A quarter of the seaon's up already? Wow, way too fast. And disappointing to say the least. Anyway, I think Batista's getting on track recently. He's only got 3 walks in his last 3 starts combined (after having no LESS than 3 in any one of his previous 4 starts) averaging over 7 innings/start, and seeing his K's increase by one in 4 straight starts. He got a nice run support win last time out, and tonight he's gonna earn it himself, starting a stretch of consistent pitching.

Strange line up today, at least in my mind.

Johnson
Menechino
Wells
Delgado
Hudson
Phelps
Gomez
Cash
Berg

Since the odds against that are phenomenally high

Not to be all rain-on-the-paradey, but what's so phenomenally high about the odds there?

40 games is certainly a reasonably sample size. The Orioles may play worse, but the Yankees are just as likely to play better. The Red Sox are right where you'd expect, and the Rays are likely to play better than .278 ball. Of the two designated superstars in the regular lineup, Wells is playing pretty, uh, well, while Delgado will probably get better. But Catalanotto won't hit .340 (probably) and Gomez and Woody both seem to be playing above expectations. Maybe Eric Hinske really is a .218 hitter.

Halladay started slow, but the much-heralded Batista's current WHIP and BA-against is almost exactly what it's been for his career, Hentgen is old and Ted Lilly is -- well, John Gizzi warned us, didn't he? The bullpen, for all the grousing (and lack of a Proven Closer) has statistically been pretty good, all things considered.

Look, I still think it's more likely that the Blue Jays will finish, oh, 82-80 than 66-96, but I just don't see the argument as anything but as one through fan-coloured-glasses, if you will.

That certainly is a unique lineup. Hudson appears to be trying to hit in every spot in the lineup-although he'll probably never make #3 or #4.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2004/05/18/sports1756EDT0309.DTL
The Jays have signed Marvin Benard to a minor league deal (COMN). Most likely there to fill in while Hermansen, Gross and Pond are away for various reasons. But who knows, we could see him in Toronto as a 4th outfielder at some point.

One of my best friends, a hardcore Giants fan, is going to have a field day with the Benard signing.

Ryan01, please see Jordan's post in the minor league update thread.

Marvin Benard as a 4th outfielder...why not? He'd probably be a better choice than Dave Berg.

Their is a big enough sample size to know the Jays aren't a .500 club. The starting rotation is bad. Doc has been average this year. Batista is nothing better than a number 3 guy at best. Lilly .... well he's Lilly. Hentgen should retire since he hits the wall after 80 pitches or 5 innings. The jury is still out on Miller. As for the bullpen, they have pitched well when the game isn't on the line and poor when it is.

As for the hitters Cat, Woody, Zhaun. and Gomez are playing over their heads. Wells and Delgado have been huge disappointments. How much longer can the Jays wait before they start showing the power we all know they have. I thought Hinske sucked last year because he wasn't 100% well he's been 100% all season and he flat out sucks. Strikes out too much, can't hit for average, double pumps almost everytime has the ball on the field. Phelps is a wiff machine while showing no power this season. Cash has been solid behind the plate but there is still a question mark regarding if he can handle ML pitching. Johnson has been solid and the big bright spot has been O-Dog. I haven't looked at the stats but I'm pretty sure he leads if not in top 3 in errors at 2B in the ML, but I still think he has been outstanding on the field. He has the best range out of any regular 2B in the AL. And he's on his way to a break out year at the plate.

And the AAA club has been a bust.

These are bleak times in Jaysville. I'm just worried they will only get 3000-4000 season ticket holders for next season. And the team will move to the US.

Got it Mike. Thanks for the good word ;)

Yeah he's probably at least as useful as Berg, though bringing in a RH outfielder would make more sense to me. He's probably one of the few players available who could actually help out the Syracuse offense a little though.

