12:33AM Eastern
If you’re a Blue Jays fan, you’ll like see the series-opening win in Minnesota as a triumph of great starting pitching, timely hitting and a ton of hustle, with a bit of a hand from a shaky Twins team. If you’re a Twins fan, chances are you saw this game as one your team completely handed to the opposition, and you might even see it as rock bottom for your ballclub.
The truth, of course, lies somewhere in the middle.
The Blue Jays got another great start out of Henderson Alvarez, and got some big two-out RBI hits from Brett Lawrie and Colby Rasmus, but they also took advantage of some huge defensive letdowns by the Twins.
There were at least three massive misplays on which the Twins showed exactly why they’re mired in last place,with the worst record in the major leagues, the only team that’s still in single digits in the win column for the season.
Two of the three plays – or lack of plays – came with Edwin Encarnacion at the plate. The Blue Jays’ leading offensive performer came into the game with just one hit over the first six games of this road trip, and drew a one-out walk in the first inning. In the third, he came to the plate with runners at first and second and nobody out, and hit a hard ground ball to third. Twins’ third baseman Trevor Plouffe had to make a diving stab to his left, so it wasn’t exactly what you’d expect would wind up a double play ball, but you figure he gets the out at second and you have runners on the corners with one out. Except that Yunel Escobar, who had been at second, hit third, rounded it, and didn’t stop running after Plouffe fired a little high to second base to force Jose Bautista. Alexi Casilla stretched to catch the throw, and couldn’t nail Escobar at the plate as he just kept on trucking, scoring from second base on a ground out to third. That’s not supposed to happen.
What’s also not supposed to happen is that a pop fly about seven feet up the third base line from home plate scores a runner from second base, but that’s exactly what transpired the next time Edwin came to the plate. He lifted the sky-high pop-up, and was furious about it as he trudged to first base, but Twins’ catcher Ryan Doumit had no idea where it was. Plouffe had been backed up at third, but still had plenty of time to get there, but pitcher Jason Marquis came running in and called for the ball. Marquis overran it, though, and as the ball spun back towards the mound, Marquis backed up and had it fall right behind his head as, once again, Escobar scored from second.
The other misplay didn’t really factor into the scoring, but it was pretty cool to watch Lawrie go first to third on a passed ball that barely went 20 feet away from Doumit. Again, he had no idea where the ball was, and turned the wrong way first before finally choosing to check with his teammates to see where they were frantically pointing.
Among some of the other craziness:
- Jose Bautista getting hit by two consecutive pitches in the same plate appearance. Home plate ump Bill Welke didn’t think the first one hit Bautista, and if it did, it barely grazed his jersey (though that’s enough for a base), and it seemed as though Welke thought Bautista might have swung at the second one, which drilled him square in the ribcage. At least Welke agreed to consult with his fellow umpires, who I imagine told Welke he was nuts and let Bautista go to first.
- Rule Five outfielder Erik Komatsu deciding to test Bautista’s arm in the second inning, and losing that gamble. Komatsu tried to bunt his way on with two down and the bases empty, and though Alvarez pounced on the ball as it rolled up the third base line, Henderson threw it away. Komatsu took off for second and stopped there, but when he saw the ball get under Kelly Johnson’s glove down the right-field line, he re-accelerated for third, seemingly unaware that Bautista was only a couple of feet away from KJ. The kid was meatcake at third base, a place you really never want to make the last out of an inning.
And it wasn’t so much craziness, but an unusual sight around these parts lately – the Blue Jays’ bullpen was perfect. A three-up, three-down inning each from Luis Perez – who was ordered back to the clubhouse to change his undershirt, the sleeves of which were two tones of blue, before he could pitch – and Jason Frasor.
