11:45 PM Eastern
I just finished doing a roundtable discussion with the boys from Drunk Jays Fans on their new podcast, and had a great time. I apologize for not doing this sooner, but I need to give a lot of credit to so many terrific amateur Blue Jays blogs out there. And please don’t take that the wrong way – by amateur I mean you guys do it for free, out of the love for the game, no negative connotations. Chances are you bloggists drive a heck of a lot of traffic to this site, and for that I’m quite grateful. I’m also not worthy of much of the praise that you bestow, I’m just an arrogant know-it-all who’s mean to right-thinking folk on the radio.
I feel badly about listing the blogs I enjoy, because I don’t want to leave anyone out, but aside from my fellow (though they would likely quarrel with me including myself in their company) journalists’ work, I enjoy the Drunks, the Tao of Stieb, the Southpaw, Hum and Chuck and others. Like I said, I don’t want to forget anyone, but those are usually at the top of my list. Good, fun reads all, insightful and definitely not contributing to the downfall of our society – at least, not in a bad way.
Onto the baseball, and hidden in the one-run win over the White Sox was a jaw-dropping performance from Roy Halladay. We know to expect brilliance whensoever he taketh the mound, but this one was special. When you look at his line, you see 7 1/3 innings, 3 runs (1 earned) on three hits, no walks, a hit batsman and seven strikeouts. That’s an extraordinary day on the mound, but how about this? Throw out the fourth inning.
Do that, and all of a sudden the line becomes 6 1/3 innings, six strikeouts and nothing else. Outside the fourth, Halladay was perfect.
Now, I know you can’t cherry-pick like that; what to leave in, what to leave out (you’d be running against the wind), but it’s noteworthy that inside that performance was such sheer domination.
More brilliance from Jesse Carlson, striking out Nick Swisher and Jim Thome around a bad-hop double off Scott Rolen’s left wrist, and a 1-2-3 ninth shared by Jeremy Accardo and Snakeface. I wouldn’t have had a problem with sending Carlson back out for the 9th, the way he’s been going you kind of want to ride the wave as long as you can, but having the righty come out for Paul Konerko and Jermaine Dye was the right call.
The offense looked extremely sharp for the first three innings, with Matt Stairs doubling twice – once to score a pair with two out – Rios pounding a two-bagger into the gap in right-centre, Hill smacking a double of his own down the left-field line and Wells and Zaun pitching in with sharp base hits – Vernon’s with two out to drive in a run.
And how about the picture-perfect first run of the ballgame for the home side? Stairs leads off the second with a double, Wells gets him to third with a grounder to the right side, and the struggling (give me a break!) Lyle Overbay follows with a sac fly to deep left. I’m assuming, from a lot of the comments I get, that several Jays fans may have collapsed in sheer rapture at that point. It was nicely done, though.
After that third, the offense completely dried up. While Halladay was perfect for 6 1/3 around that rough 4th inning, Jose Contreras took it home by retiring the last 16 Blue Jays he faced. Not a sniff after the third. They had four by then, though, their highest run total after three innings since way back on April 15th, when they led 5-1 after three on the way to an 11-3 win in Baltimore.
So, how’s the pitching doing? The last time a Jays’ starter gave up more than two earned runs was April 25th, when A.J. Burnett surrendered three earnies in the “Rolen debut/Eckstein drops the throw from Downs” game. The night before that was the last time a Jays’ starter failed to record a quality start. Those two games, by the way, were also the nights of the last recorded sightings of Jason Frasor and Brian Tallet, respectively.
The game could have turned on two plays. First, the incredible (and I don’t mean that in a good way) decision by Alex Rios to take a hard step towards third base on a David Eckstein grounder to short that was about a step to his right. He quickly decided to reverse his field, and rammed into Sox’ shortstop Orlando Cabrera on his way back to second. Cabrera threw to first to retire Eckstein, and then argued about whether he had tagged Rios.
I have to agree with second-base ump Dale Scott, and I had a better view than he did because he was behind the play. To the naked eye, it looked like the two of them bumped, hard, but that Cabrera’s glove was nowhere near Rios during the bumpage. Replays showed that the glove did brush against Rios’ knee, meaning Alex should have been out, but the way they came together, I’d be stunned if Cabrera even felt that happen. He should have tagged him, with a clear, deliberate motion, and then thrown to first, and he certainly had enough time to do that. Thus reprieved, the Jays went on to score three runs in the inning, helped by a very heady dive back into third by Zaun on Rolen’s liner to Joe Crede.
The other play that could have turned things around was the game’s lone error. After Halladay’s perfecto was ended by a Nick Swisher gapper to right-centre for a ground-rule double, Cabrera hit a bouncer to short that Eckstein charged in for, made a really nice play to grab on a short-hop, then threw away. The throw sailed, and pulled Overbay off first base towards the plate, and he couldn’t tag Cabrera as he ran by. A couple of singles followed, and the White Sox wound up with three, only one of them earned. I know Eckstein doesn’t have a great arm, but he rushed there when he didn’t have to. He should have tried to stop and set and make a good throw, and still would have gotten Cabrera. It’s not fair to point to every mistake Eck makes and say that John McDonald would have made that play, by the way. He probably would have, but it’s still not fair.
Two other things to mention before I go:
1 – Adam Lind made things fun going after Joe Crede’s fly ball to the track with two out in the 7th. He got completely turned around but recovered to make the catch. Lind has become a solid left fielder, so that was unusual to see. I really hope that he’s not taking his at-bats out with him to the field, and I doubt he is. Chances are it was just a momentary lapse.
B – I’m continuing to keep an eye on how Marty Pevey has been looking coaching third, and there have been a few occasions where he hasn’t looked good at all. One of them was in the third inning today, when Rios doubled with Zaun at first. Zaun came around second, picked up Marty, and got to third, and Pevey still hadn’t made a signal yet to direct Zaun whether to stop or keep coming. He finally threw up a stop sign with Zaun about 3-5 feet past third, and Zaun slammed on the brakes. So did Rios, who was a third of the way to third base, and he managed to scramble back to second safely because both middle infielders were in short centre. Had Konerko been following Rios to second, he’d have been meatcake.
Now, Pevey may have a system set up with his baserunners where they know that they should keep coming until they see a sign one way or the other, but I haven’t seen too many third-base coaches do that. It seemed to me that he just hadn’t made up his mind yet. I talked to someone who saw Pevey do a lot of coaching third with Syracuse, and he described Marty as an awful third-base coach, so we might be in for some adventures down there. Hopefully not, though.
Comments are encouraged, as always – let’s keep the JaysTalk going 24/7, but can we drop the “Reed Johnson and/or Frank Thomas should still be here” and “Lyle Overbay sucks” stuff please? It’s getting ridiculous.
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hey mike,
first time poster, recent reader.
I always find your posts and radio show insightful. I read the blog about everyday and I try to get to the net following jays games so I can listen to your show.
The reason for my post though was to thank you for acknowledging the work put in by amateur journalists (or bloggers, as some call them) in covering the blue jays. Personally my love of the Jays, and everything baseball for that matter, has grown with my stumbling upon some of the great blogs you mentioned. While a lot of your fellow journalists feels threatened, I think that they are short sighted. They see to have forgotten that the love of sport isn’t so much about athleticism itself, but the fact that it is a shared social experience which we can all feel connected to.
And for the record, my enjoyment of your blog and radio show is due wholly in part to the fact I was directed here by the blogs above – so that is at least one new reader/listener.
MW: Glad you found your way over here!
- mattI think Doc had a shaky 4th inning because he was in shock that runs were scored for him.
MW: Could be.
- BrentMike, big fan of jays talk, keep up the good work. Like what Im seeing so far in may, a sweep tomorrow would sure wash away some of the bad taste of the last road trip. A good outing by AJ will mean no Burnett bashing tomorrow night on the show. Cant wait. Any chance of a Jays talk Podcast in the future?
MW: I’m hoping for the podcastage, but I’m not sure how that ball is rolling. They’re trying, they tell me. It’s McGoawn pitching for the sweep, though.
- Mr.CazWillllllnnnnnnerrrrrrrr.
Yup, I’m one of the lowlifes that links to you from a blog (the drunks). I say lowlife, because, you know, blogs are contributing to the general downward turn of civilization. But I digress.
