11:05 PM Eastern
It’s been a season of ups and downs so far for the Blue Jays – or maybe better said a season of “up” and “down”. A 27-14 start meant that the Jays, in many people’s minds, went from a last-place team to a playoff pretender to a playoff contender to a playoff lock. Then a nine-game losing streak and a bucket load of mediocrity since (12-10 since the losing streak) had ankles breaking all over the GTA from fans throwing themselves off the bandwagon. We’ve had more than a few “season is over” and “now we’re seeing the real Blue Jays” comments over the course of the Jays’ 12-19 run.
But with tonight’s win over the Reds – one that was far closer than it ought to have been thanks to Shawn Camp and Jesse Carlson – the Blue Jays are tied for the American League wild card spot. Quibble over percentage points and the loss column if you will, but in the crucial “games behind” column, the Blue Jays and Yankees are tied atop the American League wild card race. To quote a great Yankee announcer who has long since left us, “How about that?”
Brian Tallet was sensational, pitching on three days’ rest following his shortened outing in Washington – he left after five (76 pitches) having been pinch-hit for. He shut the Reds down on just three hits over six, none of which were hit hard, walked one, struck out seven and left with a 6-0 lead that Camp did his best to give back. Carlson came in to clean up Camp’s bases-loaded, none-out mess, and gave up four fly balls. Problem is, one of them fell in for a two-run double and two others went for sac flies.
Jason Frasor stood tall, though, nailing down just his second save working around a Chris Dickerson single in the 9th. The offense was terrific, with home runs by Scott Rolen, The Captain and Marco Scutaro (his first since Tax Day) and Alex Rios and Vernon Wells running wild on the basepaths. The Jays cashed their opportunities tonight, scoring three of their four runners who were on third with less than two out.
We also saw Scoot’s baserunning derring-do rubbing off on Aaron Hill a bit, with Hill tagging from first and going to second on Wells’ fly out in the 5th.
Before the game, Reds’ first baseman Joey Votto held court in the Cinci dugout to talk about his time on the disabled list with anxiety disorder. Votto seemed to really let us in, giving us a clear picture of the difficulties through which he has been going in the aftermath of his father’s passing last summer. You’ll be able to read a story about it pretty much anywhere you want to go in the morning (or even overnight on the internets), so I won’t go into too much depth, but he has suffered through a combination of panic attacks, depression and anxiety. He couldn’t be alone at night, he had all the physical symptoms of heart attack, there were occasions when he honestly thought he was going to die.
Votto was near tears several times when he told us his story, and I empathize with him tremendously. He seemed incredibly genuine, and it’s most assuredly as open as he’s ever been with me and the rest of the media corps. It’s kind of strange to say, because I don’t really know the guy other than spending five or ten minutes with him every time the Reds have played the Jays (including spring training games) and, of course, during the WBC, but I’m really proud of him.
The world of professional athletics is one where machismo tends to be in overdrive and anything viewed as a weakness is jumped on and pounded away at from all angles. Those weaknesses can include such things as kindness and intelligence, believe it or not, but a psychological issue is a whole other matter indeed. To admit and then to be so open about about a mental issue is a very daring thing for a pro athlete. Bravo, Joe.
Here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:
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Tomorrow, Scott Richmond takes the mound for the first time after his valiant extra-inning sojourn in Washington, facing Bronson Arroyo who is, in fact, named after the Death Wish guy. We’re on at 7:00 PM Eastern for a 7:07 first pitch. Tune us in then, and tune in The Fan590 (or right here on the website) Wednesday morning, I want to say 10:20 AM, I’ll be hopping on with the Mikes, Hogan and Toth, on The Bullpen.
Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!
75 Responses to “Well What Do You Know?”
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Mike.
Kiss-n-Tallet is a mans man. What a bright spot he has been in our injury riddled season. I give the credit to Arnsberg and JP for finding guys like this. Wildcard lead, what is not to love.
- DanGreat to see Votto back. That’s a touching story.
Second, I wanted to bring up the subject of ‘confidence’. I always hear callers calling in talking about players needing to boost their confidence. Tonight for example, a caller suggested that League be sent to Vegas to get his confidence back. I’ve heard others suggest moving Wells and Rios down in the order to ‘get their confidence back’.
Is it really an issue of confidence? I don’t think Vernon hasn’t been hitting this year due to lack of confidence. I think it’s due to simply not hitting. Same goes for Rios.
As for League…is it really a confidence issue? Is he inconsistent because of lack of confidence or simply because he can’t throw strikes consistently yet?
Bottom line is I think the whole issue of confidence is overrated.
MW: I agree with you, but at the same time, I find myself constantly amazed by how fragile the confidence of the elite-level athlete can be. I don’t know that anything helps them get that confidence back other than starting to perform better, and I don’t know how shifting them around in the line-up or shuttling them back and forth from AAA will help that. What’s up with Rios? He’s doing fine.
- PramitHe’s back!
The man behind the ‘stache
And he’s under control
It’s good that Alice Cooper didn’t stick with synthesizers too long.
I know a lot of people keep asking about who the Jays should be trying to trade for. I hope they aren’t looking for trades at all. If an offer they can’t refuse comes along, sure, take it, but I don’t want to see pieces of future dealt away, especially since the biggest need right now seems to be a Travis Snider type of guy. They’d be looking for a more proven player than him, but I think you smell what I’m cookin’.
Good for Joey! I’m no subject on the expert, but I’d think being open and talking about it will help him, and could even cause others to follow his example and get help/help themselves. Well done!
It’s stupid that Mommy Ramirez gets to play in AAA.
Thanks, Coach
- Dilly in DundasI couldn’t help but smile ear to ear when I saw Joey Votto take the field tonight. This incident has shown that he has a tremendous amount of character and that his level of dedication to his family is remarkable. I even caught myself rooting for the guy! Only when the Jays had a healthy lead of course… once the field trip to Camp Blow-the-Lead began that honeymoon was over.
I’m still confident that Carlson will get his groove back but I sure do miss the days when that call to the bullpen inspired confidence. Nowadays it seems to only lead to extended, and sometimes painful, bouts of onychophagia.
Usually, I find it rather ludicrous to worry about the wild card before the end of August, and particularly this early in the season. But it sure does feel good to be at the top of that list.
