Here's my June report card for the Blue Jays. As usual, players are graded from A+ (yow!) all the way down to F (ow!). Gradings are extremely non-scientific.
Hitting
You know what happened to the hitting as well as I do. The Jays' many injuries have forced them to bat Reed Johnson third and Eric Hinske fourth, and have forced them to use a platoon of Clark and Gomez at first base. Despite the Jays' many injuries, they didn't hit that much worse than their opponents in June. (The Jays' pitchers get as much credit as their hitters for this, of course.)
By the way, Jays pitchers batted 13 times in June, and had no hits, no walks, no runs scored, no RBI's, and seven strikeouts. Gotta love that interleague play.
Stats listed are AVG/OBP/SLG for June.
Dave Berg
.321/.356/.393
Okay, everybody, it's time to cease hostilities. Of course, Berg is not a major league outfielder, and he isn't hitting for power or drawing walks. But he is hitting for average, so he's not hurting the team any more. And it isn't his fault that he's being asked to do more than he is capable of doing. He has value as a fifth or sixth infielder, and as a pinch hitter and emergency outfielder. In a just universe, that's what he's currently doing. Hasn't gotten hurt yet.
Grade: B
Kevin Cash
.176/.222/.412
Waiting patiently until Zaun's hot streak runs out and/or he gets hurt. Of course, Cash could get hurt again too. Still looks like a good field, no hit catcher, and seems destined to follow Buck Martinez's career path. I hope he proves me wrong.
Grade: D
Frank Catalanotto
.241/.267/.345
Came back too soon from his groin injury, and went back on the DL. Get well soon; I suppose we'll see you in August. I hope.
Grade: Incomplete
Howie Clark
.236/.343/.436
Hitting for surprising power: he had three home runs. Like many other Jays, he's taking the occasional walk, but hitting for a low average. His numbers are remarkably similar to those of Gomez, Zaun, Johnson, and even Hinske. Is the entire team falling behind 0-1 at the plate after taking the first pitch for a strike, or what? Hasn't gotten hurt yet.
Grade: C+
Carlos Delgado
.000/.000/.000
The first base situation will be J.P.'s biggest test as a GM. The Jays don't have anybody in the system to cover the first base job, so they have to either re-sign Delgado or find somebody to replace him. A bad decision will increase fan cynicism and postpone the Jays' timetable by two years or more. Most commentators that I've seen are regarding Delgado's departure as inevitable, and are just wondering whether the Jays can get him to waive his no-trade clause. Some writers are also assuming that the Jays' ownership will just take Delgado's money and put it in their pockets. What do you think?
Grade: Missing in action
Bobby Estalella
.333/.556/.333
Showed up, played a couple of games, got a couple of hits, and then got hurt. Welcome to Toronto.
Grade: Incomplete
Chris Gomez
.260/.341/.342
You know the Jays are hurting when they're forced to play this guy at first base. A reasonably patient hitter, and can play all four infield positions adequately, but he can't hit for power or average. First basemen usually slug better than .342. Hasn't gotten hurt yet.
Grade: C+
Eric Hinske
.286/.371/.451
Has got all of his game back except for his power, and even that is showing some signs of life. But even without the long ball he's still a useful player: anybody who can reach base 37% of the time and is playing a good defensive third base is somebody who can help you win championships. Doesn't belong in the cleanup spot, of course, but everybody knows that, and he's better than the other options available. Hasn't gotten hurt yet, but probably should look both ways before crossing streets. Hasn't gotten hurt yet.
Grade: A-
Orlando Hudson
.348/.464/.543
If he keeps this up, he's going to make millions and millions of dollars. Look what we have here: a second baseman hitting well over .300 with a little power, plenty of walks, and Gold-Glove calibre defense. And he does it all with style. Of course, he'll only do this until he gets hurt again.
Grade: A+
Reed Johnson
.245/.306/.336
Sparky is actually struggling a bit this month. I think he's just a streaky player; we'll have to get used to this. As for whether he really should be a fourth outfielder: he's obviously good enough to play regularly, but championship-quality teams usually have three outfielders who are even better than Johnson, and have guys as talented as Sparky on the bench. Hopefully, the division-winning Jays of the future will have (for example) Wells, Rios and Gross in the outfield, with Sparky as a fill-in/pinch-hitter/pinch-runner/pinch-bunter when needed. Gets no respect in the outfield - I've seen more near-collisions in the outfield this year than I've seen in all my years as a Jays fan. It's the centre fielder's ball, people. Hasn't gotten hurt yet, though his fellow outfielders are trying their best.
