Everybody Gets Swept Sometimes

Well, that was ugly. For comparison check out what happened to DET at home vs SEA and is there any doubt about DET’s credentials.

Here are the stats from the series:
Game #17 (@ BAL)
NAdv: Jones
P-NAdv: Alvarez (2)
DE: Andino
ME(f): Mathis (1), Thames (4)
T-Sc: Hardy
R-Sc: C. Davis

Game #18 (@ BAL)
NAdv: Encarnacion (3)
P-NAdv: Strop
DE: Thames (1)
ME(r): Bautista (2)
T-Sc: Hardy
T-NSc: Betemit
R-Sc: C. Davis
R-NSc: C. Davis

Game #19 (@ BAL)
Adv: N. Johnson, Reimold
P-Adv: Hutchison (1), Perez (1)
Adv+: Jones
P-Adv+: Hutchison (2)
NAdv: Wieters
P-NAdv: Perez (1)
DE: Reimold
ME(r): Jones
ME(f): Encarnacion (1)
T-Sc: Hardy
R-Sc: N. Johnson

Better Days Ahead

As bad as KC is looking right now, they still might finish 2nd in the weak AL Central. They do have some promising young position players, but their starting pitching prospects have yet to arrive. I think they may start appearing as early as the 2nd half of this season which means in that division I could see them being ready to contend as early as next year.

I expect to see a much better Drew Hutchison next time out. He showed great control in the minors and there is no way I expect him to struggle throwing strikes like he did on Sat. I'm always willing to ignore a 1st start for a pitcher as I'm sure they're battling many nerves. Aside from the 3 walks he issued he also threw 1st pitch balls to 17 of the 26 hitters he faced. Of those 17, 3 were his walks and the others went 7 for 14. Of the 7 hitters he got ahead of only 1 got a hit (one other was hit by a pitch). Just one batter put the 1st pitch in play and it resulted in an out.

Game #14 (@ KC)
Adv: Thames (1)
P-Adv: Mendoza
Adv+: Maier
P-Adv+: Hutchison (1)
NAdv: Gordon, Butler
P-NAdv: Hutchison 2 (2)
WG: Lawrie (3)
ME(r): Thames (1), Johnson (1)
ME(f): Thames (3)
T-Sc: Lawrie (3)
R-Sc: Lind (3)

Game #15 (@ KC)
Adv: A. Escobar
P-Adv: Romero (2)
NAdv: Vizquel (1)
P-NAdv: Duffy
ME(f): Y. Escobar (1), A. Escobar 2, Francoeur, Quintero

Game #16 (@ KC)
NAdv: Maier
P-NAdv: Morrow (1)
WG: Johnson (1), Moustakas 2
T-Sc: Johnson (1), Moustakas
R-Sc: Lind (4), Hosmer

MLB Debuts – What Could Be?

I wish I was in KC this weekend. Fri night was the first game I wasn’t at and was stuck at home watching it on TV (well, actually the computer since I don’t get SN1). Of course, what happens the Jays turn their first triple play since 1979. I have witnessed a triple play before, thanks to Asdrubal Cabrera’s unassisted trick against the Jays, but given I wasn’t even born the last time the Jays turned a triple play it would have been nice to see them turn their 1st in my lifetime.

Another reason I’m disappointed not to be in KC is b/c Drew Hutchison is set to make his MLB Debut. I love seeing players make their debut, there is so much excitement and hope for each player that comes up. Even those that aren’t highly touted prospects there is still that hope that maybe he is one of those ones that defies the scouts or one who develops late. Those that do come with lots of hype you think you might be seeing the start of a great career, maybe even a hall of fame (HOF) career. After all every HOFer had to start somewhere. It is this idea that I do think, we as fans sometimes have to pull back on. Not every player has to be the next superstar and potential HOFer. Plus, let’s face it, not every HOF player is going to burst onto the scene guns blazing. Although it is great seeing these new potential superstars, the fact is even the best will struggle at times and sometimes patience must be exercised.

So good luck, Drew. No matter the results tonight here’s hoping this is game 1 of a HOF career.

Here are some stats from the past 4 games:
Game #10 (vs TB)
Adv: K. Johnson (1)
P-Adv: Niemann
NAdv: Longoria, Encarnacion (2)
P-NAdv: Gomes, Cordero (1)
ME(r): Pena

Game #11 (vs TB)
Adv: Molina
P-Adv: Morrow (2)
NAdv: Jennings
P-NAdv: Villanueva (2)
DE: Longoria
ME(r): Escobar (1)
ME(f): Lawrie (1)
T-Sc: Lawrie (2)
R-Sc: Lind (2)

Game #12 (vs TB)
WG: Joyce, Lind (3)
ME(r): Bautista (1)
ME(f): Lind (1)
T-Sc: Rodriguez
R-Sc: Pena

Game #13 (@ KC)
Adv+: Arencibia (3), Bautista (1)
P-Adv+: Holland 2
NAdv: Lind (1)
P-NAdv: Mijares
WG: Moustakas, A. Escobar
DE: A. Escobar
ME(r): Gordon
ME(f): Hochevar
T-Sc: Betancourt
R-Sc: Hosmer

2012 Season Begins

So great to have baseball back, I don't know how I manage not being at the ballpark all offseason. My love for the game only grows and that makes it all the harder to get by w/o baseball. That is why I was more than excited to head to CLE for opening day and thrilled to watch 16 innings of baseball. Great way to start the season as I can now say I witnessed the longest season opener in MLB history.

Here are some stats for the opening week and a half:

Game #1 (@ CLE)
Adv+: Arencibia (1)
P-Adv+: Asencio
NAdv: Encarnacion (1), Davis (1), Hafner
P-NAdv: Romero (1), Masterson, Asencio
WG: Rasmus (1)
ME(r): Encarnacion (1), Davis (1), Choo, Hannahan
ME(f): Thames (1), Asencio
T-Sc: Lawrie (1), Cabrera 2, Hannahan
R-Sc: Lind (1), Kotchman 3

Game #2 (@ CLE)
Adv+: Lawrie (1)
P-Adv+: Sipp
NAdv: Arencibia (1)
P-NAdv: Sipp
WG: Lawrie (1), Duncan
ME(r): Cabrera
T-Sc: Hannahan
R-Sc: Kotchman

Game #3 (@ CLE)
NAdv: Cabrera
P-NAdv: Villanueva (1)
DE: Escobar (1), Choo

Game #4 (vs BOS)
WG: Rasmus (2), Lind (1)
DE: Bautista (1)
ME(f): Doubront

Game #5 (vs BOS)
Adv+: Lawrie (2), Arencibia (2)
P-Adv+: Bard, Thomas
NAdv: Ross, Bautista (1)
P-NAdv: Bard, Frasor (1)
DE: Lawrie (1)
ME(f): Thames (2)

Game #6 (vs BOS)
Adv: Gonzalez
P-Adv: Romero (1)
NAdv: Shoppach, Arencibia (2)
P-NAdv: Lester, Romero (2)
WG: Lawrie (2)
DE: Gonzalez
T-Sc: Escobar (1)
R-Sc: Encarnacion (1)