MW: I have never understood those who choose to ignore the wild card until late in the season or who would look at the standings now and say the Jays are five games back, or who feel that winning the division is the only “legit” entry into the playoffs. Camp Blow-The-Lead is just mean, by the way.
- KPI was at the game tonight with my girlfriend and my brother, sitting way up in the nosebleeds. I just have a few comments, and questions.
1. I tried to get 200 outfield tickets, only to be told that those seats had been sold out for a number of weeks. However, there were entire rows of that section with nobody sitting in them. I sat in section 530, row 17 instead. Still pretty good seats.
2. Carlson gave up a double and three pop flies. If not for Camp’s inability to throw strikes, Carlson would have given up maybe one run total. We can’t beat up on him for Camp’s ineffectiveness.
3. I was surprised Tallet didn’t come out for the 7th, especially since he struck out the last batter in the 6th. While Tallet was over the 15 pitch line in a few innings (especially the first), he was a pretty efficient pitcher the rest of the way, averaging 15 pitches per inning (which is what I figure a starting pitcher should average).
4. I was pleasantly surprised by the official attendance numbers announced at the end of the game. I guessed at twenty thousand, so I owe my girlfriend ice cream.
5. Why is Russ Adams back with the Blue Jays? I realize Joe Inglett wasn’t having any luck up here, but surely there are better options available than Adams. What about Chip Cannon, or Brad Emaus?
MW: 1 – Weird. 2 – Carlson gave up four fly balls, I wouldn’t have called any of them pop flies – two were deep enough to score runs. 3 – Tallet was working on three days’ rest, and with a 6-0 lead through six there seemed no reason to send him back out. 4 – Good bet to lose. 5 – I wouldn’t say either Cannon or Emaus would have been a better option than Adams. Especially since Cannon was released by the Rays (not a typo) in April having hit .103 in AA.
- Sam McLeanMike
Gotta just pull for those guys like Joey Votto.Takes a lot of guts to talk to the media about those troubles.
I’m sure he’ll put it behind him and continue to have a great career.
Another guy worth pulling for is Scoot.Hope he goes to the Allstar game and should be the Jays MVP this season for sure!
MW: The case could certainly be made for both.
- TerrySo, with Casey Janssen’s shoulder blowing up again, I’ve heard that his starting days are over. Is that true?
If so it might not be a bad thing. As we all know, he was great in 2007 pitching mainly as the setup man. His starting in 2006 and so far in 2009 hasn’t been impressive.
You know you Janssen reminds me of? Paul Quantrill. I was thinking about this the other day: both righthanded pitchers without great breaking stuff, don’t strike out too many, don’t walk a lot, fairly groundball heavy.
I looked up Quant’s career starter/reliever splits, and guess what? He was also someone who fared much better out of the pen. He had almost 900 innings of relief pitching and 360 innings of starting, so there’s a good sample size for both. Check this out:
As starter:
16-30 record, 4.96 era, 1.489 whip, opponents 301/345/488.
As reliever:
3.34 era, 1.387 whip, opponents 288/337/402.
So you can see he was substantially better out of the pen. Interestingly, his strikeout and BB numbers were about the same (5.1 k/9 as a starter, 5.2 k/9 as a reliever, with 2.11 and 2.18 k/bb ratios respectively).
What seemed to make the biggest difference was homerun rate: he gave up 54 in just 359.1 starter innings, and only 58 in 896.1 reliever innings.
Anyway, I could potentially see Janssen being a modern day Paul Quantrill. Usually you want a guy that can miss bats, but clearly this shows that it’s not absolutely mandatory. It would also cut down on the innings per year, obviously.
Just wanted to throw that out there.
But is it true that the Jays don’t see him as a starter any longer?
MW: Nice comparison, that’s interesting. The Jays will bring Janssen back as a reliever, yes, but they haven’t said his starting days are over for good.
- Flaming MoeThe nine game losing streak sucked. There’s no denying that.
But in the midst of all our starting pitching woes, a relief staff that is clearly not as good as it has been the last 2-3 years and a hot-cold offense… I still believe there’s a 9-10 game win streak somewhere in the balance of the season to ying the yang.
If not a 9-10 game win streak, perhaps a 13 of 15 or something of that nature.
And when that happens, let’s hope it’s against Boston and New York. ;)
MW: That would be nice, but if they can throw down a 13-2, it won’t matter much who they do it against.
- AngeloHey Mike, just have some general questions regarding batting practice. Maybe you (or any readers), could help answer: How does batting practice work on a Saturday home game? What time do the doors open? I’m going to the game this Saturday vs Philly, with my Dad and brother, and we’ve got front row corner outfield tickets. We want to get to our seats as early as we can to maybe catch a ball. I know it’s just a baseball, but it would be really special for my little bro to get a ball off of a big league player’s bat. If you have any info please fill me in via email, your blog,etc… It would be much appreciated. Thanks Mike… Go Jays Go!
MW: The gates open at 11:00 AM on Saturday. Also, and I hate to have to tell you this, the Jays often don’t take batting practice on Saturdays.
- Randy KeighanGood evening Mike,
I made a typographical error on the anti-spam “word” and lost my post as a result.
Anyway…
Tallet was great again. I’m not going to bother re-calculating the stat, but if we exclude the 2 starts he’s been bombed, then in the other 12 starts, his ERA is a sterling 2.43. He’s really been quite the revelation for our ailing pitching staff, and aside from the jitters each game wondering whether he’ll explode again, he’s quite enjoyable to watch.
My only complaint is that he looks like a 70s porn star with that unkempt hair and ungodly ‘stache.
I have a baserunning question for you tonight Mike.
In a rundown, you usually see a player runnning up and down the line and he’s generally caught and an out is recorded.
Occasionally, when someone rounds third with a full head of steam, they take this a large semi-circular path to home that deviates greatly from the line.
Would it be possible for someone caught in a rundown to deviate as greatly from the line (re: run perpendicular to it for a bit) in an attempt to draw the catcher and 3rd baseman off the line to try to go around them or deke them?
I’d imagine you can’t, but is there a set distance to the line that you’re supposed to be within? Or do the umpires just make a ruling on whether you’re running as directly as you can towards a base?