Grade: C
Frank Menechino
.320/.427/.507
Why did Oakland get rid of this guy? Seems to be able to handle shortstop well enough to push Woody out of the way, and he's hitting up a storm. This means, of course, that he's about due to get hurt. Sigh.
Grade: A+
Josh Phelps
.125/.155/.250
I was watching Phelps hit the other night, and I was wondering: does he use a larger and heavier bat than most hitters? He looked like he'd brought an entire tree up to the plate with him. He'll be a difficult reclamation project: he is apparently having his hitting mechanics overhauled, and such operations are seldom successful. Sending him down to the minors won't help, unless they send a hitting coach down with him, as he's proven that he can hit home runs down there with his old swing. I'm not optimistic about him at all: he's stopped drawing walks, he isn't hitting for power, and he's striking out in over one-third of his at-bats. Here's a startling statistic for you: Phelps, despite being the club's forgotten man, is now third on the team in games played, trailing only Johnson and Hinske. You know your career is in trouble when your employers would rather play Chris Gomez at first than you.
Grade: F
Simon Pond
.091/.231/.091
I'd forgotten that he played in the majors this month. So, probably, have you. So, probably, has Simon.
Grade: Incomplete
Alexis Rios
.271/.307/.365
In a broadcast late last month, John Cerutti mentioned that Rios's struggles have not dented his confidence. This, I suppose, is a good sign: when players believe they belong in the big leagues, they usually do. Vernon Wells displayed this air of quiet assurance when he first got here too. (Mind you, so did DeWayne Wise.) Rios still has a long way to go: he's not drawing walks or hitting for power yet, and his defense is still a little uncertain. But his batting average is starting to come up, which suggests that he's starting to adjust to major-league pitching. His on-base percentage for June was actually higher than Reed Johnson's. He'd better be careful, though - if he actually starts doing well, the Baseball Gods will notice, and he'll wind up hurt. Amazing statistic: Rios had 26 hits this month, and only two RBI's. Woah. Compare that to Howie Clark, who had 13 hits and 9 RBI. RBI's are usually situational, but this is bizarre.
Grade: C-
Vernon Wells
.333/.370/.569
Was just rounding into his peak form when he got hurt. There are conflicting reports as to whether it was his calf or his Achilles tendon that was injured; if the latter, he may not be back for quite some time. (For some reason, I get the feeling that he's out for the year.) And you have to wonder whether a persistent leg injury will affect his running speed or his range in the outfield. Sorry, I'm quite the ray of sunshine this month, aren't I?
Grade: A+ before the injury
Chris Woodward
.200/.216/.320
Desperately needs a change of scenery. The Jays seem to have given up on him. When he does get in, he appears to be pressing at the plate: he's not walking, and he's not hitting for power. Remember when Woody used to have those wondrous 11-pitch at-bats? There are plenty of teams who need shortstops, and everybody needs a useful utility infielder, so Woody should land on his feet somewhere. Perhaps the Jays should donate him to Oakland to thank them for Menechino.
Grade: F
Gregg "Going Going" Zaun
.244/.340/.344
His early hot streak is disguising the fact that he's turning back into his pre-2004 self. But, even now, he's drawing enough walks to give him a reasonable on-base percentage for a catcher, and his defense is more than adequate. However, the Jays' team of the future is not likely to include Zaun, so at some point the Jays will have to give Cash more playing time. I suppose that they should wait until they've bailed out the boat and slain all the alligators.
Grade: B-
Pitching
Here's a fascinating stat for you: so far this season, the Jays' pitchers have allowed 4.83 runs per game. The New York Yankees' pitchers have allowed 4.76. And the Yankees spent about a jillion squillion zillion more dollars on pitching than the Jays did - and, despite this, were forced to give a desperation start to Tanyon Sturtze. J.P. has to be given credit for a good job here.
