New season, same team?

Disappointment will be less as our expectations are much lower

The Toronto Blue Jays open their season tomorrow at Tampa before the Yankees come to town this weekend. I've been away for five months and it's great that baseball is back. I managed to listen to and watch some of the spring training games looking for something different. I watched the off-season moves, hoping that Alex Anthopolous and Rogers would come up with some scratch to sign a big name pitcher for 2014. 

So, what I see is the same players (save Navarro, thank God) on the same team using the same techniques to win and lose games. 

The exception this year is that our expectations were so high this year, while this year I think the fan base will be happy with anything over .500. Certainly, Rogers Media has toned down the rhetoric for this year, and that's a good thing. I think the fan base at Rogers Centre will remain steady, making no gains on 2013, while the fan base around the country will remain tied to the Blue Jays' win-loss record, with some extra interest as it looks like only one Canadian team will make the NHL playoffs.

Let's take a look at this year's roster and point out some of the questionable roster moves for opening day. This article will focus on the hitters, while the next focuses on the pitching.

Overall, this team should be hitting better than they did last year, which was absolutely abysmal. Last year featured some terrible offensive outages due to really poor seasons by Maicer, JP, and Bonifacio, bad streaks by Jose, Colby, Lind, and Lawrie compounded by injuries by most everyone on the offence, leaving them with inferior replacements like Kawasaki, Thole/Blanco, Gose, and Pillar. 

Once again, the key to this year's performance offensively will be consistency and injury avoidance. While the addition of Navarro might help the offensive performance as will a return of Melky to his former self, the team is now lacking formidable speed with the departures of Emilio (who could never get on base anyway) and Rajai Davis (a true weapon), and Anthony Gose sitting in AAA. This means that the team must attempt to move runners forward by ways of the bat. And with a three man bench and no one on the bench particularly good, late game situational hitting will be lacking.

This leads me to believe that while the numbers overall will be better, run production will suffer.

Here's my player by player analysis.

C - Dioner Navarro with a .300 / .465 / .492 slash last year and an all star 2008 (with Tampa) under his belt, this guy brings veteran experience behind the plate, which is what the pitching staff and John Gibbons needs defensively. Offensively, he comes with a caveat, in that there were years where he suffered at the plate. For example, after his all-star year with the Rays where he hit .295, he hit just .218 in the following year. So, it is unclear which Dioner we are going to get this year. Still, it's a huge improvement over the train wreck which was JP Arencibia last year. He seemed to have some power last year too, hitting 13 homers in 266 plate appearance. In Rogers Centre, playing full-time, he might have the potential to hit 20 dingers. I also like the fact that he came from Tampa, a Blue Jays rival, with some knowledge of the pitching system there.

C - Josh Thole is here to catch RA Dickey, and will figure into games only if he manages to crack .200. He was quite the batting disappointment last year, but I think part of that was the fact that he was only in games where the opposing pitcher was the team's ace (in that RA is the Blue Jays ace, and aces tend to play each other).

I am surprised that the Jays chose Thole over Kratz as the backup catcher. In the end, I think the Jays traded offense for the ability to catch and hopes that Thole can have a little bit of offense one game of five. I think it's a very tall order to push Thole into action one day out of five, and I would like to see the Jays play him in two of five games, especially if his offense shows a bit of spark.

1B/DH - Adam Lind has had an excellent spring, with Buck quoting that he was looking like the Lind of 2009. Well with the goatee, he definitely looks like the Dr. Hyde version of Lind in 2013. The issue with Lind always is his back health and his ability to stay consistent. If he can remain warm for 2014 and Gibbons uses him in every day situations (against LHP and RHP) and gives him breaks so that he can rest (using him as DH, sitting him from time to time), Lind can relive his glory from 2009.

1B/DH - Edwin Encarnacion, for a Jay, is Mr. Consistency. From oblivion three years ago when the Jays let him go to Oakland (only to be reclaimed), the former "E5" has turned into a decent first baseman sporting a .275 / .364 / .517 line over the past three years with not much in the way of injuries.

At issue here are the away National league games (against Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Cincinnati) where both Edwin and Adam can't play.

2B - Ryan Goins -- The Blue Jays draftee of 2009 is the starting 2B, sporting a paltry .177 batting average over spring training. Last year, in his MLB debut, he hit .252 / .264 / .345 over 121 plate appearances, with 2 walks and 28 strikeouts. He is supposed to be excellent defensively.

I seriously question the decision of putting in Goins over Kawasaki. Now, one could point out Muni's slash last year (.229 / .326 / .308) as being worse than Goins, but that OBP is meaningful. Muni drew a heck of alot more of Pitches per Plate Appearance than pretty much anyone else in the majors. He is extremely popular with the fan base, and he is defensively capable all around the infield. One could argue that this year represents that natural progression for Goins, and that it's his time to prove himself at the MLB level. But the fan base loves Muni. He is JAPANESE!!!

