Batter's Box Interactive Magazine

So here we are at the quarter pole with the Jays sitting a surprising seven games clear of sea level.

It was at this point a year ago that the wheels fell off. The '09 Jays were in almost the same boat at 27-14 and taking most everyone by surprise. Alas, 27-14 was the high water mark. Coming off a 7-2 stretch that started with the memorable Halladay vs. Burnett duel and concluded with a four game sweep of the White Sox, the Jays departed for Beantown where they were swept rather convincingly. Wakefield's knuckler dazzled, Cecil provided a launching pad for, among many, David Ortiz's first homer of the year, and Jon Lester provided the knockout blow.

A trip to Atlanta followed where Halladay was brilliant but the Jays lost 1-0 on the Friday. The next night saw the Jays trailing by one with the bases loaded and one out in the 9th. Alas, as these things go, they couldn't push across the equalizer and the streak reached five. Three more losses followed before the lowest of the low. On a Wednesday afternoon in Baltimore, Halladay took the mound to stop the streak at eight. He pitched well enough for seven and departed with an 8-3 lead. You know what happened next.
And that, folks, was pretty much that. The Jays actually went 7-4 in the 11 games that followed and remained above .500 until July 8th but the wheels came right off pretty quickly.

So, is 2010 different? I think it's already more surprising. I don't know anyone who would've pegged the Jays with the 7th best record in baseball a quarter of the way through this thing. But when we dissect the 2010 season, where will we point to as the moment things went wrong? Or will we at all?

Posted by braden on Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 10:41 AM EDT.

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The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

John Northey - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 11:16 AM EDT (#215271) #

So, 3 games worse off but is it a better situation?

Short term, yes. Long term, no.

Instead of going to Boston and the like the Jays are off to Seattle, Arizona, Anaheim, then home to face Baltimore. So those 11 games are a last period of relaxation (if you can call it that).

Then comes a stretch of 9 games facing (at home) Tampa & NY and a trip to Tampa. Then another 15 game rest period against the NL (Colorado, San Diego, San Fran, St Louis, Philly) before 3 vs Cleveland (OK, still relaxed) and then a tough stretch of 3 vs NYY, 3 vs Minnesota, 3 vs Boston. 16 games vs teams in the majors before 9 straight against NY/Tampa/Boston. 6 vs the west, then 12 vs N/B/T with 4 vs detroit in the middle. Then 4 vs Texas and 3 more against Tampa, 3 Baltimore (phew) and 3 Boston, then a rest to the end except for 3 more against the Yankees (10 vs others).

Yeah, the later in the season the harder it gets. After the next 11 the Jays should be at their high water mark for 2010 before getting the hard part of the schedule going.

Matthew E - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 11:20 AM EDT (#215272) #

Well, what would constitute "going wrong"? What I want the Jays to do this year is make progress developing young players, and to play pleasant and interesting baseball while they're at it. I imagine there will be some losing streaks in there, but that's okay; happens to everybody, and my suspicion is that this team will turn out to be a streaky one. As long as they don't lose sight of what they're trying to do, how could things go wrong?

Denoit - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 11:34 AM EDT (#215274) #

If the Jays could play .500 ball against the Yankee's and Rays I would call it a huge sucess. Even if they played .400 ball I would be happy. They will probably eventually come back down to earth, and end up in 4th in their division. But then again, a healthy Jesse Litsch, and get Hill and Lind back rolling, crazy things could happen. You have to beleive Travis Snider could have a big second half as well.

Mike Green - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 11:44 AM EDT (#215276) #

The "truth" of last year's club was somewhere between the 27-14 start and the 72 wins that they finished with. The start was due in significant measure to (lack of) strength of opposition; the end was due in significant measure to the subtractions of talent, and the failure to add talent.

This year's club really has no reason to rush to subtract talent. Alex Gonzalez has a useful role in 2011. He's the one who will be there to make sure that Hechevarria is not promoted by rote, rather than because his development merits it. The market for John Buck is not overwhelming, and no one is obviously ready to replace him. On the other side, pitching talent is at hand.

stevieboy22 - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 11:47 AM EDT (#215277) #

The Jays have a lot of mediocre outfield depth that will be knocking on the door between now and the next 2 years, with Loewen, Thames, Lubanski and Mastroianni.. It will be interesting to see how this plays out...