Stats are IP H BB SO ERA.
Terry Adams
8.0 7 6 5 2.25
How do you give up 13 baserunners in 8 innings, and keep your ERA that low? Is he giving up other relievers' runs? If he is, he's probably not too popular in the bullpen. I still wonder whether the only difference between Adams and Chulk is that Vinnie has had a couple of hot outings recently. I like the idea of stable bullpen roles, though, so I see no reason to stop the vinsanity.
Grade: C
Miguel Batista
37.1 30 14 21 1.93
Despite his occasional bouts of wildness, he's become a darn fine pitcher, and well worth what the Jays paid for him. The only dark cloud is that his K/IP ratio is low; that's usually a sign of bad things to come.
Grade: A
Vinnie "The Incredible" Chulk
17.0 13 8 12 1.59
I had no idea he threw that hard! Woah! Like Frasor, he's figured out that even talented major league hitters have trouble with low 90+ fastballs. I still think that he's not that much better than his peers, as his walk and strikeout numbers aren't great, but I like the idea of defining roles for bullpen pitchers, and Chulk should be able to handle being the eighth-inning guy. Vinsanity!
Grade: A
Valerio de los Santos
0.0 0 1 0 0.00
Appeared in one ballgame, walked one batter, and appeared on one disabled list. May have pitched his last inning in Toronto. The only good thing about his and Kershner's departure is that the Jays can't indulge in multiple pitching changes any more.
Grade: Incomplete
Bob File
13.2 18 7 8 4.61
Had that one horrible outing in which he was treated like a batting practice pitcher. One more like that, and he'll be heading on down the road. The only good thing about his month was that he didn't give up any home runs.
Grade: D
Jason Frasor
12.0 9 5 12 3.75
Makes pitching look simple. He winds up and hits either corner with a 90+ fastball. The batters watch it go by, or they swing and miss it. The only other pitcher who was so effective right away with so few growing pains was Tom Henke; Frasor isn't anywhere near as good as the Terminator was, but so far he looks like the real deal. But he's not the closer officially. Shhh.
Grade: A
Roy Halladay
23.0 21 8 20 5.87
He claims he's fine, and there's nothing in the numbers that say he isn't: his walks are up a bit, but his strikeouts are solid. I think he just had a bad day. Everybody does every now and again.
Grade: B
Pat Hentgen
23.2 24 17 8 7.99
Baseball is cruel. Hentgen is still the fierce competitor and all-around nice guy he's been all along, but his stuff has dropped below major-league quality. A general rule I use: if a pitcher's strikeout total is less than his innings pitched divided by two, he's toast. Call this the Michalak Line. This month, Pat struck out eight batters in 23.2 innings. He also gave up seven home runs, was charged with four losses, and saw his control completely desert him. Ouch. This just in: he's officially lost his spot in the rotation. He's taken the news with class and dignity, which is why this is so painful to watch.
Grade: F
Jason Kershner
9.0 14 3 4 9.00
Gave up three home runs and 14 hits in nine innings (including two emergency starts) and then was handed a ticket out of town. Will likely be back; I predict he'll replace either File or Nakamura eventually, as they all have roughly the same level of ability, and everybody looks better when facing AAA hitters than they do when viewed up close and personal.
Grade: F
Kerry Ligtenberg
5.0 7 3 3 3.60
Came off the disabled list only to find that all the good seats had been taken on the Good Ship Bullpen. If Frasor or Chulk falters (or, sigh, gets hurt), Ligtenberg is likely to be the next one thrown into the arena. (Have I overloaded this entry with enough metaphors, or did this last one turn out to be the straw that broke the camel's back?)
Grade: C
Ted Lilly
35.2 35 15 28 3.03
When you average out his good outings and his bad outings, you get a good month overall. Led the team in June wins with 4. Quality starters are hard to find; credit J.P. for bringing Lilly to Toronto. I haven't seen signs of the dithering inconsistency we'd been warned about; compared to Kelvim Escobar, Lilly's like a machine out there.