The good news is that if Ryan doesn't prove himself, Muni will be on that bus from Buffalo.

SS - Jose Reyes, while defensively average, Jose is a necessary and vital piece of the Jays offense this year. Our hope is that his hamstring doesn't have any issue. His injury last year was not related to his hamstring. I hope that he improves on his already excellent .296/.353/.427 line from last year.

3B - Brett Lawrie -- We were hoping collectively that LAST year would have been the year for Brett, and looking that the downward trend year over year, we find that we have been making excuses for this man's offensive performance (at .254/.315/.397) last year. He had a terrible spring, got injured, tried 2B (stupid idea), and finally broke out after the all star break, where he had a string of 42 games hitting .324 / .384 / .507 before having a meh September. Defensively, he's a gem. If he stays healthy, it will be HIS year to show MLB his star quality. He becomes arbitration eligible next year, and the Jays are going to have to show him the money if he has a great year, which we all hopes he has. He seems to have matured and slowed down his waggle at home plate and seems to have more control.

UF - Maicer Izturis is the team's utility infielder and after a crappy year (his worst year offensively in MLB), we are all hoping that he does better. When he had regular play with Brett's injury, he managed to hit .309 / .351 / .397 over 150 plate appearance, which was pretty good. But he started off terribly and ended the season terribly as well, batting just .167 for the rest of the season over 103 plate appearances. Defensively, he is okay. 

LF - Melky Cabrera, with an undiagnosed tumour in his back and an absolute defensive liability in LF last year, the man still managed to hit .279 last year with no power. This year, he looks absolutely white hot, hitting .400 in spring training. We can only hope that Melky is the Melky of 2011 this year. We shall see if the turf in LF doesn't hurt him.

CF - Colby Rasmus was hot and cold last year, pretty much like the rest of the club, and with a strikeout rate near 30% and a propensity to look foolish against LHP, he can be a frustrating player to watch. Still, overall, he had an excellent year in 2013, batting .276 / .338 / .501. He demonstrates power. Defensively, he has moments where he is excellent, and moments of complete lapses. I'm looking forward to seeing him perform this year, and hopes that he has a consistently good year with a measure of better plate discipline.

RF - Jose Bautista has had an excellent spring, and that wrist and his violent swing hopefully will not lead to injury as it has over the last couple of years. Still, a HR every 15 or so plate appearances is not a bad thing, and his arm and defence is most helpful.

OF - Moises Sierra had an excellent 2013 in limited action as Jose's replacement last September and represents a capable 4th OF for the Jays and represents the good choice versus Gose and Pillar.

The Outsiders: Anthony Gose, Kevin Pillar, Muni Kawasaki and Kratz are the four outsiders looking in. I see all four of them in Jays uniforms at some point this year.

Next: the Pitchers.

Series wrap: The nightmare continues in Tampa

Where's the magic button that fast forwards to the end of the season?

Don't you wish, as a Jays fans, that you could just simulate the game instead of enduring the torture of watching these games?

Toronto has always had trouble in Tampa, having not won a series there in something like 6 or 7 years. That trend has continued, but these games were so lopsided. And Tampa is in the chase for a wild card spot 5.5 games behind Oakland, the team has to pull out all stops to catch the Athletics. Turns out that they did.

Friday, September 21: Jays 1 at Tampa 12

Carlos Villanueva started the night against James Shields, who has been fabulous against the Jays last year and this year. Carlos, on the other hand, was out to continue to audition for a coveted starting role on some team. Alot of Jays fans are stating that Carlos should be signed to a deal and to show him the money, and my position has been the same: the guy is not proven as a starter. Yes, he can start games, but can he last an entire season? No, he probably cannot. After the game, the Jays management stated that Carlos had arm soreness. The fact of the matter, fans, is that pitching is a violent and unnatural thing to do. Most of us can't throw anything over 40mph, and the fact that these pitchers get pitches up over 90mph is incredible. But it's extremely hard on the arm. Typically, managers will allow a 30% of overage for innings pitched from year to year. Carlos had arm soreness last year when he was given the starter's role, and it's the same this year. He doesn't have the stamina to go a full season in a rotation, and therefore, he will not command a starting position salary. Carlos has pitched about 12% more innings this year over last (so far). Next year, he will probably top out at 160 innings. A big league #1 starter will pitch over 240 innings, while a decent healthy starter will top out at about 200. That leaves Carlos one month short of making it through a season, and that is if everything goes right.

Tampa opened scoring with a Zobrist solo shot in the bottom of the 1st. Two more runs came into score on a Carlos Pena triple. Pena should have been dead to rights at 3rd but Lawrie couldn't pick a bad Hechavarria throw out of the dirt. Molina followed up with a two run home run to make it 5-0. Villanueva then opened the bottom of the third with two singles and a walk before a Luke Scott double (off the glove of Rasmus, a very EASILY handled fly ball) scored two more runs. Carlos then got Pena to pop out before Farrell pulled the plug on Villanueva. Chad Beck came in and stopped the damage, but it was already 7-0 at the end of 3.