Whoa, hold on there Asianflow. Sounds like you were going to finish up with " so I am deciding to end it all right now" :-)

I think the pitching has actually been pretty solid - with the exception of Hentgen and some ill timed bullpen blow ups.

The defence has been solid if unspectacular.

The middle of the order has been the problem. At least with Wells and Delgado, both are below their career numbers. I think that their limited performance will improve back towards their career averages.

The performance of the AAA club is irrelevant. What is important is the development of players at this stage for the Jays. A lot of their youger prospects there were not expected to blow everyone away at first and have not.

I want to save Asianflow's post for posterity - to take a look at at the end of the season.

The thing I said about Batista controlling his walks? I guess I was kidding-as he's already walked 2 in 1+ inn.

Of course Cash just threw Hunter out. He's got such a cannon.

What a treat to have this game on TSN. Rod Black is no Dan Shulman, but on his worst day he's 1000 times better than Rob Faulds.

The picture seems to be a lot better on TSN as well.

Might just be my TV though.

Asianflow: I agree there is cause for concern, but I think it's early to draw conclusions. Remember when everyone was writing off Wells a few weeks ago? Well, he hit .211 in April, but since then he's hit .375 (OPS 1.050). I would put Hudson in this category too. And although Halladay doesn't seem completely untracked yet, after his last start, one Boston player ranked him among the best in the league. (Pedro said he'd pay money to watch him pitch.)

I still think Batista still has a chance to put together some good numbers. Ditto Lilly and Hinske. I don't think anyone can call Cash's performance a disappointment so far.

What worries me more has been the injuries (McGowan, Quiroz) and generally poor stats (Rios, Adams, Sequea, Arnold, Ford-Griffin, Perkins, to name a few) in the minors. But again, it is early. Gross, Hill, and Rosario seem to have picked it up lately. But the Jays "top-five" farm system has been struggling.

I'm still burnin'that Sportsnet Pacific didn't show the Doc start on Sunday. Haven't watched the Net since and am really really happy TSN has a few games.

I got some lighter fluid for all those wishing to light their hair on fire at the quarter pole.

I guess I'm just frustrated. Our record stinks and we still haven't even played the Angels or Yanks yet.

I'm still undecided if I want to head down to Seattle to watch the Jays play the M's on June 2nd.

While everyone is fretting about how the season is going, they seem to e missing that Batista is pitching an awesome game tonight. In fact he's...um...well, he's pitching really really well. Let No More Be Said Than That.

I enjoy listening to JP too.

I really like the way the TSN guys interview him though because they don't interrupt him to do PBP the way Faulds does. I think it's what he's supposed to do, but it just annoys me when he does that. The game is on TV; PBP isn't all that important. I would rather listen to JP than have him interrupted so Faulds can tell me that Phelps struck out when I can see that for myself.

Just a little pet peeve of mine I guess.

ARGH...well, Harry I guess you're not superstitious.

JP blends in with the crew - it adds to the game because it's a different perspective - BPB on TV is overrated.

Interesting example of JP in an interview: Wells shattered the end of his bat with a foul ball - one of the crew coyly referred to last year's Sammy Sosa corked bat incident - the other guy laughing protests, the response is hey, VW's clean - then JP chimes in with (tongue in cheek) "hey, the way we're going we'll try anything".

I expect R Griffie in tomorrow's Star to shrill "JP admits Jays ready to cheat!"

JP blends in with the crew - it adds to the game because it's a different perspective - BPB on TV is overrated.

Interesting example of JP in an interview: Wells shattered the end of his bat with a foul ball - one of the crew coyly referred to last year's Sammy Sosa corked bat incident - the other guy laughing protests, the response is hey, VW's clean - then JP chimes in with (tongue in cheek) "hey, the way we're going we'll try anything".

I expect R Griffie in tomorrow's Star to shrill "JP admits Jays ready to cheat!"