Grade: A-
Aquilino Lopez
4.1 2 3 2 2.08
I hope that the relief pitchers have banded together to rent apartments in Toronto and Syracuse. Then, when the revolving door is spun again, they don't have to rent new places to live - they can just swap living accomodations as necessary. I'm not sure why he was recalled - his numbers weren't great in the minors. And I'm not sure why he was sent down again - his numbers were OK in the majors.
Grade: C
Mike Nakamura
7.1 8 1 5 8.59
Came back up and basically picked up where he left off: he throws strikes, and he's got good stuff on about 90% of his pitches. The other 10% of the time, he gets lit up. This leads to lots of strikeouts and lots of hits and home runs. If he wants it, he can have a long career as a AAA reserve and occasional callup, as young prospects are likely to be baffled by his motion.
Grade: F
Adam Peterson
2.2 7 3 2 16.88
It's too early to panic. Many pitchers have trouble adjusting to life in the major leagues - they can't believe that they're actually pitching against the batters they used to watch on ESPN. Duane Ward, for example, got beaten like a gong when he first arrived in the majors. It took him several years to become really comfortable and dominant on the mound; hopefully, Peterson will adjust more quickly. His future is anyone's guess: he could become the next Tom Henke, the next Billy Koch, or the next Tom Davey.
Grade: Incomplete
Justin Speier
10.2 12 6 8 7.59
You know, I can't tell all of these guys apart any more. They all pitch right-handed. They're all inconsistent. They all have experience as a closer. They've all spent time on the disabled list. They're all having trouble with their control. They've all been reduced to picking up mop-up innings. And the sample sizes are all too small to really jump to any conclusions about them. Speier was the only reliever to be charged with two losses this month.
Grade: D-
Josh Towers
28.1 36 7 13 4.76
Like Nakamura, Towers picked up where he left off when he was recalled. Like before, he's throwing strikes, and many of them are hit long distances. Was having a good month before he got stomped on the 30th. His future basically depends on Justin Miller's health and David Bush's development rate. His strikeout rate is below the Michalak Line, alas.
Grade: C-
Overall
The Jays went 12-15 in June. This isn't exactly great, but how many teams can stay competitive without their three best hitters (or four, if you count Myers)? How many teams can survive losing a solid rotation starter, as well as having their ace miss two starts? This actually would be a good team if everybody was healthy, and will be a good team again someday.
Hitting
You know what happened to the hitting as well as I do. The Jays' many injuries have forced them to bat Reed Johnson third and Eric Hinske fourth, and have forced them to use a platoon of Clark and Gomez at first base. Despite the Jays' many injuries, they didn't hit that much worse than their opponents in June. (The Jays' pitchers get as much credit as their hitters for this, of course.)
By the way, Jays pitchers batted 13 times in June, and had no hits, no walks, no runs scored, no RBI's, and seven strikeouts. Gotta love that interleague play.
Stats listed are AVG/OBP/SLG for June.
Dave Berg
.321/.356/.393
Okay, everybody, it's time to cease hostilities. Of course, Berg is not a major league outfielder, and he isn't hitting for power or drawing walks. But he is hitting for average, so he's not hurting the team any more. And it isn't his fault that he's being asked to do more than he is capable of doing. He has value as a fifth or sixth infielder, and as a pinch hitter and emergency outfielder. In a just universe, that's what he's currently doing. Hasn't gotten hurt yet.
Grade: B
Kevin Cash
.176/.222/.412
Waiting patiently until Zaun's hot streak runs out and/or he gets hurt. Of course, Cash could get hurt again too. Still looks like a good field, no hit catcher, and seems destined to follow Buck Martinez's career path. I hope he proves me wrong.
Grade: D
Frank Catalanotto
.241/.267/.345
Came back too soon from his groin injury, and went back on the DL. Get well soon; I suppose we'll see you in August. I hope.
Grade: Incomplete
Howie Clark
.236/.343/.436
Hitting for surprising power: he had three home runs. Like many other Jays, he's taking the occasional walk, but hitting for a low average. His numbers are remarkably similar to those of Gomez, Zaun, Johnson, and even Hinske. Is the entire team falling behind 0-1 at the plate after taking the first pitch for a strike, or what? Hasn't gotten hurt yet.