A question for you, sir. Do you worry at all about the number of long (I mean, really long) term deals management is dishing out? Individually, they all seem like great deals for the club. But if the current roster proves it just doesn’t have enough to get it done, doesn’t that limit the ability to alter the shape of the club going forward?
Also, when AJ inevitably opts out, do you forsee JP taking a run at a big name starter to fill the spot, or is it more likely that the rotation is filled internally (Purcey?) and the money freed up used to lure a shortstop?
Last question – more of a comment – a few posts back you said the Jays could dangle Rolen if they are out of the race by the deadline. Please tell me you were being facetious. I might turn in my Blue Jay card if that happens.
MW: The only long-term deal that could wind up being a problem, I think, is Vernon’s. All the other ones are good values and very moveable if they wind up needing to make a trade. When A.J. opts out, I think Purcey gets the first crack at the spot, so long as he keeps pitching well at AAA.
- JCAnd I wasn’t being facetious when I suggested Rolen could be dangled if the Jays are out of it. If they’re not in the race at the deadline, it means this collection isn’t working and it might be time to blow it up and start again. A 33 year-old with two years and $22 million left on his contract after this year is good bait for a seller to use in a deadline deal.
Two things about Rios, Mike:
Are you concerned about his lack of homerun power so far (I mean more so than everyone else’s) and why has he seemed to regress in his maturity when faced with some of the basic fundamentals of the game?
MW: I’m not concerned with his lack of power so far. Three years ago everyone was saying he’d never hit a home run. I don’t think he’s regressed in his maturity, I think that’s a big leap to make. I think he’s made some fundamental mistakes, some because of laziness or lack of focus, some I don’t know why, but I don’t think it has anything to do with maturity.
- simonHow about we also drop the “Adam Lind sucks lets send him back to AAA” talk too because after all the noise to bring him up, it shows how fickle Jays fans can be if we are ready to give up on him already.
That being said Mike, if he struggles like this indefinitely, do you think management will give him every opportunity to break out of the funk and get established? Basically, how long of a leash do you think Lind has? (Just for the record, I hope they give him a couple months to get comfortable.)
MW: I don’t know if he gets a couple of months going 1-for-20 all the time, but I’m sure they’ll give him another couple of weeks to break out of it.
- B-rad from CalgaryWell I don’t think I need to point out good things that came out of this game, because they are obvious.
It’s somewhat off-topic, but I want to comment on the Jays-US media thing that someone mentioned yesterday (and its Free Agency concern)
I go to the school in the states, and before I actually dug into ESPN/SI’s baseball coverage, I felt the same about their “lack of coverage.”
But really, the baseball world DOES KNOW about the Jays although they don’t talk about specifics like they do with certain teams.
Recently in one ESPN article, D-Mc (nickname for McGowan) was picked as the best “future” pitcher. And people in the comment said McGowan aint so young, etc. which I found hilarious and somewhat agreeable (compared to Hochevars and Bucholz they named after age-wise)
And really, no serious baseball writer (meaning NON BLOGGERS) have never taken either Yankees/Red Sox for having best best rotations so far. The consensus was “maybe, but not for another couple of years at least.”
Peter Gammons (ppl call him out for BoSox bias)on a pre-season Baseball Tonight show (which is not viewable in Canada) said that the Jays probably have the most reliable young pitching in the AL East. Bob Ryan, another Boston writer said a few times on the ESPN Reporters (when issues are brought up) say that he thinks that the Jays have the great staff and personalities on field.
Besides, it’s not just the Jays who aren’t really being covered on ESPN/SI.
Milwaukee ppl complained until the recent resurgence and the entertaining Eric Gagne moments. Colorado-SD ppl complained until their resurgence as well.
So don’t worry so much if you don’t see the Jays on these big sites. They know the Jays. Every pre-season, Doc is considered the top 3 Cy Young Candidate. They get Vernon Wells to be the guest commentator in the playoffs on ESPN, they got Frank Thomas on TBS last year with Cal Ripken.
Again, there’s nothing against the Jays in the US Media. They’ll put em up frequently if they start do things they are capable of (which all the writers already know.)
MW: I don’t think coverage of the Jays in the U.S. matters at all, but a lot of people seem to get their knickers in a knot about it. Seriously, though, D-Mc?
- BKOnly your glorification of Overbay is getting ridiculous. Check out the team splits w/ RISP, Overbay is one of the worst offenders. I know, I know, small sample size, but they are 30 games in and the man has 4 extra base hits. I guarantee Overbay himself thinks that is a pathetic number for an AL 1st baseman. His OBP would be more helpful in the top of the lineup but since he isn,t there he’s been of less value in the 7 spot, especially when you see his RISP numbers(I can’t even show them here they’re so bad). It’s not all his fault, Gibbons should maybe switch him with the Hobbit, and I’m not suggesting releasing him or anything; I just do not understand, given the reasonable nature of the rest of your opinions, how you can keep saying that Overbay’s performance has been adequate to this point. Anyway, I’ll leave that alone for good. I just had to reply to your “ridiculous” criticism. I don’t consider myself in the “Overbay sucks” camp, I just think he’s experienced some ‘suckage’ of late. I hope for the best though. Thanks. G in B.C.
MW: The entire team has been horrible with RISP, almost historically so, so it’s really unfair to point a finger at Overbay for that. Yes, he’s not slugging, very true, and he’s likely pretty down about only having 4 extra-base hits, but he’s also not getting out (against righties, who they face 80% of the time). It’s not his fault that he’s not hitting at the top of the line-up.
- GMike,
Does Adam Lind want to go back to Syracuse? Is that why he is playing like complete garbage? His .053 average is just brutal.
And Jim Thome is batting .214. So, when is he getting released?
And why does Jesse “son of a” Litsch wear his hat like a 15-year-old white boy from Newmarket? Can you ask him to curve the bill, or just wear it straight? Weird.
Go Jays Go.
MW: I’m assuming you’re not serious.
- navin vaswaniAdam Lind has a really bright future… in Japan. I’m starting to think, and not just because of these past 6 games, that Adam Lind may be one of these guys that is sort of in between AAA and the Majors as far as ability goes. There have been myriad players over the years who mash in the minors but never quite make the necessary adjustments to big league pitchers. Sometimes they make a splash in Japan. I really hope I am wrong, perhaps it is merely paranoia, but I feel embarrassed for his family, friends, and former coaches when I see him at the plate. OK, that is a harsh exaggeration. I bet I’m not the only one worried about Lind. What do you do if Lind goes, say, 5 for his first 15 games? He’s about 1 for 19 in six games so far. I’ve heard it said that for batters to sustain hitting streaks into double figures, they have to be a really good and consistent hitter. It’s not just a bit of luck at that point. Well, on the other hand, if a hitter gets blown away for two straight weeks is there a fundamental problem? He was hot before the call up. Maybe Lind just isn’t the guy. I’m praying to the baseball gods that I’m wrong about Lind but only time will tell. G in B.C.
MW: WAY too early in the guy’s career to be saying things like that.
- GYou arrogant? Nawwwwwwwwwww!
I watched Sunday’s game on WGN out of Chicago. They went on and on about the play at second with Rios. They had a good angle of the play from Dale Scott’s vantage point and you can not blame him for calling Alex safe.
Do you remember that skit John Candy used to do on SCTV where he played a guy who ran porn shop and had a snake tattooed on his face? You never know, that might be where Scott Downs got the idea.
Ken Harrelson, the White Sox television announcer said he had picked the Jays to win the East and in spite of the slow start was not going to back away from that prediction. He said the Jays starting and relief pitching were both tops in the AL and just couldn’t see them missing the playoffs. He also said he thought the Jays hitting would come around.
I’d hate to see Tallet or Frasor go when Wolfe returns. Do you think they’ll keep Camp? If so, why?
Finally,I think the attendance this weekend was good enough to leapfrog Seattle for fourth best in the AL. I’m talking average per game attendance.
Enjoy your Monday.
MW: I think they’ll keep Camp because they’re short on righties, which is why I also think they’ll keep Frasor.