Chuck - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 11:53 AM EDT (#215279) #

A nice, easy time of the year for some x4 projections (the x3 projections are just two weeks away).

The ridiculous homerun paces have already been discussed. Wells/Gonzalez/Bautista are poised to be the next Aaron/Evans/Johnson, of the 1973 Braves (I don't think the 40-troika has been pulled off since -- am I forgetting anyone?).

And if you were told that the trio would average 40 HR and 120 RBI, what would your reaction have been? Or that Buck would throw in a 30/90 for good measure?

And the strikeouts! This team has certainly heard the swing-from-the-heels marching orders and are obliging. All 9 starters are on pace to strike out 100 times. Hill is behind schedule because of his missed time, but is sure to catch up if he stays healthy. Lewis doesn't need to make up for his "lost time", not with his Michael Bourn schtick (Ks without HRs).

The team batting philosophy has worked for most hitters, in that they are exceeding their offensive expectations. But not for Lind, who is on pace to jump from 110 to 180 Ks, or for Lyle Overbay, who is striking out in a quarter of his plate appearances, something he has never done before.

The temptation would be to suggest that both should think more about gap power than wall power, to stay true to their natural selves, but such an analysis would probably be overly facile. There are most probably other factors at play. Lind is looking every bit the lost hitter he was in 2003 (then: 238/278/400, now: 231/305/385) and is, one presumes, fixable. On the other hand, Overbay's career high K rate and K/BB ratio are befitting of a 33-year old in decline, and there ain't no cure for aging (save for the magic of acai berries, of course).

bpoz - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 12:15 PM EDT (#215280) #

At the quarter pole what is different about 2009 and 2010. In 2009 we played 18 games each against inter-league,NY,TB and BOS for a total of 72 and won 7,6,4 and 7 (24-48). But in 2009 to this point in the season we only played 3 (NY) games and won only 1. This group of teams destroyed us. So far in 2010 we have 2 wins in 9 games against this group. So to me it is obvious what our challenge is. I researched the above record for 2009 just before we went into Boston and I think the games Roy Halliday pitched in produced a "team record" of 6 wins and 11 losses. Even though it is obvious, the correct way to say it is "our future success/the monkeys on our back" are these guys and we must take them out.

Mike Green - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 12:54 PM EDT (#215282) #

there ain't no cure for aging

Leonard Cohen begs to disagree. There aint no cure for love, but money works wonders for aging.:)

Matthew E - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 01:20 PM EDT (#215286) #

More to the point, there ain't no cure for the summertime blues.

Mylegacy - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 01:38 PM EDT (#215287) #

May 27th to the All-Star break - we play 36 games - 33 are against teams with (as of today) winning records the only 3 against a losing team are with Cleveland.

By the All-Star break all of Baseball will be saying, "What about those Blue Jays!" or snickering and saying, "Told you so."

These two games with Seattle should be interesting. Fister and Vargas are both pretty good pitchers and - good pitching wins. I see our Jays hitters as pretty poor - but with above average power - that should translate to few hits but hopefully - enough big pops for us to win. Hopefully, Cecil and Romero can keep it close.

John Northey - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 01:46 PM EDT (#215288) #

Tonight is big for Cecil. Good outing and he stays in the rotation for awhile longer. Poor one and he could move to the hot seat for demotion. Being the youngest in the rotation and having options makes him an easy choice to send down if he continues to slump.

MatO - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 02:06 PM EDT (#215289) #

There was talk after his start against the White Sox that Cecil was telegraphing his changeup and they were going to do something to help disguise it better. I wonder if in the last start Cecil was so concerned about disguising his pitches better that he forgot to pitch. It's hard to change habits.

TamRa - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 02:17 PM EDT (#215290) #

I do expect a reasonably strong regression after the Baltimore series, as far as wins and losses

But on an individual level, I expect that Gonzalez and Buck will have strong regressions and Bautista a milder (but still significant) one but I fully expect those to be balanced by regression in the opposite direction from Hill and Lind and (milder) Overbay.

the specifics (OB as opposed to HR) might waiver a bit but ultimately the offense should be about the same.

The pitching depth should be able to handle the injury wave that hurt us last year (assuming it comes)

I think the team remains a good team but I think the strength of schedule issue will drop the winning precentege some...ultimately in the low to mid 80's at the end.

