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.

August 30: Tampa Bay 0, Jays 2

Brilliant pitching efforts set the tone

Carlos Villanueva has been a welcome addition to stabilize the starting rotation. While a couple of his outings have not been quality starts, he has given his team the opportunity to win. Some of his stuff is electric. Certainly, he has been performing as a number 3 starter this year. He wants to start next year, and I think that as long as his arm can remain healthy through the year, he should be given the chance. As a starter now, over 11 starts, he is pitching to an ERA of 3.03 and a WHIP of 1.08. Over 65 1/3 innings, he has struck out 65, for a rate of 8.95K / 9 and 2.3 BB/9. Certainly, this is starter stuff.

The Jays are capping him at about 100 pitches, which for Carlos, works out to about 6 innings. His outing against the White Sox where he threw 85 pitches over 7 was his most recent best outing. He's pretty good.

Tonight was no exception. Tampa pitching since the all-star break has been phenomenal with an ERA of 2.91 for starters and a ridiculous 1.21 ERA for relievers. And August has been tighter with a pitching ERA of 2.82 for starters and 0.93 for relievers. So, for the Jays to win, pitching would have to be very tight. And it was.

The sum of Toronto's offense was a Kelly Johnson double in the bottom of the 1st with the bases loaded and two out as Moore was a little bit wild. After that point, the Jays threatened a couple of times with two outs but wasn't able to put any insurance on the board. The Jays did not have any real baserunning errors or offensive gaffes. Colby, Edwin, Mathis, and Hechavarria were kept off the hit list. Escobar reached base three times out of four with two singles and a walk. Kelly Johnson also went two for four.

Carlos Villanueva only really got into trouble in the 2nd with two singles to open the frame. A sac bunt put Tampa's two runners in scoring position with one out. Then, a short pop out and a strike out ended the inning. Carlos then proceeded to strike out 5 more in a row, tying the franchise record for consecutive strikeouts at 6 (JA Happ also struck out 6 in a row a couple of weeks ago) before Matt Joyce ruined the party with a pop out to left.

Darren Oliver, Brad Lincoln, and Casey Janssen were perfect in their final three innings of relief, striking out 4, walking none.

So, a great opener to the series. For tomorrow's tilt, it's a battle between Brandon Morrow, on his 2nd start after being injured, and Jeremy Hellickson.

I really feel that the Jays are starting to turn a corner now, having won 3 of the last 4. Let's hope they can wrap August on a positive note. The Jays pitching staff seems somewhat rejuvenated with Morrow back in the clubhouse. Romero pitched great on Tuesday night. JA Happ pitched well enough. Carlos pitched great. And the bullpen is also pitching well again.

Even with Bautista out, there is enough offense there to be potent. Only Hechavarria and Moises are the rookies remaining in the line up. Escobar has woken up finally. Lind is not looking foolish at the plate.

August 29, Jays 8, Yankees 5

Jays take a series for the first time in August

It looks like the Blue Jays may have turned a corner offensively as the Jays took two of three. Today's win, however, was due mainly to Escobar's offense Yankee poor defensive play. Combine that with timely Blue Jays pitching and a sub-par outing by CC Sabathia.

Not that the Jays didn't have some defensive gaffes of their own.

Also something to look forward to, perhaps was a repeat of the pitching duel between JA Happ and the opposing ace. Happ performed pretty much in step with Verlander last time out, and it would have been great to see Happ perform in step with the great CC Sabathia.

Happ did not start off well and it turns out he hurt himself at the bottom of the first inning running over to the bag to take a Lind throw on a Cano grounder. The Yankees opened the bottom of the 1st with two runs. The first run was due to an opening single to Jeter and a walk to Swisher. Cano's out moved Jeter and Swisher up, and Jones allowed Jeter to score with a single. A slow enough moving ground ball allowed Swisher to score on a double-play ball that was just not converted quickly enough. 2-0 after 1.