- Jim BranscomeOn the post game show, zauny said a couple interesting things. he said that the multiple run innings happen to doc because he gets frustrated or “mad” when the hitters put good pitches into play and get some lucky hits essentially. ive noticed that doc seems to be showing his emotions more the last couple of years (im sure in the past he was just as emotional but was keeping them inside). zaun also said that on the grounder to cabrera where he appears to have inadvertently tagged out rios, that he (zaun) made a bonehead play and was supposed to be running home on that anyway.
as for the penn, i really like what carlson and camp add to the penn. camp has obviously changed something or added a pitch this offseaon based on his horrendous track record coming into this year. he seems to be a great example of the rarest of bullpen entities (and an underutilized entity league wide if u ask me) a ROOGY. that slide piece camp throws to righties is deadly and with the starters going as deep as they do, u can afford to have a ROOGY. Jessie appears to be much more than just a LOOGY as his sweeping pitches seem to tie up righties consistently. gibbons has always seemed to pretty much hate frasor for some reason so i bed frasor is gone soon with wolf eventually coming back even though wolf is the inferior talent if u ask me.
tomorrow the jays face vasquez and i cant remember the last time they hit that guy well. so with the way things are going, look for a break out game and a sweep.
MW: I don’t think Gibby hates Frasor, and he was unequivocal in the spring when he was asked whether Frasor was on the bubble, he wasn’t. I think he just doesn’t trust him in big situations, and he trusts Wolfe.
- sammySo what did Scott Rolen say when you told him he was the GREATEST BLUE JAY EVER!? (I agree by the way)
MW: I haven’t mentioned that to him yet.
- Jeff WoodcockHello Mike, isn’t it nice to not have to look quite so hard for the positives in the Jays game these days? We took the three hour drive to TO yesterday and were thrilled to be there for the game. It felt like two games in one, an exciting back and forther and then a stellar pitching duel. Plus there was a little guy sitting next to us there for his first big ball game who is taking an Eckstein signed glove to show and tell today, and it was so much fun to watch his excitement.
Here’s a question that has nothing to do with the game itself, but I just have to ask. Before the start of the game, that was Jesse Carlson walking to the bullpen wearing the extremely feminine backpack, wasn’t it? And what exactly is the deal with the backpack? It was hilarious, but I’m very curious too. Thanks, Mike, and you’re not all that mean!
MW: I believe it’s a Dora The Explorer backpack, at least that’s the theme song that plays when he carries it out to the bullpen. It’s part of a rookie reliever’s job to carry that thing out there before every game, it’s full of candy and gum and, sadly, probably chewing tobacco, too.
- kitaBut why is Eckstein the shortstop? So far not enough offence to replace MacDonalds defence….
MW: So far his OPS is 200 points higher than McDonald’s.
- Michael KrimmerHi Mike,
Love reading you in the morning when I get to work – a nice way to avoid actual work on a Monday.
Just a quick note on the Rios double and Konerko’s conspicuous absence… When a ‘SURE DOUBLE’ is struck a double relay of SS and 2B should be set up, thereby making it the first baseman’s JOB to follow the runner. The reasons for this (as evidenced in the play at hand) are obvious. The Jays and Pevey caught a big break thanks to PK’s brain cramp. Lucky jays! But luck is…well you know… GO JAYS GO.
MW: That’s not the first baseman’s job in that situation with a runner on first, though. In that case, his job is to go to the mound to set up the cut-off for a potential throw home. Now, knowing that it was Zaun running, he could have gone to second base, but in case the first cut-off man had been overthrown, things could have gotten messy. I don’t think it was a brain cramp by Nerk.
- AdamHey Mike;
Do you think the reason John McDonald isn’t a better hitter is because he has never really had a chance to get regular at bats?
I guess its a catch 22 – hes not getting the at bats to improve, and he cant improve because hes not getting the at-bats.
MW: Labels are tough to break in any sport. A grinder is always a grinder, a LOOGY is always a LOOGY, a back-up is always a back-up. It kind of sucks.
- Andrew NNot only the Doc is headed back to .500 — so are the Jays!
And both (IMO) will keep on heading in an upwards direction.
MW: I’m with you, and so is Hawk Harrelson, evidently.
- NormMike, I am intrigued by your comments about Pevey as I just don’t understand his calls at third. His late stop sign on Zaun really hung Rios out to dry – luckily there was no defender close enough. By the way, most of us sitting along the third base line thought Zaun would score fairly easily. Then he sends Stairs on a play where any decent throw would have nailed him easily. This is anything but the first time that Pevey has made bone head calls or wound up with runners in or near run-downs. With an anemic offense where every run and base runner is critical how long should we tolerate bone-headed coaching?
MW: The difference between the Zaun and Stairs play is that the Stairs play happened with two out, and the Zaun with none out. Even if you have a slim chance of scoring, it’s better to send a runner with two out, because your odds of being safe are probably better than the odds of the next guy getting a hit, especially the way the Jays have been going. With Zaun, there was nobody out and it’s Zaun running, the better idea is the stop sign, I just don’t know why it took so long.
- MikeLooking forward to the podcast. The Drunks are pretty much the most entertaining blog I visit. Also lots of love for Tao of Stieb. Both blogs are consistently good.
I’ve been wondering what was happening with Tallet. Mike, do you know if his absence is just a situational kinda thing, where maybe Gibby has confidence in other guys right now? Or maybe there’s other issues we don’t know about? I haven’t seen him in the bullpen at all recently.
Thanks Mike!
MW: It’s just a matter of the starters getting into the 8th almost every night.
- ColeHi Mike,
I continue to be worried about the way the bullpen is being managed. I know that you will tell me that the results of the bullpen have been fantastic, it is the long-term health/results that concern me.
When I map out the appearances by date I see some odd things happening. For example, Downs was being used pretty regularly in the middle of Apr. then had 4 days off then was used 4 times in 5 days. Frasor and Tallet were both being used fairly regularly until the 25′th, then nothing. Camp comes in every second day when he first comes up, then is missing for 7 days before getting another appearance.
Do you know if Frasor, Tallet & Camp had any on the side work in between appearances? Did they warm up at all during those off times?
Do you know if there has ever been any analysis done on pitchers who have Tommy John surgery and their appearance trends? Has anyone ever looked into ways of improving arm health over time?
MW: Lots of research and analysis has been done on Tommy John guys and how they come back, and the Jays have all that info, I assure you. All the guys who don’t get regular work are getting work in on the side, but it’s certainly not the same as pitching in games. The thing is, when your starters are taking you so deep, there’s just no room for everybody. Another one of the reasons that I think the seven-man bullpen is problematic.
- Glenn WaddenI do enjoy your replies not like some of the hockey writers I know who is probably sneaking behind some pillar right now looking for a Burger stand. Nice job Mike. Way to go Roy. Keep it up Dustin. You’ve got some great stuff.
- JimI made a comment about this rotation on your Thursday blog being able to go through twice. Maybe they can keep up this current pace, but somewhere along the line, one of the starters is going to lay an egg. It is just the way the game works. They will need a big May to make up for April. How long do you keep Tallet and Frasor in the pen without any work? I guess it depends on whether or not we need another body and bat available on the bench.
MW: They don’t think that they need another body on the bench, though I would dispute that. Of course one of the starters is going to lay an egg sooner or later, but at some point the bats are going to break out, too, for at least one night. Maybe it’ll happen on the same night. Maybe it won’t, and they’ll win 10 of 11 instead. They play 30 games in May, would you consider 18-12 a big May? I’d be pretty happy with that.
- Aaron KerMike,
I listened to most of the game on the radio, and in the 6th inning or so with Ashby calling the game, he called several Halladay pitches “sliders” to (I think it was) Crede.
Since when does Doc throw a slider? He’s got the cutter, the 4-seamer, the sinker, the curve and the occasional change…but a slider?
MW: Alan believes, I think, that the cutter is just a smaller slider. I’ll take his word for it.
- Scott ShepherdHi Mike
Why do the Jays keep Frasor on the team when Gibby clearly has no confidence in him? Also what happened to Tallet? He was used a lot early in the seaon but hasn’t piched in a while.
MW: The starting pitching happened to Frasor and Tallet.
- DanMike: The Reed Johnson/Frank Thomas debate is just not going on in Toronto, but all over baseball. I subscribe to Rogers Extra Innings, so I get to watch games outside of market. When Thomas gets up to bat for Oakland, the Toronto stuff gets brought up and especially the fact that we have no power and the losing streak since he left. They almost taunt JP. The Reed Johnson/Toronto situation was even brought up last night on ESPN’s Sunday night game of the week. Just sayin you better get used to this!
My comment is about the extra lefty in the pen. I imagine you could get VERY GOOD value for Scott Downs (or Brian Tallet) in a trade. The question is, how good? It may be too early to get max value?