Ryan Day - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 02:39 PM EDT (#215292) #

Randy Ruiz has been released and is going to play in Japan. Jeremy Reed called up to replace him.

Spicol - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 02:57 PM EDT (#215293) #

Wells/Gonzalez/Bautista are poised to be the next Aaron/Evans/Johnson, of the 1973 Braves (I don't think the 40-troika has been pulled off since -- am I forgetting anyone?).

The Rockies in 1996 (Galarraga, Castilla, Burks) and 1997 (Galarraga, Castilla, Walker)

Mylegacy - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 02:58 PM EDT (#215294) #

That is Dandy for Randy! Hope he hits a few out of their stadiums. Great excuse to follow Japanese baseball more closely!

Off Topic: I've made up my mind on our #11 pick in the Draft - My choice is Michael - Michael Choice. Basically, picture Adam Lind with enough defense and arm to play RF and at least the same bat only with better power. Time for a scotch.

DH - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 03:02 PM EDT (#215295) #

Well, as much as I was rooting for 32 year old Ruiz, it's best for him to go make some money and play everyday in Japan. Moreover, given the Jays play, I'd much prefer having an extra defensive presence on the roster than a strictly offensive one.

Mike Green - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 03:04 PM EDT (#215296) #

I wonder how Reed will be used. You could use him as a late-inning defensive replacement with Bautista moving to third, among other ways.

Chuck - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 03:08 PM EDT (#215297) #

The Rockies in 1996 (Galarraga, Castilla, Burks) and 1997 (Galarraga, Castilla, Walker)

Thanks. My subconscious has presumably asterisked all pre-humidor aberrations.

given the Jays play, I'd much prefer having an extra defensive presence on the roster than a strictly offensive one.

I think Reed is Snider's short-term replacement with Encarnacion effectively replacing Ruiz (thereby dashing your hopes for a defensive presence).

Mike Green - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 03:26 PM EDT (#215298) #

Of course, the Braves of 73 played in a hitters' paradise too, which was a big part of the performances of Aaron/Evans/Johnson. Strangely, the Rogers Centre has played as a pitcher's park this year.

92-93 - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 03:34 PM EDT (#215299) #

I would be VERY disappointed if the club pulled the plug on Cecil. This is a kid that already made 17 starts in the majors last year; if he needed development time in AAA, there would have been no reason to call him up just because Tallet got injured, considering the season's expectations. The fact that he got the call should signal that the FO decided he was ready to take the ball on a regular schedule in the big leagues. Furthermore, Dana Eveland stinks and should be the first one to go if you need to dump someone from the rotation - you simply can't survive with a BB rate over 4 if you aren't striking guys out, and Eveland's K:BB ratio stands at an abysmal 20:25 rate, the same rate that had Oakland kicking him to the curb despite their extreme friendly pitching environment. Also, the fact that Rzepczynski was activated off the DL and an option was burned sending him to Vegas (instead of allowing him at least a few more rehab starts) should mean that the club has very little intention of removing Cecil from the rotation barring injury and that Litsch will take over Eveland's role once he's eligible, with Tallet perhaps picking up one start in between Eveland's DFA and Litsch's activation.

Ryan Day - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 03:39 PM EDT (#215300) #

Reed will probably play more than Ruiz did, but not by much. Mike McCoy can play anywhere but catcher, and he's had all of 5 ABs this month. Reed will probably pick up a few defensive innings here and there and some pinch-running appearances, but we know Cito's policy on pinch-hitting and defensive replacements by now.

John Northey - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 03:40 PM EDT (#215301) #

Makes a lot of sense. Ruiz was just sitting on the bench so time in Japan will be best for him. He got his shot, did good in September but couldn't hold it in 2010 now he can make a couple mil in Japan with any luck.

Reed I figured was a likely call-up just for defense and roster space (was already on the 40 man) - certainly not for offense with his 265/339/354 line in AAA.

Brett Wallace's status hasn't changed as Lind/Overbay still block him.

Chris Lubanski's chances have improved if Reed flops badly as he is probably next in line for LF (285/326/602) unless Jarrett Hoffpauir sneaks in first (338/405/500 and hits right handed thus a platoon mate for Overbay who could play 2B & 3B).

Spicol - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 03:49 PM EDT (#215302) #

Maybe EE can play 1B against LHP, keeping both him and Bautista in the lineup. This would probably be good news for Snider in that if it lessened the likelihood of him being platooned after he returns.