Cheers,
MW: There’s a big difference, as you’ve noted, between rounding a base and trying to avoid a tag in a rundown. I actually don’t know if there’s a real distance within which a runner has to stay relative to the basepath in a rundown, but umpires know when a runner is outside it. It’s kind of like the U.S. Supreme Court’s definition of obscenity. Also, always copy your post before you get to the spam word.
- KaliHey Mike,
Was Owings wearing blue cleats at the beginning part of the game? Maybe it was just my tv biting the big one, but I need confirmation in order to start greasing the wife for a new one. Seriously though they looked blue at the beginning of the game, then black in the middle part of the game.
MW: I apologize, but I’m not sure it was possible for me to have been paying less attention to Micah Owings’ shoes last night.
- bootySomething tells me Votto’s gonna ask for a trade to Toronto to be with his family…send the reds snider and change, bring joey home!
MW: I don’t see it coming, but it’d be great to have Joey here.
- jpOoops. With regards to the anti-spam word, I know with other websites and forums if you press back, the page will reload with your text. On this site, it didn’t when I pressed back.
I’m wondering if it would be possible for you to inform IT about the lost messages if the anti-spam “word” is incorrect. There should be a way to fix it so that when you press back, your message is still there. I’m not sure what would need to be changed since I know nothing about websites and comptuers, but it’d be a nice site improvement.
Cheers,
MW: I know even less about websites and computers, but I’ll see what they have to say.
- KaliI sure hope Halladay comes back strong, it looks like his next 10 starts could end up being 4 against Tampa, 3 against New York, 2 against Boston, and 1 against Oakland/Seattle. Maybe a Texas start after that, followed by another NY start. Ouch! Or could be great news! What do you think of the Jays making a play for Glaus as a DH when he returns from injury? Not worth it? Does he have two years left on a contract, I don’t think I’d want him here through 2010 as well.
MW: Glaus’ contract is up after this season, but the Jays shouldn’t be looking to add another right-handed hitter.
- BrendanHey Mike.. Nothing against Russ Adams but dont you think joe has a little more weight to be the guy out there.. They are both lefties at the plate, and similar in thier roles so I think this is a wash and the Jays are just giving Russ a shot to see what he might do out there .. Whats your take Mike?
MW: That’s all it may be, but Russ does have a big edge in speed over Inglett.
- FLIPPERHey Mike,
Jason Frasor’s new nickname is “The Sausage King.” (Of the bullpen.)
Please use it freely.
MW: I don’t know. I prefer Frasor Burn, myself.
- eyebleafAwesome seeing the jays continue to hang on even with the pitching staff as hurt as it is. What are the chances of seeing Fabio Castro and Marc Rzepczynski pitching with the big boys this season? and also how close is Arencibia to sharing duties with Barajas?
MW: Castro maybe, adn maybe even probably, Rzepczynski is unlikely to be here this year. Arencibia seems to be headed for a September call-up, but not much earlier.
- AKHey Mike stellar game except for the relievers providing very little in the way of relief. Strange how the same cast from last year all seem to be having issues at the same time but whatever. The other day someone commented about doing a triple switch and keeping a pitcher in at first or the outfield to replace himself or something how exactly would that work?? Also it’s good to see they moved the blog closer to the top of the page, having the Jays blog below the Leafs as well as TENNIS!?! was a bit outrageous. Oh and one correction, you’ll be happy to know that Toth is on vacation till Thursday. Keep up the good work.
MW: Nope, Toth was back today. A triple switch – let’s say the Jays were in a National League park and had Kevin Millar playing first and Jose Bautista at third. Millar was hitting 5th and Bautista 7th. Millar made the last out of the 8th, and so for the bottom of the inning, the Jays brought in a new pitcher and also brought in Lyle Overbay and Scott Rolen as defensive replacements. Then they could hit Overbay in Bautista’s 7th spot, Rolen in the pitcher’s 9th spot and the new pitcher in Millar’s 5th spot. There’s your triple switch. As for the pitcher replacing himself, Whitey Herzog used to do it all the time with the Cardinals in the mid-80s. You simply bring in a reliever and move your pitcher somewhere else on the diamond, likely first base or right field. That keep the first pitcher in the game, so that he can come back and pitch later. Of course, you do lose your first baseman or right fielder (or whoever).
- Alex DineleyWith all due respect Nolan Ryan was NOT a great pitcher. Strikeouts and no hitters is not what makes a great pitcher.The fact that he has zero CY YOUNG awards on his resume shows that the baseball writers didnt either think he was some great pitcher. Show me any other great pitcher who didnt win the CY YOUNG.Great pitchers of that era were Steve Carlton Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer not Nolan Ryan. To get back to the point of 500 pitchers Nolan Ryan is the poster boy for my argument.i would love to know why when he was on good teams he was still a 500 pitcher? The 79 California Team won the division his record was 16-14 the Astros in 80 won the division his record was 11-10.As you being a Blue Jay fan if the Blue jays won the division is there any question that Roy Halladay would 12-15 games over 500 and of course lead his team in wins? of course not because Roy Halladay is a great pitcher and a winner. Nolan Ryan was a LOOOOSER.
MW: There’s really nothing I can say to this. Good job on the Abraham Lincoln.
- elliottYes, how about that! and I love the smart base running by Aaron Hill – he sure learned from Rolen and Scoot. Every bit helps!
It is amazing that the Jays are tied at this point of the season with the Yankees for the wild card/ What is more amazing is that their pitching staff has been riddled with injuries. In terms of pitchers on sick bay, I think this is the worst year I have seen the Jays pitching staff – four regulars down and the ace is on a 14-day disable list. I have never seen anything like it. The Bosox, Yankees and Tampa Bay sure are not having as bad a problem with their pitching staff as the Jays and the Jays are keeping up with them.
Do you think pitchers these days are more injury ridden than say 10 or 15 years ago?
MW: No, I don’t. I think they’re more aware of their injuries, though. And it’s a 15-day disabled list. And it’s injury-riddled.
- francisJesse Carlson simply has to be sent to Las Vegas. I have absolutely no confidence in his ability.
MW: Your confidence (or lack thereof) in his ability has no bearing on where he should be pitching.
- ZackNo questions here Mike. Just want to say people around town better start taking note of this team. They are the are a bunch of blue collar workers who grind out victories. It’s funny we praise players for the Leafs for that style of play but when the Jays do they get no credit. These fans need to get out to the ball park and cheer these guys on.
