Is anyone else slightly perturbed at the fact that the Fighting Jays sent out an outfield of Catalanotto-Johnson-Hinske, with Hillenbrand and Glaus on the left side?

The best moment, of course, came when Howard was batting and the Jays went into The Shift. Which meant that Mighty Troy was lining up in the second baseman's usual spot. It looked... different. However, Taubenheim was either striking out the hitter or getting them to hit the ball to a corner outfielder. He didn't really need an infield yesterday.

Outfield defence has been one of this team's strengths all season. That's normally because Wells and Rios are out there, of course. But even the weak links - Cat and Dude - have been surprisingly effective.

Catalanotto looks a step quicker to me this season, which is a very unusual development for a 32 year old player. I wonder if he's finally confident that he can run all-out without hurting his groin. At any rate,  it's helped him on both offense and defense. He's moving around much better in the field, and because he's getting to balls much quicker, he's surprising baserunners attempting to take advantage of his mediocre arm. (Catalanotto is tied for the league lead in BaseRunner Kills, words I thought would only be written in some parallel universe with little resemblance to our own.)

As for the Dude - in the press box yesterday, we generally agreed that "he sure doesn't look like an outfielder, but he makes all the plays." Hinske doesn't look instinctive out there at all - well, he's only played like 20 games out there in his life - but he's been OK because he's a smart player and a hustling player. You can almost see the wheels turning as he calculates the best route to take to the ball. I especially enjoyed his work in the seventh inning, when Abreu lined a shot into the right-centre gap. Hinske had a long run to get there but rather than backhand the ball, which would have carried him further into centre field, he surrounded the ball like an infielder coming in on a slow roller, came up throwing and held Abreu (the go-ahead run, by the way) to a single.

It was a day for Ex-Jays to take decisions in MLB ...

Not only did Miguel Batista (8-5) and the D'Backs beat Esteban Loiaza (3-5) and the Dodgers, but Kelvim Escobar (6-9) and the Angels knocked off Mark Hendrickson (0-1) and the Dodgers, while Steve Trachsel (7-4) won for the Mets; John Wasdin took the loss for the Rangers, and in Toronto, of course, Kelly Downs (2-0) won for the home team, while Corey Lidle (4-7) took the loss.

... did I miss anyone?

... did I miss anyone?

I think you missed Scott Downs, unless he was traded to the Giants when I wasn't looking.

Is anyone else slightly perturbed at the fact that the Fighting Jays sent out an outfield of Catalanotto-Johnson-Hinske, with Hillenbrand and Glaus on the left side? We're witnessing a redefinition of the word "defense" here.

I don't know that they had any choice about the outfield (what with just three healthy ones on the roster), but I can't see the point of so dramatically mucking about with the infield defense just to get Molina's bat into the lineup. Against RHP, he's at 270/321/373  which is not a huge improvement over Adams.

Catalanotto looks a step quicker to me this season, which is a very unusual development for a 32 year old player. I wonder if he's finally confident that he can run all-out without hurting his groin. At any rate,  it's helped him on both offense and defense. He's moving around much better in the field

I guess we can file this in the "appearances can be deceiving" drawer.  Perhaps in comparison to Adams,  Glaus, and  Hillenbrand his fielding does actually look good.

In actual fact his zone rating was 85.5 last season which was 6th best among AL left fielders.  In 2006 he is down to 81.1 and currently sitting third from the bottom ahead of only Manny and Wilkerson.  So, statistically anyways, it appears that his fielding prowess is in fact taking a normal career path.  Now his hitting is another question entirely.  Looks like he's on the same stuff that Wells, Rios, Johnson, Zaun, Overbay, and Hinske are.

Watch out Red Sox.  The mighty Blue Jays have stepped it up a notch and are coming after you!!