MW: It depends on what you mean by VERY GOOD value. An everyday player? Not a chance.
- Jim BHey Mike.. great blog and show.. where could I pick up this podcast you did.. would like to hear it
MW: I actually don’t know. Check in with the drunks.
- peteIt may be unfair but indeed Eckstein makes errors that Jmac would not. So far Eck has 6 errors, last year he had 22. Jmac had 7 or 8 in the entire season. I agree about being sick of the Lyle sucks comments. It is silly and uninformed.
- LizLiz
A big congrats to The Doc for another outstanding performance. I do have a question though: Seeing that Jays fans get to see all of Doc’s stuff are we biased to beleive that he is the best right-handed starter in the American League? Who else in the junior curcuit matches with him?
By the way, what did Rolen do to keep his status as Best Blue Jay Ever? AND…would love to subscribe to a JaysTalk podcast!!
Thanks!
KK
MW: Rolen didn’t do anything to keep his status as the best Blue Jay ever, but one bad day doesn’t make you lose that standing. I believe that Halladay is the best right-handed starter in the AL, at least. I can’t think of anybody that, over a career, matches up. I mean, Chein-Ming Wang is off to a terrific start, as are Zach Grienke, Josh Beckett, Ervin Santana and Shaun Marcum, among others, but I would rather have Halladay over any of them.
- karim kanjiI would like to ask about players we can add to help our hitting, I always seem to tune in right after you’ve talked about Adam Dunn. We have no “Feared” batter in our lineup, Cincy has Jay Bruce in the minors to replace Dunn and Ryan Freel who they can’t get at bats and he is a little unhappy. Ryan has the ability to play 2B, 3B and the OF, not to mention a decent leadoff hitter who can steal. Like Reed Johnson who is playing very weel in Chicago, Freel may do the same with a change of teams. I think he is a better option than Macdonald/Scutero offensively…(Your thoughts?)
Dunn is a 40+ HR guy who would make this team so much better…We need a big Bat!!what will he cost the Jays??
I also think the juggling of the lineup is hurting the players, I think they what a steady lineup and to know what their job is.
Could we get both of these guys in a deal?
MW: You want Freel and Dunn? Who else loses his job besides Lind? Rolen? Hill? Wells? Rios? I don’t want to bring Freel in here to be a back-up, he’d cost too much. Dunn would be a terrific add, DHing with Stairs going back out to left, but he’d cost one of the young pitchers, Purcey, Marcum, McGowan, someone like that. Reed Johnson, who is playing very well in Chicago, is 7 for his last 33 (.212) with 3 walks and no extra-base hits.
- LeadheadMike.
Maybe a deal can be struck, you stop telling everyone that McDonald would have made every play Eck doesn’t and we’ll stop telling you that Reed is hitting almost 60 points higher than the Jays leftfield, scored 7 more runs, driven in 3 more runs all in 23 less at bats. It’s not fair to point to every short coming Jay’s Leftfields have and say that Johnson would have give more, by the way. He probably would have, but it’s still not fair.
So it is to suggest that Toronto first basemen who are last in the AL in runs scored, and RBIs and 2nd last in OPS, SLG and HR might be sucking.
MW: The difference is that McDonald is here and Reed isn’t. And why does everyone think first basemen have to hit home runs? John Olerud only hit more than 22 in a season once. Lyle will get his 15-20 when it’s all said and done.
- JWMike,
I am sorry about that my friend is to blame. He mentioned the words perfect game in the bottom of the third. Which was followed by screaming from me. Next time I will bring the Duct Tape.
But seriously its good to see these guys playing fundamental baseball again while the pitching is staying strong. Good ridance to April.
Cheers
MW: I don’t believe they were ever not playing fundamental baseball.
- IanHi Mike, a great weekend for the team, let’s hope they can use the brooms today.
Friday nights aside (Flashback Friday’s are pretty obvious), is there any logical reasoning behind the uniform combination the team uses for a given ballgame? One day they are wearing the regular home whites with the “bird” hat, the next they’ve got the same jesery with the “T” logo and another night it’ll be the black alternate jersey. Their closet must be bigger than my wife’s!
Is this just marketing at its best?
MW: The starting pitcher picks the look for the day, I believe, except for Fridays.
- ScottMike,
So let’s assume that I buy into the fact that players can’t start everyday. Since we’re not exactly getting top notch production out of our DH spot, why not use it to give your best hitters a break from the field when you feel they need it? I’d feel a lot more comfortable with Rolen in the lineup as the DH than out of the lineup altogether.
Also, just thought I’d point out that Delgado’s 2006 season was pretty darned good(.909 OPS), and even calling his 2007 season ‘awful’ is a bit of a stretch(.781 OPS, .818 vs righties). Comparing that with your boy Lyle Overbay(.786 OPS vs righties this year) makes it seem like you have a skewed perception of the two. I realize OPS slightly underrates OBP which is Overbay’s forté, but it’s still a pretty decent comparison of value for two guys who play the same position. Not saying they should be bringing Delgado in, but based on his 06-07 seasons, purely from a production standpoint it’s hard to argue it would be that bad of an idea. To further his case, his numbers jumped dramatically post All-Star break last year and his September numbers were even above his career averages in most categories.
Last point, I’d personally definitely go with Wilkerson over Botts. Botts has proven repeatedly that he’s not ready to hit major league pitching, despite what his minors numbers may suggest. In fact, his terrible major league numbers were even inflated by a ridiculous BABIP. Wilkerson on the other hand actually had a pretty good 2007, posting what easily would have been 30HR power if he had had a full season of PA’s.
MW: Wilkerson had a .319 obp in 2007. That’s not a pretty good year. Yes, he hit 20 homers in just over 2/3 of a season, but he gets out too much. In 2006, he had a .306 obp, even though he again had “full-season” 30 homer power. I would say that Wilkerson has proven just as repeatedly over the past two years that he doesn’t hit, either.
- Dan WI wasn’t referring to Delgado’s 2006, I guess “last two years” should have been “last year and change” or something, but his 2007 wasn’t good, and his 2008 so far has been awful.
Do you think Lind and Purcey would be enough to get Dunn away from the Reds. Maybe add in on of those good prospects they drafted last year. As it stands right now, The Jays lack power and I think it is an issue which will eventually have to addressed if they intend to compete. The team needs a cleanup hitter to move Stairs and Wells down in the oder where they should be. Nobody on the team can hit more than 30 homeruns. BTW, Vernon Wells career OBP is .331 which is pretty bad. How can you make the case that he is a good hitter if thats what you judge Overbay on.
MW: I wouldn’t trade Lind and Purcey for five months of Adam Dunn. Wells’ career OBP is pretty much right on the MLB average, and his power helps him overcome that, but I have said many times that I don’t believe he should be hitting where he is. I think he’s best suited to be a 6th hitter against right-handed pitching.
- aviI heard the Drunk Jays Podcast and I really liked the round table you did with them…I have a question and I’m sorry if it’s been answered already but why do you call Downs “Snakeface”? I don’t get it…
If anyone is looking for the podcast it’s over on thescore.com
MW: Downs is called “Snakeface” because, in response to a JaysTalk caller early in the season who said he shouldn’t be pitching late in games for no other reason than he doesn’t “look intimidating enough”, he went out and got a tattoo of a snake on his face.
- ScottHi Mike, nice to see the Jays back to winning. the comment i have is on the use of Scott Downs, he seems to be up just about everygame. Has this guy got a rubber arm? So far he is getting the job done but I am more worried about later in the season and possible burn out.
MW: The guy appears to have a rubber arm. He led the AL with 81 appearances last year, pitching basically every other game, and in September still allowed just 9 baserunners in 7 1/3 innings, with 7 strikeouts.
- KenHi Mike,
It was like all wins a good win.I don’t want to knit pick like we do when “Doc” gives up a hit but it seems to me that he pitches his best when the jays don’t score for him.I don’t have any stats on hand but two games come to mind yesterdays and the one in Orlando.It’s hard to imagine it’s a concentration thing a feeling I have is that he is always around the plate with his pitches that the odds are that he is going to pay for his mistakes more than someone who is effectively wild.your thoughts
go jays!!!
mario
MW: My thoughts are that some times he’s going to give up runs. I don’t think he prefers pitching in a tight game, but maybe his intensity level goes up a notch, as all pitchers’ does.