And no, I'm not superstitious - besides, the superstition is SAYING it - the words NO and HITTER have not been vocalized in this hotel room yet.
..........
oops, now they have ... "ain't I a stinkah!"

i am so tempted to side totally with Asianflow right now because my thoughts on the Jays are so similar. i was ready to write off this season after game 12. i just gotta believe that things will get better, if Vernon and Carlos could ever get on the same page, if Doc and any other one of the starters could too. maybe the problem is that every time the boys goes up to the plate they're conflicted by the want to hit the first ptich over being forced to wade through several as is Tosca's forte right now. that strategy works on some pitchers but not all and what happens if you wear out starter only to hit a better bullpen?

Let's steal some bases.
Let's hit for power.
Let's totally renovate the interior of the staledom.
Let's make a trade with the M's.

JP Just refered to Gomey and Zauny while talking to Roddy & Patty. He is a man on the edge. He is a 3-game losing streak away form putting a gun to his head.

There! See what you did!

NEVER HINT AT A NO-NO, see what happens........

Riiiiiight. You so funny!

before I gett pilloried, my previous post was
1 - a movie quote
2 - directed at Steve Birnie.

Did Gleeman's buddy just break up a no-no?

What's up with Miguel Blasstista?

The roof is caving in on Bastista.............

Outside of Doc, how many other times have the Jays SP pitched into the 7th inning?

1 hit and 5 walks? An odd stat line indeed.

This is very Escobar-like...

Turning the pivot on that DP to end the bases loaded jam, I'm pretty sure Hudson's foot wasn't within TWO feet of the bag. But I'm happy the ump was a Tom Waits fan - "in the neighbourhood"

Big Unit has a perfect game through 6.

3-run double, first pitch from Roa relieving Santana.

I own Santana, but the Jays need it more than me ... 5-2 good guys.

Where is Catalanotto pinch-hitting for Menechino?

Maybe it's not irony, but how crazy was it Torii Hunter making a patented VW-like dead-run-back-over-the-shoulder catch of a screaming liner off Vernon's bat to dead center?

Good inning, though. Wells nailed that pitch, which is also encouraging.

Good inning. It's too bad Wells couldn't have cleared the fence there though, I thought he was going to based on where the pitch was. It's nice to see they're scoring runs, but I would like to see some more homers personally. Call me a "new generation" fan. :P

I hate announcers light-footing around calls on the field. Am I the only one who clearly saw
1- Lew Ford beat the lollipop throw to first from Menechino
2- Carlos' foot come off the bag?

aRJ update: 7ip, no-no still a go, 10 K.

Braves strike out 18 times in their last game, and are now being no-hit (including 10 K's.) Ouch.

Lurch has two out in the eighth, still perfect, JD Drew up.

- and down goes Drew! Three outs from a Perfecto.

(hey, Frasor really looks good, eh?)

And Johnson's only thrown 103 pitches through 8. 11 Ks.

*drool*

Damm Unit is still throwin 97MPH fastballs. The Brave hitters aren't even coming close. It's like stealing candy from a baby. I think the Unit will throw the first perfect game in the NL since Dennis Martinez did it in 91.

I've switched to TBS for now.

Randy Jonson one out away!

Unit gets Nick Green (Nick Green!) looking - one out away from history.

Fingers Crossed!!

YES!! Friggin' amazing!

Got the last one swinging, too. Johnson gets the perfect game. Wow.

Wow, that's pretty awesome. I watched the last few innings and he was flat out dominant. No one could touch him-if they did they rolled a weak grounder to second. Pretty neat stuff. Gotta love baseball!

PS. Close it out Jays.

Great game by Johnson. Guess those who thought he was done after last year may be wrong.

That was on TBS? Damn, I missed it. I was just on TBS and they had a commercial. I didn't put "potential perfect game against Atlanta" and "Atlanta Braves games on TBS" together.

He was around the 120 pitch mark, and he still threw 97 and he's a geezer too!

The closest it was too being broken was by Hampton in the 7th inning, he hit a slow grounder and almost beat the throw.

