn a star...
Honourable mentions go to J.P. Arencibia for his home run and Jason Frasor who struck out the side in the 6th - I don't think he threw anything outside the strike zone. I hope Kyle Drabek was taking notes at the time... David Ortiz also had a good game going 3 for 5 with a home run.
Also, the Jays need to either get healthy or add some bodies to the disabled list. After subbing David Cooper in for an injured Yunel Escobar, they only had one body left on the bench - Jose Molina.
And without further adieu, here are tonight's 3 Stars:
1. David Cooper - hit his 1st HR and drove in the game winning run in the tenth
2. Adrian Gonzalez - hit 2 opposite field home runs
3. Jose Bautista - lets be honest, anytime he hits a home run, he will earn a star...
Honourable mentions go to J.P. Arencibia for his home run and Jason Frasor who struck out the side in the 6th - I don't think he threw anything outside the strike zone. I hope Kyle Drabek was taking notes at the time... David Ortiz also had a good game going 3 for 5 with a home run.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Weekly Standings Check in
So the good news? Toronto's not in last place of the AL East! The bad news? The Jays are behind Boston, Tampa and New York. And it looks like Derek Jeter may have found his swing after a 2 HR game against Texas yesterday. Based on that one game sample-size, the Yankees will only be stronger. The Rays have all of a sudden become pretty strong too. Too bad none of there fans will see it... I'm somewhat optimistic for May considering the fact that Toronto's been hit by the injury bug for most of April. Hopefully this week Lind, Hill and Bautista will be able to play simultaneously, in the same game.
Surprisingly, Cleveland is still on top of the AL Central. Looks like Chicago and Minnesota are comfortable dwelling at the bottom of the division. After watching the Tigers-Jays series this past weekend, the Royals and Indians better watch their backs. Detroit has very good starting pitching and once they put a bit of a winning streak together and climb over .500 (which should be this week), it's going be an interesting race to watch.
In the NL Central, the surprise for me this week is that the Pirates are at .500. I'm too lazy to actually check on this, but they probably haven't been this good, this late into the season since a skinny, arrogant kid named Barry Bonds played for them... Also I thought Milwaukee was supposed to be a World Series contender this year. At 14-20, they'd better start winning some games, otherwise they've got a deep hole to climb out of.
The NL East is shaping out to be just as tight, if not more, as the AL East. I caught the Atlanta-Philadelphia game last night (which was pretty entertaining) and on top of taking 2 out of 3 from the Phillies, Atlanta is pretty much matching them in the pitching department, but at a much cheaper price. Florida is keeping pace with both teams as well and I know that Washington isn't close to contending, but they've started to turn the corner and are playing close to .500 baseball.
With all the close races so far (I know it's still very early...), if Emperor Selig decides to expand the playoffs and add more teams next year, it's going to be a tight race right down to the last day of the regular season. Sure, it'll definitely be entertaining as a fan to watch. But from a Blue Jays perspective, I hope they don't try to force any trades for the sake of "now" and stick with the plan to aim to win the division instead of just squeezing into the playoffs.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Remember to Stay Low JoJo!
The Jays lost again today to the Tigers 5-2. Despite the loss, JoJo Reyes put together his 2nd straight solid start. He seems to get into trouble whenever he starts to go up in the strike zone. When he stays low, he has more success. And had Edwin Encarnacion not cut off that throw to Arencibia in the 4th, things may have turned out differently. Here's a thought, you know how pitchers sometimes request a personal catcher? Give Reyes a personal 3rd baseman. It seems that Encarnacion causes bad things to happen whenever Reyes is pitching (ie. the 6 run inning against Texas last week was caused by an Edwin Encarnacion error).
Speaking of Encarnacion, he's making a good case to bring up Brett Lawrie. The upside to Edwin's iffy defense was supposed to be his bat, and so far he's done nothing at the plate. If he keeps this up for another month, I think it's time to give Lawrie a shot in the bigs.
Brad Penny pitched a strong game, but his location was a bit inconsistent early on. Fortunately for him, the only Jay to capitalize on a mistake was Jose Bautista with a 2 run home run.
Finally, since we're in Canada, I've decided to borrow a new feature from the hockey world and award 3 stars to each game.