Game #7 (vs BAL)
Adv: Hardy
P-Adv: Morrow (1)
Adv+: Jones
P-Adv+: Morrow (1)
DE: Hardy
ME(r): Jones
T-Sc: Betemit, Andino
R-Sc: C. Davis 2

Game #8 (vs BAL)
Adv: Arencibia (1)
P-Adv: Hammel
Adv+: Lawrie (3)
P-Adv+: Hammel
NAdv: Markakis
P-NAdv: Alvarez (1)
WG: Markakis, Lind (2)
DE: Flaherty

Game #9 (vs BAL)
Adv+: Encarnacion (1)
P-Adv+: Matusz
NAdv: Rasmus (1)
P-NAdv: Matusz
WG: Bautista (1)
DE: Jones, K. Johnson (1)
ME(r): Francisco (1)
T-Sc: Flaherty, Escobar (2)
R-Sc: C. Davis, Encarnacion (2)

Thoughts on Playoff Changes

Well, it is official now that baseball will add 1 extra team per league to the playoffs this season rather than wait until next year. My feelings about the playoffs are less is more. However, I do like this system more than the current. At least there is some penalty for being a wild card vs winning the division aside from one less game at home. Plus now the best team always gets to play the wild card rather than only if they are not in the same division. Sure, you may have a wild card #1 being 6 games better than wild card #2 and losing in one game, but I have less problem with that then the best team in the league losing in 5 games to a wild card who is 12 games worse (see PHI vs STL last year). The fact is no matter the length of the series it will never be fair for the team with a significantly better record. The playoffs are a snapshot in time as to who is the best team playing under specific circumstances (ie. Healthly roster, trade deadline acquisitions, off-days).

One of the real arguments you could make against the new system is sometimes the best 2nd place team is better than one of the division winners, yet the 2nd place team has to play a 1-game play-in and the weak division winner goes directly to the 1st round. At least in the current system the wild card was only denied home field advantage regardless of record. Unfortunately, you can’t do much about division strength from yr-to-yr, unless they are willing to go back to 2 divisions or even get rid of divisions completely. Since you can’t have it both ways, either you penalize the wild card significantly or very little. I’ll take the method that gives the best team in the league a better chance at moving on and that means forcing the wild card to go all out to win a single game. If the wild card complains, then they should have won their division. After all, one game is better than none. Just think if they had implemented this system immediately in 1994 (from the 2 division winners only), would there be such a complaint from a 2nd place team? It is not like there weren’t years prior to 1994 where a 2nd place team had a better record than a division winner, yet got no shot at reaching the World Series.

One other big issue with adding a 2nd wild card is it only magnifies the fact that teams are playing vastly different schedules but competing for the same playoff spots. I’m really hoping they move to a more balanced schedule next year when they realign, but the problem is they now have to include interleague due to odd teams so they will not be scrapping that idea anytime soon. So you’re still going to have issues unless every team plays at least one series vs every team in the opposite league. Problem is you are then up to 45 interleague games (over 1/4 of your schedule). And we can’t forget the fact the TV networks love all those NYY vs BOS games they get each year.

For those who would prefer the wild card play-in be a best of 3 series the problem w/that is the # of days off for the 3 division winners. You have to have at least 2 days for possible tie breakers, then the wild card series would require 3 days of games plus one travel day (based on how they schedule all their other series). That means 6 days off for 2 teams and 7 for the best team in the league (assuming they want a travel day for the wild card team prior to the next round). That is ridiculous to have that many off-days for a team. In my opinion, that would actually put them at a disadvantage rather than be a reward. It also creates more non-elimination games in the playoffs which the TV ratings show don’t attract nearly the same audience. The possibility also exists of several days involving no games if tiebreakers aren’t needed or the series ends in 2 games which doesn’t help baseball build any momentum.

I would love to see baseball go back to only 2 teams in each league making the playoffs as I believe that 162 games separates the true best team (assuming equal schedules), but the problem is casual fans will tune out baseball in Sept if their team is out of contention for the playoffs. Being a Blue Jays fan all these yrs I know better than most, when all I hear from casual fans here is they haven’t been to the playoffs in almost 20 yrs. They don’t care they have been over .500 for many of those seasons and in some years were even one of the best 8 teams in baseball (but due to an unbalanced schedule and a tough division never were rewarded with a spot as one of 8 playoff teams). A lot of people just care about winning, and don’t see the value in just enjoying a ball game. If their team isn’t going to win the World Series (or come close) they don’t care about watching. It is for this reason that MLB is expanding the playoffs by one team in each league. It is not about fairness in the playoffs, or bringing back the meaning of division races in Sept. Plain and simple it is about adding revenue by increasing the # of cities who will get bandwagon fans jumping on board b/c they still have a shot in Sept. (not to mention the insane price they’ll charge for the TV broadcast rights).

Jays and Free Agency

So about them Jays. Look if I knew there was unlimited funds, I would love the Jays to have won the bidding for Darvish, or for them to go out and sign Fielder. The problem is there isn't, and I don't think the Jays are getting good value for their money with either. Darvish is only 25, so you're at least getting his prime years, the problem is you don't know what exactly he is. Is he an ace, a #2, or just another guy. It there was no posting fee, I'd feel more comfortable with something like a 5 yr 60 million deal b/c you could get away with that even if he was only a 3 or 4 guy. The problem is combined with the posting fee he will cost over $100 million and I don't want to pay that for anything less than a true workhorse ace. Even though AA won't even confirm the Jays made a bid, I believe they did and I think it does at least show that they will spend if they believe it is for the right guy at the right value.

Fielder is another case. We don't really know exactly what term contract he is going to get. Some believe he is looking for 10 yrs to match Pujols given that he is 4 yrs younger (at least), however I just don't know any team that would give that to him, given he isn't Pujols and his body type doesn't suggest aging well. Fielder is also one-dimensional given he provides negative value on defence and on the basepaths and that isn't going to get any better, so you're strictly paying for what he does with the bat. Now, if Scott Boras and Fielder change tact and decide to go shorter term and instead allow Fielder to go back out as a FA at say 30 or 31 and get another big pay day then maybe the Jays get interested. Would they pay something like 4 yrs $100 million for Fielder? That wouldn't be the worst deal, certainly something the Jays could carry given what Beeston has said about where the payroll could go in future yrs as attendance increases. However, if Fielder continues to look for even say a 7 yr deal I hope the Jays aren't interested.

I do think fans have misinterpretated some quotes from Beeston with regards to payroll. Yes, he has said they could go to $120 or $140 million, but he didn't say right away. He sees them increasing to that as attendance goes up, fully realizing that they have to start to win first, then attendance goes up. Then they can increase payroll to sustain a winning team. So even though they were probably willing to spend $100 million for Darvish doesn't mean they are going to re-allocate that immediately into other players for the major league payroll. I do think one of the greatest mistakes of the Riccardi era was spending too soon. Whether it was JP or Godfrey who asked for the increase or Rogers who approved a higher budget they decided to spend in the '05-'06 offseason for the sake of spending and because they could. Out they went and got Ryan and Burnett (and traded for Glaus), not too mention Bengie Molina. As a result they pushed into win now mode too soon and ended up with some good teams (even a great team in 2008), but unfortunately in the AL East that just doesn't cut it.