- marioHI MIKE,
- marioall this talk about johnny mac given the job at short.i like eck, defensively he is not close to johnny mac so i am leaning to your side in taking eck out in late innings when we have the lead but mac to be the every day starter these guys got to be crazy.in the east you can’t afford a silent bat.
go jays!!
mario
Bang on on Marty Pevey! He has been disappointing this year to say the least.Don’t know why they made changes, Butterfield was awesome at 3rd.
Mike, do you think signing Eckstein was a mistake? He’s hitting .246, a little bit better than Johnny MAC would hit had he been the everyday SS. As far as defence is concerned, Johnny mac is head and shoulders above. JP missed that one, what do you think?
MW: I think at the end of the season, Eckstein will be his usual .280/.350/.350 self. The made changes in the coaching staff because John Gibbons wanted Butterfield to be his bench coach as opposed to Ernie Whitt.
- BeburgMike, although it worked this past week, don’t you think that Marcum and Litsch throw too similarly to pitch back to back in the rotation?
MW: Nope.
- MarvinWilner,
I can’t believe how much I have agreed with you thus far in the season. To start with, I also believe Shannon Stewart was the right call. Although he has not proved it yet, and because Reed Johnson is having a very good start, it doesn’t seem like the right move, but given the same scenario I would still take Stewart.
The Jays need a lefty who can hit for power and drive in runs, ahem….Barry Bonds. I get it, J.P doesn’t want to sign him, but I can’t think of a more perfect fit.
Releasing Frank the Tank was the right move. He was struggling and the Jays could not afford waiting for him to come around. I think they may have placed themselves in too deep a hole already, but we’ll have to see. Asking them to play .600 ball the rest of the season is going to be tough.
The area I disagree with you is Lyle Overbay. Now I won’t say he ‘sucks’ but he is not producing enough.
Here are the stats from mlb.com:
Here are his stats compared to other first basemen in the A.L:
(Avg/OBP/Slg) (HR/Rbi)
Overbay .260/.370/.330 1/8
Youkilis .307/.401/.500 3/20
Giambi .150/.317/.375 5/14
Garko .242/.361/.354 2/13
Cabrera .265/.348/.487 6/22
Kotchman .330/.385/.554 6/20
Barton .259/.365/.362 1/13
Sweeny .311/.373/.459 2/10
Since Overbay plays much better defense then the rest of the guys I will forgo some offense, but first base is primarily an offensive position. He needs to come through with much more production. And the same way you want the fans to reduce the ‘Overbay sucks’ stuff, I think you need to relax with the .425 OBP against righties. He needs to hit for a higher average and drive in more runs period.
MW: Honestly, if a guy gets on base half the time, I couldn’t care less if he does anything else.
- BobbyHi, Mike:
We’re all pretty familiar with the fact that the Jays’ currently have the 2nd best ERA in the AL, behind only Oakland. But the Oakland record is 19-14, compared to the Jays at 15-17 — a difference of 4.5 games.
This made me curious to know whether Oakland was hitting “that much better” than the Jays, so I took a look at the comparative stats thus far, as follows:
A’s (33 games) – .254/.340/.366; 286 Hits, 18 HR, 412 Total Bases; 159 Runs (avg 4.82 p/g) SB 9/13 (69.2%)
Jays (32 games) – .250/.334/.361; 270 Hits, 21 HR, 390 TB; 130 Runs (avg 4.06 p/g) SB 25/36 (69.4%)
As can be seen, the only significant difference is the runs per game, approx. 0.75 — pointing again to the lack of TIMELY hitting!
Just a few key hits, and they would have been “right there”.
MW: Yup. Oakland is hitting .318/.418/.442 with runners in scoring position, compared to the Jays’ .213/.303/.300. That’s your entire difference right there.
- Normmike, 1st basemen should produce runs, either score them or drive them and overbay is current the worst in the AL…PERIOD
MW: Not true.
- JWHey Mike,
Thanks for the great blog.
Quick question here:
Is Roy Halladay seen as a future Hall of famer?
WO.
MW: I hope so, but I’m not sure. I mean, I think that playing in the right place, with the right teams, he would be a slam-dunk. But he’s going to be 31 years old in a week and a bit, and has 114 wins and a career ERA of 3.61, things that a lot of voters spend a lot of time looking at. Is he going to win 250-300 games? If he pitches until he’s 41, he’d have to win 19 games a year to get to 300, but he probably has a good shot at 250 if he can stay healthy. It really hurts me to be talking about wins, by the way. If you ask the people he’s played with and against, he’s a Hall of Famer, but they don’t get to vote.
- Warren OwenHey Mike,
Is there any kind of stat that takes offense and defense into account? A sort of plus/minus thing for ball players? It would take a greater mind than mine to try and work out an equation, but it seems like baseball has one for everything else.
Basically this is a long winded way of saying that, so far, Eckstein’s defense seems to be costing us more than his offense has added (in relation to MacDonald).
That’s an even longer way of saying that I agree with your long standing position of subbing MacDonald late in games.
Everytime I watch Eckstein throw deep from the hole at short I can’t help but think of the Wizard of Oz: a munchkin throwing somewhere over the rainbows.
MW: I thought you were talking about Ozzie Smith for a second there. There’s no such stat, though I tried to make one up last year. Greater minds than mine have tried as well, and they’re getting there, but it’s just so hard to quantify defense.
- peteHey mike were can you pick this podcast up?
MW: Check with the Drunks.
- ErinConcerning your 18 – 12 a big May. I think a 20 – 10 May, pushing the record to 31 – 27 would do the trick. With this rotation, it can be done. A nice long winning streak (7 or 8 games) will be needed, and they are halfway there. I just hope that Burnett isn’t the one that lays the egg, because your JaysTalk after the game will be pretty one-sided. What is the RISP over these last 4 games?
MW: A nice long winning streak isn’t needed to go 20-10, all you have to do is win four games a week from here on out. In the last four games, the Jays are 7 for 29 (.241) with RISP.
- Aaron KerQuick question on Thomas. Why didn’t the Jays just let Thomas sit on the bench and use him as an occasional pinch hitter. After a few weeks, Thomas would get really ticked off and hopefully retire, saving the Jays the balance of his contract.
MW: He got really ticked off after one day of sitting on the bench, so much so that they felt they had to get him out of there. He wasn’t going to retire, he still thinks there’s a lot in the tank, and he’s probably right.
- SteveMike,
Not that the bullpen needs any help, as it has been awesome this year, but what is the latest on Armando Benitez?
Will we see him in a Jays uniform this year?
MW: He still hasn’t pitched since he pulled a hamstring on April 12th, and maybe.
- Andrew NMike
It seems a lot of fans always resort to trade this guy, or cut that guy when a player struggles. Or fire the Manager & GM when the team struggles. I don’t follow other teams that closely, but is this “normal” fan behaviour? Have the Leafs poisoned Toronto fans because that seems to be what Leaf fans are always doing.
MW: I’m pretty sure it’s normal fan behaviour wherever you go. It’s why management can’t pay attention to fans, because there’d be a new coach/manager every other game.
- DanDo you think Gibbons plays a hunch tonight and puts Stewart in at DH against Vasquez? How have Purcey and Romero been doing in the minors?
MW: I’ll bet Gibbons plays Stewart in left tonight and moves him up into the 2-spot and Eckstein down to 9th. And Purcey and Romero have been spectacular at AAA.
- Aaron KerWhy do a lot of college pitchers (like Ricky Romero), that threw strikes in college, struggle with their control in pro ball? Is it because more of their strikes get hit and so they throw less of them? Or is the umping tougher? Or is there some other reason that I’ve never even thought about?
MW: I think it’s more the first thing than anything else. In college they’re way better than most of the guys they face, once they get to the pros, that’s not the case anymore.
- peteAre you serious that the starting pitcher gets to choose the attire for the day?? That’s pretty interesting, and I guess explains the somewhat randomness of what the team wears for any given game. I thought I heard at some point it was the home team management that selected the uni’s for the day but I could be wrong. I just can’t picture Gibby and Ernie and Marty sitting down the morning of the game with the wardrobe options laid out in front of them trying to decide which look they like best.
MW: Yeah, I’m pretty sure it doesn’t work that way. What about Butter and Arnsberg?
- B-rad from CalgaryMW: “Lots of research and analysis has been done on Tommy John guys and how they come back, and the Jays have all that info, I assure you.”
I was asking more on the prevention side of things (e.g. what causes it, are there trends on # of appearances, # of off days between…# of times warming up..etc).
