Opening Weekend Thoughts

An easy way to summarize the first weekend of the Jays season would be to say, it could have ended in disaster. But Toronto's bullpen and bats came through and bailed out the starting pitching. My favourite moment of the weekend had to be when Jose Bautista homered immediately after Masterson threw inside twice to Kelly Johnson. Also, Edwin Encarnacion has been amazing in the clutch so far.

The big story for me was that Joel Carreno was sent down to AAA. My immediate reaction was that Alex Anthopoulos has high expectations for the starting rotation. And if you think about it, Carreno wasn't horrible considering that it was only his first career start and the two home runs he gave up were to the same player. After sleeping on it, I think that the Jays are sending him down to get at least one start until later in April. Until then, the Jays can get by with a four man rotation. I think we'll see Carreno get recalled later this month.

Overall the Jays bats were relatively cold this weekend. It could be due to the weather, or it could have also been caused by all the sinker-ball pitchers Cleveland threw at them. It'll be interesting to see how the lineup fairs indoors at Rogers Centre tonight versus the Red Sox.

So here are the 3 Stars for the weekend series:

1. The Bullpen
2. Edwin Encarnacion
3. Kelly Johnson

Post Game Thoughts - Ricky Romero Reaps What He Sows

Today's pregame coverage started with yet again another Ricky Romero explanation of how he had to have a meeting with his teammates to clear up the media-created controversy of his post game comments after his last start. Whether the meeting was warranted or not, Romero pitched a complete game shutout and got his first career base hit (and RBIs!). So hopefully this outing will put the "controversy" surrounding him to rest.

The buzz over this series has been about Jose Bautista's imminent shift to 3rd base. While I completely agree that this is necessary to get more bats in the lineup (and also to take Encarnacion/Nix out of the lineup), I worry about the general arm strength in the outfield. I'm assuming that Eric Thames is going to be Jose's replacement in right field, though I really don't know how strong of a thrower he is, I'm predicting that you'll be seeing Jays' opponents testing his arm often on the basepaths. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out...

I'm trying to find something nice to say about Corey Patterson, and the only backhanded complement I can come up with is that he's a good "One Tool" player. This interleague roadtrip has been rather brutal for him, he's had two horrible errors in the outfield and he's a terrible baserunner. It's a good thing that he can hit, although he's only hitting .260 at the moment. On that note, I sort of like Aaron Hill in the #2 spot...

3 Stars:
1. Ricky Romero - Complete game shutout, base hit, 2 RBI's
2. JP Arencibia - solo HR
3. Yunel Escobar - 2 for 4

Post Game Thoughts: Buck Martinez's Tech Tips

According to Buck Martinez this is an iPad:

Also, AWESOME game for Adam Lind and to top it off, JoJo gets his second straight victory. I've said it before, but I really like his attitude and composure this season. He's still allowing too many baserunners, but he's young and will hopefully grow as a player be a key part of the rotation for years to come.

3 Stars:
1. Adam Lind - 4 for 4 with 2 HR's
2. JoJo Reyes - It's just nice to see him get another win
3. Yunel Escobar - Only 1 for 5, but the one hit was a HR and gave the Jays the lead. Also, he should be on the all-star team this year

An honourable mention goes to Jose Bautista. He influences the outcome and success of his teammates by merely standing in the batter's box. And now I'm off to purchase Mad Men Season 4 and then takeout poutine at The Works #hangovercure...

Post Game Thoughts - A Win for JoJo!

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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"...?

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.

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.

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