Here’s tonight’s edition of The BlueJaysTalk – including a caller from Iceland! – for your listening pleasure:
Before the game, the Blue Jays made some news by signing Vladimir Guerrero to a minor-league contract. He’ll go down to extended spring training in Dunedin to try to work himself back into game shape. The one-time Expos great, and potential Hall of Famer, was a shadow of his former self last year in Baltimore, hitting .290/.317/.416 to establish career lows in all three of the slash categories. His 13 home runs, in 590 plate appearances, was also a career-low. Guerrero had failed to hit at least 20 homers only once before in his career, and that was in 2009 with the Angels. I understand a lot of Blue Jays fans are very excited about the prospect of having Guerrero here and helping out the Blue Jays as a middle of the order scary bat, but you’re thinking of the Vladdy of four or five years ago and before that. He’s not the same guy now, and it really almost hurt to watch him limp around the outfield the last time he got to play it, which was in the 2010 World Series with the Rangers.
Hopefully he still has something left, and will be able to contribute off the bench and as an occasional starter, but Guerrero can’t run anymore, he can’t play any position but DH, and his power seems to be fading fast. It would be awesome, though, to have him finish his career in the same country in which he started it, and you could certainly do worse for a bat off the bench in a playoff race, should the Blue Jays find themselves in one.
As a basis for comparison, though, Guerrero’s OPS of .733 last season was lower than Adam Lind’s .734.
The series continues Friday night, weather permitting, with the Blue Jays looking for their third straight win. Kyle Drabek will face the 0-4 Nick Blackburn, who has an ERA of 6.84 and a WHIP of 1.595 so far this season. We’ll be on the air across the Blue Jays Radio Network at 7:30PM Eastern for an 8:10 first pitch. Those of you listening on Sportsnet590 The Fan or here on this very website get an extra half-hour of pre-gameness beginning at 7:00, so tune us in!
Please give me a follow on The Twitter, you can find me @wilnerness590.
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12 Responses to “Perspectives”
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These actors make better callers then all those constant complaining Jays fans.
- Matt in BCOkay first Mike thanks for passing my frustrations on to the blue jays management. Some shake up was needed. with a below 200 avg Lind should be hitting 8th and the doubt about it the change in the closer road was long overdue. Here is my next suggestion you can passs along, tell Jose that he doesn’t have to swing for the fences every at bat. I realize he expects more from himself but right now he is delivering all or nothing and a lot more nothing than all. It’s in his head now and he may need a little session with a shrink to get himself back in order. Very much a jose supporter and I know he will come around but it has to be wearing on him considering what he has done over the past few years. Like the idea of the Vlad signing it’s another shake-up and at the very least put some competitive pressure on the regular line up. I have spent no time with Vlad but it’s my take that his competive nature will be a nice fit to this line up. I can’t wait to see one of his crazy swings at a ball in the dirt take one out of the yard!
MW: Ummmm, you know I’m not going to management with your complaints, right?
- JamieI know it’s still really early in the season but out of curiosity if the jays were in the one game wild-card playoff would you rather start Romero or Morrow?
MW: Whoever’s day it is.
- SteveIf Guerrero comes up to the big club, does that mean Ben Francisco will be released to make room?
Great job on the play-by-play. You are living the dream of many of us. Congrats!!!
MW: Thanks, I appreciate it very much! I don’t know that Francisco will be released, he has an option left. So does Lind. But I think it’ll be a while before Guerrero comes up.
- AaronMike,
It seems like Alvarez’s M.O. is to throw strikes and pitch to contact and maintain a good ground ball to fly ball ratio. Which in my opinion is a great approach and I’m glad he’s found great success doing it.
My questions to you is, do you think he has another gear that will make him a more of a strikeout pitcher? In other words, in certain situations, a big strikeout is better than a grounder. I feel that in order to truly become an ace, you need to have a respectable K/9 ratio, so I am hoping that as Alvarez matures and develops, he will continue to refine his game and fully utilize the talent he’s been gifted with.
With that said, things are going well for the kid so I wouldn’t fix anything about his approach since it ain’t broke. It will simply be scary if Alvarez can take his game to yet another level with more experience. I am banking that he does!! What do you think?
