12:54AM Eastern
In the wake of Tuesday night’s ugly loss to Oakland, John Farrell make a whole whack of changes to the way his team does business, and Wednesday afternoon, they all worked out rather beautifully.
The biggest decision, of course, was to take Francisco Cordero out of the closer’s role, in which he’d performed pretty abysmally lately. Cordero’s blow-up Tuesday night was his third straight blown save and he’d thrown only one clean inning all year. After Farrell sat him down to explain the decision, Cordero met the media and told us that Farrell was right, that Cordero would have made a change too. That he can’t keep going out there and blowing game after game for them. But he’s confident that he’ll bounce back, he has before.
Cordero out meant Casey Janssen in, and lo and behold Janssen got a save opportunity Wednesday and did something that no Blue Jays closer had done to this point this season. He pitched a perfect ninth inning. Quiet, efficient and thoroughly drama-free, Janssen was outstanding in picking up the 10th save of his career – his first since last August, which also happened to be here in Oakland.
Carlos Villanueva did a terrific job to get the ball to Casey, working his way out of a Luis Perez jam in the 7th, then pitching a spotless 8th to get the ball to the new stopper.
There was a major change to the batting order, too, with clean-up hitter Adam Lind being busted all the way down to the 8th spot in the wake of his poor start to the season. Edwin Encarnacion, who carried the offense in April but who was hitless in 18 trips so far in this road trip, moves into the fourth spot in the line-up.
Lind responded to his demotion with a two-run homer in the fourth that opened the scoring, and Encarnacion responded to his promotion by snapping out of his slump with an eighth-inning solo shot.
The other controversy that came out of Tuesday night’s loss was the decision to pinch-hit for J.P. Arencibia with Omar Vizquel in the 9th inning. Arencibia was no longer seething about it by the time he arrived at the ballpark Wednesday morning, but he was still visibly upset. He said that he supports his manager but didn’t agree with the decision, and wants to be looked at as someone who should be up at the plate with the game on the line and the chance to drive in a big run. Was there ever any doubt that J.P. would go deep at least once in this game? Of course there wasn’t, and of course he did.
There was no BlueJaysTalk, what with it being a weekday day game as well as a getaway day for us on the road – which explains the lateness of this post. I had hoped to have it up before we left for Minnesota, but circumstances didn’t allow it. First time traveling with the team, so I’m still learning the drill.
For your listening pleasure, though, we have coverage of all the big news stories of the day.
Here’s Francisco Cordero being as stand-up as a stand-up guy can be:
And his replacement, Casey Janssen:
And lastly, Arencibia – you can still hear that he’s upset, but he certainly channeled that upsetedness in the right direction on the field:
Having left the west coast 3-3, which isn’t so bad, the Blue Jays are now in Minnesota getting set for a four-game series against the league-worst Twins. Henderson Alvarez will pitch the opener against righty Jason Marquis on Thursday night. We’ll be on the air across the Blue Jays Radio Network at 7:30PM Eastern for an 8:10 first pitch, but those of you tuned in to our flagship station Sportsnet590 The Fan, or listening here on the website, get an extra-special treat – an extra half-hour pre-game with yours truly, live from Target Field. Join us, won’t you?
Please give me a follow on The Twitter, you can find me @wilnerness590.
Comments are welcome – I read them all and will be catching up on the responding very soon!
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13 Responses to “Well, That Worked”
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Saying Cordero has been bad is an understatement. He’s been awful. I didn’t think anyone could make me recall Jim Acker with fondness, but Cordero is doing it. Living here in Ohio, I was more than a little familiar with Cordero’s act having seen him pitch for the Reds the last couple years. In spite of all of this, I still wouldn’t mind seeing Cordero as the closer, for the Yankees that is.
- Jim in OhioFirst, kudos to Cordero for class. I hope he does find it again. Per my comment in the last post, though, this time may be different.
RE: pinch hitting, I understand JP being upset – but has he looked at his stats in the high-pressure situations he wants to be in, especially late in games? He’s below .200 for RISP and 2 out, late & close, etc.
Hitting Vizquel may not be as crazy as it looked. Though yeah, Rasmus should have stolen 2nd there.
Glad to see the homer, but it’s JPA’s average that most needs to improve over time. I’m hoping that as his new defensive skills demand less sustained new learning, he’ll be able to shift some focus and begin making those offensive adjustments next.
- Joe KatzmanHi Mike!
Re: Cordero
The more I hear/read about him, the more I like him. He seems to be a real stand-up guy… Thoughtful, and intelligent as well… After reading his comments, if I get a chance to go to a ball game this year (I am in Vancouver) I’d buy a ticket behind the bullpen, and tell him I still believe in him. I want to be optimistic about this season, and I think all the players deserve a ‘boost’ from the fans, instead of the booing he could get back at Rogers Centre… Heck, I’ll make him a sign telling him as much. If you get a chance, Mike, could you please tell him, that the fans still believe in him. I,m across the country from my beloved Blue Jays, and they have the support of an entire nation, not just the city.
Of course, a change had to be made, it was a nice try with him as our alternate / backup closer, but I’d be happy with him kin middle relief for the rest of the season if he does well there.