I find it funny that so much is talked about pitchers getting regular work in spring training, but when the season starts I don’t hear anything about it.
It seems to me like more pitchers are getting blown arms in the past decade(although this is not statistically based). Can you suggest a place to look for some stats on this? I’d like to get some more info on this (I find it it intriguing).
MW: There’s nothing, as far as I know, to indicate when or if a guy’s elbow is going to blow, but the more work he gets, the likelier it seems to be. However, there are pitchers who blow elbows with normal, careful use, and those who get pounded into the ground whose arms never fall off. I don’t think it’s happening any more than it ever has.
- Glenn WaddenBy limiting my question to ‘college pitchers’, I’m not implying that high schooler’s will throw more strikes than college pitchers. In fact, I assume high schoolers would generally throw less strikes. Regardless, hopefully you get my point.
MW: s’aright
- peteMike, I once went to a game in the past on a day where the Jays had the opportunity to sweep a series. Entering the Rogers Centre I noticed many brooms confiscated by security. Are you aware of this? This is hardley a safety issue.
MW: You never know what could be used as a weapon, but that is kind of sad.
- StevePerhaps I overstated Wilkerson’s year as “pretty good”, when I meant pretty good in comparison to Botts, Overbay, or any other Jays he’d be taking AB’s from. His GPA was .248 last year, not very good, but not horrible either. I also have his RC/27 at 5.14, and a nice little plus is that apart from runs based production, he’s got a very nice career P/PA which adds a little value as well. I guess it comes down to the fact that you’d rather take a chance on a guy like Botts who has the potential to breakout while I’d rather have someone more proven, even if he’s proven that he’s nothing all that special.
Anyways, I still find your defense of Overbay a little much. His GPA is .244, his RC/G is 3.9, and that’s with a great BABIP. Not saying it will go down, but it could be a bit of a sign. Lefties drag those numbers down a lot, but even against righties his simplified RC/G is only 5.76, not too great for a 1B. I’d really only give him another month at the most against lefties if he keeps this up, and if he still hasn’t found any extra bases by the trade deadline I don’t think it’d be unreasonable to say that’s a position where they could look for some improvement.
And I still disagree a bit about Delgado. He proved at the end of last year he can still hit, and I believe he can turn it around this year. The guy got intentionally walked 8 times last year(More than any Blue Jay) and 4 times already this year. Now, he’s a DP candidate and doesn’t have too much “protection”, but I think it still shows some people think he’s got something left. Now I know there’s no way in hell the Jays should go after him with that contract, but like I said, production wise I think he’ll be alright.
MW: I like GPA as a stat (Gross Production Average – it’s ([1.8*OPB] + SLG)/4), but it’s not the be-all and end-all, and I’m still more comfortable with the old ones like avg/obp/slg, knowing what they all about, but that’s just me. I’m certainly not advocating using Overbay full-time, I don’t think he should play against most lefties, though Barajas isn’t a wonderful option. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect some extra-baseage from Lyle, especially by the deadline, and I certainly do. I’m not saying that Lyle is hitting like he should be, but I’m saying he’s not a wasted spot in the order.
- Dan WExcuse me Mike but your so far off base on the Overbay issue it isn’t funny. Sure if a guy gets on base half the time you don’t care what else he does, but Overbay doesn’t he’s been getting on base 37% of the time. First base is reserved for with big sticks and so far this year Overbay hasn’t had one. his VORP is
-.2 so if you want to say “he’s struggling right now but I think he’ll come out of it” fine but don’t say that Overbay is doing fine because he’s not. He’s hitting like David Eckstein in a good year.
MW: Let’s all calm down about Overbay, please. As I have said before, I’m talking about righties only, and against them he’s at .278/.411/.375, which is about what Kenny Lofton aspires to be in a good year. He’s NOT struggling right now, he’s just not hitting for power.
- Dan M.Hey Mike,
Are you suprised that Boston is 7 games above .500 and leading the AL East ?
I really thought their pitching was suspect at the outset of the season. As an optimistic Jays fan I was hoping they would struggle this year.
I realize it is May but I am interested in your opinion of the Bo Sox prior to the 08 Season
Thanks and Keep up the great work
MW: I thought the Red Sox, Yankees and Blue Jays were about on even footing beginning the season. It’s early, Boston’s not going to run away with anything.
- PatI am still concerned about the Jay’s hitting or lack of it especially with RISP.Many of the runs they have scored lately have come after some kind of miscue by the other team.While it is nice to see them take advantage of errors I would like to see them earn more runs by their own good hitting.I still find it hard to accept the reluctance to use Mcdonald at short in the late innings when ahead.I’m fine with starting Eckstein but when defense is needed let’s use our best.
MW: All fine points.
- Paul McCreathMike,
Is it beyond the realm of possibility that AJ Burnett won’t opt out of his contract? It seems he’s quite comfortable here in Toronto and he is very close with Brad Arnsberg and Roy Halladay from what I can see. It seems he’s also enjoying his off day gig of throwing shaving cream pies in the face of post-game interviewees. If he has a great year [which is certainly very possible], can’t Rogers dish out the necessary money to keep him here? After all, great pitching is hard to come by.
MW: It’s tough to imagine a scenario that would see Burnett staying here, unless the Jays pony up some big-time dough, which I don’t think they will.
- BernardTo Pete in post #46: There are a number of statistics that attempt to quantify a players defensive contribution and put it into one number that encompasses both offense and defense, but as Mike said, it’s not exactly an easy thing to do. Total Player Rating(TPR) is an example of one of these. If you’re interested in finding out more about these statistics, please take a look at sites like baseballprospectus.com, baseball-reference.com, and hardballtimes.com. Those are just some of a number of great resources for those who want to find more about how baseball games are won and lost. A quick link to a good summary of some of the fielding stats out there: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/fielding-stats-at-the-hardball-times/
Also, Mike, if a player gets on base 50% of the time but slugs .000, he’d be a pretty awful major leaguer. Obviously this is a ridiculous hypothetical, but OBP is not everything.
MW: Good research, thanks! And if I have a guy who hits .000/.500/.000, I’m sticking him in the leadoff spot and smiling a big smile.
- Dan WI understand you not including us in the list of fav Blue Jay blogs. We consider ourselves honoured to be listed in your fav ones that contribute to the downfall of society…
Besides, we’ve only mentioned the Blue Jays once in 662 answers…
http://uselessmen.blogspot.com/2007/02/question-481-time-for-another-road-trip.html
Keep up the great work!
MW: But you’ve been here in the comments a lot, and it’s appreciated!
- USELESS MANMike, I was listening to the Fan on Friday and I have to say that the round table discussion about baseball with McCown, Kelly, etc was terrible. They had no idea what they were talking about and they made a couple of flat out false statements.
Say what you will about J.P (and I am not a great defender of him) but it’s embarassing when the main sports station of Toronto is so completely clueless about what J.P has done or not done.
I’m sure a lot of casual baseball fans listened to this and left with a very unfair impression of the Jays. In fact one of your callers on the weekend had clearly listened to the broadcast and used the same arguments McCown and his buddies had.
- Chris JonesAny chance the Jays sign Shea Hillenbrand if Shannon Stewart doesn’t heat up soon? At least we will get to see John Gibbons’ facial expression change once in a while!
MW: I’m sure the paperwork is going through even as we speak.
- ZackMike, first time poster, I love your post game show, and have now embraced your blogs. of course I don’t always agree with everything you say but I do find I am in agreement on most things and learn new facts and perspectives from you and your loyal followers.
- DJI just want to follow up on a previous guest who was saying that amateur blogs enhance rather than threaten the traditional media. I could not agree more, I really enjoy some of the blogging sites, I was appalled at Bob Costas and Buzz whatisname trying to take down the Deadspin blog.
There are a lot of blogs that are not worth reading but there are some gems out there, and it never hurts to hear from many angles.
Thanks for talking us up here Mike, and also for coming on the podcast… and for being solely responsible for the majority of the parts of the podcast that didn’t suck. Even if you refused to do the Pacino voice. Next time we’ll be sure to tell you which one of us is speaking to you when we’re asking questions or trying to put words in your mouth. We sort of skipped Radio 101 and went straight to the air, and very obviously it’s not as easy as you make it look.
MW: Happy to give you guys some well-deserved recognition. Yeah, I was a little confused, not being sure who was who, but I figured I’d just get through it by not identifying either of you. I’m sure the rest of the podcast was great, but thanks for all the kind words.