Thanks MIke and keep up the good work.
BTW, I’ve heard a few innings when you were calling the games. Have you settled on a Wilner Home Run call yet? I heard the HR you called when JP cranked one out and that was nicely done and calmly delivered. Any chance we’ll hear you yelling and screaming with excitement on the next clutch HR by a Jay?
MW: I think that eventually we’ll see more strikeouts out of Alvarez, but I don’t think he needs another gear. He throws 97 with big-time sink and has a killer change-up. In time I think we’ll see him striking more people out, fewer at-bats where he has a hard time putting people away, but he seems to be someone who will always favour early contact. As for a home run call, I don’t have one and hope to never have one. Tom Cheek didn’t, and that’s more than good enough for me.
- AntonyGood game last night — the Twins looked pretty bad out there, but the Jays had their share of errors too which is concerning. The defence from the pitcher in particular has been particularly bad on the road.
It was good to see Perez bounce back from the night before.
It’s kind of good that Vlad is joining the Jays as a threat. Really, it’s cheap insurance if EE goes south or he needs to play 1st base in case Adam Lind never improves. EE has lost his bat on the road, batting 2 for 29 (can we really count the fly ball 7 feet in front of home plate as a hit?). Maybe it’s just conditioning for Adam. Maybe Adam needs to DH? I dunno.
What is up with Bautista and Pujols? JoeyBats is just chasing pitches and is completely lacking discipline at the plate now. He is clearly frustrated. I hope that he gets a day off, though that’s probably not what he wants.
So Mike, tell us in a future blog what it was like traveling with the team? Is it something you could see doing long term (play-by-play)? You’re getting better and better on the air. Congratulations.
MW: If you don’t count the pop-up as a hit for Edwin then you have to count the line drives that get caught as hits. There’s almost no chance you’ll ever see Vladimir Guerrero with a fielder’s glove on. Thanks for the kind words about the play-by-play, it’s something that I’d love to be able to do long-term – it’s pretty much every broadcaster’s dream.
- Tim in Niagara FallsWith the Vladdy signing, the only situation I can see happening is him replacing Francisco. You lose some speed and at least a potential ability for Ben to play the OF but you gain some power and possibly higher average with Vlad.
- JTHey Mike,
I was just wondering what you think of the report by Fox’s Ken Rosenthal suggesting that AA inquired about Victorino and Hamels from Philly? This seems un-AA like, as they are pending free agents and he can no longer get draft picks from their departures at the end of the season. I know it’s his job to see what stars are available and who is willing to trade who, but is there a real possibility that we could trade prospects for rental player?
Matthew – Saskatoon
MW: Sure there is, I guess, depending on the prospects and on the rental player. But there’s nothing to the particular rumour you mentioned.
- Matthew WalliserHi Mike.
Was there any warning issued when Bautista was hit? It looked intentional.
MW: No, there wasn’t.
- GeorgeI would have thought Henderson Alvarez being 3-0 in his last three starts with an ERA of 0.82 would have warranted at least a one liner from you?
MW: Sorry to disappoint.
- chrisMike,
Do you agree with what appears to be an emerging consensus that Alvarez will inevitably regress unless he can start to miss more bats? (He ranks last in K/9 among 119 qualifiers for the ERA title). Or are you of the view that his success as a pitch-to-contact groundball inducing machine is sustainable?
MW: I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. Eventually, he’ll strike more people out.
- Keith THi Mike, just wonder if it has been talked much about who gets the credit for signing Henderson Alvarez. It seems to me he kinda came out of no where and wasnt one of the teams top prospects before he arrived in the Major League last year. He seems like a better prospect everytime out and at such a young age.
MW: I’m not sure who the scout was who identified and signed Alvarez, but it did happen in 2006 under the auspices of J.P. Ricciardi. He has been talked about as one of their best young pitchers since he was 16 years old.
- douglas mccallum