Lind would be hitting 9th since he's probably the worst hitter in the lineup.

The past two seasons for him have been very poor overall, but against RHP his OPS's even then have been 829 and 771. The 771 doesn't scream out heart of the order, but it doesn't scream out 9th either. Now, if a LHP starts, 9th is appropriate. Or even 10th.

I can't imagine a scenario where Arencibia is not the weakest hitter in the lineup against RHP. If anyone regresses to Arencibia's level (against RHP), they'll be taken out of the lineup. And if Arencibia can catch anyone (against RHP), well, that would be some serious, and welcome, over-performing on his part.

Glad to see the corrected lineup.  When I first saw Lawrie in the 3 hole, I was thinking "Wow, the Blue Jays are putting extraordinary expectations on the kid".  We sometimes forget that he only has 150 ABs in the majors and that he still should be eased somewhat into the major league picture.  All-Star potential nothwithstanding, he is still on his initial adventure in the big leagues.

Rasmus hitting in the 9 hole...I like this.  Despite some major league success in the past he is still figuring out the American League.  Plus, I like a "toolsy" player in the 9 hole that rolls up to the top of the order. 

The last thing I would want to see is someone with little speed hitting ahead of Escobar.  Speed would allow Escobar to stretch that single into a double (or a double into a triple) if the situatiion dictates.

Numbers are nice but I think they are over-emphasized at times.  Major League Baseball is played by people.  It is not some Y2K game.

Agreed. Farrell's decision to leave Santos sitting around in the bullpen is baffling. Apparently maintaining "defined bullpen roles" now trumps putting the team in the best position to win a ballgame.

What a great job by the bullpen.  What a difference from last year. 

However, what the heck happened with Santos not coming in until there was an out in the 16th?  He must be miffed that he doesn't get a save because of that.  Very, very strange indeed.

Nice game to win.

Credit a pitcher with a save when he meets all three of the following conditions:
(3) He qualifies under one of the following conditions:
- (a) He enters the game with a lead of no more than three runs and pitches for at least one inning; or
- (b) He enters the game, regardless of the count, with the potential tying run either on base, or at bat, or on deck (that is, the potential tying run is either already on base or is one of the first two batsmen he faces; or
- (c) He pitches effectively for at least three innings. No more than one save may be credited in each game.

Ah, it was Perez' fault.  OK, that's interesting.  He owes Santos something for costing him a save, LOL

Over the last ten years the use of sabermetrics has become standard in front offices, but bullpens continue to be used inefficiently. It's baffling. Saves should've been relegated to the statistical dumpster a long time ago.

I don't disagree, but I would add that it takes two to tango. If teams stopping placing a high value on saves, they would matter a lot less.

The stats that teams value change with time. For example, it's unlikely that Joe Carter would be one of the highest paid players in baseball if he were in his prime today. If the perceived value of saves declined in a manner similar to that of RBIs, teams, players and agents would just focus on other stats to assess a reliever's worth when negotiating contracts.

I've mentioned this previously here, but the ideal time for a team to experiment with sabermetrics-friendly bullpen roles would be when there isn't an established closer, and you have a bunch of guys who don't have enough leverage to complain to their agents and/or management about how they're being used. If it worked, other teams would likely follow suit eventually.

Gregor Chisholm talked with tomorrows starter Joel Carreno.

The hope of Carreno making the big leagues in April was dashed, but the organization assured him it wouldn't be long until he was back with Toronto. Carreno just never knew at the time how fast that promotion would occur.

"I'm working on my changeup and my front side. Sometimes I go side to side with my pitches and my pitches fly into the strike zone and the hitters take advantage."

LaTroy Hawkins. He is infamous for being an effective reliever, but a disaster as a closer.

(Although, like many reputations in sports, this isn't born out by a cursory look at his stats, as his career ERA is better in the 9th inning than in the 8th or 7th and is roughly the same in save and non-save situations. Neither of which fully captures his performance when entering the game as a closer and when he did not. However, they're a pretty reasonable indicator his reputation is overblown, if accurate at all, and mostly stems from a poor season early in his career and probably a couple of occasional blown saves later in his career that have stuck in people's memory.)

Davis and Francisco have very similar numbers against lefties over their respective careers, but Davis had been 2-4 against Perez heading into the game. Francisco had never faced Perez before. As silly as it is, my guess is that those four previous at-bats against Perez were the deciding factor.

Toronto's biggest problem this series was it's offense and how it disappears for inning after inning after inning.   As cold as it was, for early April, there's always been two or three hot batters staring Game 1, three or four more productive hitters, with the few others slower off the mark, but still contributing.   This year we have zero hot batters, a few productive hitters, some slower but contributing, but the majority of the team's forgotten how to hit.

Now they face Boston who's missing most of their top relievers, a starter or two and a starting Outfielder.  Unless Toronto's Offense remembers how to hit, it'll be a possible series loss.