For those weren't watching yesterday, the confused infield defence did lead to a hit when Hill and Glaus had a communication problem about who was covering second on a hit and run.  They both moved to cover (which I suppose is better than neither moving), and a weak grounder  to second ended up as a hit.  It seems churlish to complain when the team is winning, but settling on a double play combination is very important in the long run.  Adams needs to play every day, at least until a replacement is found (if one is necessary).

The ball was not carrying yesterday, and that gave Taubenheim a little assistance.  That's the difference between April and July in Domeball. Poor Josh Towers!

So, statistically anyways, it appears that his fielding prowess is in fact taking a normal career path

Looking at BP's fielding numbers Cat is actually much better than he has been.  He's at 111 and for his career he's been 101, and 102 last year.

Looking at BP's fielding numbers Cat is actually much better than he has been. He's at 111 and for his career he's been 101, and 102 last year.

I'm not sure how these "rate" numbers are calculated.  Are they better than "zone rating"?  If so why.

Using zone rating, Cat's defense is siginificantly worse than last season.  At least I understand what "zone rating" is measuring and how it is derived.

Congrats to the 5 Jays that were named all-stars today.

Doc, Ryan, Glaus, Wells, and Rios well all named to the team. Rios is injured so he won't play.

How about stud pitcher Mark Redman making it :)

I'm not sure how these "rate" numbers are calculated.  Are they better than "zone rating"?  If so why.

If I remember correctly zone rating is one of the more primitive defensive stats.  The rate stats at BP are far from perfect too, but I think are a little bit better.  Either way I wouldn't look at any defensive stat as definitive.

1) Jays optioned Frasor, and brought up Marcum. Our new fifth starter after the allstar break?

2) I'm a bit worried that Glaus is being selected to do the homerun derby. Don't players traditionally go into slumps after this thing?

I'm a bit worried that Glaus is being selected to do the homerun derby. Don't players traditionally go into slumps after this thing?

He has a massive uppercut already and I can't imagine his swing becoming any longer or loopier than it already is.

Is anyone else slightly perturbed at the fact that the Fighting Jays sent out an outfield of Catalanotto-Johnson-Hinske, with Hillenbrand and Glaus on the left side? We're witnessing a redefinition of the word "defense" here.

I don't know... has Hinske been really bad out there?  He's actually looked pretty good to me.  This is a good time to bring up the funniest piece of tape I've seen in ages:

From some game where a player was wired with a microphone.  Possibly it was Youkillis, but I'm not sure; whoever it was, they were manning first base.  Alfonso Soriano reaches first, and the first baseman wearing the microphone engages him in conversation.  It's all pleasant enough, and is capped off by this wonderful exchange:

FIRST BASEMAN: And how do you like left?
SORIANO (shrugging): It's really easy...

I am curious how having more All-Stars then either the Yankees or Red Sox jives with 'not getting enough respect from Bristol and the United States'?

They were voted in on the players ballot were they not?

All five Blue Jays were player selections (or manager/coach selections, maybe, which isn't hard to explain with Gibby there), and the Yankees and Red Sox got the entire infield plus Manny voted in by the fans. I saw one ESPN announcer who had Glaus as his starting 3B; he was quickly mocked.

It's an old complaint; the "ESPN and FOX focus on the Yankees and Red Sox" one. Sportscenter devoted ten whole minutes (during a 30-minute show) to A-Rod's 30th birthday last year and virtually every Saturday afternoon or Sunday night game features one of the two teams.

And what do you want? They're the most popular teams. One team being favoured and covered nonstop shouldn't surprise us, especially in a town like Toronto.

Further to my point above, take a look at the voting results (AL and NL):

46.4% of the AL votes for the top five catchers, first basemen, second basemen, shortstops and third basemen and the top 15 outfielders went to the New York and Boston players. (Tampa Bay and Kansas City had nobody on the list. Heh.) Put another way, the Yankees (22.7) had a higher percentage of the votes than the third- and fourth-place teams combined (Tigers, White Sox, 22.1).

Pick any two-team combination for the NL and you get nowhere as close. Astros and Mets have 30.9%. Mets and Cardinals? 36.5%.