Chuck - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 04:13 PM EDT (#215303) #

Reed will probably play more than Ruiz did, but not by much.

I don't know if I agree with that. Ruiz was getting some platoon at-bats at first base and was sorta, kinda filling in for the injured Snider, so he's not exactly been invisible these past couple of weeks. I'm not sure where Reed gets any playing time because it would have to come at the expense of Bautista or Encarnacion, and I don't see that happening. As Mike pointed out, Reed as a defensive replacement, sliding Bautista to 3B, is seemingly the only possible role for him, and as you mentioned, Gaston is not big on defensive subs (unless it's to replace Lind).

Of course, Reed not getting much playing time is no great crime against humanity.

The fun and games will being when Snider is back and Reed gets sent down. At that point, the game of musical chairs will commence. One presumes that Encarnacion would draw the short straw most often, likely limited to playing time against LHP.

Dewey - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 04:20 PM EDT (#215304) #

You have to beleive Travis Snider could have a big second half as well.

Well, I�m a bit worried about Snider�s wrist. Wrist injuries can be *very* troublesome, as we�ve seen in recent years. Putting him on the 15 day DL, and then sending him off to Florida for an MRI and consultation with a specialist, doesn�t sound very reassuring to me. But then, I so want Snider to succeed big-time that I tend to fret about him.

scottt - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 06:42 PM EDT (#215305) #

Ruiz had 40 AB, McDonald, and McCoy 38 and that's because Hill was on the DL. I don't see Reed playing much other than spotting an outfielder who needs a day of rest.

I wonder who is the backup at first base now. Either Bautista or EE, hopefully.

ComebyDeanChance - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 07:03 PM EDT (#215306) #

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in again.

One person who likely learned nothing from last year is me. This was supposed to be the year when winning was on no one's mind.

Still, I found myself strangely torn with the NYY/Red Sox game last night. With the Jays three back of the Yankees having lost a game on Monday, I didn't want to see the Yankees win. But that meant something that has always seemed much worse to me - the Red Sox winning. I've always thought there are two good things that could happen each night - the Blue Jays win, and the Red Sox lose. In the past, if the Red Sox were playing Al Qaeda, I may have worn an AQ tee to the game.

So when I saw this morning that Papelbon had held on to the win in the bottom of the ninth, I though 'good'. Now i feel dirty.

92-93 - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 07:20 PM EDT (#215307) #

I'm in Dewey's petrified camp - considering what people thought about Wells & Overbay's wrist injuries, we can probably write off Snider until 2012.

Seriously speaking, I think Ruiz's release is an encouraging sign - Cito probably let him know the ABs would never be there, and hopefully that's because with a healthy EE the Jays will be looking for a way to get each of Overbay/Lewis/Snider/Encarnacion/Bautista in the lineup the majority of the time, and the only way to do that would come at the expense of the already limited ABs Ruiz has been receiving. Hopefully Randy feels he was treated very fairly by the Blue Jays and has positive things to say about the organization - it can only help the Jays in the future in regards to the fringe player/prospect looking for work in spring.

Chuck - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 07:49 PM EDT (#215309) #

Hopefully Randy feels he was treated very fairly by the Blue Jays

Given that he was able to negotiate a contract with one team while under contract with another suggests that he should be very grateful. Organizations don't have to be so accommodating.

uglyone - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 09:32 PM EDT (#215311) #

It's a very interesting comparison to last year.

Surprisingly, last year's offense was actually much better than this year's offense. 41 games in, the Jays had an .819 team OPS compared to .780 this year, and even better it was based on an amazing .357 team OBP instead of this year's lowly .314. The team had scored 22 more runs up to this point last year. Overall, we were the best offense in the AL by a good margin at this point last year.

Like this year, last year's lineup at this point featured 6 spots in the order mashing (Scutaro .873ops, Hill .947, Lind .950, Rolen .843, Overbay .852, Barajas .825), and 3 spots scuffling (Rios .756, Wells .735, Snider .687). This year we also have 6 guys mashing pretty well (Lewis .804, Wells 1.002, Gonzo .845, Bautista .877, Buck .932, Snider .806), but the 3 guys slumping are REALLY slumping (Hill .643, Lind .689, Overbay .636). Last year had an extra edge in that Bautista (.824) and Millar (.801) were also mashing off the bench in platoon situations with Overbay and Snider, while this year's bench has provided pretty much nothing.