It was also great to hear Joey Votto speak about the difficulties that he went through. I gained so much more respect for the guy and can say that a few years back I went through a similar thing when my grandfather passed away. We were really close and it took a while. Good on Joey to brave it and open up like that.
Keep up the great work Mike.
- JeffIn retrospect, pulling Tallet the last time he pitched was a good move. He could pitch again on 3 days rest and he was terrific.
However I”m not so sure about allowing Camp a shot at a third batter after the first two reached base and he was clearly unsettled and confused. There was a point in the third at-bat where he just kind of stood there and hung his head for quite a long time and Barajas had to come out and talk to him.
- isabella reyesHey Mike,
Do you know if an NL team has ever declined to use the DH during interleague play? Thought about that last night with Owings on the mound. He’s one of the few pitchers I’d like to see swinging the bat.
MW: I would have liked to have seen him, too. I don’t know if a team has ever declined to use the DH, but it wouldn’t be a good move if they did, unless they’re sure that their good-hitting pitcher is going to throw a complete game.
- Rob_NSI think your first caller kind of got it right when he was basically saying it was too early to talk about the wildcard. We are still 5 back of Boston.
The Jays have had what I would call an amazing season so far. With virtually no experience in the starters and a bullpen without Downs and a “good” BJ Ryan, the Jays manage to win games.
I love what Rios is doing with the base-running (when he’s thinking) and the Jays were fantastic (and lucky) with the tag-up by Hill, and the SB by Wells last night.
The Jays need Halladay back to pitch a complete game to give the pen a bit of rest. If the Jays keep bringing in relievers after 6 who can’t get out of innings, they might run into a situation with Overbay on the mound…
It was also great to see 30,000+ last night in the messin’ with recession Tuesday. The $5 tickets and $1 dogs bring the people out. I hope that the Jays do this more often next year because the whole atmosphere in the park is alot more fun when there’s more people there. There’s not much better to do on a Tuesday night when the dome’s open, it’s warm out, and there’s garbage on the beaches.
My wife called it “Beer and
B**bs Tuesdays” because that’s about all we saw in the 500s.
Getting a bunch of young people out to the game on these inexpensive nights could introduce a generation of new fans who will bring their kids to more Jays games and so on and so forth.
MW: You’ll have to explain to me why it matters that they’re five games back of the Red Sox when they share the wild card. Also, what did luck have to do with Hill tagging up and Wells stealing that base?
- TimIn the top of the 5th, Jay Bruce hit a fly ball that Scutaro made a great catch on. From the replay it’s clear that Marco covered the same ground or more going out to get that ball than Wells did coming into get it. Did Wells get a bad jump? Or was it not as high a fly as it appeared on TV? It really does look like Wells is not getting to those in between balls like he used to. That one play was looking like it could have been a collision.
MW: Wells backed off when Scoot called it, so they were going to avoid the collision. I didn’t think Scoot went as far out get it as Wells had to come in.
- Ryan McCallenHi Mike,
Just a quick question about a pet peeve of mine from Sportsnet (I hope you can comment).
Why does the network refer to MLB as “The MLB” – (“Watch The MLB on Sportsnet”). It’s not THE MLB – The Major League Baseball???
Is this a case of hockey mentality coming through (referring the hockey as “The NHL” makes sense).
MW: Dunno.
- scottWhy would Gaston pull Tallett after only 6 innings and 90 pitches?
MW: Because he was pitching on three days’ rest and had a 6-0 lead. I explained that in the post on which you’re commenting.
- VirgilioWould you send down Johnny Mac and bring up somebody who might hit a little better obviously not as good defesivly but they dont even use him for defense, is there anyone for consideration or they gonna keep running him out there every two weeks or so ?
MW: They run him out there every two weeks?
- Jaime RamonMike, with the exception of a couple bad starts, I think we can all agree that Brian Tallet has somewhat proven he can be a starter in the big leagues. I’m not elevating him to “Doc” level, but have seem much worse from a 4th or 5th starter on many clubs. Any thoughts about where his future lies? Not sure of his contract status – where do you see him in 2-3 years.
MW: I haven’t got a clue. We have to see if his arm can handle the additional workload after not having started for so long. He’s been sensational.
- JeffHey Mike,
Even in Washington, where their team sucks, no one boo’s their own players there. It seems like a Toronto thing really.
Case in point, Ortiz sucked for forever and no one booed him, in fact they pulled for him to improve.
While I sat in Washington i noticed 2 things, no booing of their own players regardless of “Suckage”, and no doing the 1990′s classic “The Wave”. Washington being one of the worst supported baseball teams in the majors, not even they do the wave.
It seems like some, but not all Jays fans, like cheering and booing the present circumstances, and not appreciating the long term. It also seems that a lot of people go to the Rogers Centre to have a good time as opposed to watching and supporting the Jays, case in point the drunken fans starting “The Wave”. Hell, last night someone tried to start the wave in the all too crucial bottom of the ninth. That was the last straw and i booed the hell out of him, and found random things to insult him about as he was trying to start the wave all game. When the game is wide open fine, but not in a crucial situation.
This same person, and all those in our section trying to start the wave, had to be poked and prodded by me to get up and clap with 2 out in the ninth.
The true litmus test for me, was going to a terrible American baseball city, and seeing how they appreciated baseball considering its lack of popularity there.
Finally, after stating all this, our make shift staff should never be booed for the miracles they are providing this year.
- paoloVery touching story about the struggles of Joey Votto. It is actually amazing that his on field performance remained consistently outstanding in the wake of what he was dealing with.
On a lighter note, watching Brian Tallet throw last night reminded me of a LH version of Jim Clancy, right down to the moustache, flowing locks and even his wind-up to a certain extent. Agree?
http://www.checkoutmycards.com/Cards/Baseball/1979/Topps/131/Jim_Clancy
MW: I remember Diamond Jim being a lot thicker than Tallet. Great ‘stache, though.
- Steve-O from WaterdownAs you mentioned tonight that Scutaro has a chance to be an all-star due to the lack of talent at Shortstop. I largely agree with this, but the guy you may be overlooking is Ben Zobrist.
The guy is absolutely killing the ball, and while he’s not a true shortstop, he’s an awesome utility man who’s having the best breakout year of anyone in the league.