Grade: C+
Carlos Delgado
.000/.000/.000
The first base situation will be J.P.'s biggest test as a GM. The Jays don't have anybody in the system to cover the first base job, so they have to either re-sign Delgado or find somebody to replace him. A bad decision will increase fan cynicism and postpone the Jays' timetable by two years or more. Most commentators that I've seen are regarding Delgado's departure as inevitable, and are just wondering whether the Jays can get him to waive his no-trade clause. Some writers are also assuming that the Jays' ownership will just take Delgado's money and put it in their pockets. What do you think?
Grade: Missing in action
Bobby Estalella
.333/.556/.333
Showed up, played a couple of games, got a couple of hits, and then got hurt. Welcome to Toronto.
Grade: Incomplete
Chris Gomez
.260/.341/.342
You know the Jays are hurting when they're forced to play this guy at first base. A reasonably patient hitter, and can play all four infield positions adequately, but he can't hit for power or average. First basemen usually slug better than .342. Hasn't gotten hurt yet.
Grade: C+
Eric Hinske
.286/.371/.451
Has got all of his game back except for his power, and even that is showing some signs of life. But even without the long ball he's still a useful player: anybody who can reach base 37% of the time and is playing a good defensive third base is somebody who can help you win championships. Doesn't belong in the cleanup spot, of course, but everybody knows that, and he's better than the other options available. Hasn't gotten hurt yet, but probably should look both ways before crossing streets. Hasn't gotten hurt yet.
Grade: A-
Orlando Hudson
.348/.464/.543
If he keeps this up, he's going to make millions and millions of dollars. Look what we have here: a second baseman hitting well over .300 with a little power, plenty of walks, and Gold-Glove calibre defense. And he does it all with style. Of course, he'll only do this until he gets hurt again.
Grade: A+
Reed Johnson
.245/.306/.336
Sparky is actually struggling a bit this month. I think he's just a streaky player; we'll have to get used to this. As for whether he really should be a fourth outfielder: he's obviously good enough to play regularly, but championship-quality teams usually have three outfielders who are even better than Johnson, and have guys as talented as Sparky on the bench. Hopefully, the division-winning Jays of the future will have (for example) Wells, Rios and Gross in the outfield, with Sparky as a fill-in/pinch-hitter/pinch-runner/pinch-bunter when needed. Gets no respect in the outfield - I've seen more near-collisions in the outfield this year than I've seen in all my years as a Jays fan. It's the centre fielder's ball, people. Hasn't gotten hurt yet, though his fellow outfielders are trying their best.
Grade: C
Frank Menechino
.320/.427/.507
Why did Oakland get rid of this guy? Seems to be able to handle shortstop well enough to push Woody out of the way, and he's hitting up a storm. This means, of course, that he's about due to get hurt. Sigh.
Grade: A+
Josh Phelps
.125/.155/.250
I was watching Phelps hit the other night, and I was wondering: does he use a larger and heavier bat than most hitters? He looked like he'd brought an entire tree up to the plate with him. He'll be a difficult reclamation project: he is apparently having his hitting mechanics overhauled, and such operations are seldom successful. Sending him down to the minors won't help, unless they send a hitting coach down with him, as he's proven that he can hit home runs down there with his old swing. I'm not optimistic about him at all: he's stopped drawing walks, he isn't hitting for power, and he's striking out in over one-third of his at-bats. Here's a startling statistic for you: Phelps, despite being the club's forgotten man, is now third on the team in games played, trailing only Johnson and Hinske. You know your career is in trouble when your employers would rather play Chris Gomez at first than you.
Grade: F
Simon Pond
.091/.231/.091
I'd forgotten that he played in the majors this month. So, probably, have you. So, probably, has Simon.
Grade: Incomplete
Alexis Rios
.271/.307/.365
In a broadcast late last month, John Cerutti mentioned that Rios's struggles have not dented his confidence. This, I suppose, is a good sign: when players believe they belong in the big leagues, they usually do. Vernon Wells displayed this air of quiet assurance when he first got here too. (Mind you, so did DeWayne Wise.) Rios still has a long way to go: he's not drawing walks or hitting for power yet, and his defense is still a little uncertain. But his batting average is starting to come up, which suggests that he's starting to adjust to major-league pitching. His on-base percentage for June was actually higher than Reed Johnson's. He'd better be careful, though - if he actually starts doing well, the Baseball Gods will notice, and he'll wind up hurt. Amazing statistic: Rios had 26 hits this month, and only two RBI's. Woah. Compare that to Howie Clark, who had 13 hits and 9 RBI. RBI's are usually situational, but this is bizarre.
