Strike

Saturday, April 28 2007 @ 05:06 PM EDT

Contributed by: Leigh

Today was a day wherein Brian Tallet pitched in an extremely high-leverage situation.

Today was a day wherein a pitcher with a 6:1 strikeout to walk ratio was pulled from the rotation and replaced with one with a career 1.3:1 strikeout to walk ratio.

Today was a day wherein Matt Stairs pinch-ran, and Jason Smith pinch-hit.

My Jays fanship is ready for the picket line. This thread is my sandwich board. I'm on strike!

I have been a Jays fan for as long as I can remember, and I will continue to be, but I refuse to sit here on my ass in Fredericton and accept the way that this team is being managed. Instead, I will sit here on my ass in Fredericton and naively self-aggrandize by making futile complaints.

This team is not that bad, but the roster construction and usage is mind-boggling from time to time. The front-line talent on the Jays is fantasic, but virtually no team could compete without replacement-level complementary players. With so many outstanding players on the team (Halladay, Burnett, Ryan, Hill, Overbay, Glaus, Wells, Rios, Thomas and Lind) it is intensely frustrating to watch games hinge on the performance of journeymen who would be in AAA for most teams. Any of the players currently on the team would be good to have around individually, but taken collectively and thrust into high-leverage situations, the bottom quarter of the roster is a real problem.

The ups and downs of the Jays' roster strength are frought with paradoxes:

Towers got pulled from the rotation after pitching well, but he only got into the rotation in the first place because an inferior pitcher, Thomson, got injured in March.
Lind got into the starting lineup, but only because an inferior player got injured.
Accardo - arguably the best reliever on the team - was stolen from the Giants last season in a brilliant trade, but is now burried in the back of the bullpen (he ranks seventh among Jays relievers in leverage this season, according to Fan Graphs).
Dave Bush is currently sporting 22 strikeouts to only 3 walks for the Brewers, but even if he were still a Jay, that is the kind of stellar performance that would have had him banished from the rotation (as we learned from the treatment of Josh Towers).
On-base percentage has been stressed by the organization ever since, oh, let's say November 14, 2001, but the roster now includes - by design - four players with career OBPs below .320 (five including Fasano, but the Zaun injury is not management's fault).

I have never been too critical of the drafts, and I have supported many of the trades over the past few years. Ricciardi has made more good moves than bad, in my opinion. I have faith in this management team, but it is being tested right now. The acumen of Ricciardi and Gibbons is often unjustly impugned, but geez, J.P. and John, give your exhausted defenders a chance to catch their breath.

This strike is unlikely to last very long: I'm pretty weak. I'll be wearing my Fightin' Jays cap again soon. For the duration of my strike, however, I will be watching a greater variety of Major League games (yes, on the Rogers extra innings package... expect my payment to be late this month, Ted); less Jays, more National League, perhaps.

HEY HEY, HO HO
SUB .300 OBPs HAVE GOT TO GO

HEY HEY, HO HO
FREE JEREMY ACCARDO

I'M ON STRIKE FOR BLUE JAYS NATION
REINSTATE TOWERS TO THE ROTATION

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