MW: He is killing it, without question, but I doubt he’d be the back-up all-star shortstop. If he makes it (and that’s doubtful), it’d be as kind of an at-large guy, I would think.
- Ewan from Vancouvermichael,
- darrell bishopi know it was a tues. game with the upper bowl ticket special going on (as is usually the case on tues. home tilts) but i thought that was a real fine crowd out last night. good numbers it seemed. approx. mid to high 20′s (didn’t hear the attendance total) very rambunctious & a good turnout in the lower bowl as well all in all i thought.
good to see.
certainly a spectactular evening down at the yard based on temperature, sun, roof open etc…
also had to mention, was down at the box office buying some additional tkts. for some knucklehead friends of mine and as i’m in line there at gate 9 around 1pm or so, brandon league comes strolling by to duck in at one of the entrances right there.
first good look i’ve had of him in civies.
what a rock star!
he’s got this skin tight v-neck tshirt on with these funky jeans & sandals. but with the long hair, the ear ring & other particular jewelleries, and of course the “tatts” covering most of his upper body it seemed. he’s one cool looking dude man.
it was hilarious cause’ some of the other people in line (mostly older folks) i’m very sure weren’t aware that it was him (believe it or not) & were giving him some very strange looks indeed…
certainly doesn’t look like your typical ml ball player that’s for sure.
but i’ll tell you michael, b.l.’s got it going on. no doubt. very cool. definitely a surf dude….
Mike….I liked your answer that MLB players aren’t pieces of glass and I’ll assume you’re implying that they’re babied somewhat..Well when starting pitchers are sent home a day early from road trips to “sleep in their own bed” and studs like Scott Rolen are taken out for a day game after a night game, I think you hit the nail right on the head.
MW: That’s not what I meant.
- chris m.Hi Mike,
Having suffered from the EXACT SAME ailment(s) that sidelined Joey Votto, I completely understand how terrifying and frustrating it can be. My ‘symptoms’ were brought on by the death of one of my best friends, and I dealt with them for several years after. It really is a terrible thing, but it can be overcome. I’ve been fine for the better part of 3 years now.
All the best to Joey Votto!
- JeffHi Mike, I have few questions about bullpen situation of jays:
1. When is Downs coming back?
2. Why was Brian Murphy Sent down? I think he was decent enough to stay and could be the next option if carlson continues to struggle
3. If Janssen comes back, is there a chance he might go into the bullpen?
Thanks Mike
MW: 1 – Dunno. 2 – Bill Murphy was a low-leverage mop-up guy who almost never pitched in an important situation. 3 – Yes, a 100% chance.
- JayI wanted to comment on the caller who mentioned possible improvements on the Rogers Centre. Being a large man at 6’6″ 300 lbs, I find it impossible to squeeze into the tiny seats at the Rogers Centre. Instead I make the drive to Detroit 2-3 times a year to watch a game rather than coming down to the Rogers Centre. I’m not sure why the Rogers Centre still maintains 50,000+ seats when low 40′s would certainly suffice and allow for a more comfortable 3 hours at the ballpark.
MW: Low 40s wouldn’t get them an NFL team.
- Gord EnglishYou can tell who the Canadians are on the ball field..Votto, Bay, Morneau, Francais all good guys..There are no Manny Ramirez types rolling around on balls in the outfield..
Almost to a man, Canadian players are a refreshing change to the game of baseball..They are honest, sincere players and they try to take the time to speak to people..Not that all American players are jerks but you can certainly peg several of them in that category..
- ray bWilner,
Did you read this article of Vernon Wells in ESPN:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=4278550
It appears you guys in the media are way too soft on him. I would have to agree with that assessment.
MW: I don’t see anywhere where it says the media is too soft on him. Kevin Millar said that a 1-for-10 in Philly, Boston and New York is the end of the world, which is ridiculous. You can’t honestly want me to flip out when a guy goes 1-for-10, can you? I think it depends on your definition of soft. I’m not going to sit here and say Wells sucks, or he can’t play anymore, or he was never any good as so many fans have said over the past few months, because all those suggestions are patently ridiculous. I agree with almost everything Crasnick wrote, though.
- BobbyMy 2009 AL All-Star position players (20) thus far based on play are:
C Mauer
C Martinez
C Napoli
1B Cabrera
1B Morneau
1B Youkilis
1B Texeira
2B Hill
2B Cano
SS Jeter
SS Scutaro
3B Longoria
3B Young
3B Rolen
OF Bay
OF Hunter
OF Suzuki
OF Jones
OF Crawford
OF Lind
The last 2 spots were up in the air for me. There were 4 players vying for the last 2 spots. I ended up picking Texeira and Rolen over Kinsler and Zobrist. Thoughts??
MW: Too much for me to swallow right now, but solid work.
- scottHey Mike,
I have a quick question for you. If the starting pitcher goes 6 innings like tallet did tonight and gets 6 runs of support then the jays add more runs in the 7, 8, innings and then the jays end up winning by like a score of 10-7 lets say but never gave up the lead in the game, does the starting pitcher still get the win ??
Thanks
Peter
MW: Yep.
- PeterJoey Votto, the pride of the Canadian Baseball team got a single last night in his second at bat. May he get a dinger tonight and every night, and realize how much he wants to play at the Rogers Center.
Thanks for the heads up on all the articles about Joey and his grief over the passing of his father. Brought a tear to my eye, especially Bob Elliot’s article which you can read at canoe.ca under Slam Sports.
Warm regards Mike
Byron
- ByronMike, was there ever a time a couple of years back where Alex Rios for Jason Bay was discussed? Would JP have agreed to that trade? Looking at where they are now, what a steal if the Jays had done that trade. Bay is a better hitter, better power hitter, and is better “focussed” on the base path than Rios will ever be, not to mention a better person.
MW: Bay is a better person than Rios? I take it you know that through personal experience with the both of them. I don’t know that such a trade was ever discussed.
- JackHi Mike,
I hear people talking about attendance numbers being lower this year and just wanted to suggest a possible factor. My understanding is that they’re no longer counting daily ‘promo tickets’ in the attendance numbers, so any Toronto Star Season Pass holders, giveaways, etc do not get factored into the totals. Not sure how many people this would be per game, but I would assume a fair number.
Apologies if this has been brought up before. I don’t read all the comments.