Really, is there more to talk about? Beck was okay, letting in 1 run over 2 2/3rds inning of solid mid-relief work, but allowed 3 hits and two walks. With Tampa up 8-0, Farrell marched the very shaky David Carpenter onto the mound, the the Rays managed to score four more runs in the 6th to make it a 12-0 game. Loup and Janssen came on to finish the game.

Ug. Offensively for the Jays, a Yan Gomes double scored a Rasmus single, and that was it for the offense in the top of the 8th. Gose, Arencibia, and Lind were kept off the hit sheet, with Edwin taking the only walk.

Saturday, September 22: Jays 5 at Tampa 11.

Saturday's matchup was a resurgent Brandon Morrow vs a very good Matt Moore. Unfortunately for Brandon he had a frustrating start, not being able to command his slider and not getting calls on some very close pitches with his fastball.

It looked promising for the Jays, as they scored two runs against Matt Moore, as Lawrie opened the game with a walk, Rajai doubled and Edwin singled. Adam Lind hit a sac fly and it was 2-0 after the top of 1. But Brandon was worse, giving up a single and three walks. It was going to be a long night.

Brandon Morrow left a breaking ball over the middle of the plate in the bottom of the second to the desparate Tampa Rays Evan Longoria, who hit a three run homer.

The Jays thretened in the top of the 3rd with 1st and 2nd and two out, but Maddon pulled the plug was pulled early on Matt Moore and went to their very deep bullpen.

Brandon Morrow gave up a solo home run to Desmond Jennings in the bottom of the fourth and with the Jays down 4-2, that was the end of Morrow's day.

The Jays got to Jake McGee in the top of the 5th, as Adam Lind tripled home a single by Gose and Lawrie, and it was 5-4 at the top of the 5th.

But Brad Lincoln sunk it for the Jays, letting in 6 runs over two outs as Keppinger doubled, Francisco doubled,  Roberts singled (scoring Francisco), and Molina homered on an inside fastball. Then Jennings singled and  BJ Upton homered on pretty much the identical pitch to Molina. And it was 11-4.

In the top of the 8th, Hechavarria managed to get a one run back for the Jays knocking home Moises Sierra who had doubled.

And that's it: Morrow had a terrible start, and Brad Lincoln was terrible for the 2nd game in a row. The offense started off well enough, but Tampa was determined to win.

Sunday, September 23rd: Jays 0, Tampa 1

The hope disappeared for the Jays sometime in mid-August, but for Tampa, now only 3.5 behind Oakland for the last wild card spot with Boston, Chicago, and Baltimore left to play, every game matters. Today's matinee featured Jeremy Hellickson against a hopefully not-so-much scouted rookie Chad Jenkins.

Jenkins pitched very well, going five innings. His only blemish was a BJ Upton soloe home run given up in the first, and a couple of hits went very far and were caught, including a very nice Colby Rasmus catch to save a double. He went five innings, threw 60 pitches, and struck out four. Delabar and Oliver pitched fairly flawless sixth and seventh innings.

But Hellickson and the Rays were better, and the Jays managed to spray six through over the game, threatening in the 2nd from a Yunel and Johnson single with two out, but Sierra grounded out. In the 5th, another threat from a Yunel single and Gose single, leaving runners at 2nd and 3rd with two out, but Lawrie struck out. And in the sixth, the Jays managed to load the bases through a single and two walks with two out, but Maddon elected to go to the bullpen to McGee who struck out Kelly Johnson. And in the seventh, Gose doubled on a short fly ball into no-man's territory and was sacrificed by Brett Lawrie, but Maddon went to Howell. Rasmus got jammed, and Howell made an amazing play to throw out Rasmus for third out.

The Rays attempted to add some insurance in the 8th against Brandon Lyon, and a broken bat single by Jennings who stole 2nd. Zobrist was intentionally walked with one out, and Longoria hit a long fly ball to the wall that Sierra just missed, scoring two more runs and pretty much ending any hope for a comeback with the way that the Jays have been playing.

Rodney closed off the game stranding Escobar on first.

0-6. That's the story of these Jays for the road trip thus far, with four more to play in Baltimore. The Jays can't string together hits into runs, and if they do, it's when they are far behind in the game. They've come on the losing end of three close one-run games now, unable to solve the Yankees nor the Rays. There were terrible starts by Brandon Laffey, Morrow and Villaneuva, and when the team didn't pitch well, their hitting was worse.

Highlights for the Jays offense included an Escobar 3-3 day (3 singles and a walk) and a Gose 2 for 3 day. Lawries, Rasmus, Lind, Arencibia and Sierra did not hit. Arencibia has gone 2-37 since his return.

