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They're also on pace to use 495 relievers this year, which I believe would be an AL record.

Mike

8th round pick Chad Mulholland is pitching for SW Missouri St against Rice right now on ESPN.

This offence is indeed fun to watch. Personally I think a lot of the credit has to go to Mike Barnett, these guys seem to be really buying into his philosophies.

Dave Till brought up an interesting point yesterday, even a slight upgrade in our pitching with this group could pay huge dividends. I'm starting to join the group that thinks the Jays should perhaps be buyers not sellers in the next month.

Unless you get blue-chip prospects coming back, I'm inclined to keep Escobar/Stewart and make a push and take the subsequent draft choices.

If were still close after the Yankee/Bo-sox series in July , some very interesting choices will have to be made.

Speaking of Dave Till, I wandered through the archives back to the last week of January to find his article predicting the Jays' 2003 stats from the most pessimistic and most optimistic scenarios imaginable.

From the sunshine perspective, in which "Mr. Happy" imagined Carlos Delgado returning to 2000 form and Frank Catalanotto being injury-free:

These Jays, with five .300 hitters and double-digit HR totals from everybody in the lineup, wind up scoring a league-leading 906 runs.

One reason I point this out is to illustrate just how amazing the hitters have been, exceeding everyone's wildest expectations. The other is to pat myself on the back for my astute comment on Dave's rose-coloured exaggeration: "most of the hitting numbers actually look attainable!" Told ya.

Brief hijack -- funny stuff from today's Chicago Sun-Times:

"'I know the fans want to see Sammy, but it was hard on the team having to answer all the questions and it was also hard on Sammy sitting in the hotel or the stands,' Baker said. 'What does Sammy do for three hours?

'The city is hurting in tourism. You're told not to go out and eat and do this and that. What it appears to me is a lot of this is overblown. The humanitarian in me tells me to bring Sammy. The baseball manager in me tells me Sammy needs work.'

Baker was asked if Sosa was sent to Chicago to shield him from SARS.

'No, no, why would we spare Sammy and the rest of us get it?' Baker said. 'I like Sammy, but I like me, too.'"

I guess we should have all expected improvement from the Jays' hitters, as most of them are younger than 27, and therefore are still on the upslopes of their careers. Hudson, Wells, and Woodward have taken the sort of step forward that younger players often take. (Phelps, oddly enough, has stepped sideways - his OBP is up, but his slugging is way down.)

By the way, did you know that Chris Woodward is actually outperforming Derek Jeter right now? Woody's at .427 SLG and .330 OBP; Jeter's at .419 and .321.