The problem with most big ticket free agents is you're almost always overpaying for them, especially in the later years of the contract. That's kind of how the baseball system works. Players are massively underpaid their first 3 yrs (excluding Super 2's), then through their 3 (or 4) arbitration yrs they slowly increase to a more reasonable salary level, some even growing higher than their worth by their third yr of eligibility but most getting paid close to what their on field value suggests. Also, those players are often going through their peak value yrs during arbitration. After 6 yrs, players finally hit free agency and by that point only have a couple yrs left before the decline happens so their first couple yrs are probably still fair value. The thing is the free agents get paid on past performance and name reputation and essentially the players get overpaid in their final seasons kind of making up for when they were underpaid at the beginning of their careers. So it is entirely possible players probably get what their worth over their entire career. The issue for teams is that it is not always the same team paying said player. The key is to be the ones underpaying players in their early yrs, maybe holding them over through some of the fair value yrs and then letting them go before they hit their overpaid yrs. This is why I think you have to be careful when you spend big on free agents. I think you have to be able to win within the first couple seasons b/c after that you're going to have to balance out the overpayment with several underpayments on other players. Sometimes you can justify that cost as the price of winning, just don't be early to the party.

2nd Half Stats

Here are the stats for the 2nd half of the season: (Jul. 19 & on)

Game 97 (vs SEA)
Adv+: Figgins
P-Adv+: Cecil (4)
NAdv: Ryan, Carp, Arencibia (5)
P-NAdv: Pineda, Cecil (2), Camp (5)
WG: Ryan, Figgins, Patterson (3)
DE: Halman, Arencibia (6)
ME(r): Carp
T-Sc: Ryan
R-Sc: Ackley

Game 98 (vs SEA)
Adv+: Snider (2)
P-Adv+: Vargas
NAdv: Smoak
P-NAdv: Morrow (7)
WG: Carp, Lind (2)
DE: Carp, Bard, Ackley
ME(r): Ryan, Hill (4)
ME(f): Suzuki, Seager, Thames (6), Davis (9)
T-Sc: Ackley
T-NSc: Ackley
R-Sc: Kennedy
R-NSc: Kennedy

Game 99 (vs SEA)
Adv: Lind (1), McCoy (1)
P-Adv: Fister 2
Adv+: Escobar (3)
P-Adv+: Fister
DE: Olivo
ME(r): Davis (1)
ME(f): Ryan, Lind (3), Romero (2)

Game 100 (@ TEX)
Adv: Snider (5), Andrus
P-Adv: Lewis, Camp (4)
Adv+: Young
P-Adv+: Reyes (9)
NAdv: Napoli
P-NAdv: Reyes (12)
ME(f): Bautista (8)
T-Sc: Arencibia (1), Kinsler
R-Sc: Lind (15), Napoli

Game 101 (@ TEX)
Adv+: Thames (2)
P-Adv+: Harrison
WG: Encarnacion (2), Hill (10)
ME(f): Patterson (10), Harrison
T-Sc: Hill (3)
R-Sc: Lind (16)

Game 102 (@ TEX)
WG: Bautista (4)
ME(r): Escobar (6)
T-Sc: Escobar (7)
R-Sc: Lind (17)

Game 103 (vs BAL)
Adv+: Lee
P-Adv+: Morrow (6)
NAdv: Reynolds, Bautista (8), Thames (4)
P-NAdv: Arrieta 2, Morrow (8)
ME(f): Snider (2), Patterson (11)
T-Sc: Escobar (8)
R-Sc: Lind (18)

Game 104 (vs BAL)
NAdv: Reynolds, Arencibia (6)
P-NAdv: Jakubauskas, Romero (13)
DE: Jakubauskas
ME(r): Lee

Game 105 (vs BAL)
NAdv: Markakis, Rasmus (1)
P-NAdv: Bergesen, Villanueva (4)
DE: Hardy
ME(r): Reimold
ME(f): Rasmus (1)
T-Sc: Bautista (1)
R-Sc: Lind (19)

Game 106 (vs TEX)
Adv+: Arencibia (4)
P-Adv+: Ogando
NAdv: Cruz, Chavez
P-NAdv: Cecil 2 (4)
DE: Hill (6)

Game 107 (vs TEX)
DE: McDonald (5)
ME(r): Bautista (5)
ME(f): Young, Miller (1)

Game 108 (vs TEX)
Adv: Hill (5)
P-Adv: Wilson
WG: Young, Encarnacion (3)
DE: Young
ME(r): McDonald (1)
ME(f): Thames (7)

During the 1st week of August I planned to see the Jays in Tampa and then take in 3 games in Miami (had to see Sun Life Stadium before the Marlins moved out). Since the Jays series didn’t start until Tue and they finished their homestand on Sun, plus Mon was a stat holiday, I decided to head to NY to take in one game there on Mon night and then get on a flight in the morning to Tampa. So here are the stats from the game at Citi Field.

FLA @ NYM (Aug. 1)
WG: Reyes
ME(f): Stanton, Bay, Murphy

Game 109 (@ TB)
NAdv: Hill (5), Joyce
P-NAdv: Romero (14), Gomes
DE: Kotchman

Game 110 (@ TB)
NAdv: Thames (5), Upton
P-NAdv: Ledezma (1), McGee
WG: Thames (2)
ME(f): Lind (4), Joyce, Ruggiano

Game 111 (@ TB)
Adv+: Lind (5), Kotchman
P-Adv+: Rauch (1), W. Davis
NAdv: Encarnacion (7)
P-NAdv: W. Davis
ME(r): R. Davis (2)
ME(f): Hill (3), Upton

I’m including the stats from the 3 games I saw in Miami during the wkend.
STL @ FLA (Aug. 5)
Adv: Holliday
P-Adv: A. Sanchez
NAdv: Jay, Thurston
P-NAdv: Westbrook, A. Sanchez
DE: Furcal, Cameron
ME(f): Cameron
T-Sc: Bonifacio
R-Sc: G. Sanchez

Game 112 (@ BAL)
Adv+: Rasmus (1)
P-Adv+: Patton
NAdv: Jones
P-NAdv: Mills (1)
WG: Bell
DE: Lawrie (1), Hill (7)
ME(r): Rasmus (1)
ME(f): Izturis
T-Sc: Mills (1), Bell
T-NSc: Perez (1)
R-Sc: Lind (20), Reynolds
R-NSc: Lind (2)

STL @ FLA (Aug. 6)
NAdv: Carpenter, Holliday
P-NAdv: Nolasco 2
DE: Amezaga, Dobbs
ME(r): Holliday, Berkman

Game 113 (@ BAL)
NAdv: Thames (6)
P-NAdv: Tillman
ME(r): Lawrie (1)
T-Sc: Andino 2
R-Sc: Reynolds 2

STL @ FLA (Aug. 7)
Adv+: Bonifacio
P-Adv+: Garcia
NAdv: Furcal
P-NAdv: Vazquez
DE: Descalso

Game 114 (@ BAL)
Adv: Lawrie (1)
P-Adv: Simon
Adv+: Arencibia (5), McDonald (2)
P-Adv+: Simon 2
NAdv: Arencibia (7), Jones
P-NAdv: Romero (15), Bergesen
DE: Andino
T-Sc: Bell
R-Sc: Reynolds