Today's 3 stars were:
1. Austin Jackson
2. Brad Penny
3. Jose Bautista
Speaking of Encarnacion, he's making a good case to bring up Brett Lawrie. The upside to Edwin's iffy defense was supposed to be his bat, and so far he's done nothing at the plate. If he keeps this up for another month, I think it's time to give Lawrie a shot in the bigs.
Brad Penny pitched a strong game, but his location was a bit inconsistent early on. Fortunately for him, the only Jay to capitalize on a mistake was Jose Bautista with a 2 run home run.
Finally, since we're in Canada, I've decided to borrow a new feature from the hockey world and award 3 stars to each game.
Today's 3 stars were:
1. Austin Jackson
2. Brad Penny
3. Jose Bautista
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Post Game Thoughts - Jays No Hit by the Tigers
I was working again today, so I PVR'd this game. Had a late night on Friday that finally caught up with me when I started watching and fell asleep. When I woke up the Jays were down 7-0. I guess I didn't miss much - literally. Justin Verlander was strong and threw a no-hitter, reaching 100mph into the 9th inning. Bautista and Hill should be back tomorrow, so hopefully things will go a bit better for the Jays. That is all...
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Post Game Thoughts on Two Games That I Missed
The Jays lost 3-1 to the Rays today. I had to work, so I didn't get the chance to watch the game. I missed last night's game too - I PVR'd it, but then accidentally tuned into the game live in the 8th inning with the Jays in the lead. So long story short, the Jays won 1 out of 3 against the Rays. All three games were pretty close and I'd like to think that if Bautista were in the lineup, the Jays could have easily won each game.
One thing that did come to mind is that domed stadiums are ugly to watch on television. Especially last night in Tampa when there was a backdrop of empty seats to frame the eye-gouginly bright and obviously artificial looking AstroTurf. I'm jealous of fans of teams with beautiful outdoor stadiums like the Phillies, Cubs and even the Yankees just to name a few. Unlike these outdoor ballparks, domed stadiums are sterile, symmetric and devoid of personality. They are nothing more than marriages of convenience - owners trying to squeeze as many dollars as they can by building these "multi-use" stadiums. Also, how is it possible that nobody wants to come out to see a young, exciting team like the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball? Maybe the folks who think that they should be relocated are right.
In defense of Rogers Field, it is much nicer to see the game in person than having the neon green turf burn a hole in my retinas on my HDTV.Unfortunately I live in Ottawa, and it's much cheaper and more comfortable to watch a ballgame at home on my couch than to shell out $12 for a beer, let alone gas, food, accommodation and $40 for decent seats.
One thing that did come to mind is that domed stadiums are ugly to watch on television. Especially last night in Tampa when there was a backdrop of empty seats to frame the eye-gouginly bright and obviously artificial looking AstroTurf. I'm jealous of fans of teams with beautiful outdoor stadiums like the Phillies, Cubs and even the Yankees just to name a few. Unlike these outdoor ballparks, domed stadiums are sterile, symmetric and devoid of personality. They are nothing more than marriages of convenience - owners trying to squeeze as many dollars as they can by building these "multi-use" stadiums. Also, how is it possible that nobody wants to come out to see a young, exciting team like the Tampa Bay Rays play baseball? Maybe the folks who think that they should be relocated are right.
In defense of Rogers Field, it is much nicer to see the game in person than having the neon green turf burn a hole in my retinas on my HDTV.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Baseball Celebrity Lookalikes: May the 4th Be With You Edition
Very Brief Post Game Thoughts after a Walk-Off Rays Win
Despite the walk-off HR, good game for the Jays tonight. Just finished watching this one on the PVR and the theme for this game was pitching. Best start of the year for Jojo Reyes and great relief work by the bullpen (other than Jon Rauch).
Adam Lind has turned his season around this past week. He's flirting with .300 and even the absence of Jose Bautista didn't slow him down tonight.
JP Arencibia's seems to be missing too many pitches. Luckily tonight, there weren't any runners on base when he whiffed on those pitches. This could come back and bite him in a close game, though...
