This hurts.
Last year we grew to expect games and series like this. Getting swept was something that was relatively common in the Season from Hell. We even got swept at home in the opening series by the Detroit Tigers, who were coming off a 2003 season of 43 wins. As the season progressed and the losses mounted, each sweep was like the thirteenth rejection one receives on a Friday night when trying to initiate a conversation with a girl at a bar, the pain barely hurts anymore and you’ve come to expect the worst result possible. Note: This is a purely hypothetical person, not me personally.
However, this one hurts badly. A new season brings renewed optimism, for fans of the Colorado Rockies and K.C. Royals and New York Yankees and Atlanta Braves, alike. Even if the hopes aren’t there for a playoff run, fans still set their sites high. Rob Neyer goes to bed in April dreaming of Calvin Pickering hitting, Ken Harvey in Omaha, Emil Brown on any other team’s roster, Zack Greinke’s arm encased in a protective cover and the Royals in fourth place. At one point in this season the Jays sat at 7-2, and things looked bright. The playoffs were never realistically in the picture, but that didn’t stop a caller on Wednesdays with JP from asking the GM about potentially picking up talent in May or June. Even I catch myself sometimes dreaming about what the increase of cash from Mr. Rogers could allow JP to land at the trading deadline; allowing for the fact sights are realistically set for a couple of years down the road. Note: I am not drawing a parallel between last season’s year of rejection followed by this year’s wishful thinking and the particular romantic escapades of one Rosterite.
Sure the Jays got swept in the series before, but it was a two-gamer, so it isn’t the same. Plus, it was against the New York Yankees, and they are still the Yankees, even if their team is old with noticeable holes and was struggling at the time. Getting swept is not the order of the day, however, when the Jays are facing Daniel Cabrera, Erik Bedard and Sir Sidney of Aruba. Friday’s bullpen collapse was painful, whereas Saturday’s loss was slightly more bearable because Bedard is a Canadian and he put on a good show for family and friends, even though Batista’s ninth-inning implosion was particularly detrimental when Wells homered off Ryan. Note: This is not like the unfamiliar (to me) scenario of finally working up the courage to talk to certain girl one’s had their eye on for the entire term only to find out she recently got a boyfriend, so it is too little, too late.
However, today’s loss just sucked. This looked like a game where the Jays had a great chance to capture the elusive win. The team could not have put a better foot forward than a hot Roy Halladay and he was facing off against a struggling Ponson who had visa problems and almost could not get into the country. However, this hefty hurler no-hit them for six innings, almost shut the team out and generally made the hitters look lost at the plate. Note: In case one, as per the first paragraph, is still drawing connections between baseball and romance, they should stop. I am not comparing this to a situation where one thinks they have a great chance to win over an elusive target and puts forward their best efforts, only to be made to look foolish by a burly, quasi-criminal type who sweeps in to steal the prize.
It’s definitely frustrating to see the team struggle as it is doing now. Hillenbrand has slowly begun to cool following his hot start; while Koskie’s inevitable hot streak has not made its appearance yet. Hinske’s really slumped, Adams is suffering through expected rookie difficulties and Vernon’s not hitting yet, either. Zaun’s continued to be a pleasant surprise and, to digress, I liked how Sportsnet showed the clips of him talking with Rick Dempsey, his uncle, in batting practice and followed that up with an interesting story about Dempsey. So while it’s frustrating to watch the hitters struggle, like they did today, several key contributors have lots of room for improvement and noticeable drops can really only be expected from Hillenbrand, Zaun, Hinske and Johnny Mac. Note: This is not like the, again purely hypothetical, scenario of trying to find solace in the law of averages because if fifty girls have rejected you then odds are one of the next however-many won’t, because you have to get a hit sometime.