- StoetenOh, great. You credited bloggers. Now Buzz Bavasi is going to be coming for you. Hide!
MW: Can you hide from a ghost? Buzz Bavasi passed away last week. I think you mean Buzz Bissinger.
- TonyDo you think Vernon Wells might be regressing to be a 20HR to 25HR because it seems like Alex Rios has surpassed Vernon Wells as the best hitter on the blue jays.
MW: I don’t think the guy with the most home runs is a team’s best hitter, nor do I think that the number of home runs a guy hits is a good way to assess whether or not he’s a good hitter.
- andrewMike, this may be a silly question, but I recall that during the players strike of 1994(?) before which the Montreal Expos were the best team in the National League, anyways during the strike Tom and Jerry broadcast a series of fictional games between a best ever team of Blue Jays and the best ever team of the Montreal Expos, a series which the Expos won tho I forget in how many games. In my increasing dotage (having been 8 or 9 at the time of the strike) I was wondering
1. If you could ask Jerry how he and Tom created the series, because Im very curious.
2. Do any recordings exist? Could they be made available as a podcast or something?I remember them as being fun to listen to, and the chance to listen to Tom and Jerry again would be fantastic.
MW: Jerry got away before I could ask him, I’ll try to remember to ask tomorrow, but I’m pretty dumb, so it may not happen. I remember that, too, and it was pretty awesome. I’m sure that recordings must still exist somewhere.
- Sam McLeanThat seems like a pretty quick trigger on Lind. I hope they send him back down rather than let him rot on the bench. I feel a minor trade or outfielder pick up happening soon.
Really enjoyed the podcast by the way.
MW: Thanks, so did I. It was a quick trigger on Lind, I think I said today that they’d give him at least another week or two. He won’t stay here and rot, though. I expect he’ll be sent back down to Syracuse in the next couple of days so he can play.
- clintIf Frasor or Tallet had to be traded, what kind of return could the Jays expect? Would it be a hopeless career minor leaguer or a Brian Wolfe type guy with the potential to surprise the organization and become useful?
And do you think McDonald’s benching is possibly the result of him possibly expressing his discontent with losing his job in the offseason? He doesn’t seem like someone who would be vocal in such a manner, but, as you said, there is no valid reason for him to stay on the bench with late leads.
It appears that Eckstein has finally been demoted to the bottom of the order.
MW: Considering that what McDonald said about losing his job in the off-season was “if I had hit better than .250, they wouldn’t have signed another shortstop”, I don’t think that’s what it is. He hasn’t been benched.
- XiaoIf the Jays are so set on Stewart’s bat, would it not have been beneficial to use him to pinch hit for Eckstein in the eighth, then bring in Johnny Mac to D-up the 9th?
MW: Nope – Stewart’s the new LF and 2-hitter, and they seem to have come to their senses on McDonald.
- DesmondMike! Thanks for the shout out.
And Jays/Toronto fans aren’t anymore insane than Red Sox fans, who routinely eat their young or send death threats. During a prolonged losing streak, the message boards at Sons of Sam Horn are comedic/schadenfreude gold.
MW: I don’t check those guys out enough.
- JoannaMike,
Have you noticed Zaun’s catchers mask makes his face look like some sort of smily face evil pig? What is that? Something in the mask? Hey, do you watch the game on TV when you are “on-air” during the game broadcasts? I am just wondering how you usually take in the games.
MW: Yes, that’s it, the smiley face evil pig design painted onto Zaun’s mask. Very perceptive of you. I think it’s actually supposed to be an angry bird motif.
- BoldstarWhen I’m on-air during game broadcasts? At home games, I’m sitting right beside Jerry and Alan, for road games, I’m in the studio watching the game on TV and listening to Alan and Jerry.
Do you have any thoughts about roger clemens fall from grace. He’s falling faster then Britney Spears was.
MW: I have never thought well of Clemens, so I can’t say I’m surprised.
- andrewOk, I said May looked ominous, but so far so good. Awesome, ending to tonight’s ballgame and it was good to see Ryan overcame Chicago’s mind games. The hitting is still a concern though. Now if they can overcome their nemesis Tbay then I might become a true believer.
We all want to believe you Mike with regards to this team, we just get frustrated when they do not deliver as expected.
Lets hope this is not a tease, but a sign of things to come.
MW: Hopefully it’s not a sign of things to come, because they have only scored 15 runs in their last five games, and that won’t do, long-term. As I said throughout April, being frustrated is OK, but it’s just nuts to say the season is over or that the players are all terrible or whatever.
- Greg CFunny, though, I haven’t heard from the Gerrys or the Dans since this winning streak started.
Mike,
Following up on our discussion from Friday night – I do not disagree with the notion that Lind has more power potential than Stewart, but the consistency that Shannon brings to the plate (a truly professional hitter – the RH Frank Cat.) is something this team clearly needs more than potential right now. John Gibbons and JP Ricciardi are obviously cognizant that the future is now – Stewart in, Lind out, OK-ing Ryan to go on back-to-back days, Eckstein down to the 9th spot, Johnny Mac in for defensive purposes – all of these moves make complete sense to me for a team that is designed to contend immediately. Now if only we could put the best leadoff hitter on the roster (Stewart) in the leadoff spot…
MW: Overbay’s the best lead-off hitter on the roster right now. Had to get that in.
- Sammy the BullWhat is Roger Clemens like? You say you have never thought well of him. How come?
Also, you indicated a while ago that Mike Mussina is not exactly a barrel of laughs to deal with. What’s up with him? I had never heard before that he’s prickly to deal with.
MW: I have never liked Clemens, though I never dealt with him much personally. He was a bully on the mound, and that stood out to me. As for Mussina, he’s a jerk, plain and simple. Showing up Cito Gaston at the all-star game in Baltimore, whining that the ceremony to raise Tom Cheek’s name to the level of excellent took too long and threw him off his game. What an ass.
- RandalAre the Jays going to finally start using John McDonald for defence in the late innings when they have the lead? I could have sworn they used him in that capacity tonight. Were my eyes deceiving me? If they did, I’m glad. It only makes sense. Also, is it me, or does Eckstein have a very very weak arm over to first?
MW: They sure did, and it’s awesome! Eckstein doesn’t have a very, very weak arm. Just not a great one.
- CamAfter tonight’s games, Reed and Shannon must have very similar OPSs – that sure didn’t take too long to even out!
I don’t understand the Adam Lind bit. Either he was ready or he wasn’t. If he was, you HAVE to give him more than 5 or so games to prove himself. If he wasn’t then you had no business pretending he was the solution for a contending team. The Jays can’t afford to have a prospect learn on the job this year. Lind’s situation just seems to have been severely mishandled, and actually lends some credence to the absurdity of JaysTalk callers (and Bob McCown) who are convinced there is “no plan”. This move just reeked of panic mode.
MW: I don’t understand why a plan can’t change. I agree it was way early to pull the chute on Lind, but they did it as much because Lind didn’t hit over the course of a week (which means nothing) as they did it to get Stewart going. I don’t think it was panic mode – why would you panic when you’ve won four straight?
- AriHi, Mike:
Four game sweep — sweet!! (But a scary ninth!)
I have a huge question concerning the 2nd base umpire’s handling of the Eckstein/Zaun DP call.
First, the TV replay showed clearly (at least in my opinion) that Zaun beat the throw — he was sitting on the bag when tagged!
Second, what was he (the ump) doing looking back at first base? On the TV, Sam Consentino tried to give some kind of cock-a-mamy explanation that he had to find out whether the tag was required, before making the call. This would have made sense if he was calling him “safe”, (since the SS wasn’t in contact with the bag, hence no force), but since he called him out anyway, why bother to check? Makes no sense, and only makes him look less certain of what he was doing.
All in all, a bad call, I thought.
MW: I thought it was a bad call, too. Zaun beat the throw and the tag. But I’m with Sammy, that’s the only reason I can think of that the ump would be looking back at first base, though that doesn’t mean he was right to do it.
- NormListening to you the last little while has been a painful experience at best. You are such a Blue Jay apologist. Sometimes it is impossible to stomach your biased Jay diatribe. Do you realize that you said three days before the Jays released Frank Thomas that he was smashing the ball but wasn’t having any luck and callers trying to have him released didn’t know what they were talking about? But after the Jays released him, you thought it was the right move. What happened to, “he’s a slow starter… give him a chance”?
