Mike Green is back with part two of his travelogue through the North Eastern US. Today it's Cleveland.
Progressive Field stands a block away from Interstate 90 in Cleveland . We rolled in to our chain hotel across the street from the stadium at about 10 p.m. on Sunday night, with plans to sight-see during the day and then catch the Jays facing the Indians at night.
The Jays reached the half way point of the season after Fridays game with a 41-40 record. On one hand it is great to have a winning record at the half way point but unfortunately the recent trajectory has been down. Also the fans have memories of last years fade still fresh in their minds. Many forecastors had the Jays as a 70-75 win team, that looks like a good bet today.
The Jays had a bit of a stinker yesterday, Ricky Romero had a bad one and John McDonald showed why he is an infielder.
It is the third and final day of the draft. Rounds 31 through 50 are today although not every team will continue to pick through round 50. In general teams will be looking to fill short-season rosters today and maybe pick some players who they will watch between now and August 15th to see if they want to sign them.
Minor league camp for the short season teams starts this weekend with the season starting later next week so there is not much time for the teams to get organized. With the Jays selecting so many high school players this year some may not sign, some might sign late and the Jays might follow some to see how much money they are worth. For more on player intentions see down below.
...who's that team bringing up the rear?
Oh.
Answer: 1 - Elvis Andrus.
How many with at least 1 PA this year? Answer- still only one.
Two excellent pitching performances and some excellent hitting helped Dunedin and Lansing to wins. New Hampshire won despite a weak start by Bobby Bell while Las Vegas were fogged out. Henderson Alvarez gave up one run over seven innings while Ryan Tepera did better, shutting down Bowling Green over seven innings with only three hits allowed. On the hitting side Mark Sobolewski and Tyler Pastornicky were the stars, neither of them made on out on Saturday. Pitchers have perfect games, hitters don't but these two had perfect Saturday's. Eric Thames, David Cooper, Tim Collins, Daniel Perales, Travis D'Arnaud and Bradley Glenn also played well.
So, did anyone watch the game?
Well, the good folks over at the World-Wide Leader have graced the Internets with the first in-season ranking of all 30 MLB teams.
Let's look at some of the biggest changes after Week 1; your thoughts and opinions are welcome of course.
Let's cut right to the chase ... the AL East has four of the top nine teams ranked, including your Blue Jays at a hale and hearty #8 ...
Monday Night Update: get your entries in by midnight Tuesday! I'm bumping this thread to the top because it's gotten buried.