Meaningless games for the Jays, but with games against Baltimore and the Yankees, the Jays will play an instrumental role in the playoffs. Dropping three to Tampa allowed the Rays an outside chance of making the playoffs, being either 2.5 or 3.5 games back of Oakland.

September 3: Orioles 4, Jays 0

Blue Jays bats silent. Happ Ks 9 over 5 innings, but not even close

JA Happ looked pretty impressive in his outing against the Orioles today, for the first four innings. 

Unfortunately, a miss by Moises Sierra in right field led to the Oriole's first run. Moises lost a fly ball hit down the line to right. It was a great and long run to try to catch it, but he attempted to dive for the ball that he didn't need to and just missed it. His defense now I would rank in the questionable category, with a dive at a fly ball a few days back, a miss yesterday, and a miss today.

Happ threw 56 pitches through four innings, walking 2 and striking out 6, to keep is strikeout rate well above one per inning. 

The fifth inning was not good for Happ at all, as the Orioles pummeled Happ with a solid single by Andino, a RBI double by Nick Markakis, another RBI double by J J Hardy pass a diving Hechavarria, and an Adam Jones single, all with none out. Then, Happ struck out the side but threw 36 pitches in the inning. 3-0 Orioles half-way through the game.

Meanwhile, Joe Saunders powered his way through the Jays lineup, retiring the first 17 batters in a row, beating his best start of the season when he pitched against the Marlins in April (while pitching for the Diamondbacks) when he retired 13 in a row.

Happ got pulled in the top of the sixth when McLouth hit a double to the wall in right-centre with none out. Lincoln saved the inning with a walk, sacrifice bunt, intentional walk, and double play to preserve the three run deficit.

Hechavarria opened the hitting for the Jays in the bottom of the sixth with two out with a solid single up the middle. Davis then walked, but Rasmus struck out to end the sixth.

Delabar pitched a good 7th, only walking one. 

Encarnacion opened the 7th inning with a walk and Adam Lind followed with a base hit. Escobar hit a fielder's choice (Encarnacion tagged out on the way to third), and Kelly Johnson hit a single to load the bases. That ended Saunders' afternoon. On came Luis Ayala to pitch to Moises Sierra, who went 3-0 before striking out on three pitches. Jeff Mathis then hit a high popper to Jones to end the inning.

The Orioles are 58-0 when leading after 7 and explains why they are in the wild-card spot.

Brett Cecil, joining the Jays as part of the September expansion, came on in the eighth, hit a batter, got a popup, and walked the next batter, got another out, then Hardy hit a single to center to score McLouth from 2nd. 4-0 Orioles mid-eighth.

Pedro Strop (1.86 ERA, 1.17 WHIP), setup man for the Orioles, then had a clean 1-2-3 in the 8th for his 24th hold.

Cecil got himself in trouble again in the 9th, loading the bases before getting a deep fly ball to Rasmus to end the inning.

Jim Johnson then came on with the 4-0 lead to do some work in a non-save situation and preserve the shutout.

So, overall, a terrible outing for the Jays offense, who managed only three hits all afternoon. It's the 8th game since July 29 that the Jays have got 4 hits or less but the first time since July 25 that they've been shut out.

August 31: Tampa 1, Blue Jays 2

Practice makes perfect as Mathis and outfield connect to save the game

The Jays are looking like a team again. With their offense still being inconsistent, the pitching and defense would have to be fantastic to beat the Rays. But the Rays offense hasn't exactly been consistent either. This afternoon, before batting practice, John Farrell had his outfielders out there throwing balls home in order to improve the throws into the infield, which have been pretty poor as of late. Turns out that the training was timely.

Brandon Morrow started the game, his second game back, and this outing was very good, not lights out by any stretch, but very good, getting key outs when required. In all, Morrow went 6 2/3rds, throwing 102 pitches, striking out 5 and walking one. All of his pitches were working. He sprinkled 8 hits in the inning, and the only damage done was Desmond Jennings home run to open the top of the third to give Tampa a temporary 1-0 lead.

Steve Delabar was perfect coming on with two out in the bottom of the 7th to induce a grounder, and then to pitch the 8th to strike out Zobrist, Longoria, and Joyce on a very nasty combination of changeups and fastballs that just fooled the Rays.

Tampa's Hellickson was much better on the mound, but two home runs by Moises Sierra (to reply, opening the bottom of the 3rd), and Edwin Encarnacion (in the bottom of the 4th, bases empty, one out) to the 200 level in centre-left was enough for the Jays to win it tonight. Hellickson walked 1, struck out 2, and surrendered 2 more hits (a single to Encarnacion to open the 7th, and an Adam Lind single after the Encarnacion home run).

Off the hit sheet was Colby Rasmus (again, now not hitting in 4 games), now hitting 0-12 in his last four games with 4Ks and a walk. Yunel's hitting streak also ended. Rajai, Mathis, and McCoy also did nothing offensively.