Game 115 (vs OAK)
WG: Escobar (6), Lawrie (1)
ME(f): Jackson, Thames (8), Escobar (8)
T-Sc: Jackson, Lawrie (1)
R-Sc: Pennington, Lind (21)

Game 116 (vs OAK)
Adv+: Hill (4)
P-Adv+: Breslow
NAdv: Suzuki, Arencibia (8)
P-NAdv: Breslow, Alvarez (1)
WG: Dejesus
ME(f): Lawrie 2 (2)

Game 117 (vs OAK)
Adv+: Pennington, Matsui 2, Jackson
P-Adv+: Mills 3 (3), Perez (2)
WG: Pennington, Dejesus
ME(f): Thames (9), Bautista (9), Escobar (9)

Game 118 (vs LAA)
NAdv: Wells
P-NAdv: Morrow (9)
WG: Aybar
ME(r): Hunter, Branyan

Game 119 (vs LAA)
Adv+: Encarnacion (3)
P-Adv+: Pineiro
NAdv: Romine, Encarnacion (8)
P-NAdv: Thompson, Miller (1)
DE: Trumbo
ME(f): Bourjos
T-Sc: Arencibia (2), Lawrie (2)
R-Sc: Escobar (1), Encarnacion (4)

Game 120 (vs LAA)
Adv: Escobar (3)
P-Adv: Haren
NAdv: Hunter
P-NAdv: Francisco (4)
ME(r): Trumbo, McDonald (2)
ME(f): Wilson
T-Sc: Arencibia (3)
R-Sc: Lind (22)

Game 121 (@ SEA)
NAdv: Arencibia (9)
P-NAdv: Pineda
DE: Thames (1), Hill (8)
ME(f): Ackley
T-Sc: Seager
T-NSc: Hill (1)
R-Sc: Carp
R-NSc: Lind (3)

Game 122 (@ SEA)
NAdv: Rasmus (2)
P-NAdv: Vargas
WG: Escobar (7)
DE: Ackley
T-Sc: Wilson
R-Sc: Carp

Game 123 (@ SEA)
NAdv: Thames (7)
P-NAdv: Beavan

Game 124 (@ OAK)
Adv: Lind (2)
P-Adv: Cahill
NAdv: Hill (6), Jackson
P-NAdv: Romero (16), Cahill
WG: Escobar (8), Teahen (1)
ME(f): Thames (10)
T-Sc: Escobar (9), Pennington
R-Sc: Lind (23), Allen

Game 125 (@ OAK)
NAdv: Lind (5)
P-NAdv: Harden
WG: Weeks
DE: Lind (4)
ME(f): Weeks

Game 126 (@ OAK)
WG: McDonald (7)
DE: Powell
T-Sc: Pennington
R-Sc: Allen

Game 127 (@ OAK)
NAdv: McDonald (3)
P-NAdv: Moscoso
DE: Crisp
ME(f): Sizemore, Crisp
T-Sc: Arencibia (4), Hill (4)
R-Sc: McDonald (1), Encarnacion (5)

Game 128 (vs KC)
Adv+: Giavotella, S. Perez
P-Adv+: Morrow 2 (8)
NAdv: A. Escobar, Bautista (9)
P-NAdv: Soria, Morrow (10)
WG: Rasmus (1)
DE: Molina (1)
ME(f): Moustakas, Rasmus (2), Lawrie (3)

Game 129 (vs KC)
Adv: Hosmer
P-Adv: Litsch (2)
WG: Giavotella
ME(f): Moustakas, Arencibia (2), Thames (11)
T-Sc: Giavotella 2, Y. Escobar (10)
T-NSc: Moustakas
R-Sc: Hosmer 2, Lind (24)
R-NSc: Hosmer

Game 130 (vs KC)
Adv: Hosmer
P-Adv: Cecil (2)
Adv+: Butler
P-Adv+: Cecil (5)
NAdv: Maier, Encarnacion (9), Lind (6)
P-NAdv: Francis, Holland, Cecil (5)
DE: Giavotella
ME(f): Francoeur, McCoy (1), Johnson (1), Thames (12), Camp (1)

Game 131 (vs TB)
NAdv: Jaso
P-NAdv: Ledezma (2)
ME(f): Molina 2 (3)

Game 132 (vs TB)
NAdv: Upton, Shoppach
P-NAdv: Perez (3), Camp (6)
WG: Longoria
DE: Brignac
ME(r): Rodriguez, Bautista (6)
T-Sc: Longoria
R-Sc: Kotchman

Game 133 (vs TB)
Adv: Damon
P-Adv: Ledezma (1)
Adv+: Jaso
P-Adv+: Ledezma (1)
NAdv: Upton
P-NAdv: Lewis (1)
DE: Price
ME(f): Lawrie (4)
T-Sc: Lawrie (3)
R-Sc: Encarnacion (6)

Game 134 (vs TB)
Adv: Joyce
P-Adv: Romero (4)
NAdv: Longoria
P-NAdv: Litsch (4)
WG: Rodriguez
ME(r): Longoria, Jennings
ME(f): Joyce, Romero (3), K. Johnson (2)
T-Sc: Rodriguez 2, Escobar (11), Lawrie (4)
R-Sc: Kotchman 2, Lind 2 (26)

Game 135 (@ BAL)
Adv+: Lind (6)
P-Adv+: Guthrie
NAdv: Bautista (10), Encarnacion (10), Reimold, Jones, Andino 2
P-NAdv: Cecil (6), Carreno (1), Camp (7), Tallet (1), Guthrie 2
WG: Markakis
ME(f): Lawrie (5), Adams, Reimold, Andino
T-Sc: Andino 2
R-Sc: Reynolds 2

Game 136 (@ BAL)
Adv: K. Johnson (1), Bautista 2 (3)
P-Adv: Reyes 2, Bergesen
ME(f): Markakis, Adams

Game 137 (@ BAL)
Adv: Thames (1)
P-Adv: Hunter
Adv+: Guerrero
P-Adv+: Perez (3)
NAdv: Reynolds, Hardy
P-NAdv: Litsch 2 (6)
DE: Reimold
ME(r): Wieters

Game 138 (@ NYY)
WG: Bautista (5), Gardner, Jones
DE: Jeter
ME(r): Bautista (7)
T-NSc: Jeter
R-NSc: Swisher

Game 139 (@ NYY)
Adv: Lawrie (2)
P-Adv: Colon
WG: Lawrie (2)
DE: Encarnacion (1)
ME(f): McCoy (2)

Game 140 (@ NYY)
Adv+: Teahen (1), Jeter
P-Adv+: Cecil (6), Sabathia
NAdv: Molina 2 (3), Jeter
P-NAdv: Cecil (7), Sabathia 2
WG: Lawrie (3)

Game 141 (vs BOS)
WG: Wise (1)
DE: Lind (5)
ME(r): Scutaro, Ellsbury, Lind (2)
ME(f): Bautista (10)