But CC didn't do well either. After Happ struck out the side in the 2nd, the Jays struck for three in the top of the third. The Jays loaded the bases with none out (Mathis single, Hechavarria reach on error, Rajai Davis single), but Mike McCoy hit into a double play to take out Hechavarria running to third followed by a tag out at home, leaving runners on 1st and 2nd with two out. Edwin then stroked a single to centre to score Rajai, Lind then singled home McCoy, and Escobar doubled home Encarnacion. Great job against Sabathia with two outs.

The Yankees struck for another two in the bottom of the 3rd on a Granderson double that should easily have been a caught ball had Rajai read the ball correctly. Granderson hit the ball fairly hard, but Rajai broke forward first, then started running backward. Rajai stretched but he was about a half step short. Two runs scored. 4-3 Yankees after 3.

Happ got himself out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the fourth as Happ was stuck with 2nd and third with none out (walk, Ichiro double). He popped up Chris Steward, then walked Jeter intentionally, then struck out Swisher and Cano to wrap the inning. JA Happ did not pitch particularly well today, lasting only 5 innings. He threw 100 pitches, walked 5 and struck out 6. He was not effiicient with pitches and got into alot of trouble.

To the top of the sixth, where the Jays struck for two with a Lind single and an Escobar home run to left-center. 5-4 Jays after 6.

Delabar pitched 1 2/3rds and gave up two doubles but no runs scored. Aaron Loup came on with two out in the bottom of the 7th for a batter.

The Jays got an insurance run in the top of the 8th with a Yunel double, a Johnson single, and a Mathis safety squeeze to score Yunel without a throw.

The Yankees got one back against Brandon Lyon in the bottom of the 8th with a couple of doubles, but couldn't convert the tying run as Lyon got the three next hitters out.

The Jays then added some insurance for Casey Janssen as McCoy reached on a missed ball by Nix at third which allowed McCoy to get all the way to 2nd. Eppley then intentionally walked Edwin, and Clay Rapada came on against Adam Lind for the lefty-lefty matchup, but Lind walked. Joba Chamberlain then came into pitch against Escobar. Escobar then pulled a high inside fastball to right field, and Andrew Jones, who had already dropped one ball today, made a dive for another out, caught the ball, then it dribbled out of his glove, resulting in a double for Escobar and two runs scored. It's especially satisfying when none of the pitchers that Girardi puts in the game gets their desired goal.

Casey Janssen then got Swisher to ground out, mowed down Cano and got Jones to pop out to end the ball game.

Yunel is now boasting a seven game hitting streak and went 4-5 this afternoon with three doubles and a home run. Adam Lind went 2-4 with a walk. Kelly Johnson went 2-4. But Colby Rasmus went hitless for the 2nd game in a row (he did not start however against the left handed pitching CC Sabathia). Hechavarria is also running a 5 game hitting streak at 7-22.

Finally, a series win against the top-placed Yankees in Yankee stadium. The Blue Jays will enjoy their trip home with something positive as they open a home stand against Tampa tomorrow night. And why not? Two wins against the top team in baseball, and a great start by their once-ace, Ricky Romero. Despite the end of the road for Bautista this season, things are looking up. Where else could they be looking?

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.

Boo Jays - State of the Jaysdom

Injury and Insult?

When the Toronto Blue Jays came out of the preseason, they were looking hot. Brett Lawrie, at age 21, became the voice of the club, attracting young fans. Attendance is up over 20% (league attendance is up 5%). The preseason was great. Blue Jays fandom was looking for a good season, and the addition of the 2nd wild card represented great hope for the club. Your bench players were Visquel, Davis, and Mathis, which were upgrades over last year.

Rogers Media overhauled its messaging, stating that the the AL east was going to be closest in years, delivered some dramatic music, and off went the season, with a new closer in Sergio Santos and a very young rotation featuring Alvarez, Drabek, and Hutchinson in the back of the rotation.