Defensively, in the first, McCoy bobbled a Ben Zobrist double play ball but managed to get the speedy Zobrist out. And, in the top of the fourth, Colby couldn't outrun a Ryan Roberts hit into centre-left, which I think he catches if his groin was completely better. And in the top of the 7th, Rajai went all out to catch a Desmond Jennings line drive into left which ended up going to the wall for a double. It would have been nice to catch that. None of these, thankfully did no damage.

Jeff Mathis tags out Matt Joyce at home
(Rogers SportsNet)

But there were two fantastic defensive highlights in the game. The first was in the top of the 2nd with Keppinger on 1st and Matt Joyce on 2nd with one out. Ryan Roberts hit a single to left, and with Matt Joyce running, typically, Rajai makes a throw that ends up bouncing a few times or is 20 feet left or right of home plate. Not this time. Rajai throws a single bounce strike to the plate which Mathis picks up, blocks the plate, and tags Matt Joyce who barreled Mathis at home. Out!!!



Jeff Mathis tags out Elliott Johnson to end the game
(Rogers Sportsnet)



The last defensive play ended the game. With pinch runner Elliot Johnson on 2nd and pinch hitter Carlos Pena up with two out, he lined a Janssen 1-1 fastball single to Moises Sierra. With Elliott running home, Moises picked up the ball and fired a one bounce strike to Jeff Mathis, just in time for Mathis to once again block the plate and apply the tag to a diving Elliot Johnson to record the out and end the game and secure the 19th save of the season for Casey Janssen.

Well, this series is a guaranteed push for Toronto. It would be great to see the bats come out tomorrow, and with an Alvarez coming off of two very poor starts and Jeff Niemann making his first start for Tampa since Adam Lind broke Niemann's ankle with a sharp comeback to the mound on May 14th. Look for a high scoring game.

August 22: Jays 2, Tigers 3

Laffey has best outing, defence, Jays offense lacking

Aaron Laffey, in his 11th start as the Jays #2 starter, was looking for his second quality start in a row after being touched up by the Yankees, White Sox, and Oakland. He pitched wonderfully but his defense really let him down tonight.

Laffey pitched to the mininum through 13 batters, fooling the Detroit offence, keeping the ball down with only one fly ball out. Then, Omar Infante hit a verifiable double into the gap in left-centre. Davis bobbled the ball and this allowed Infante to stretch the double into a triple. Laffey then pitched a couple of wild pitches to the newly minted Blue Jay catcher Torrealba, and on the second one Infante scored.

Then in the bottom of the fifth, a Delmon Young single and a hit-and-run out put Delmon into scoring position. A solid Jeff Baker single to right put the ball into Moises Sierra's hands with Delmon rounding third. Unfortunately, Moises airmailed the ball about 30 feet left of home, and Delmon easily scored. If that throw would have been anywhere near the plate, Delmon would have been dead to rights.

And in the bottom of the sixth, Hechavarria, playing short, bobbled a ball, allowing Austin Jackson to reach. A sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk put Jackson and Cabrera at 2nd and 1st with one out. Fielder than singled, and Rajai got the ball with time to throw out Jackson who was running home. The ball did get there in time even though Rajai threw the ball short. The umpire did call Jackson out, but Mathis (who was now catching as Torrealba was forced to play 1st when Cooper hurt his neck diving back to first on a tagup) dropped the ball.

So, though Laffey pitched great, the defense let him down on three separate plays, and it cost him the game.

Laffey's line was 6 innings + one batter, 5 hits, 2 ER (3R), over 90 pitches (51 strikes), striking out 2 and walking 3. But really, perhaps one run of three should have scored. Laffey, for the most part kept his composure and pitched well.

The Jays offense on the other hand featured a missing Escobar (who is now a proud father) whose offense won't be missed (in his last 21 games he his hitting to an OPS of .457 and a sub .200 batting average) and an infield of McCoy - Hechavarria - Johnson - Cooper (replaced by Torrealba). It was good to see Torrealba playing and perhaps he can absolutely platoon with Mathis until Arencibia returns.

The Jays threatened in the 2nd with a double by Sierra and a walk to Torrealba with one out but Johnson nor McCoy could not cash Sierra in. The Detroit defense allowed Toronto to score a run in the 6th as the Rajai Davis show (walk, stolen base, pickoff attempt airmailed to centerfield) was on. Edwin cashed Davis and advanced to 2nd on a fielding error, but Mathis and Sierra couldn't score Encarnacion.

Hechavarria then RBId (a sacrifice fly) in Torreabla who singled to lead off the 7th and advanced to third on a McCoy single. McCoy then stole 2nd base. Rajai couldn't cash in McCoy.

The Jays threatened again in the 8th with an Encarnacion walk and a Moises Sierra single putting runners on first and second with two out, but Torrealba flied out.