Game 142 (vs BOS)
Adv: Pedroia, Crawford
P-Adv: Perez 2 (3)
Adv+: Scutaro
P-Adv+: Lewis (1)
NAdv: Pedroia, Crawford, Ortiz
P-NAdv: Perez (4), Lewis (2), Carreno (2)
WG: Lawrie (4)
ME(r): Youklis
ME(f): Thames (13)
T-Sc: Scutaro
R-Sc: Lowrie

Game 143 (vs BOS)
Adv: Thames (2)
P-Adv: Wheeler
Adv+: Bautista (6)
P-Adv+: Wakefield
NAdv: Ortiz, Youkilis, Encarnacion (11), Wise (1)
P-NAdv: Wakefield, Bard, Morrow (11), Litsch (7)
WG: McCoy (4)
DE: Saltalamacchia, Lawrie (2)
ME(r): Youkilis
ME(f): Thames (14), Wise (1), Lawrie (6)

Game 144 (vs BOS)
Adv+: Arencibia (6)
P-Adv+: Miller
NAdv: Thames (8), Arencibia (10)
P-NAdv: Miller 2
WG: Scutaro
DE: Bautista (5), Lawrie (3)
ME(r): Bautista (8)
ME(f): Escobar (10), Thames (15)
T-Sc: Scutaro
R-Sc: Youkilis

Game 145 (vs BAL)
NONE

Game 146 (vs BAL)
Adv: Markakis
P-Adv: Litsch (3)
WG: Lawrie (5)
ME(r): K. Johnson (1)

Game 147 (vs BAL)
Adv: Lind (3)
P-Adv: Hunter
NAdv: Andino
P-NAdv: Villanueva (5)
DE: Arencibia (7)
ME(f): Bautista (11)

Game 148 (@ BOS)
Adv: Saltalamacchia
P-Adv: Morrow (5)
Adv+: Arencibia (7), Bautista (7), Gonzalez
P-Adv+: Mills (4), Wakefield 2
NAdv: Cooper (1)
P-NAdv: Wakefield
WG: Thames (3)
DE: Scutaro
T-Sc: McCoy (4), Lawrie (5)
R-Sc: Cooper 2 (2)

Game 149 (@ BOS)
Adv: Arencibia (2)
P-Adv: Bard
NAdv: Crawford
P-NAdv: Romero (17)
WG: Anderson
DE: Youkilis
ME(r): Bautista (9), Loewen (1), Scutaro, Youkilis
T-Sc: Lawrie (6), Teahen (1), Youkilis
T-NSc: Bard
R-Sc: Lind 2 (28), Anderson
R-NSc: Anderson

Game 150 (vs NYY)
Adv: Thames (3)
P-Adv: Sabathia
NAdv: McCoy (2), Rasmus (3)
P-NAdv: Robertson, Logan
WG: Gardner
DE: Cano, Jeter
ME(f): Sabathia, Gardner, Lawrie (7)

Game 151 (vs NYY)
Adv+: Teixeira
P-Adv+: Alvarez (1)
NAdv: Rodriguez, Lawrie (1), Loewen (1)
P-NAdv: Colon 2, Alvarez (2)
ME(r): Cano
T-Sc: Jeter 2
R-Sc: Teixeira 2

Game 152 (vs NYY)
DE: Johnson (1)
ME(r): Nunez

Game 153 (vs LAA)
Adv: Bautista (4)
P-Adv: Downs
NAdv: McCoy (3), Rasmus (4)
P-NAdv: Williams 2
WG: Kendrick, Trumbo, McCoy (5)
DE: Williams, Trumbo, Kendrick, McCoy (3)
ME(r): Thames (2)
ME(f): Downs

Game 154 (vs LAA)
Adv: Bautista (5), Loewen (1)
P-Adv: Pineiro 2
Adv+: Callaspo
P-Adv+: Drabek (6)
NAdv: Hunter
P-NAdv: Camp (8)
WG: Callaspo
DE: Trout, Kendrick 2
ME(f): Richards, Encarnacion (1)

Game 155 (vs LAA)
WG: Bourjos, McCoy (6)
ME(f): Lind (5)

Game 156 (vs LAA)
WG: Trumbo
DE: McCoy (4)
ME(r): Lind (3)
ME(f): Rasmus (3)
T-Sc: Encarnacion (1)
R-Sc: Lind (29)

Game 157 (@ TB)
DE: Cooper (1)
ME(r): Bautista (10), Upton
ME(f): Morrow (1)

Game 158 (@ TB)
ME(r): Arencibia (6)
ME(f): K. Johnson 2 (4), Kotchman
T-NSc: McCoy (1)
R-NSc: Cooper (1)

Game 159 (@ TB)
WG: Teahen (2)
DE: Wise (1), Encarnacion (2)
ME(f): Guyer

Interestingly enough, not once did either team during the TB series get a runner to 2nd w/none out (excluding leadoff HR).

Game 160 (@ CWS)
NAdv: Viciedo
P-NAdv: McGowan (1)
DE: Johnson (2), Flowers
ME(r): Thames (3), Ramirez
ME(f): Johnson (5), Ramirez

Game 161 (@ CWS)
Adv: Johnson (2)
P-Adv: Buehrle
NAdv: Thames (9), Arencibia (11), Ramirez
P-NAdv: Alvarez (3), Buehrle 2
WG: Teahen (3)
ME(f): Ramirez, Morel

Game 162 (@ CWS)
Adv: Pierzynski
P-Adv: Morrow (6)
Adv+: Cooper (1)
P-Adv+: Sale
NAdv: Johnson (1)
P-NAdv: Humber

Speed is Only Half the Battle

I feel like I’ve seen enough of Rajai Davis both at the plate and in CF to know he is just not a starting player. He has unbelievable speed, but unfortunately his lack of patience at the plate and bad reads in CF negate most of that. Davis’ OBP is almost entirely tied to his AVG which isn’t a problem if he is hitting over .300 like he did in 2009, but when he’s hitting around .230 that is unacceptable. Davis’ BB rate went down last year and along w/it his AVG dropped to .284. He is walking even less this year and not surprisingly is hitting even worse. Until Davis learns to have more patience (particularly laying off that breaking ball away) he just doesn’t get on base enough to justify being in the lineup everyday.

I also have not been very impressed with Davis’ defence. He struggles reading a lot of balls off the bat and only b/c of his speed does he manage to track the balls down. Even still, according to FanGraphs he has the worst UZR/150 among qualified CF’s this season. Of course UZR does encompass more than range, but it is generally the driving force and Davis does still rate as one of the worst when looking just at range. Having to watch Davis and Patterson misread ball after ball out in CF sure does remind me just how good Vernon Wells was out there, even the last couple yrs when he had clearly lost a step or two. Wells still got good reads, he just couldn’t always get to the ball.

Unfortunately, right now the Jays don’t really have any other options aside from acquiring someone. I would like to see them give Snider a shot out there. They had him play some CF w/Vegas so clearly they have thought about it. I think Snider could be a solution until Anthony Gose arrives (assuming Gose develops as the Jays believe he will), but they have to try him out there to see. He has enough speed, it is just a question of how well he can read the ball and take good routes.

The problem w/moving Snider now is they still need someone to play the corner. I would love to see Adam Loewen get a shot in the majors, but I don’t think he comes up until Sept. or maybe mid-Aug. Unfortunately for Loewen he is out of options and so if he comes up and struggles then the Jays can’t send him down w/o putting him thru waivers. So say mid-Aug would be enough to give him a couple wks of PA’s and then you’re into Sept so if he really struggles you have the roster space to keep him on the bench.