Adam Lind has turned his season around this past week. He's flirting with .300 and even the absence of Jose Bautista didn't slow him down tonight.
JP Arencibia's seems to be missing too many pitches. Luckily tonight, there weren't any runners on base when he whiffed on those pitches. This could come back and bite him in a close game, though...
Monday, May 2, 2011
The All-Star Ballot
The Jays are off today, so today's a good day to talk about the All-Star game.
As you may or may not have heard, All-Star voting is in full-swing. The game itself isn't until July 12th, and voting ends before that at 11:59 PM ET on June 30th. The rules are simple: per e-mail address, you have 25 votes. So who goes from the Blue Jays?
The obvious first choice is Jose Bautista, so we're going to exclude him from the list. I think a lot of people will end up voting him in anyway - at the time of writing (which was Friday afternoon, with only 25 games played), J-Bau is on pace for at least 28 homers, 45 RBI, and 90 walks. Oh and 93 hits. Is this a little unrealistic by the 76-game mark? I'm not sure. But I think Bautista will at the very least have 20 homers by that point, and still be leading the AL.
So who to choose? Well, I guess it helps to pick only those Blue Jays who are actually on the ballot. Excluding Bautista, these include: 1B Adam Lind, 2B Aaron Hill, SS Yunel Escobar, 3B Edwin Encarnacion, C JP Arencibia, DH Juan Rivera, OF Rajai Davis, and OF Travis Snider (who of course was just demoted - so I think he's out). I decided to just look at OPS (I know, it's a sabermetric...but it's the one I vaguely understand) to figure out who has, up til now, given the Jays the best chance at scoring runs.
Arencibia has the highest OPS of all of them, with 0.805. Escobar and Lind are pretty close, coming in at .757 and .730 respectively. After that they're all respectable, with the exception of Davis - who is the lowest at .344, but to be fair, he's missed quite a few games due to injury..
Given this information, I think only Lind and Arencibia are the only Jays (again, other than Bautista) who have a shot at making the all-star team. I'm going to go ahead and predict now that the only Jays player to go to Arizona will be Jose Bautista, with Lind coming very close but just losing out. I don't think the other members of the Jays have made a big enough splash compared to Jose. Still, I have at least four e-mail addresses so I am going to put my 100 votes to good use and get our Jays in there.
As you may or may not have heard, All-Star voting is in full-swing. The game itself isn't until July 12th, and voting ends before that at 11:59 PM ET on June 30th. The rules are simple: per e-mail address, you have 25 votes. So who goes from the Blue Jays?
So who to choose? Well, I guess it helps to pick only those Blue Jays who are actually on the ballot. Excluding Bautista, these include: 1B Adam Lind, 2B Aaron Hill, SS Yunel Escobar, 3B Edwin Encarnacion, C JP Arencibia, DH Juan Rivera, OF Rajai Davis, and OF Travis Snider (who of course was just demoted - so I think he's out). I decided to just look at OPS (I know, it's a sabermetric...but it's the one I vaguely understand) to figure out who has, up til now, given the Jays the best chance at scoring runs.
Arencibia has the highest OPS of all of them, with 0.805. Escobar and Lind are pretty close, coming in at .757 and .730 respectively. After that they're all respectable, with the exception of Davis - who is the lowest at .344, but to be fair, he's missed quite a few games due to injury..
Given this information, I think only Lind and Arencibia are the only Jays (again, other than Bautista) who have a shot at making the all-star team. I'm going to go ahead and predict now that the only Jays player to go to Arizona will be Jose Bautista, with Lind coming very close but just losing out. I don't think the other members of the Jays have made a big enough splash compared to Jose. Still, I have at least four e-mail addresses so I am going to put my 100 votes to good use and get our Jays in there.
Weekly Standings Check in
Starting at Home in the AL East
The Yankees are still leading the division and the Red Sox are still dwelling at the bottom. Not including their matchup against Jared Weaver (6-0),Boston's got a relatively easy week with the Angels and the Twins, so they should climb into at least 3rd spot in the division by this time next week. So now's probably the last time we can say that the Jays are ahead of the Red Sox in the standings... Tampa's turned their season around and Baltimore's meeting all expectations by playing .500 baseball.