And finally, an Omar Visquel single with two out in the top of the ninth with a faint home and Rajai Davis out. But the Jays sent Omar to steal second and he was caught. A steal of course is a play in desparation but probably not a bad call. Omar has stolen 3 bags and never got caught, and the throw was absolutely perfect. Still, you gotta scratch your head.

Colby and Kelly Johnson went 0 - 4 as Colby continues his hitless streak to 0-26. Colby looked absolutely fooled tonight and couldn't pick up pitches, striking out swinging 3 times, not even coming close to some pitches in the Sanchez 5 hit gem.

The Jays are in very tough against Verlander, who isn't perfect. Let's hope JA Happ can rise to the challenge and the offense wakes up later.

The Jays last 20: 5-15. Why the slide?

It's not just the injuries -- everyone is underperforming

When the Jays left for Seattle at the end of July, the team was still one game over .500 despite Jose Bautista's injury and the decimation of their starting rotation over one week. The reason that the Jays were able to stay afloat from the starting rotation injuries until the end of July was amazing run production, at 5.38 / game over 37 games from June 16 to July 29, with a .270 / .335 / .475 line for an OPS of .811. When you bat that well, you are going to win games, and indeed the Jays needed on average 6 runs or more to win games during that time, because the starters (including Romero's meltdowns) and the bullpen just were not good at all.

But over the last twenty, beginning from the time that many team members gathered at Travis Snider's home in Mill Valley, Washington on what turned out to be a farewell barbecue, the team has gone 5 and 15. Perhaps Travis' steaks had some formula in it to make the Jays' bats useless, because this is exactly what has happened to most of the Jays bats, including the regulars.
 
When you look at the individual efforts of the Blue Jays in the last 20 games against Seattle, Oakland, Tampa, the Yankees, the White Sox, and the Rangers, you see a very disappointing effort that goes beyond injuries.

The team since July 29: 144 for 681 with 29 2B, 1 3B, 16 HR -- .211 / .264 / .327 for an OPS of .591

Average stats of teams pitching against (Tampa, Oakland, Seattle, Yankees, White Sox): .246 / .308 / .394 for an OPS of .702.

Team Leaders:

Moises Sierra*: 14 for 44 with 1 2B, 2HR -- .318 / .347 / .477 for an OPS of .824
Enwin Encarnacion: 17 for 70, 2 doubles, 3 HR -- .242 / .349 / .400 for an OPS of .749
David Cooper: 19 for 70, 6 2B, 2HR -- .275 / .286 / .449 for an OPS of .735

Underperformers:

Rajai Davis: 20 for 80 with 8 2B, 1 HR, plus 10 SB -- .250 / .298 / .387 for an OPS of .685.
Kelly Johnson: 11 for 64 with 4 2B, 3 HR -- .172 / .254 / .375. for an OPS .629Anthony Gose*: 10 for 48, 2 2B, 1 3B (8 SB) -- .208 / .296 / .292 for an OPS of .588
Colby Rasmus: 11 for 56, 1 2B, 2 HR -- .196 / .224 / .321 for an OPS of .545
Mike McCoy: 2 for 16 -- .125 / .176 / .294 for an OPS of .470
Yunel Escobar: 14 for 72 with 1 2B -- .194 / .256 / .208 for an OPS of .464
Jeff Mathis: 10 for 60, 1 2B, 2 HR -- .167 / .172 / .283 for an OPS of .455
Adeiny Hechavarria*: 5 for 30 with 2 2B -- .167 / .218 / .233 for an OPS of .451
Omar Visquel: 5 for 24 -- .208 / .208 / .208 for an OPS of .416
Brett Lawrie: 3 for 18 with 1 2B -- .167 / .167 / .222 for an OPS of .389
Yan Gomes*: 2 for 27 -- .074 / .138 / .074 for an OPS of .212

Missing is Travis' 1 for 3 on his last night as a Jay and the Aaron Loup AB in the 15 inning affair against Oakland.

The team for sure ran into some tough pitching but they didn't run into David Price, CC Sabathia, Felix Hernandez, or Chris Sale.

So, in as much as the media wants to blame the injuries for their woes, one needs to look at the performances of Colby Rasmus, Yunel Escobar, Kelly Johnson, and Jeff Mathis to see why the team is lacking in production. Rajai Davis, when he gets on the bases, does well. But even Edwin is seeing a big slump in production over the last 20 games. Only three players are outperforming the league average.

It's expected to see the rookies underperform. But when your veterans are also underperforming, it is easy to see why the Jays are 5-15 since they went to Seattle. There are five games that the Blue Jays should have won with a performing and healthy team: The 2-1 loss to Texas on August 18; the 3-2 loss to the White Sox on August 14; the 3-2 loss to Tampa on August 8, the 5-3 loss to Seattle on August 1st, and the 4-1 loss to Oakland on July 30.