The more likely option will be once Brett Lawrie is fully recovered and shows more success at Vegas he will be called up allowing Bautista to move back to RF. That will shift Snider to CF and Thames to LF.

For now, it is just hope that great speed allows Davis to run down most balls and every so often he can find his way on base to pick the pockets of opposing pitchers and catchers.

One final note: Congrats to Jason Frasor for becoming the all time appearance leader for the Jays among pitchers.

Here are the stats from final 3 games of the NYY series:

Game 94 (vs NYY)
Adv: Gardner, Hill (4)
P-Adv: Garcia, Morrow (4)
NAdv: Teixeira, McCoy (1)
P-NAdv: Wade, Morrow (6)
WG: Encarnacion (1)
ME(f): Gardner
T-Sc: Escobar (6)
R-Sc: Lind (13)

Game 95 (vs NYY)
NAdv: Thames (3), Encarnacion (6)
P-NAdv: Sabathia 2
ME(r): Escobar (4)
ME(f): Davis 2 (8), Arencibia (1)
T-Sc: McDonald (5)
T-NSc: Nunez
R-Sc: Lind (14)
R-NSc: Teixeira

Game 96 (vs NYY)
Adv+: Snider (1)
P-Adv+: Hughes
DE: Perez (1), Hill (5)
ME(r): Escobar (5)

Fun With The Yankees

First off, boy is it great watching the Yankees get beat up and boot the ball around (yes, even Derek Jeter; although I’m sure in NY somehow that play didn’t happen).

Is it just me or is it time to cut Jo-Jo Reyes loose? After a rough start he had a nice stretch of starts but is once again struggling. He was just coming off back-to-back starts where he didn’t strike out a batter against PHI and CLE in a combined 11.2 IP. This time he stuck out just 2 in 5.1 IP. I just don’t see him being anything more than a 5th starter. It is time they activate Jesse Litsch and put him back in the rotation. The Jays took a shot w/getting Reyes as a throw-in from the Escobar deal and they have got some value from him. I’m sure he has done enough to establish some value on the trade market so the Jays can ship him off and maybe get a ‘B’ level prospect for him. With the influx of arms coming up the Jays system they will have better options than him very soon. For that reason they need to try and get Litsch back in there (I know he’s been awful in 2 rehab starts for Vegas) and see if he, finally healthy, can get back to where he was in 2008.

I don’t even need to see a replay to tell you the call by Greg Gibson at 1B on Snider in the 2nd inning was just awful. That was a straightforward call and there is no excuse for missing that. He was so safe, I didn’t even look at the ump to see the call.

Here are the stats:
Game 93 (vs NYY)
Adv: Davis (2)
P-Adv: Mitre
Adv+: Jones
P-Adv+: Reyes (8)
NAdv: Hill 2 (4)
P-NAdv: Ayala, Noesi
WG: Snider (2), Davis (3), Hill (9)
DE: Gardner
ME(r): Hill (3)
ME(f): Gardner, Nunez, Cano, Thames (5), Reyes (3)
T-Sc: Escobar (5)
R-Sc: Lind (12)

Stats to the Break

Is it just me or has their been some awful official scoring this season? There have been several plays recently that I just couldn’t believe the scorer scored them as they did. I always review my scorebook to the box scores (often twice, once right after the game and the other 2 or 3 days after) and I have been discovering too many changes being made to the scoring upon my 2nd check for my liking. Those late scoring changes always make me suspicious about what players were in the scorer’s ears.

At the All Star Break, here are the Jays Stats for the rest of the unofficial 1st half:

Game 29 (@ TB)
WG: Escobar (1)

Game 30 (@TB)
Adv: Damon
P-Adv: Morrow (2)
NAdv: Patterson (1), Brignac
P-NAdv: Morrow (1), Niemann
WG: Molina (1)
ME(f): Lind (2), Escobar (3), Brignac
T-Sc: Longoria
R-Sc: Kotchman

Game 31 (@ TB)
Adv: R. Davis (1), Fuld
P-Adv: Drabek (3), Price
Adv+: Jaso
P-Adv+: Drabek (2)
WG: McCoy (2)
T-Sc: Longoria
T-NSc: Rodriguez
R-Sc: Zobrist
R-NSc: Kotchman

Game 32 (vs DET)
NAdv: Encarnacion (3), McDonald (2)
P-NAdv: Coke, Villarreal
WG: Escobar (2)
DE: Lind 3 (3)
T-NSc: Inge
R-NSc: Cabrera

Game 33 (vs DET)
Adv+: Martinez
P-Adv+: Villanueva (1)
T-Sc: Verlander, Escobar (2)
R-Sc: Cabrera, Lind (9)

Game 34 (vs DET)
Adv: Sizemore
P-Adv: Reyes (4)
Adv+: Cabrera
P-Adv+: Frasor (1)
NAdv: Jackson, Patterson (2)
P-NAdv: Penny, Reyes (2)
DE: Arencibia (1)
ME(f): Patterson (4)
T-Sc: Sizemore
R-Sc: Cabrera

Game 35 (vs DET)
Adv+: Martinez, Kelly, Patterson (1)
P-Adv+: Perry, Morrow 2 (3)
NAdv: Raburn
P-NAdv: Camp (2)
WG: Patterson (1)
DE: Kelly, Peralta
ME(f): Patterson (5)
T-Sc: Kelly 2
R-Sc: Santiago, Cabrera

Game 36 (vs BOS)
Adv: Youkilis, Hill (1)
P-Adv: Lester, Rzepczynski (1)
Adv+: Drew
P-Adv+: Drabek (3)
DE: Gonzalez

Game 37 (vs BOS)
Adv+: Patterson (2)
P-Adv+: Lackey
NAdv: Saltalamacchia, Rivera 2 (3), Bautista (2)
P-NAdv: Lackey 2, Wakefield, Litsch (3)
WG: Cooper (1), Escobar (3)
DE: McDonald (4)
ME(r): Patterson (3)

Game 38 (@ MIN)
Adv+: J. Rivera (1)
P-Adv+: Hoey
NAdv: Hill (2), Plouffe
P-NAdv: Romero (6), Hoey
DE: Young
T-Sc: McDonald (3)
R-Sc: Encarnacion (1)

Game 39 (@ MIN)
Adv: Kubel
P-Adv: Reyes (5)
Adv+: Arencibia (1), Encarnacion (1)
P-Adv+: Mijares 2
NAdv: Escobar (3), Kubel, Hughes
P-NAdv: Reyes 2 (4), Burnett
WG: Cuddyer
DE: Escobar (1)
ME(f): Plouffe, Butera
T-NSc: Valencia
R-NSc: Morneau

Game 40 (@ MIN)
Adv: Escobar (1)
P-Adv: Slowey
NAdv: Bautista (3), Young
P-NAdv: Morrow (2), Duensing
ME(f): McDonald (1), Young 2

Game 41 (@ DET)
Adv+: Hill (2)
P-Adv+: Benoit
WG: Hill (3)
ME(f): Scherzer
T-Sc: McDonald (4)
R-Sc: Encarnacion (2)