- EdIs it possible that Cordero is just done? He lasted quite a while into the offseason before the Jays picked him up, and then there was a comment by another GM (Angels, I think) saying something along the lines of “What was I supposed to do, sign CORDERO!?!?!” Could it be that other teams scouts had something on him that the Jays didn’t, or that AA didn’t want to hear? I’m just about the biggest AA supporter you’ll find, but I would forgive him if once in a while he made a JP move and signed someone based on past stats rather than predicted future. I’m sure Cordero will settle down and probably end up a decent 6th or 7th inning guy for us, which doesn’t make it a bad signing.
Secondly, Hechevarria appears to be hitting quite well since some time last year, and I understand the bat was always the question mark with him. If/when he comes up, how does the infield line up? Hechevarria projects as a gold glove SS, Escobar’s got a cannon arm, and Lawrie’s got the best range for a 3B in the majors. Would you move Escobar to 3B, and Lawrie to 2B?
MW: The GM who said that about Cordero had a couple of other names in there as well, it certainly wasn’t said like that. It’s possible that he’s done, but it’s possible that he’s not. He’s certainly not the guys he was a couple of years ago. As for Hechavarria, he still has a lot of work to do as a hitter. That’s a bridge you jump off when you get to it.
- RyanHonestly, I thought the Jays should have won this game. There is no logic in the thinking, I just thought this team has too much going for it not to at least earn a split in Oakland – good teamwork.
- Joseph P.Speaking of teamwork, it was great to see everyone pitching in while Pat Tabler was out of the broadcasting lineup.
Why are so many fans on him lately? The insulting e-mails and tweets…are not warranted.
His insights are not always products from his observations, I realize that. When Buck Martinez pauses there is little or no time for Tabler to provide pertinent information before the next pitch.
I have found many of Tabler’s comments interesting. There must be a lot of pressure on him to ensure there is no dead air. But this IS television.
Hang in there Tabbie!
michael,
- darrell bishopadam lind… most dangerous 8th hitter in the game today. i know right? can’t beleive it either.
clearly just speaks to this blue jays team hitting depth no doubt. sweeeeet…
and who’s this new closer we got, janson i think is the kids name? nice…
bautista still not humming along as of yet, the team’s real closer still on the shelf and if the season ended today they have a wild card spot.
pinch me would you? man i must be dreaming…
and call up snider eventually or trade for another potent bat if aa feels the gumption to do so and it’s all over but the cryin’ my friend…
you can get the kleenex ready then that’s all i can say to that.
nice job again on the game call yesterday too btw.
vin scully’s got nothing on you michael…
well maybe a bit in truth actually but you know what i mean…
now bring on those twins…
JP hitting homer’s to prove a point is all well and good, but I’m not too impressed with publicly showing up the manager.
I’m not saying Farrell’s decision was good, but if you have players publicly questioning his decisions, that’s the sort of thing that can cause a lot of problems over a season.
What do you think?
MW: Arencibia never showed up his manager publicly. He said all the right things when he spoke to the media. You shouldn’t expect anyone to be happy about being removed from a game in a big situation.
- BenIt may be time to drop Bautista in the line up as well.
- ScoobyBPMike,
If a reliever comes in in the 7th or 8th inning, and he has his good stuff, let him close out the game.
Most MLB pitchers were starters at one time, and can pitch 2 or 3 innings.
The Yankees blew their Tampa game,4-1, using a reliever in each inning, until they foolishly brought in their closer to blow the game .
What is your definite answer on this crucial debate?
MW: Relief aces used to pitch two or three innings, as recently as the early 1980s. It would be great to see that start happening again, but I’m not holding my breath.
- VernI don’t like Casey Janssen in the closer’s role. Sure he’s efficient, throws strikes and more than not will get the job done…but he doesn’t strike me as the intimidating type.
…if only he had a tattoo of a snake on his face. Like that Angels closer. Whassis name?
Good job on the radio Mike! Is it nerve dwindling for you or do you find it comes real easy? Sounds like the latter from my end in case you were wondering.
MW: I think you mean nerve-wracking, and it’s not. It’s exciting as all get out, that’s for sure, a lot of fun and a dream come true, but I wasn’t nervous.
- Scotty Bmike,great to watch farrel tweeking the engine.trying to get it running on all cylinders.17 and 14 is not too bad while their tweeking.
- AnonymousMike,
With Lind, are you also noticing that for some reason or another, he’s swinging at a lot more off-speed pitches and taking fastballs than he has in the past? I swear, almost every time he puts the ball in play, whether it be a hit or out, he’s swinging at off-speed pitches. It seems like a simple situation where instead of catering to his strengths which is hitting the fastball, he’s trying to “adjust” and hit the pitcher’s strengths.
MW: I haven’t noticed that. I think Lind’s biggest problem is that he’s got too much going on in his head when he’s up at bat.
- JTHello Mike
I do not blame Arencibai for getting upset and he should be. As a compatitor, you should be upset when you are not playing or when they do not count on you for the important play.
The question Arencibia should ask Farrel is – what do I need to do to gain your trust so that you will count on me to deliver when similar situations arises in the future?
- Francis