So, when the media challenges the fans and blames the injuries, here's the evidence to show you that the veterans left on the team have been terrible, too.

August 12: Yankees 7, Jays 10 (no, not 1)

It's the Rajai Davis show as Jays bats wake up



Not photoshopped - Rajai catches this.
 (Fred Thornhill / Reuters)

The Jays struck for 6 runs in the fourth inning as the Jays beat the Yankees in a 10-7 to salvage a game and put an end to a 5 game losing skid.

David Cooper started the scoring in the bottom of the first singling in a Edwin Encarnacion double for the game's first run.

In the fourth, Moises Sierra opened with a single to right, followed by a double by Jeff Mathis to score him. A Yan Gomes sacrifice moved Mathis to third, and Gose took an uncharacteristic walk. Rajai Davis then cleared the bases with a double to give the Jays a 4-0 lead. Mike McCoy, the veteran callup from AAA, singled home Rajai, and then Edwin homered to give the Jays a 7-0 lead through 4.

And JA Happ really came throough and faced the minimum batters through 4 and 1/3rd. A Casey McGehee double scored Andrus Jones to put the Yankees on the board.

Rajai Davis however stole the show again with a bases clearing double to score three (scoring Mathis, Gomes, and Hechavarria)

But JA Happ faced more problems in the top of the 6th as the long ball took over for the Yankees. A solo shot by Jeter followed by a two run no-doubt-about-it dinger from Cano put the Yankees at 10-4. On came Brad Lincoln. Up until the end of the 5th, it was a solid performance, and clearly I think JA Happ was running out of gas by the 6th, as he needs another start to stretch it out.

But there were more problems with Lincoln in the 7th. But it may have been alot worse for the Jays if it wasn't for the play of the year by Rajai Davis, who took a running grab up the wall and took away a definite home run ball by Casey McGehee. This ball is one that outfielders normally give up on. The fence at Rogers is 10 feet tall, and Rajai timed it perfectly to take a run at the wall and use his momentum to go over the wall to make an absolutely spectacular catch to save two runs.

But still, with two out and a runner on 2nd, the Yankees weren't done. Jayson Nix doubled to score Granderson. Derek Jeter doubled to score Jason Nix, and Swisher singled to score Jeter. The Yankees were within striking distance, now behind 10-7. On came Darren Oliver who looked shaky, giving up a double to Teixiera and hitting Robinson Cano (I think on purpose) to load the bases for Andrus Jones, who grounded the ball to a waiting Yan Gomes at 3rd.

Oliver was much stronger in the 8th, striking out the first two before an easy ground ball to Kelly Johnson, who pinch hit for Hechavarria in the 7th.

Janssen came on and closed it with two hard line drives to Johnson who was positioned perfectly followed by an easy fly ball from Nick Swisher to end the game.

Some observations about the game. First, it was good to see Mike McCoy back in Toronto. A utility infielder, he does know how to hit major league hitting and I think puts some stability in the offense over Hechavarria. David Cooper and Moises Sierra can hit. With Adam Lind coming back, Cooper will likely be sidelined put perhaps they will at least leave him on the bench. I hope that Moises (3 for 5 today) gets more playing time but one of Gose or Sierra will be sent down once Bautista is back in a couple of weeks (but they'll only be down for a week as they'll be called up for the September expansion). Anthony Gose is still getting fooled at the plate, striking out on 2 of his four plate appearances. And finally, Rajai is earning a steady look in left for the season as he showed a flash of brilliance in left (which makes up for losing the ball in the lights on Friday night and then some) and tied his personal record of 5 RBIs. Edwin had a 3 for 5 night, short the triple in the cycle. And finally, it was surprising to see Brad Lincoln get roughed up for three runs, his worst outing as a reliever this season.

Now, Alex Rios and the AL Central leading White Sox come to town for four. The Jays will face Jake Peavy (9-8 3.08 ERA), Jose Quintana (4-2, 2.78 ERA), Gavin Floyd (8-9, 4.43 ERA), and Francisco Liriano (3-10, 5.35 ERA) who got roughed up in the last outing. The Jays will throw Villanueva, Alvarez, Romero, and Laffey in return. Adam Lind may return to the lineup, and we will likely see Colby Rasmus later in the week along with Yunel Escobar. I'm thinking that the Jays are in rough for the first two but can win the last two in the series for a nice series split before Texas comes to town.

It's an unrelenting schedule for the Jays, but with the pressure off, perhaps the Jays can take their time in recovering its stars and get the Las Vegasers some more plate appearances.

August 9: Jays 1, Rays 7

Henderson Alvarez fails, Jays muster three hits, limp home.

The Blue Jays limp home from their road trip going 2 - 8 against three very good pitching teams. The road trip looked promising enough, but after Lawries and Rasmus' exit in the Oakland game 6 nights ago, things looked bleak indeed, and the team was only able to eke out a couple of very lucky wins on Saturday and Sunday.

