12:53 AM Eastern
Right? If we all agree that nothing happened, then nothing happened.
The only thing the Blue Jays can take from their series-opening shellacking at the hands of the Texas Rangers is that J.P. Arencibia homered twice. Arencibia had been 0-for-16 going into his second at-bat of this game (which came in the 6th inning, after eight Rangers had come to bat three times each), and Colby Lewis was cruising with a no-hitter and an 8-0 lead, but the rookie catcher changed that with a no-doubt blast to left for his 13th homer of the season.
Arencibia added number 14 on Arthur Rhodes’ first pitch of the 8th, just sneaking it out to dead centre.
It’s been a rough go lately for Arencibia, much like it is for pretty much every catcher in his first year in the big leagues. He’d had an 0-for-17 to start July, then had six hits in four games before starting back on a bad run. He’s got a lot on his plate as a freshman backstop, and his left hand is banged up as well, making things even more difficult.
Despite all this, he’s still on pace to set a single-season club record for home runs by a catcher. Not a rookie, any catcher.
So that’s the positive, let’s leave it at that. No need to go over the fact that while Jo-Jo Reyes is 5-5 over his past 11 starts including tonight, he’s posted an ERA of 6.46 and a WHIP of 1.663, averaging just four strikeouts per nine innings of work. We don’t need to bring that up, or John Farrell’s non-committal non-answer as to Reyes’ future in the rotation, because this game never happened.
Here’s tonight’s edition of The JaysTalk, for your listening pleasure:
The series in Texas starts Saturday night (because tonight, again, was Major League 3 – never happened) with the Jays sending Carlos Villanueva to the mound against Rangers’ lefty Matt Harrison. Prior to the game, former Expos broadcaster Dave Van Horne will be presented with the Ford C. Frick Award for Broadcasting Excellence as part of Induction Weekend at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY and we wish him a hearty congratulations and hope that his one-time back-up, Tom Cheek, is soon to follow.
Join us for the pre-pre-game show at 7:00 PM Eastern on Sportsnet Radio The Fan590 and on this very website; we’ll hook up with the rest of the country on the full network starting at 7:30 for an 8:05 first pitch. As part of the pre-game show, Alan Ashby will talk to Farrell, and you’ll hear my conversation with Sandy Alomar, Sr., father of Sunday’s HOF inductee Roberto. Join us, won’t you?
Please give me a follow on The Twitter, you can find me @wilnerness590.
Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome!
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9 Responses to “That Never Happened”
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hey Mike,
Re Tony Fernandez’s commemoration,.. (from yesterday)
I don’t know about “Level of excellence”, but the ceremony took place in October of 2001. (following the brief shut down after the events of 911). The team honoured him and his career, had his family out, and Tony said a few words that for me summed up perfectly what it means to be a caring, thoughtful individual, a responsible man, husband, father and teammate. Without mentioning the events of 911, he implied that life is a great gift, too short and should always be respected and honoured. He showed humility, grace and respect, qualities that i admire greatly and are sometimes lacking in public figures and athletes. I marvelled at the way he played the game and carried himself on the field, and that speech solidified his legend status with me for ever.. Hope i get to tell him so myself some day..
thanks Mike
p.s. Travis Snider- showing to be a solid centre fielder-Who new?.. guess you did Mike, along with those that get paid to know.. i certainly didn’t..
- eastcoast ball fanthank’s again..
…
had no idea that Tom Cheek worked with Dave Van Horne in Montreal, I must have heard him as a youngster in the 70′s, as i never went anywhere without the radio strapped to my my handlebars, but i don’t recall.. Congratulations to Van Horne on a wonderful career and his honours..I’m sure the late, great Tom Cheek will be recognized the same one day..
We (Canada) may not have the best ball players in the game, (not withstanding, Fergie, Walker, Morneau, Bay, Votto…but we certainly have had the pleasure to have the best broadcasters in the game, (Cheek, Howarth, Van Horne, Shulman, Ashby.. yourself included! (I know the others aren’t from Canada, but they are in my mind)..