Oh boy...here we go. This is like Billy Koch all over again.

When was the last time Adams had a three up three down inning? What is it about the Blue Jays closer position that makes every one who dons that label turn the ninth inning into adventures?

Awesome. Unit threw *30* balls all game, and allowed no hits despite throwing all those strikes.

That, friends, is "stuff."

De Los Santos up in the bullpen in the 9th...isn't that the sign of the coming Apocalypse?

Tosca can't keep putting Adams into save situations. It looks like he has Cliff Politte syndrome. He is showing he doesn't have the mental makeup to close games.

Crap, after watching Randy for 10 minutes, I flipped it to Snet out of habit. I just now remembered the game is on TSN, so I have no idea what's going on.

Thank god for youthful exuberance as Ryan swings at a pitch two feet high.

Cmon, cmon, WOOHOO!

Did Guzman have a bus to catch? He looked awful striking out against Adams.

What a relief - I felt the A-Train of collapse a-comin' around the bend there for a while ...

Jays win! What a way to end that first quarter of the season.

Wheeeeww. Terrific recovery by Adams, coming back to strike the last two guys out with the tying runners in scoring position. Nice win.

Wow! Talk about illustrating

(a) how the save statistic is overrated, but
(b) how reassuring it would be to have a reliable closer.

Thank goodness the Twins gave Adams that free out. If you have two men on and nobody out and it's your last chance to tie the game, do you sacrifice an out just to get the tying run to SECOND? How silly.

The Big Unit was perfect tonight. I guess he's recovered from last year.

Awesome. Unit threw *30* balls all game, and allowed no hits despite throwing all those strikes.

That, friends, is "stuff."

This after sheets threw only *25* balls against them during his 18K game on the weekend. Not to take away from either guy's amazing accomplishments, but this current Atlanta lineup is awful.

When the man at the plate is hitting like a sack of crap, your bench has been spent and you've got the top of the order up against a team that hasn't done well in close games, a sac bunt seems like a pretty good play.

I thought today was going to suck when my plan to go the game fell through, but hey, I got to see the Jays win and Unit throw a perfect game...not bad. And I still hate Terry Adams.

Guys, come on, at least Adams didn't throw a wild pitch today.

Didn't he uncork one in the ninth? I can't remember...

It's not in the boxscore; why do I remember one right after the lead-off hit in the 9th?

Oh, OK, they gave Cash a passed ball...I knew I wasn't crazy...Lalalalala

Hey guys,

Regarding the alledged jinxing of the no-hitter, Batista was at 85 pitches through 5 innings. Thus, having absolutley no chance of going the distance.

Where is Catalanotto pinch-hitting for Menechino?

No love for the new Frank, eh? I thought he did very well tonight.

The Cheer Club had a blast with the drum. I'll post more about it tomorrow.

When was the last time Adams had a three up three down inning?

Man i'm a pretentious bastard, as i'm gonna answer my own question on an internet forum.

Adams last had a 'clear' inning on April 24th. At that point he had pitched 11 innings and given up 4 hits and 2 runs (but 7 walks).

Since then he's pitched 9.1 innings and given up 15! hits, 5 walks and 5 runs.

Now I'm not saying they should replace him as closer (although I agree with Craig that Speier should be the guy once he's healthy), I just find it amazing that any Blue Jay that pitches the ninth in a close game develops a case of 'closeritis suckitis'. Is it Voodoo? Can't Jobu do something about this?

Did anyone else think Dave Berg's eventual RBI at-bat was one of the funniest of the season? The first 2 pitches were right down the pipe but he cleared out like they were way inside. Then one actually comes inside and he can't get outta the way (Thank God)! What a way to DOUBLE your RBI total. For once I wasn't at all scared about an inning-ending DP because I was sure he was going to strike out!

Unrelated to anything...