The Jays opened scoring with a lead off double by Rajai, followed by a stolen base, walk and a balk. Henderson looked good in the first, but then seemed to unravel. The second inning started with an Encarnacion error at 1st, followed by an out at first, single, walk, single (scoring 2), walk (to load the bases), out (to score). Alverez then let in a run each in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th inning and exited early.

Henderson's line was bad, letting in 6 runs (4 earned), giving up 11 hits and 3 walks over 4 and 2/3rds, throwing 83 pitches. Loup finished the 5th and 6th, Oliver pitched the 7th, and Janssen pitched the 8th, giving up a run on two doubles (the second appeared to be a home run, but hit the top of the glass in CF to be a double). Janssen let in his third earned run in his last 22 appearnances in a meaningless appearance.

So, the Jays once again fall victim to poor pitching and no offense, mustering up a very paltry three hits (Davis, Sierra, Cooper) in the afternoon's outing.

The Blue Jays take their AC Jetz plane home from Tampa after this game, to open a welcome home stand against the Yankees, White Sox, and Baltimore, all good teams.

I'll talk about the Blue Jays hitting woes in another post. But man, what a disappointing road trip.

August 5: Jays 6, Oakland 5

Jays remember that they can win, earn happy plane ride to Tampa

To win games against the tough pitching Athletics, John Farrell's Jays realized that they had to manufacture runs. With Laffey on the mound with a tough start against Seattle, the Jays would probably be in tough against Oakland today, but with Milone on the mound who has been struggling over his past few starts, the Jays had a chance. And with the near comeback on Thursday, the extra-inning heartbreaker on Friday, and the extra inning win on Saturday, you could see the confidence in the new Blue Jays, short Lawrie, Rasmus, Bautista, Lind, Arencibia, and Snider slowly return.

As well, through the trades, the Jays have learned that they can count on their bullpen again, with the addition of Brad Lincoln and Stever Delabar and the promotion of Aaron Loup, the Jays starting pitcher just has to keep it close and let the bats try to get to work.

The Jays started it off as aggressive as you can get with a Davis double. On the next play, with Davis running on the pitch, Gose laid down a bunt down the 3rd baseline which was fielded by the catcher. Rajai kept on running and beat out the throw home to take a 1-0 lead.

Laffey had a shaky 2nd, with a combination of single-double for Oakland to tie the game. The third was even more shaky, as Laffey left a fastball up and in, right into Reddick's wheelhouse, yielding a 3 run home run, to be behind 4-1 after 3.

But the Jays closed the gap right away as Edwin found his power stroke again and belted a 2 run homer in the top of the fourth, then had some luck in the 5th inning with two out. Rajai Davis popped up a pretty routine fly ball to short, but Rosales lost the ball in the sun, allowing Davis to reach. The Jays capitalized as Gose (with his second hit in a row) double Rajai to third, and Edwin loaded the bases with an intentional pass. Yunel then hit a two run single to put the Jays out in front 5-4. Kelly Johnson then hit a single to plate Edwin. The Jays ended the top of the 5th up 6-4.

Laffey ended up pitching 6, giving up 6 runs, 4 runs (all earned), throwing 95 pitches, 67 of them strikes -- a decent outing. Brandon Lyon came on in the 7th and gave up a run on a double-double combination, striking out the side. With a 1 run lead, Loup and Delabar pitched the 8th and KC Janssen closed out the game, with Loup and Janssen each giving up a walk.

So, the Jays end up splitting the series with Oakland.


A few things happened with the roster behind the scenes. Chavez was sent back down and Chad Jenkins was called up from AA New Hampshire. Chad Jenkins, 25, over two years with the Fisher-Cats, is 10-16 with 36 starts with an ERA around 4.5 and WHIP around 1.4. He is a starter, but I am thinking that his role is a long reliever to replace Chavez. Villanueva, scheduled to start on Tuesday has a personal issue, so we will see JA Happ pitch against Tampa on Tuesday. There is setback with Bautista who felt more discomfort in his hands while swinging, which means that he'll need to rest his hands more and have rehab starts before he is back. Frasor is slowly working towards his return.

And finally, Farrell expects to see Lawrie and Rasmus playing in Tampa on Tuesday. Hechavarria will remain with the team.

For the hopelessly optimistic, the Jays are 5 back of the last wild card spot (Oakland) with 54 to play. At this point in time the wild card winner will have 88 wins. The Jays will need to pass (and have better records) Boston, Tampa, Baltimore, the Angels, and one of Detroit or Oakland to make the playoffs. That means the Jays will have to go 35-19 and pass 5 teams to make the wild card.

The Jays will face Shields, Cobb, and Matt Moore during the three game series. Matt Moore is running a streak of 17 scoreless innings, while Alex Cobb has had 2 good starts. I am thinking that the Jays will take 1 of 3 and it would be great to see them take 2 of three to have a fairly successful road trip.