Yesterday I also read a brief history about Pat Gillick’s career and his prior connections to Canada before “76.. What a great story about him coming up to the prairies to play minor ball and all his subsequent success in management.. another honorary Canadian that made a huge impact on the game and our participation in it.. His life sounds to me like a total dream come true having spent most of it in pro ball around the greatest players of the time.. Congratulations Pat!..
…AHH..Late July, the Jays are 500, and it’s actually warm enough here in St. John’s to go sans long johns for a change.. and tonight i’ll be watching a game… all is right with the world..
thanks Mike..
MW: Thanks for including me in that company, I certainly don’t deserve it. It should be noted that Shulman is Toronto-born, though. Canadian through and through.
- eastcoast ball fanIt is time for Reyes to go.Unless the Jays can get more for him by waiting for a compensation pick he should be traded now.If he can’t be moved at least get him out of the rotation and use him in a mopup role in the pen.
MW: And there you go!
- PaulI was really hoping that Reyes would pan out because he’s got decent stuff, just too much down the heart of the plate.
The problerm that we run into is with all the talk of the great depth in th epitching staff, the two most likely call-ups are Jesse Litsch (batters hitting .330 against him with close to an 8.0 ERA
He may get one of his last chances with the big club soon.
Kyle Drabek?
In addition to getting his head right, his ERA is OVER 8 and opponents are hitting .346 against him.
The major league staff is as full of promise as it’s ever been when considering the age of these guys. But over promise and under deliver seems to be more the result so far.
Go Jays.
- GaryHey Mike;
Not quite sure why patterson is starting every game when our best hitter the last five games Rajai Davis is sitting, he needs to play every game for us to be successful. The rational of having all left handed bats in the line up is fine but patterson should be traded along with some of the relief pitchers-francisco, camp, and dotel come to mind to make room for davis as an everyday player and adam lowuen as well. REyes is a good pitcher, but more suited for relief as his era is inflated, and jesse litsch should be starting. Thanks mike; great job as always.
- robert.shello mike
It is a moot point now with Jo jo. The Jays are bringing Ledezma, not sure what is with that, a career 1.58 WHIP, not much better than Reyes.
MW: Ledezma is just here to hold a place until whoever takes Reyes’ place in the rotation is called up, one would think.
- francishey Miguel…
Too bad for Reyes – but he’ll get picked up by someone. Even though he’s been getting lit up lately, Alex will get lots of calls from GMs (southpaw syndrome) thinking our guy can ‘fix him’….and maybe it will click for him somewhere some day.
I’m wondering what a guy does when he gets DFA’d?
I’m guessing he’s not in the clubhouse or with the team anymore? (avoid bad vibes)
What do they usually do for the DFA period?
Is he locked in a hotel room with food & water for 10 days?
mini vacation?
10 day drinking binge?
golf every day?
casino slots?
back home to Mom’s cooking?
volunteer @ the soup kitchen? go to the soup kitchen for meals?
Any insights Mike?
Do they just pack & wait?
Seeing some roster shuffles today (Richmond etc.)….Alex appears to be getting the ‘ducks lined up’ for something…
MW: Pretty sure it’s back home to Mom’s cooking.
- Miguelhey Miguel…..the shuffling may be just to open up a roster spot for Laurie.
In the last 3 Vegas games he’s 8 for 15, 2 doubles, a dinger, 5 ribbies and a stolen base.
In Dunedin last week he was beaned twice in the same game (once on his broken hand).
Maybe we should get him up for a quick look while he’s healthy….?
(rather than waiting for Aug/Sept)
MW: First thing – you can’t be beaned in the hand. You can only be beaned in the head. Second of all, I expect that August 2nd is the due date for Lawrie, though you never know. However, dumping Reyes has nothing to do with making room for Lawrie, there’s already room for him on the 40.
- MiguelMike, do you think Reyes will be here until Drabek is ready? Unfortunately, if that’s the case we may see quite a bit more of Jo-Jo then, because last time I checked, Drabek was doing horribly down in Las Vegas… Also, I know he had a good night, and as I type this, just hit another home run making it 3 in 2 nights, but if he goes into another funk soon, do you think the Jays should consider putting Arencibia on the DL to give him a chance to get his hand/finger fully recovered?
MW: Reyes was designated for assignment this morning.
- JackO