Game 42 (vs TB)
Adv: Kotchman
P-Adv: Litsch (1)
NAdv: Bautista (4)
P-NAdv: Hellickson
DE: Hill (2)
ME(r): Zobrist
ME(f): Jaso, Litsch (1)
T-Sc: Escobar (3)
R-Sc: Encarnacion (3)

Game 43 (vs TB)
ME(f): Nix (1)

Game 44 (vs HOU)
Adv: Pence
P-Adv: Reyes (6)
Adv+: Rivera (2)
P-Adv+: A. Rodriguez
NAdv: Rivera (4), Arencibia (4)
P-NAdv: A. Rodriguez 2
WG: Michaels, Rivera (1)
ME(r): Hill (1)
ME(f): Pence, Reyes (1)

Game 45 (vs HOU)
Adv: Patterson (1)
P-Adv: Myers
NAdv: Lee
P-NAdv: Janssen (2)
WG: Bogusevic
ME(r): Lee, Rivera (2)
ME(f): Pence, McDonald (2)

Game 46 (vs HOU)
Adv: Patterson (2)
P-Adv: W. Rodriguez
NAdv: Pence, Johnson
P-NAdv: Drabek (5), Rzepczynski (1)
WG: Johnson, Hill (4)
ME(r): Wallace
ME(f): Bourn

Game 47 (@ NYY)
Adv: Dickerson
P-Adv: Francisco (1)
NAdv: Teixeira
P-NAdv: Rauch (1)
ME(f): Dickerson

Game 48 (@ NYY)
Adv: Teixeira
P-Adv: Janssen (2)
Adv+: Arencibia (2)
P-Adv+: Sabathia
WG: Teixeira
DE: Bautista (2)
ME(f): J. Rivera (1)

Game 49 (@ NYY)
Adv: Nix (1)
P-Adv: Garcia
Adv+: Davis (1), Teixeira
P-Adv+: Reyes (4), Garcia
NAdv: Teixeira, Rodriguez, Martin
P-NAdv: Reyes 2 (6), Perez (1)
ME(r): Granderson
ME(f): Garcia
T-Sc: Nix (3)
R-Sc: J. Rivera (1)

Game 50 (vs CWS)
Adv: Quentin
P-Adv: Frasor (1)
NAdv: Pierzynski
P-NAdv: Rzepczynski (2)
ME(f): Bautista (3), Rzepczynski (1)

Game 51 (vs CWS)
NAdv: McPherson
P-NAdv: Drabek (6)
ME(r): Dunn
ME(f): Quentin
T-Sc: Ramirez
R-Sc: Konerko

Game 52 (vs CWS)
Adv+: Bautista (2)
P-Adv+: Jackson
NAdv: Vizquel, Rivera (5)
P-NAdv: Jackson, Villanueva (2)
WG: Thames (1)
ME(f): Thames (1)
T-Sc: Nix (4)
R-Sc: Rivera (2)

Game 53 (vs CWS)
Adv: Dunn
P-Adv: Camp (2)
Adv+: Arencibia (3)
P-Adv+: Harrell
NAdv: Ramirez, Rivera (6)
P-NAdv: Danks, Romero (7)
WG: Quentin, Nix (2), Davis (1)
ME(r): Morel, Rivera (3)
ME(f): Rios

Game 54 (vs CLE)
Adv+: Nix (1), Thames (1), Davis (2)
P-Adv+: Carmona 3
NAdv: Santana, Brantley, Nix 2 (2)
P-NAdv: Carmona, Durbin, Reyes 2 (8)
WG: Patterson (2)
ME(f): O. Cabrera
T-Sc: Hill (2)
R-Sc: Rivera (3)

Game 55 (vs CLE)
Adv: Brantley
P-Adv: L. Perez (1)
Adv+: Sizemore
P-Adv+: Morrow (4)
NAdv: A. Cabrera, O. Cabrera, Buck
P-NAdv: Morrow 3 (5)
WG: Hannahan, LaPorta
DE: Arencibia (2)
ME(f): Escobar (4), Patterson (6)

Game 56 (vs CLE)
Adv: Sizemore, Patterson (3)
P-Adv: Durbin, Camp (3)
Adv+: A. Cabrera, Bautista (3)
P-Adv+: R. Perez, Drabek (4)
NAdv: Choo
P-NAdv: Drabek (7)
DE: Everett
ME(r): Thames (1), Arencibia (4)
ME(f): Brantley 2, Davis (2), Rivera (2)
T-Sc: Nix (5)
R-Sc: Rivera (4)

Game 57 (@ BAL)
Adv+: Hill (3)
P-Adv+: Britton
NAdv: Encarnacion (4)
P-NAdv: Britton
ME(f): Patterson (7)

Game 58 (@ BAL)
Adv: Hill (2)
P-Adv: Arrieta
Adv+: Wieters
P-Adv+: Romero (2)
NAdv: Rivera (7), Hardy 2
P-NAdv: Romero 2 (9), Arrieta
WG: Rivera (2), Reynolds, Lee
DE: McCoy (1)

Game 59 (@ BAL)
NAdv: Davis (1)
P-NAdv: Guthrie
ME(r): Hill (2), Jones
ME(f): Nix (2)
T-Sc: Nix (6)
R-Sc: Lind (10)

Game 60 (@ KC)
Adv: Patterson (4)
P-Adv: Paulino
WG: McCoy (3), Paulino
ME(f): Frasor (1), Francisco (1)

Game 61 (@ KC)
Adv: Francoeur
P-Adv: Drabek (4)
NAdv: Cabrera
P-NAdv: Drabek (8)
ME(r): Nix (1)
ME(f): Davis (3), Francoeur, Mazzaro

Game 62 (@ KC)
Adv+: Nix (2), A. Escobar
P-Adv+: Villanueva (2), Duffy
NAdv: Bautista (5)
P-NAdv: Teaford
ME(f): Nix (3), Francoeur
T-Sc: McCoy (1)
R-Sc: Rivera (5)

Game 63 (@ KC)
NAdv: Maier
P-NAdv: Romero (10)
WG: Betemit
DE: Arencibia (3), Aviles
T-Sc: Betemit
R-Sc: Hosmer

Game 64 (vs BOS)
Adv+: Pedroia
P-Adv+: Reyes (5)
NAdv: Lind (3)
P-NAdv: Buchholz
ME(f): Crawford, Nix 2 (5), Bautista (4)
T-Sc: McCoy 2 (3)
R-Sc: Rivera 2 (7)

Game 65 (vs BOS)
Adv: Ellsbury
P-Adv: Janssen (3)
NAdv: Escobar (4)
P-NAdv: Lackey
WG: Crawford
DE: Janssen (1)
ME(f): Crawford, Davis (4)

Game 66 (vs BOS)
Adv+: Ortiz
P-Adv+: Drabek (5)
NAdv: Pedroia, Ellsbury
P-NAdv: Drabek (9), Camp (3)
WG: Pedroia
ME(f): Escobar (5)

Game 67 (vs BAL)
Adv: Bautista (1)
P-Adv: Jakubauskas
WG: Davis (2)
DE: Lee
ME(r): Markakis, Arencibia (5), Escobar (2)