And your “on-base percentage” love affair is getting tedious. All that OBA means is that a batter is getting a few more walks, along with his hits. So what? Teams don’t pay big bucks for their 3-4-5-6 hitters to take walks, they should be getting hits, driving in runs and usually doing it with power. Walks are for your 1-2 and maybe 9 hitters. I’m not saying you should strike out 200 times a season but sometimes a strike-out is better than hitting into a double-play… something the Jays are great at this season.
And please…. STOP… preaching how great Lyle Overbay is because his OBA is over .400 against righthanders. Big deal! Overbay is a run producer. His job is to drive in runs, not to walk. First base is a position for run producers not for a singles hitter with a high OBA.I like Overbay and I think he will start hitting with power soon enough but DON’T harp on how he’s doing great, when any true baseball fan knows he is not. You sound like Overbay’s agent when you boast about his good start. Ask Overbay himself if he thinks he’s doing what the Jays management expect of him at the plate.
P.S. – Stop complaining about callers that are so “negative” and moaning to radio listeners “what a tough night” on-air you are having with callers that disagree with you. Excuse Me!!! You are paid to host a baseball call-in show. Your paid, quite well probably, to talk about something most people would do for free. Some night you sound like you’ve just finished a 12-hour shift in a coal mine. Count yourself lucky that you get paid to talk… BASEBALL.
MW: Wow. Did I shoot your dog or something? You know what, though? I’m glad you sent this comment in when they’ve won five in a row, because I’d have dismissed you almost totally otherwise. Instead, I’m only going to dismiss you partially.
- Kelly PfeifferAnyone who fails to get out more 40% of the time he’s at-bat (yes, against righties) is doing very well, regardless of how much power they hit for. Kevin Youkilis hit 16 home runs last year playing first base for the World Series champs, but had a .390 on-base percentage. So please, give it a rest.
I do complain that callers are negative, because those negative callers are willing to write off an entire 162-game season because of two bad weeks, which is idiotic, to say the least. Most of them are all happy now that the Jays have won five straight. Think they can get back to .500 by June? Maybe?
The fact that you think what you think about walks means we’ll never see eye to eye. To me, the best thing you can do at the plate is not get out, and I don’t care how you don’t get out. Walks are for 1, 2 and 9 hitters? That’s ridiculous. All those great power hitters never walked 100 times a season. Except for Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Ted Williams, Lou Gehrig, Frank Thomas, I could go on – you know, those top and bottom of the order-type hitters.
I don’t believe I ever said what you think I said about Thomas, though the truth is that I thought he’d pull out of it, and I continue to think he’ll pull out of it and have a very, very good last 2/3 of the season. On this I have never wavered. But he deserved to be benched, the way he was going, and wouldn’t stand for it. Since he was untradeable, they had no choice but to release him.
Finally, you’re at least the second person to comment on how much money I make. You have NO idea whether I’m paid well or paid poorly, whether I made more money waiting tables than I do doing this, whether I’m scraping by trying to make car and house payments or not. And I would daresay that I’m never the first to comment on “having a rough night” with callers, anything I say in that regard (other than “be better than the last guy”) is always as a response to a sympathetic caller. I love what I do, and I count myself as spectacularly lucky that I get to talk baseball for a living. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be frustrating listening to and reading people like you. Hell of a lot better than working in a coal mine.
I imagine that a package of Adam Lind and a left handed bullpen guy could give you a very good everyday player. Probably not until later in the season though. Jason Frasor also has some value. Keith Law thinks he has the best arm in the Jays bullpen.
MW: Jason Frasor has no value right now, he hasn’t pitched in almost two weeks.
- Jim BHey Mike,
Did you get a chance to find out if in fact AJ Burnett has worked a Cut Fastball into his repertoire?
MW: I haven’t yet, and I won’t get the chance now until at least Wednesday, because I can’t talk to him before the game tomorrow.
- RyanI said I’d stop with the Overbay comments but you make it difficult. It isn’t just home runs that are missing, doubles would be fine. If Overbay could get his career avgs of about 18/85, .285/.375/.460 it would be glorious indeed. Many of us are still optimistic despite the criticism. Youkilis is slugging way better this year and last. Bad example.
On a positive note, how ’bout that starting pitching. I love Beej and I think he will only get stronger, but ‘Rehab Beej’ reminds me a little of Todd Jones.
MW: I’m finished with the Overbay comments, I can only repeat myself so often. Rehab Beej hasn’t been all that scary, though, besides tonight. The phantom balk helped gum up the works at Fenway, but he’s been pretty clean other than tonight and a flare hit here and there.
- GHey Mike, I just wanted to say thanks for your show, you’re truly phenomenal at what you do. I named my boy (one month old, tomorrow) Wilner, after you… obviously.
Anyway, I read about how Jesse Litsch is actually left-handed in Jordan Bastian’s blog, and I was wondering why he never tried to use that as an advantage earlier in his career. Pat Venditte, a college baseball player, can pitch with both hands and he was incredibly successful with it. By the by, I’m not suggesting Litsch starting to pitch left-handed. I’m kind of just skeptical why he never gave it a shot.
MW: It’s frightening to imagine that there’s an infant out there named after me, so I’ll instead choose not to believe you. Congrats on the offspring, though, and good luck sleeping for the next two years or so. I was there for the Litsch conversation with Bastian and a few other guys (I started the conversation, in fact – dig me!), and Litsch said, plain and simple, that the first time he picked up a ball he did it right-handed, and he’s never even thought about throwing lefty.
- JasonHi,Mike!
First time blogger love your shows before and after games to chicken to call!!
Just wanted to let you know I was really happy to see Eckstein batting 9th. I hope Gibby keeps him there for the rest of the season. No need for him to get 4 or 5 AB’s instead of Hill. Also if Gibby could make sure that Eckstein and McDonald could share playing time evenly it would be better for the team. I love Mcdonalds defence and Eckstein has not shown me he is better then Mcdonald in any other facet of the game.
I hope you enjoyed my input, I needed to get this off my chest.
Sincerely,
Dave from Guelph
MW: Thanks
- DaveRealistically, what lands the Jays Dunn? I’m assuming Romero and Thigpen isn’t enough, but I think you’ve said Lind and Purcey is way too much. What’s the happy median, keeping in mind that it has to be worth it for Cincy to forego the 2 picks and half a season’s production from Dunn?
I think with a legitimate SLG threat from our LF (something Shannon, even with his best OBP, will never be) this team could be seriously lethal. Dunn flat out rakes, would love the Dome, and would provide the Jays with the “power” everyone seems to yearn for.
MW: Dunn would be a spectacular addition, though a lot of people would have to get past the strikeouts. Considering the Reds traded Josh Hamilton for Edinson Volquez, and Hamilton was cheaper and under control a lot longer than Dunn, it may only take one superior pitching prospect. I think Purcey or Brett Cecil would do it, but I’m not sure I’d make that deal. Maybe if it comes to the point where Dunn is a “put you over the top” guy later in the season, you pull the trigger and say screw what could be a big piece of the future.
- AriRe: Comment 84
“Walks are for your 1-2 and maybe 9 hitters. I’m not saying you should strike out 200 times a season but sometimes a strike-out is better than hitting into a double-play… something the Jays are great at this season.” – Kelly Pfeiffer
This makes no sense. Sometimes a strikeout is better than a double-play (unless you’re scoring a run on the DP or MAYBE if you’re advancing a runner), but a walk is much much better than both. No DP, you advance any runners on first, and no outs. Why would you not want all your batters walking? If they never get out then it’s hard to lose (actually if they never get out it’s hard to win too because you’ll be playing the first inning forever).
Also, there is no such stat as On Base Average. I believe the stat you were looking for is OBP.
MW: If every hitter walked all the time, you’d never lose a game. You’d never finish a game, either, but you’d never lose one.
- ColinDo you think the Phillies will try to trade chase Utley because in my opinion he is the best second baseman in this league. I thought of a package of Adam Lind, David Purcey,Travis Snider,David Eskstein, and Brett Cecil. it would give us the best second baseman in the league and move Arron Hill to shortstop.
MW: Why wouldn’t the Phillies try to Chase Utley? That’s what you do when you have the best of something, right? I think that package might work, actually, but wow is that a lot to give up. Far too much, in fact, when you’re already doing just fine at second base.
- andrew