MW: You really should. They’re not counting freebies anymore, but I think that Star thing does still count. Attendance numbers are down, but the overall turnstile count of paying customers is up.
- DHHi Mike,
I was down at the ball game last night for Totonto Star high school all-star night. I coach one of the boys selected as a GTA all-star and we were invited along with the boys to watch the game from the Jays box. It was a great night for our boys, and the Jays and the Star deserve credit for puting it on. Thanks for doing the blog and Jays talk,I love the them both, especially the late-night Jays talk when you are on the west coast and the crazies phone in at 2am…hilarios.
Keep up the great work.
Trevor
MW: Thanks.
- TrevorHey Mike. I’m going to go off topic again but, I’ll try to stay on track most of the time from here on in. I heard you say once that Ty Cobb killed a man. I was just wondering what the story is on that. You said it a long time ago actually.
MW: There’s a story floating around that Cobb once beat to death a man who was trying to mug him. There are several accounts, and the murder is a hotly disputed thing.
- Matt from BCThe early season excellence could push this team to the playoffs. They would need a similar run to last year with the final 100 games (where do the Jays stand so far?)
The pitching depth of this organization is blowing my mind. All of these young arms with a legit ace is holding this ship together. Right now, it sounds like Marcum is the only guy from 2008 along with Halliday that will be in the rotation in 2010.
Tied for the AL wildcard with the month almost over, and it looks like Texas is hitting a bit of a rough patch. Meaningful games heading into the All-Star break, what else can you ask for. Jays over the past couple of seasons seem to have done well against the upper level teams, so the supposed harder schedule ot finsih off the year could actually work in the Jays favour.
Any word on either Snider or Delucci coming to the big club to supply a left handed power bat?
MW: Neither of them will be coming up anytime soon, it seems. Snider is still hurt. Since game 62 (I’m thinking that’s what you’re asking), they’re 5-5. And it’s Halladay.
- Aaron Kerhey mike.halladay for pujols.would you make that trade?
MW: Yep. Then I’d sign Halladay as a free agent after next season.
- trevor bWell said about Votto. He shows that ball players are just like everyone and they struggle trough tragedy as well. Just curious, why is Barajas nicknamed “the captain”?
MW: Check the archives from when he was signed.
- RichardYour total number of comments have been going down lately Mike!!! Whats happening??
MW: Got me.
- AdamHi Mike,
Since the call-up of Russ Adams, I’ve been thinking about the future of John McDonald. If Russ Adams performs well, do you think there’s a chance that he gets released once Dellucci is called up, leaving Adams on the team as the back-up middle infielder?
There’s nobody whose defence I enjoy watching more than Johnny Mac’s, but his lack of playing time seems to speak volumes of the perception of his worth to the team.
Besides, the way Scutaro is playing Johnny Mac may not start a game at short all year.
MW: The Jays still need a back-up shortstop, and Adams isn’t that.
- ChrisMike,
Just wondering if they ever upload your chats with Hogie and the Tother from the Bullpen show? I heard your segment midway through this morning, and wouldn’t mind hearing what I missed. I can’t find your segment (or any of your other Bullpen appearances – I think you were on the show last Fridayish, too) in the FAN 590 site’s media gallery – am I missing something, or is it just the case that such bits are not put up on the site?
I was going to ask the same thing about your appearance on “The Grill Room”, but a simple google search of “The grill room + Wilner” did the trick. Congrats on winning the BBQ – what happens to your old one now? I say you put it up on Ebay, accompanied and autographed by Vernon Wells!
MW: I guess I don’t count as “media” on the Fan’s website. The old BBQ stays, for now. It might be better than the new one.
- MattMW: Pitchers have no control over their wins and losses.
You can’t seriously believe that. Clearly there is a lot more to a pitcher’s win – loss record that his pitching ability, but his pitching ability is probably the major factor in his win-loss record.
______________________________
MW: Tallet may be an issue, but there’s no reason to believe he probably won’t be around in August.
I don’t know how much longer Tallet can be both healthy and effective, but I’d be more than slightly worried about him being a solid starter for the month of August.
MW: My two prior statements remain true.
- alexThe Jays inability to sign a DH in the off-season may come back to bite them in the long-term. Since the Millinglista experiment is mostly over after showing disastrous results, they’ve now moved back onto the Russ Adams train? Ugh. I understand that Abreu and Giambi are having bad years and Dunn wasn’t a possibility but if the Jays weren’t going to play Snider full-time anyways – why didn’t they go get a DH? If the Jays hang with the pack until the Trade Deadline, they’re going to have to package some players like League or Romero together to get a DH. Isn’t this their biggest need and why wasn’t it addressed properly?
MW: Because they thought that they were going to give the job to Snider and let him run with it, and that probably turned off any other DH-types at whom they might have taken a look in the winter. If I was Russ Branyan, for example, and I had a choice to go to the Jays to play AAA as insurance in case Snider failed or to go to Seattle with a real shot at the first-base job, I’d go to Seattle.
- HalyconI have a question that is not directed at any particular person:
A professional athlete gets an extremely lucrative contract. However his performance declines dramatically and apparently irreversibly. It is proven that he once took illegal performance-enhancing drugs and has now ceased to take them. Can his contract be voided?
MW: It’d be a nice little court case.
- isabella reyesYou were discussing Rolen and the batting title last night, so I just wanted to point out something in case no one else has – his LD%. It’s currently at 30.5%, whereas #2 in MLB, Nick Johnson, is at 25.9%. This suggests that there actually is a reason to Rolen’s abnormally high BABIP, and that he may be able to sustain a higher than normal BA this season with his new revamped swing. It’s truly incredible that Rolen has reinvented himself to the extent that at age 34 he is posting an AVG/OBP well above his career norms, which were strong to begin with.
(You can sort the league leaders in LD% here http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=2&season=2009&month=0)
MW: Cool – but doesn’t that mean that his LD% will eventually decline?
- AriA number of times on this blog there has been some discussion about B.J. Ryan’s fastball and whether he’s losing speed. I’ve found some data.
http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=168&position=P#standard
Ryan’s average fastball speed was 90.7 mph in 2006, only slightly down from his 90.9 mph in 2005. In the next three years, that dropped to 89.9 to 88.9 to 87.2 this year. Now some will rationalize this as being related to his surgery, but consider the following graph:
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/preliminary-aging-curve-for-fastball-speed/
IN 2005, Ryan’s best year for the fastball speed, he was 29, which coincides with the average pitcher’s top fastball speed. A 3 mph drop is speed is expected over three years. I’d be very surprised if we see Ryan’s average fastball speed get above 88 mph again.