This season is all about inconsistency. There was lacklustre hitting and blown saves in April. Lind, Bautista, Arencibia, and Yunel had poor starts. May was better but Thames and Lind were still awful. Walks were a problem. At the end of May, the Jays were 3 games over .500 and looking pretty good. Morrow was coming together. Hutchinson had adjusted and was starting to reimprove. Lind got demoted and up came Cooper or Gomes.


June started with optimism but then with the departures of Morrow, Drabek, and Hutchinson in the same week, it all started to unravel a bit. In came Cecil, Laffey, and Villanueva to pick up the slack, with only Carlos Del V doing excellent in the role. But despite the pitching outages, the Jays offense picked up the slack, and Bautista and Arencibia started hitting the cover off the ball to keep the ship afloat. Even Lind came back and was doing really well.


But then Bautista went down and alarm bells went off. The Yankees completed its sweep, and the Jays came back and completed the sweep against Boston, giving the fandom hope. Then Lind went down with back pain, and Arencibia suffered from a freak accident. Down were the #1, 5, and 6 hitters in the 2nd half (measured by OPS). Then Travis Snider got traded along with Thames and the #4 hitter was gone, leaving Rajai Davis and Edwin as the top two hitters on the team (2nd half).


So, what should Anthopolous have done? If you were the Jays upper management, what would you do.


First, realize that Anthopolous cannot simply go out and rent players, because alas (see previous post), AA reports to Rogers Media, which reports to Rogers Communications. The Blue Jays and Rogers Centre brought in 160 million in revenue last year. There will be increased revenue of about $12 million or so from increased ticket sales which AA will probably be able to use to purchase a pitcher in the off season.


And, really, even if AA went out and rented two batters (left field and 1st) and two starters (Garza, Dempster) where would hte Jays stand with 58 games to go. They have to pass 5 teams and win 5 more games then ALL of them, essentially having to win 2 of 3 to make the playoffs. Even the best team in baseball wins 3 of 5, so it would have taken luck and skill to pull them off. And the Jays would have given away its top prospects for a long shot possibility to have a 50/50 shot to make the post season. And Romero has fallen apart, going 1-8 since the Jays pitching debacle and an ERA approaching 9. So really, you can't blame AA for not going for broke at the deadline, and during the first three months of the season, you really can't pick up anyone.


No, not this year. Not this team. The team needed consistency and to perform better with the resources they had back in April. And now there are too many injuries and they are too far back.


In my opinion if AA can be criticized for anything, it's for not scoring a veteran starter in the last off-season. With Hutchinson, Alvarez, and Drabek being the back end of the starting rotation, everyone knew that there was a good chance that at least one of them would fail. And Drabek pretty much did, and the farm seemed to dry up. Carreno and Chavez didn't start well. Cecil is getting better, but has yet to perform, and while Villanueva is doing very well, the long reliever position suffered.


Snider and Thames' departure is a product of AA needing long term relievers, which is a result of Perez's season ending surgery, Villanueva's move to the starting rotation, and Santos' injury. I am sure that AA would have rather gotten a decent starter for both, but the market for starting pitching was just too expensive. The Jays will likely try to stretch out Lincoln again into a starter. Happ may also be a starter.


As for Snider (and Thames), the fans are sad to see him go, and most analysts are pretty critical of both the Jays and Snider of the inability to connect. The Jays didn't really give Snider a chance, and Snider really never proved himself at the major league level.


Once Bautista is back (hopefully at home by the end of next week), the Jays will send down Sierra and platoon Gose and Davis in left field or perhaps let Gose start in center and move Rasmus to left. The Jays will either go with six starters and seven relievers or five starters and eight relievers until the end of the year and leave a short bench for the rest of August (until the reinforcements can be added for September). Morrow will be back in three weeks, and perhaps we'll see Hutchinson in mid-September to take over for Alvarez who will be shut down.


In the end, the Jays will probably finish at .500 this year and the end result will be chalked up to injury and inconsistency. The fandom will argue about the effectiveness of Alex Anthopolous and John Farrell this year, but really, you gotta look at the injuries and the inconsistency, little of which are in Alex' control.