What has been the most frustrating for me has been the bullpen. It was supposed to be a source of strength this year for the Blue Jays, and I can’t help but think it will be. Just to hit upon the 7-man point for the umpteenth time, if you aren’t going to use Whiteside today in the late innings, then what sort of blowout are you waiting for? We had about a 2.4% chance of winning the game after the 7th inning (I charted WPA for this game, but it’s not interesting at all), and that was before accounting for the fact that Ponson had given up two hits and a comeback seemed beyond the realm of possibility. I agree with not using him in the game, because Walker and Speier need the work, but that just points to the superfluous nature of the seventh man. Anyhow, the bullpen has really struggled, besides the aforementioned Walker and Vinny Chulk. Schoeneweis hasn’t proven as adept as the LOOGY role as I would have thought (although he will improve, and it is the right role for him, I think) and Batista turns every save opportunity into a nail-biter. Three strikeouts in 8.2 innings from your closer is ugly, and if he doesn’t improve upon his peripherals it will catch up to him. League struggled and was demoted (by the way, read Jordan’s Saturday minor league report for an excellent update and analysis on his situation if you haven’t), Speier continued his struggles today and Frasor has been ineffective. Things will get better, but fixing something and seeing it continue to be ineffective is particularly frustrating, as you begin to wonder what it will take to improve the situation. Note: I am not drawing a parallel between this situation and the scenario of trying to address one’s perceived shortcomings and yet continuing to be ineffective in the romance department, leaving you wondering what you can do in order to beat what has become the new status-quo.
However, it’s important not get too down following today’s game. First of all, last year on this date the Jays won a thriller 5-4 over the Orioles in 12 innings to improve to 5-12, so the team is still noticeably ahead of where it was last year, even with the recent cold streak. Secondly, there is plenty of baseball left in the season; 142 games to be exact. A three-game set with Tampa Bay is on the horizon, and that provides the team with an excellent opportunity to rebound and win a series. Hopefully Lilly will have success against the Rays, and this is exactly the sort of team Towers can have success against, so it’s a great matchup for him. However, the most interesting game is the middle one, in my opinion. Chacin is still surprising everyone with his success, but his test will get very interesting this week as he faces Tampa Bay for the second time, and we’ll get to see if he can duplicate his first start of the season, or if Tampa will have found a way to deal with his deceptive delivery the second time around. If you can’t wait until then, just look to tomorrow for lots of excitement. There’s a potential gem in Pittsburgh with the Astros in town as Roy Oswalt and Oliver Perez face off. Oakland’s got a nice matchup as the A’s offence looks to start hitting, but will find it tough against the 3-0 Jon Garland, while Barry Zito looks for his first win of the season against the 15-4 White Sox, who only have a .300 team OBP, which is worst in the American League and second-last in baseball. Finally, one can turn their attention to Wrigley Field to see if Mark Prior finally surrenders an earned run in his third start of the season, against Paul Wilson and the Cincinnati Reds. Note: I am not comparing this to the excitement I find with a new episode of The Daily Show or Law and Order which helps distract me from other somewhat-disheartening scenarios.
Furthermore, if that doesn’t succeed in dulling yesterday’s loss you can always turn to the internet. In addition to Batter’s Box’s standard daily update there should be at least a couple of new pieces here today to help tide you over, and if that doesn’t suffice there are plenty of other great websites around with excellent writing that you can lose yourself for a half-hour or hour at. There’s action in the Jays minor league system that you can follow, and if not, Tuesday’s just around the corner. If nothing else, be grateful that it’s April and that there are five more months of baseball on the horizon. Because, come late September you’ll be begging for more ballgames, even if half of them played out like Sunday’s did. Note: I would say something else about the internet and its ability to ease one's pain here, but I better not. And what I said about appreciating April is true, because November through February are long, lonely months.
As a postscript, what was incredibly frustrating was that I’ve missed large parts of several Jays series this year, including Oakland, Texas and Boston. So I finally get a little reprieve in the workload in time to catch a five-game losing streak, and subsequently I’ll have to miss most of the Tampa set, where I’m optimistic for some success. (Get it? I uncharacteristically shared a personal grievance with you here, which is a departure from the rest of my game report.) Sorry if this game report sucked, but I have this habit of stinking at certain things. Note: I guess you’ve figured out this hypothetical person has some basis in reality. Anyhow, it’s Rob. How else do you think he was able to find all those Patriot’s Day coincidences?
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20050425033701897