Grade: C-
Vernon Wells
.333/.370/.569
Was just rounding into his peak form when he got hurt. There are conflicting reports as to whether it was his calf or his Achilles tendon that was injured; if the latter, he may not be back for quite some time. (For some reason, I get the feeling that he's out for the year.) And you have to wonder whether a persistent leg injury will affect his running speed or his range in the outfield. Sorry, I'm quite the ray of sunshine this month, aren't I?
Grade: A+ before the injury
Chris Woodward
.200/.216/.320
Desperately needs a change of scenery. The Jays seem to have given up on him. When he does get in, he appears to be pressing at the plate: he's not walking, and he's not hitting for power. Remember when Woody used to have those wondrous 11-pitch at-bats? There are plenty of teams who need shortstops, and everybody needs a useful utility infielder, so Woody should land on his feet somewhere. Perhaps the Jays should donate him to Oakland to thank them for Menechino.
Grade: F
Gregg "Going Going" Zaun
.244/.340/.344
His early hot streak is disguising the fact that he's turning back into his pre-2004 self. But, even now, he's drawing enough walks to give him a reasonable on-base percentage for a catcher, and his defense is more than adequate. However, the Jays' team of the future is not likely to include Zaun, so at some point the Jays will have to give Cash more playing time. I suppose that they should wait until they've bailed out the boat and slain all the alligators.
Grade: B-
Pitching
Here's a fascinating stat for you: so far this season, the Jays' pitchers have allowed 4.83 runs per game. The New York Yankees' pitchers have allowed 4.76. And the Yankees spent about a jillion squillion zillion more dollars on pitching than the Jays did - and, despite this, were forced to give a desperation start to Tanyon Sturtze. J.P. has to be given credit for a good job here.
Stats are IP H BB SO ERA.
Terry Adams
8.0 7 6 5 2.25
How do you give up 13 baserunners in 8 innings, and keep your ERA that low? Is he giving up other relievers' runs? If he is, he's probably not too popular in the bullpen. I still wonder whether the only difference between Adams and Chulk is that Vinnie has had a couple of hot outings recently. I like the idea of stable bullpen roles, though, so I see no reason to stop the vinsanity.
Grade: C
Miguel Batista
37.1 30 14 21 1.93
Despite his occasional bouts of wildness, he's become a darn fine pitcher, and well worth what the Jays paid for him. The only dark cloud is that his K/IP ratio is low; that's usually a sign of bad things to come.
Grade: A
Vinnie "The Incredible" Chulk
17.0 13 8 12 1.59
I had no idea he threw that hard! Woah! Like Frasor, he's figured out that even talented major league hitters have trouble with low 90+ fastballs. I still think that he's not that much better than his peers, as his walk and strikeout numbers aren't great, but I like the idea of defining roles for bullpen pitchers, and Chulk should be able to handle being the eighth-inning guy. Vinsanity!
Grade: A
Valerio de los Santos
0.0 0 1 0 0.00
Appeared in one ballgame, walked one batter, and appeared on one disabled list. May have pitched his last inning in Toronto. The only good thing about his and Kershner's departure is that the Jays can't indulge in multiple pitching changes any more.
Grade: Incomplete
Bob File
13.2 18 7 8 4.61
Had that one horrible outing in which he was treated like a batting practice pitcher. One more like that, and he'll be heading on down the road. The only good thing about his month was that he didn't give up any home runs.
Grade: D
Jason Frasor
12.0 9 5 12 3.75
Makes pitching look simple. He winds up and hits either corner with a 90+ fastball. The batters watch it go by, or they swing and miss it. The only other pitcher who was so effective right away with so few growing pains was Tom Henke; Frasor isn't anywhere near as good as the Terminator was, but so far he looks like the real deal. But he's not the closer officially. Shhh.
Grade: A
Roy Halladay
23.0 21 8 20 5.87
He claims he's fine, and there's nothing in the numbers that say he isn't: his walks are up a bit, but his strikeouts are solid. I think he just had a bad day. Everybody does every now and again.
