Adam is a solid biblical name and all, but Jesus might be more appropriate.
Agreed, though - no pressure. none whatsoever.
On a clear ball, Lind just grounded into a fielder's choice.
Send him down. Free....Ryan Patterson!
Agreed, Vernon does not look good right now, Stairs need to be clean up, maybe Rolen 5th, and Wells 6th.
OK kiddies -
Eck (the guy I love to hate) just got a single in the ninth. Hill - mister choke of late is up and flies out to center - two out. Now comes the Great Casey to the bat - er Rios - one ball, one strike - shudder. Six straight losses. 1 in 14 with runners in scoring position. That has got to change - even roadkill gets the occassional hit.
The good news - we've finally got the team that we'll either sink or swim with. I am suprisingly calm. Now is the time to sit back, buy an extra large buttered popcorn and watch us get back into this race by the All-Star game. If not - well - I could always go to the UK and watch Cricket - not the game - just the little insect.
Not sure how it looked where everyone else was, but that ump had some interesting ball and strike calls tonight. One particular call that hurt was the first pitch to Lind in the 8th, clearly a ball. However he seemed equally bad and inconsistant with both clubs. Rolen looks fairly good so far to me. Zaun also had some good at bats.
I think I speak for all of us when I say...
I don't know, I find not having expectations helps the frustration.
Anyone have any thoughts about moving Hill up to leadoff, batting Overbay 2nd, dropping Eck to 9th and moving Zaun and Lind up to 7th and 8th? It's been a year and a couple of months since Overbay has shown much extra base power and while he has a high OBP, most of it seems to be coming via the walk which doesn't result in RBIs. Perhaps having him walk in front of Rios, Wells and Rolen will help produce some runs. Batting Eck 9th means that if he does get on base he still gets driven in by Hill's doubles. If the Jays are playing station-to-station and Eck isn't going to steal then maybe this is a profitable alternative.
It may be the case that Eck is more of a .330 OBP-type now and it's possible that Overbay may never get his home run power back in which case something must be done with him as the Jays are stuck with him at 1B until... Dopirak learns to hit offspeed stuff?! What do you do with a first baseman who can get on-base at a .390 clip but can't slug .400?
game 25- WPA heroes Eckstein (6), Stairs (3), Marcum (3) let downs Lind*, Wells (7), Hill (8), Rolen
* means more than +-.300
Well...there's a well-known analogy that fits here I think....
Is it the one about the Titanic?
First of all, despite going 0 for 4 tonight, I have no doubt that Lind will hit. This lineup is too good to keep struggling like this. The bats will break out soon enough. Now, I wouldn't mind seeing a cheap platoon partner for Stairs to DH against LHP, but I don't want Bonds here. I just can't stand the guy. I look at this lineup and pitching staff and know what Ricciardi sees. They should be really good. Hopefully it's just a slump. If they don't come around though, I'd bet my house that the team will be blown up before the deadline with Burnett, Eckstein, Overbay, Stairs, and maybe even Rolen and Ryan, up for grabs. I just don't think that's going to happen.
Getting back to Lind, as it turns out, Gibbons was apparently pressing to have Lind called up earlier but was denied. Service time was the problem, money was the issue. Ouch. As a die hard fan, that really irks me. My wife and I will be renting our movies from Blockbuster from now on and I'm switching my home phone and cellular to Bell!
Here's the source:
Well this didn't take long. While Wells was knocking the cover off the ball, no one said a word. Once the league saw one turkey after another hitting behind him, he got pitched around. And guess what: he's pressing.
Well he may infact be pressing and coming up with sub-par results. But really, it's hard to pitch around Wells if he won't let you, what with his own form of strikezone and overly aggresive batting approach. It Wells fault if he won't take BB's if they're being offered to him. Overbay and Zaun don't seem to have a problem with it.
Flex,
I think that Gibbons was going to use Ryan for a two inning save. At least, that's what Fletcher and Campbell were suggesting. After throwing only 9 pitches in the 8th, I wouldn't have had a problem seeing him come out for the 9th. However, the Jays then scored two runs and took a three run lead, and it was at that point that Ryan headed off the bench, likely to get his work in on the side. My guess is that if the game was still 3-2 going into the 9th, Ryan would have come back out. That's how Fletcher saw it too.
Speaking of Fletcher, is he ever a nice reprieve from Rance Mullinicks, who in my opinion might be worse than Carter.
I'd still give it a month. Rolen is still banged up. Career numbers aren't so important because both players have had up and down years and it's to soon to tell what kind of year they're having.
I don't quite get this logic. How do you give it a month to figure out today's lineup. Im of the opinion the lineup should be adjusted ever so often according to how hitters are hitting at any given time in a season. I thought today's lineup was well thought out, as two good hitters who have been slumping were dropped down a little(Hill and Wells). I dont think Gibbons needs to be married to any set lineup and should be adjusting it when the need arises.
According to Gibbons, the new lineup changes will persist. Gibbons is going to use Eckstein as the #2 hitter from now on. I don't agree with that decision and am baffled by their obsession with Eckstein.
Anyway, my guess is the lineup will be similar to tonight's going forward:
Rios
Eckstein
Rolen
Stairs
Wells
Overbay
Hill
Lind
Zaun
I don't like Eckstein hitting second, but at least the left-handed hitters would be more evenly spread through the lineup.
http://www.globesports.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080427.wblair28/GSStory/GlobeSportsBaseball/home
Seeing the line-up trotted out today was very much a surprise and refreshing. I mean come on, Wells vs Righties finally dropped in the line-up card will you get a tad hopeful. But now that Eckstein is only being dropped from 1 to 2 and Overbay (whose only use to this point being his high walk accumulated OBP) is still left lower in the order, rather than at the 2 hole (or 1 hole for that matter), leave me still at indifference to giving a frig about what comes next. What's the difference John? if Eckstein goes from 1 to 2 in the line-up? Without getting into line-up composition wars vs. studies findings... **** it! Whatever John, your job not mine.
Some bad news: Carlson got the save last night because Downs was unavailable with, "tenderness in his shoulder". It's not known if it's serious or not, but "tenderness in his shoulder" in Blue Jays' speak could mean anything.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/baseball
In other Jays' news (sort of), David Bush has been sent to AAA. Was I ever wrong on the Overbay trade. I thought it was terrible deal at the time because Bush had a great WHIP and had showed signs that he could be a very good #4 starter, Jackson was a big 1st round lefty, and Gross was full of potential as well. That trade has turned out alright afterall, assuming Overbay finds his lost power stroke, and I'm sure he will.