A big reason some people hoped that the Jays could maintain much of their offensive production through the year last year was the assumption that Wells/Rios/Snider would improve as the year went on to make up for the other guys cooling down......which, of course, never happened. This year, the Jays once again need the slumping guys to heat up to cover the cooling down from the rest of the lineup. Whether Hill, Lind, and Overbay (or a replacement) can heat up back to their normal levels will determine whether this team can maintain their offense going forward.

We were also significantly better in the pitching department at this point last year, with a 3.85era compared to a 4.22era this year.

Surprisingly, this hasn't been due to the Roy Halladay factor, as Marcum (62ip, 2.61era) has replaced what Roy gave us to this point last year (68ip, 2.78era) for the most part.

Last year's starting staff to this point:

Halladay: 68.0ip, 2.78era
Richmond: 47.0ip, 3.64era
Tallet: 42.1ip, 4.68era (includes some relief innings)
Romero: 21.0ip, 1.71era
Cecil: 20.0ip, 1.80era
Ray: 20.0ip, 3.60era
Litsch: 9.0ip, 9.00era
Burres: 6.1ip, 14.21era

This year's rotation:

Marcum: 62.0ip, 2.61era
Romero: 56.1ip, 2.88era
Eveland: 43.1ip, 4.98era
Morrow: 41.0ip, 6.15era
Cecil: 28.0ip, 5.46era
Tallet: 17.2ip, 6.11era

What's interesting there is that last year we were pretty much condemned to sticking with Tallet and Richmond in the starting rotation come hell or high water unless Marcum or McGowan had a miracle recovery, or one of our prospects had a miracle progression, because guys like Ray and Burres weren't real options. As it turned out, one of our prospects DID have a miracle progression (Zipper), but that wasn't enough.

This year it seems like going forward from this point we don't need to project even one vet nothing arm like Tallet or RIchmond or Eveland going forward the rest of the year, because we have 6 young talented starters in Marcum, Romero, Litsch, Morrow, Rzepczynski, and Cecil ready to go pretty much immediately. And that;'s not even including a miracle progression from one of our prospects like Drabek or Stewart.

Starting rotation performance-wise, I'd feel much better going forward from this point this year than last year.

The Bullpen had also been much better to this point last year than it has this year, but it seems to be rounding back into form now and it's mostly the same guys, aside from Gregg replacing League and Janssen replacing Carlson.

As weird as it sounds in a year we lost Halladay, if we're comparing to last year's hot start, I'd say we definitely have much better reason to feel good about our starters going forward.

The big question is whether we can be more sure of Hill, Lind, and Overbay/Replacement improving going forward than we could have been about Rios, Wells, and Snider last year. Because we needed those guys to improve last year and they simply didn't. I'd like to believe that Hill and Lind are in a different situation, but I can't guarantee that to myself, even if I think it's likely.

TamRa - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 10:15 PM EDT (#215312) #

According to this:

http://www.canada.com/sports/Jays+allow+Ruiz+Japanese+league/3049026/story.html

the Jays actually made the deal happen.

Which I like.

Magpie - Wednesday, May 19 2010 @ 11:10 PM EDT (#215313) #

I wonder who is the backup at first base now.

Good question. Bautista and Reed both have very limited experience at 1b (less than 30 major league innings) and Encarnacion has even less. Adam Lind has actually played quite a bit more first base than any of them but it was in college, and it was a long time ago.

I would bet on Bautista myself.

Dave Till - Thursday, May 20 2010 @ 07:19 AM EDT (#215322) #

Obviously, the Jays' record is inflated because they haven't played many games against their own division. They are 5-7 against AL East teams (some of which have been Baltimore), and 20-10 against the other two divisions. While this means the Jays aren't as good as they look right now, it also means that the other two divisions in the AL are, well, kinda bad.

When the fourth-best team in the AL East can beat up on teams in the other divisions, it suggests a real imbalance of quality. If the Jays were in the Central or the West, they wouldn't be talking about rebuilding: they'd be thinking about a division title.

China fan - Thursday, May 20 2010 @ 10:56 AM EDT (#215329) #

Obviously, the Jays' record is inflated....