On the night Randy Johnson throws a perfect game, Jason Schmidt throws a 1-hit, 1-walk shutout (in just 144 pitches!).

Josh Banks tried to do his best Randy Johnson impression (on a pitch count of course) by striking out 11 against no walks in 6 innings tonight. He allowed three hits and gave up an unearned run.

Reading through this thread it seems that I'm the only one that likes the SN coverage better. Faulds is a moron, but Cerutti's sharp. The TSN crew simply isn't doing enough games to be insightful: Black kept referring to trends that ended 2 weeks ago. Their graphics were always wrong and the two of them said little of any consequence, instead making broad statements about how they're not doing well, but they will soon - pure genius. Oh yeah, and I hate Vic Rauter.

For once I wasn't at all scared about an inning-ending DP because I was sure he was going to strike out!

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

I swear I was actually thinking to myself "Please just strike out Berg, don't GIDP"

Ohh I am such a pessimist.

Yet another good showing by Frasor; even with runners on base he never seems out of control. It's mind-boggling when you consider that the only runs he's given up came in an appearance against the Twins when he gave up a double, Tosca made him intentionally walk the next guy before replacing him, only to have the next guy let both runs score.

"but Cerutti's sharp": I can't believe I read those words together. Cerutti might be the worst color commentator I've ever heard (yes, worse than Joe Carter). He analyzes plays that happened two or three pitches before, he frequently calls changeups curveballs, and vice versa, and he's just plain wrong on most of his analysis.

Ever since Buck, the Jays have had some of the worst color guys to come through anywhere in the majors (Tabler, Carter, Cerutti). I say give the job to Tom Candiotti full-time.

Snake and I will be attneding Wednesday's game. Is it safe to say that attendance will be horribly low, even in regards to other Bauxites or are any of you attending?

Marvin Benard as a 4th outfielder...why not? He'd probably be a better choice than Dave Berg.

My guess is the Jays signed Benard to make Syracuse more competitive and make the SkyChiefs organization happy as they have made rumblings about being another teams affiliatte if they couldnt field a better team. I think Gross and/or Rios will get the call in July.

Congrats to the Cheer Club who got a nice plug from Ryan Greer this evening during the middle of the 9th. I was over in 527 and could hear you guys loud and clear...and with the echo it sounded like we had two drums going ;-)

Candiotti is the best color guy I've heard this season. Isn't he working for ESPN part time?

What did Greer say? We were too busy shouting to hear him. ;)

There was a guy with a snare drum last night, too, somewhere behind you, A. At the back of a section between us and home.

Jobu, sorry, I'm stuck at work, even if it is my birthday.

Happy Date of Birth :)

Snake and I will be attneding Wednesday's game. Is it safe to say that attendance will be horribly low, even in regards to other Bauxites or are any of you attending?

Today is school day at the Dome. Enjoy yourself with 20,000 screaming kids. At least it will be loud when the Jays score.

Look, I still think it's more likely that the Blue Jays will finish, oh, 82-80 than 66-96, but I just don't see the argument as anything but as one through fan-coloured-glasses, if you will.

The Jays are 10-7 in May, and 9-5 since their horrible 8-18 start. They've just split six games against two of the three division-leading teams. Given this, I'd say that a winning record is still quite possible.

And, since we're tossing numbers around: 10-7 is .588 baseball. If they continue to play at this rate, they'll win 71 of their last 122 games, and finish with 88 wins. w00t! :-)

Happy birthday, Aaron. If there's anyone's birthday on which the Jays are destined to win, it's yours!

Hey, thanks! I'm hoping it's true. I'm wearing the same dark blue '89 button up jersey I wore to last night's game, and a win today would secure its position as Number One Jersey in the Closet (the early '00s road grey jersey signed by Reed Johnson has not yet seen back-to-back wins this year, I don't think, so it may be seeing some bench time).

And yes, I know how seriously idiotic that plan is, but I'm still going to do it.