Grade: B
Pat Hentgen
23.2 24 17 8 7.99
Baseball is cruel. Hentgen is still the fierce competitor and all-around nice guy he's been all along, but his stuff has dropped below major-league quality. A general rule I use: if a pitcher's strikeout total is less than his innings pitched divided by two, he's toast. Call this the Michalak Line. This month, Pat struck out eight batters in 23.2 innings. He also gave up seven home runs, was charged with four losses, and saw his control completely desert him. Ouch. This just in: he's officially lost his spot in the rotation. He's taken the news with class and dignity, which is why this is so painful to watch.
Grade: F
Jason Kershner
9.0 14 3 4 9.00
Gave up three home runs and 14 hits in nine innings (including two emergency starts) and then was handed a ticket out of town. Will likely be back; I predict he'll replace either File or Nakamura eventually, as they all have roughly the same level of ability, and everybody looks better when facing AAA hitters than they do when viewed up close and personal.
Grade: F
Kerry Ligtenberg
5.0 7 3 3 3.60
Came off the disabled list only to find that all the good seats had been taken on the Good Ship Bullpen. If Frasor or Chulk falters (or, sigh, gets hurt), Ligtenberg is likely to be the next one thrown into the arena. (Have I overloaded this entry with enough metaphors, or did this last one turn out to be the straw that broke the camel's back?)
Grade: C
Ted Lilly
35.2 35 15 28 3.03
When you average out his good outings and his bad outings, you get a good month overall. Led the team in June wins with 4. Quality starters are hard to find; credit J.P. for bringing Lilly to Toronto. I haven't seen signs of the dithering inconsistency we'd been warned about; compared to Kelvim Escobar, Lilly's like a machine out there.
Grade: A-
Aquilino Lopez
4.1 2 3 2 2.08
I hope that the relief pitchers have banded together to rent apartments in Toronto and Syracuse. Then, when the revolving door is spun again, they don't have to rent new places to live - they can just swap living accomodations as necessary. I'm not sure why he was recalled - his numbers weren't great in the minors. And I'm not sure why he was sent down again - his numbers were OK in the majors.
Grade: C
Mike Nakamura
7.1 8 1 5 8.59
Came back up and basically picked up where he left off: he throws strikes, and he's got good stuff on about 90% of his pitches. The other 10% of the time, he gets lit up. This leads to lots of strikeouts and lots of hits and home runs. If he wants it, he can have a long career as a AAA reserve and occasional callup, as young prospects are likely to be baffled by his motion.
Grade: F
Adam Peterson
2.2 7 3 2 16.88
It's too early to panic. Many pitchers have trouble adjusting to life in the major leagues - they can't believe that they're actually pitching against the batters they used to watch on ESPN. Duane Ward, for example, got beaten like a gong when he first arrived in the majors. It took him several years to become really comfortable and dominant on the mound; hopefully, Peterson will adjust more quickly. His future is anyone's guess: he could become the next Tom Henke, the next Billy Koch, or the next Tom Davey.
Grade: Incomplete
Justin Speier
10.2 12 6 8 7.59
You know, I can't tell all of these guys apart any more. They all pitch right-handed. They're all inconsistent. They all have experience as a closer. They've all spent time on the disabled list. They're all having trouble with their control. They've all been reduced to picking up mop-up innings. And the sample sizes are all too small to really jump to any conclusions about them. Speier was the only reliever to be charged with two losses this month.
Grade: D-
Josh Towers
28.1 36 7 13 4.76
Like Nakamura, Towers picked up where he left off when he was recalled. Like before, he's throwing strikes, and many of them are hit long distances. Was having a good month before he got stomped on the 30th. His future basically depends on Justin Miller's health and David Bush's development rate. His strikeout rate is below the Michalak Line, alas.
Grade: C-
Overall
The Jays went 12-15 in June. This isn't exactly great, but how many teams can stay competitive without their three best hitters (or four, if you count Myers)? How many teams can survive losing a solid rotation starter, as well as having their ace miss two starts? This actually would be a good team if everybody was healthy, and will be a good team again someday.