The Rest of the Baseball World
In the AL Central, Cleveland and Kansas City are still leading the AL Central. I'm too lazy to check the prospect ranking, but my hunch is that the Indians and the Royals have 2 of the best farm systems in all of baseball and it's paying off for them sooner than everyone expected. Also, Minnesota looks to be in deep trouble, they're digging a deeper and deeper hole down at the bottom of the division with a 6 game losing streak.
The Al West is pretty tight, with the Angels and Rangers tied for the lead. As expected, Seattle is last, and Oakland is hovering at .500.
In the NL, everything's predictable as usual. The Phillies, Cardinals and Rockies are leading their division, while the Mets, Astros and Padres are sitting comfortably at the bottom of their respective divisions. The only surprise right now is that the Marlins are currently leading the Wild Card race.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Flick Picking: Rookie of the Year
While watching the pregame show for today's Jays-Yankees game, I had an epiphany about the movie Rookie of the Year. If you're not familiar with this movie, here's the trailer:
By the way, did you notice the tiny pre-steroid/HGH Barry Bonds at the end...?
Okay, so here's my epiphany: Why did the Cubs make Henry Rowengartner a starting pitcher? He only had one pitch in his arsenal - a fastball. This movie was filmed in 1993, so there was no shortage of juiced up steroid monsters in the league at the time (Barry Bonds notwithstanding) who would have no problem adjusting to his uber-fastball. He didn't even consider throwing a change-up until the end of the movie when his arm returned to normal. Rowengartner would be much better suited as a reliever. They should have started him as a setup man and if he handles the pressure OK, move him to closer. A strong fastball can work well in short relief outings (see Aroldis Chapman), but not over 6 or 7 innings.
And here's an even more "out of the box" spot for Rowengartner. Make him the right fielder. Even though his ineptitude in the outfield is what caused his injury in the first place, he's proven that he can make a strong, accurate throw to home from the outfield, and it's a lot easier to learn to play the outfield than it is to master the art and mechanics of MLB pitching. The only downside would be that there would be two almost guaranteed outs in the batting line-up. The solution? Make him a late inning defensive specialist, his at bats won't matter. Plus, in the NL, there are more pinch hitters subbed for relief pitchers, so that evens out his irrelevant bat.
Also according to current Illinois Child Labor Laws:
If you ask me, this movie was pretty unrealistic...
By the way, did you notice the tiny pre-steroid/HGH Barry Bonds at the end...?
Okay, so here's my epiphany: Why did the Cubs make Henry Rowengartner a starting pitcher? He only had one pitch in his arsenal - a fastball. This movie was filmed in 1993, so there was no shortage of juiced up steroid monsters in the league at the time (Barry Bonds notwithstanding) who would have no problem adjusting to his uber-fastball. He didn't even consider throwing a change-up until the end of the movie when his arm returned to normal. Rowengartner would be much better suited as a reliever. They should have started him as a setup man and if he handles the pressure OK, move him to closer. A strong fastball can work well in short relief outings (see Aroldis Chapman), but not over 6 or 7 innings.
And here's an even more "out of the box" spot for Rowengartner. Make him the right fielder. Even though his ineptitude in the outfield is what caused his injury in the first place, he's proven that he can make a strong, accurate throw to home from the outfield, and it's a lot easier to learn to play the outfield than it is to master the art and mechanics of MLB pitching. The only downside would be that there would be two almost guaranteed outs in the batting line-up. The solution? Make him a late inning defensive specialist, his at bats won't matter. Plus, in the NL, there are more pinch hitters subbed for relief pitchers, so that evens out his irrelevant bat.
Also according to current Illinois Child Labor Laws:
No minor under the age of 16 years of age shall be employed, permitted or suffered to work:
“In about or in connection with any public messenger or delivery service, bowling alley, pool room, billiard room, skating rink, exhibition park or place of amusement, garage, filling station or service station, or as a bellboy in any hotel or rooming house or about or in connection with power-driven machinery.'"
“In any place or establishment in which intoxicating alcoholic liquors are served or sold for consumption on the premises, or in which such liquors are manufactured or bottled.''
If you ask me, this movie was pretty unrealistic...
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