To compound matters, Ryan’s control has deteriorated at a time when it needs to improve to compensate for loss of velocity. His percentage of strikes has dropped from 67% in 2006 to 60% this year.
MW: Very interesting. I’m actually surprised that his control has only deteriorated that much.
- Alan the stat geekGlad to see Vernon breaking out of it. Here’s hoping it’s a sign of good things to come.
Also…
I GOT FREE BREAKFAST AND INTERNETS.
MW: Excellent.
- RenegadeDespite having all kinds of pitching injuries and the fact that Ryan will never be what he once was the Jays are hanging in there pretty good. I am very surprised that they are still right up there. How must do you think watching Tampa last year inspire then and say “hey if they can do it with young pitching why not us?
MW: I don’t know if Tampa inspired them that much, I think the Rays were a special case, but it did show the people out there that it can be done.
- dave_12Hi Mike
If by chance you talk to Joey before they leave tomorrow night, can you please let him know he did a good thing, by talking about what happened to him, he will be helping a lot of people. I for one am very proud of him. Also tell him he is not alone. The same thing happened to me about 4 years ago, when I found out that my dad had prostate cancer (he reoovered) It took 9 months to manifest , but when it hit, it hit hard, at times I felt like I was going crazy, it took 4 months before I started to get better. Let him know that what helped me was a course called mindful meditation and my ND who specializes in homeopathy. I still get anxiety once in a while but I am able to handle it now.
Thanks
MW: ND? Is that naturopathic doctor? I wish I had gotten the chance to talk to him but as you now know, I wasn’t at the ballpark.
- AnneWilner,
In response to comment #40 this is what Crasnick said:
“Wells’ travails make for an intriguing test case in selective media overkill. When Red Sox DH David Ortiz was homer-less in mid-May, he was the target of incessant speculation in Boston and beyond. Did Ortiz’s power outage stem from problems with his wrist, his knee, his eyes or his lack of a swagger? Did he miss Manny Ramirez, or was he really 36 years old instead of 33? Naturally, with no evidence other than Ortiz’s statistical decline, the performance-enhancer freight train also chugged its way into the picture.
Wells, in comparison, has gotten a pass. His performance this season has been overshadowed in part by the ridiculous run of injuries to the Blue Jays’ pitching staff. But he’s Exhibit A that there’s an advantage to playing in Toronto besides the terrific ethnic cuisine.”
It sounds to me he’s saying the media in Toronto are for a lack of a better word ‘soft’. Based on Millar’s comments, who played in media crazy Boston, he agrees with Crasnick. He even makes mention of a possibility of the steroid testing as a cause of the lack of production.
Now, I realize this city will always be a Maple Leaf town, but the media should do a better job of questioning the star players when they are not performing (you included). I understand that it’s a bit of a conflict of interest for you since your employed by Rogers, who also owns the Jays, but it would show much greater journalistic integrity.
I still think you do a very good job getting the message out to the fans, but I would like to see some greater critical questioning when it’s required.
MW: Please give me an example of the kinds of critical questions that should be asked of a player when he’s in the kind of slump that Vernon Wells was in.
- BobbyMike,
Ther were alot of people laughing at me, when i said that I wanted Russ Adams called up by the Jays, He finally has been, and has performed well, and that makes me very happy.
Mike, what type of future do you think Russ Adams has with the Jays, if he continues to perform well down the stretch?
Could He possibly make a return to shortstop?
MW: Remember, we’re only dealing with a handful of games, and the fact that his average went from 1.000 to .250 to .375 in a three-game span should illustrate how small the sample size is. Hopefully he can continue to provide some offense and speed at the bottom of the line-up, but I don’t think you should expect much more than that.
- Jazzhey Mike its 10 minutes after the game ended and still the online feed hasnt switched to the post game show….
MW: When there’s a live broadcast on the website they carry that through to the end, whether it be Argos or FC or whatever.
- Jamie TIn your opinion will Halladay start the all-star game as things stand now..
Greinke has a sub 2.00 ERA and a better WHIP.
Your thoughts
MW: It doesn’t matter how things stand now, it matters how they stand in two weeks. Halladay could be 13-1 by then, and they’d have a very hard time not giving him the start.
- Jamie TMW: Pitchers have “no control” over their wins and losses.
You can’t seriously believe that. Clearly there is a lot more to a pitcher’s win – loss record that his pitching ability, but his pitching ability is probably the major factor in his win-loss record.
MW: My prior statement remains true.
What exactly do you mean by “no control”. I’m flabbergasted that you would make such a statement, and then steadfastly defend it.
When Halladay, Clemens, Morris, & Hentgen won 20 games with the Blue Jays those pitchers had “no control” in their wins and lossos. When Josh Towers went 2-10 in 2006 he had no control over that either. I get it. Just a little surprising is all. People who vote on the Cy Young awards would really find “no control” a little surprising. They might buy “partial control” or even “little control”…..but “no control”. I know you’re right but I’m having a tough time wrapping my mind around it. This baseball is a strange game.
MW: A pitcher can throw nine innings of no-hitter and get a no-decision. A pitcher can pitch a complete game, giving up one unearned run, and take a loss. A pitcher can allow eight runs over five innings and get a win. Obviously the better one pitches consistently the better the chance one has to win, but pitchers have no control over their wins and losses.
- alexMW: I have never understood those who choose to ignore the wild card until late in the season or who would look at the standings now and say the Jays are five games back, or who feel that winning the division is the only “legit” entry into the playoffs.
Well before 1995 there was never a wild card team in the playoffs. There actually was a time when the top two teams in each league really wanted to finish ahead of each other….real bad (with a World Series berth on the line). Now they could care less. They’re too busy setting up their playoff rotations, as they now have to beat some team in a best of five series that finished 10 games behind them.
But that’s our society now. Everybody deserves a shot. And hey the fans (with all the dough) won’t lose interest if their beloved mediocre teams can play in the playoffs.
MW: That’s the reason I’ve steadfastly argued against expanding the playoffs even further. But turning up your nose at the wild card is just silly.