I'm not sure how obvious this is. A record of 5-7 against the AL East is a pretty small sample size -- too small to draw any conclusions from at this point. And a lot of those losses to Boston were close-fought one-run games that could have gone either way. Let's wait to the end of the season and see how the Jays do against the AL East over a full season.

When the fourth-best team in the AL East can beat up on teams in the other divisions....

"Fourth-best" is an assumption, or a prediction, not necessarily a statement of fact. A few weeks ago, a lot of people assumed that the Jays were the fifth-best team in the AL East. Now suddenly we're assuming that they are fourth-best. That could change too. In fact the Jays are just one game out of 2nd place in the AL East, and have been improving as the season goes on. (They have the best record in the league over the past three weeks.) Once again, people are making assumptions that the Jays will deteriorate drastically as the season goes on. Maybe they will, and maybe they won't. They deteriorated last season, but that's no guarantee that it will happen again. I'd rather wait and see, instead of making assumptions.

ayjackson - Thursday, May 20 2010 @ 11:22 AM EDT (#215330) #

Obviously, the Jays' record is inflated because they haven't played many games against their own division.

Baseball Reference measures teams by "SMS". I'm not sure how it works except that it accounts for strength of schedule when ranking teams. By this measure, we're 5th in the majors.

subculture - Thursday, May 20 2010 @ 11:44 AM EDT (#215331) #

Uglyone, that was a beautiful and well though-out post :)

The Jays now own the 5th best record in MLB, though still 3rd in their division. I'm going to predict they're tied for 4th after tonight! Go Rays!

Last year I certainly believed that at least one of, if not both Wells and Rios would rebound with a great 2nd half. Like most of us, I was wrong by half a season. I hope I'm not wrong again, but believe both Hill and Lind will be improving very shortly (unless there are injuries we're not aware of). Hill just seems a little too quick on good pitches (he's fouled some serious bullets), and is also having to adjust to pitchers getting ahead of him with off-speed stuff. Lind appears to me a little less certain this year - and I wonder if it's because he's affected by the successful aggressive approaches of his teammates (like Gonzales, Snider, Wells, Bautista who are all pulling the ball). In a weird way, perhaps Lind and Overbay's patience is leading to pitchers throwing early hittable fastballs (in an attempt to get ahead in counts) to the other Jays?

Playing the 'what-if' game, how would things be shaking out now if the White Sox wouldn't take on Alex Rios contract last year, and Rios was now performing well with the Jays? They probably wouldn't have made the move for Lewis... and I'm not sure that Lewis isn't a better fit than Rios. They actually have some similarities (speed, gap-power, occasional mental 'doh!' moments), but Lewis is a better lead-off hitter imo.

uglyone - Thursday, May 20 2010 @ 12:19 PM EDT (#215334) #

because I own him in my ESPN league, I can tell you off the top of my head that Lind has his OPS up around .830+ over the "last 15 days", so he seems to be turning things around. And Overbay seems to be heating as well. Hill is ice cold still, although he smacked the hell out of a couple of balls last night, one going just foul, and the other dying in the demoralizing alleys of Seattle's spacious ballpark.

John Northey - Thursday, May 20 2010 @ 12:51 PM EDT (#215336) #

Good link from WillRain. It does appear the Jays, once they knew that Ruiz would not play often, tried to do good by Ruiz by setting him up for Japan (and tons of cash) rather than sending him to AAA. I'd have to think that other AAAA players will take note and sign up more readily with the Jays if they know the Jays will go to bat for them should things not work out in the majors. It certainly can't hurt.

92-93 - Thursday, May 20 2010 @ 08:55 PM EDT (#215349) #

I can tell you off the top of my head that Lind has his OPS up around .830+ over the "last 15 days", so he seems to be turning things around.

Before today's O-fer Lind was hitting a concerning .159/.227/.261 in May, so something doesn't compute. Maybe you forgot your glasses like Cecil.

uglyone - Friday, May 21 2010 @ 01:55 PM EDT (#215375) #

yeah, must have been the "Last 7" split.

ayjackson - Friday, May 21 2010 @ 01:58 PM EDT (#215376) #

Cecil was able to produce without his glasses....uglyone - not so much. : P

uglyone - Friday, May 21 2010 @ 02:10 PM EDT (#215379) #

time for LASIK, I think.

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