- alex“MW: Cool – but doesn’t that mean that his LD% will eventually decline?”
Well, normally yes. LD% is one of the stats sabermetricians always use to see if a guy is actually performing poorly, or if he’s the same as he always is and just getting unlucky. So in otherwords, normally we assume that Rolen’s LD% would drop to fall in line with his career averages, because players’ batted ball stats shouldn’t vary too much from year to year. However, we all know Rolen is a completely different hitter than he used to be, because he’s completely changed his approach at the plate from a long, power swing, to a quicker, shorter stroke (and we were able to see the change with our own eyes over the course of a few months last year). That does leave some hope that Rolen is actually a new hitter, a line drive hitting machine, and if he could indeed sustain it then he might be in line for an abnormally high BA.
MW: We’ll definitely watch with interest.
- AriI was, of course, impressed by the Jays taking it to Bronson Arroyo…. again. Is he tipping pitches, and only the Jays coaching staff sees it?
I was more impressed by Scott Richmond. 64 pitches through 3 innings, then 37 through the next 4. That’s one heck of an adjustment. I know Tallet did the same about a month ago, but I think it bodes well for him staying in the rotation for the rest of the season.
Keeping my fingers crossed for Halladay on Monday, Tampa always seems to be a tough team for him… maybe the bats will give him the usual 6 runs he so richly deserves.
- Greg WHey Mike,
I’m listening to you talking about upper-deck home runs at the Rogers Center…people seem to keep forgetting about Josh Phelps’ homerun into the upper left field deck against the Yankees in 2002. Damn those Yankees. Love the show, love the blog, keep it up!
Noah
- Noah“You can tell who the Canadians are on the ball field..Votto, Bay, Morneau, Francais all good guys..There are no Manny Ramirez types rolling around on balls in the outfield..
Almost to a man, Canadian players are a refreshing change to the game of baseball..They are honest, sincere players and they try to take the time to speak to people..Not that all American players are jerks but you can certainly peg several of them in that category.”
You can add Larry Walker to your list. Too bad we couldn’t dis-own Eric Gagne, saves record and all.
___________________________
“The last 2 spots were up in the air for me. There were 4 players vying for the last 2 spots. I ended up picking Texeira and Rolen over Kinsler and Zobrist. Thoughts??”
You picked four Blue Jays other than Halladay, so how realistic can it be. I suspect that Halladay will be the lone blue Jay all-star. Picking Rolen @ Hill ahead of Kinsler and Zobrist. That’s interesting, but I doubt than that neutral party will see it that way.
MW: I wonder where the spot for Zobrist will come from. Why would you want to disown Gagne? Nice guy. Surely you don’t believe he’s the only Canadian-born player ever to use IPEDS.
- kitAri Posted:
You were discussing Rolen and the batting title last night, so I just wanted to point out something in case no one else has – his LD%. It’s currently at 30.5%, whereas #2 in MLB, Nick Johnson, is at 25.9%. This suggests that there actually is a reason to Rolen’s abnormally high BABIP, and that he may be able to sustain a higher than normal BA this season with his new revamped swing. It’s truly incredible that Rolen has reinvented himself to the extent that at age 34 he is posting an AVG/OBP well above his career norms, which were strong to begin with.
(You can sort the league leaders in LD% here http://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=y&type=2&season=2009&month=0)
MW: Cool – but doesn’t that mean that his LD% will eventually decline?
Rolen’s LD rate is a freakish outlier it is so far outside the rest of the distribution.
Rolen is looking amazingly focused at he plate and with his lower hand position, he seems to be swinging on a more level plane, which is conducive to line drives. Tony Gwinn and Rod Carew had success with consistently high BABIP, so maybe Rolen has found something. A BABIP of 0.360 is only a bit higher than he achieved in Philly and his first couple of years in St. Louis.
- Alan the stat geekHeeeeeeeere’s Vernon. First 65 games compared to his most recent eight games.
………….Bad……Good
AB………….260…….38
BA………….238……342
OBA…………300……390
SLG…………369……605
Actual OPS…..669……995
Neutral OPS….744……855
WW…………..23……..3
K……………30……..8
HR……………5……..2
ISO power……131……263
WW Rate……..8.8%…..7.9%
Contact rate…88.5%…78.9%
K-rate………11.5%…21.1%
Batting eye….0.77….0.38
BABIP……….253…..393
So what’s changed during his hot streak. His WW rate is down, his contact rate is way down, and his K-rate has doubled. However his isolated power has also doubled and his luck (BABIP) has improved by .140.
So he’s swinging harder, making less contact, striking out a lot more, but hitting the ball a lot harder. Part of the increase in BABIP is likely due to the increased power, and obviously his luck has improved immensely as indicated by the huge increase in BA despite striking our twice as often.
If the last 38 at bats are meaningful in any way (could just be a small sample size and random variation) they may suggest that he was suffering from an injury until recently and swinging less hard, sacrificing power for more contact. Because of his bad luck (low BABIP) this did not produce meaningful results. He is clearly hitting the ball harder now, albeit much less often.
MW: I don’t know if, considering 38 at-bats, you can say that he is “clearly” hitting the ball harder now.
- stats ladyMW: That would be nice, but if they can throw down a 13-2, it won’t matter much who they do it against.
Actually, yes it will matter. If they go 13-2 against teams from other divisions, both the Yankees and the Sox would have the same chance to go 13-2 and may manage to do just that. In which case all the effort won’t make much difference. If they go 13-2 against division rivals, they gain on and possibly pass those rivals who will be going 2-13 against them.
So if they do manage a really hot streak I, like your other poster, hope it’ll be against the Red Sox and Yankees.
MW: I know that those games are “four-pointers”, as it were, but they still have to outpace those teams in the non head-to-heads, too.
- isabella reyesMW: A pitcher can throw nine innings of no-hitter and get a no-decision. A pitcher can pitch a complete game, giving up one unearned run, and take a loss. A pitcher can allow eight runs over five innings and get a win. Obviously the better one pitches consistently the better the chance one has to win, but pitchers have no control over their wins and losses.
you’re comment proves that he has “some control” not no control as you have said they can pitch well and increase their chances of getting the win and thus have “some control”
MW: On a game-by-game basis, they have no control. I’m stunned at how so many people relish getting into semantic arguments.
- josh