Game 68 (vs BAL)
NAdv: Jones, Guerrero
P-NAdv: Romero (11), Francisco (1)
ME(r): Patterson (4)

Game 69 (vs BAL)
Adv+: Adams
P-Adv+: Perez (1)
NAdv: Wieters
P-NAdv: Camp (4)
ME(r): Reynolds
ME(f): Hill (1), Nix 2 (7)

Game 70 (@ CIN)
Adv: Escobar (2)
P-Adv: Ondrusek
Adv+: Bautista (4), Lind (3)
P-Adv+: Leake 2
WG: Leake, Phillips
DE: Bautista (3)
ME(f): Patterson (8), Janish

Game 71 (@ CIN)
Adv+: Bautista (5)
P-Adv+: Volquez
WG: Heisey
DE: Morrow (1), Janish
ME(r): Patterson (5)
ME(f): Molina (1), Heisey

Game 72 (@ CIN)
WG: McDonald (6)
DE: Arencibia (4)
ME(r): Rivera (4)

Game 73 (@ ATL)
Adv: McLouth
P-Adv: Romero (2)
NAdv: Patterson (3), Heyward
P-NAdv: Romero (12), Kimbrel

Game 74 (@ ATL)
ME(r): Patterson (6), Freeman, Gonzalez, Minor
ME(f): Uggla

Game 75 (@ ATL)
NAdv: Patterson (4), Heyward
P-NAdv: Reyes (9), Beachy
WG: Bautista (2)

I took advantage of the Jays off day during my trip following them on their interleague road trip and took in the finale of the PHI and STL series. So I figured I’d include the stats from it as well.
PHI @ STL (June 23)
Adv+: Cruz, Berkman, Schumaker
P-Adv+: Oswalt, Kendrick 2
WG: Utley
ME(r): Utley, Schumaker

Game 76 (@ STL)
Adv+: Holliday
P-Adv+: Morrow (5)
NAdv: Bautista (6)
P-NAdv: Westbrook
WG: Escobar (4)
DE: Schumaker, Berkman

Game 77 (@ STL)
Adv: Hill (3)
P-Adv: Garcia
NAdv: Holliday, Y. Molina
P-NAdv: Rauch (2), Francisco (2)
WG: Hill (5)
T-Sc: Theriot
R-Sc: Berkman

Game 78 (@ STL)
NAdv: Bautista (7), Davis (2)
P-NAdv: McClellan, Valdes
WG: Lind (1)
ME(r): Brown
ME(f): Rivera (3), Berkman

Game 79 (@ DET)
NAdv: Ordonez
P-NAdv: Stewart (1)
WG: Hill 2 (7)
ME(f): Hill (2), Bautista (5), Escobar (6)
T-Sc: Peralta
R-Sc: Cabrera

Game 80 (vs PIT)
Adv+: Cedeno
P-Adv+: Reyes (6)
NAdv: Rivera (8), Thames (1)
P-NAdv: Correia, Resop
ME(r): Bautista (2)
ME(f): D’Arnaud, Thames (2), Patterson (9), Reyes (2)

Game 81 (vs PIT)
NAdv: Lind (4)
P-NAdv: Maholm
ME(r): Escobar (3), Bautista (3)

Game 82 (vs PIT)
Adv+: Wood
P-Adv+: Cecil (3)
WG: Overbay
DE: Patterson (1)
ME(f): Karstens, Bautista (6)
T-Sc: Cecil (1)
R-Sc: Hill (1)

Game 83 (vs PHI)
Adv: Brown
P-Adv: Romero (3)
Adv+: Howard
P-Adv+: F. Francisco (1)
DE: Utley, Arencibia (5), Rivera (1)
ME(f): Rivera (4)

Game 84 (vs PHI)
Adv: Rollins
P-Adv: Villanueva (1)
NAdv: Utley
P-NAdv: Villanueva (3)
DE: Rauch (1), Patterson (2)
ME(f): Bautista (7)

Game 85 (vs PHI)
DE: Victorino
ME(r): B. Francisco

Game 86 (@ BOS)
Adv+: Lind (4)
P-Adv+: Lackey
NAdv: Thames (2), Encarnacion (5), D. McDonald, Pedroia
P-NAdv: Frasor (2), Francisco (3), Lackey 2
DE: Bautista (4)
ME(r): Bautista (4)
ME(f): Davis 2 (6), Thames (3)

Game 87 (@ BOS)
Adv: D. McDonald
P-Adv: Cecil (1)
DE: McCoy (2)
ME(r): Patterson (7)

Game 88 (@ BOS)
Adv: Thames 2 (2)
P-Adv: Wakefield 2
ME(r): Drew
T-Sc: Escobar (4)
R-Sc: Lind (11)

Game 89 (@ CLE)
Adv: Snider (2)
P-Adv: McAllister
NAdv: Brantley
P-NAdv: L. Perez (2)
WG: Bautista (3)
DE: Hill (3), Hannahan
ME(f): Escobar (7), A. Cabrera

Game 90 (@ CLE)
Adv: Snider 2 (4)
P-Adv: Talbot 2
Adv+: Encarnacion (2), Kearns, Brantley, A. Cabrera
P-Adv+: Reyes (7), Camp 2 (3), Talbot
NAdv: Hafner 2, Marson
P-NAdv: Reyes 2 (11), Frasor (3)
WG: Escobar (5)
DE: Hill (4), Duncan
ME(f): Thames (4), Hannahan, LaPorta

Game 91 (@ CLE)
Adv: Buck
P-Adv: Morrow (3)
WG: Hill (8), Hannahan
DE: A. Cabrera

Game 92 (@ CLE)
NAdv: Marson
P-NAdv: Cecil (1)
WG: Valbuena
T-Sc: O. Cabrera
R-Sc: Santana

All Star Game (@ ARI)
Adv+: Fielder
P-Adv+: C. Wilson
NAdv: Rolen
P-NAdv: Walden
WG: Bautista
DE: Fielder
ME(r): Berkman, Ethier
ME(f): Lee

Winning vs Development

I think sending Snider down is ridiculous, even w/AA’s explanation. Snider has nothing left to prove in AAA and there is no real challenge for him to face down there. The talent level in AAA just isn’t that strong as it seems more and more that the elite talent is not spending much time at AAA, instead using AA as the final stepping stone before moving onto the majors. I think Snider would have been just as well working through his swing adjustments in the majors under the watchful eye of the major league coaching staff. I think it will be too easy for Snider to get away with his “bad” swing facing AAA pitchers and it will be hard to differentiate the positive results of his new “good” swing. The Jays say they don’t want to have to PH for him late in the game. Well who says they have to? It is pretty clear they are not trying to win given Jo-Jo Reyes is still on the team. If they are willing to let Reyes continue to go out every 5th day and get beat up then why can’t they let Snider play every day and face all pitchers.

Speaking of Reyes, why is he still on the team. Frankly, I’ve seen enough of him to let him go on waivers should another team want to claim him. I realize many pitchers develop late, but between his struggles in ATL and TOR I’m willing to take that chance. Plus the Jays have enough pitching depth coming that I don’t see Reyes being better than them. For the record I don’t care what Reyes did in spring b/c that is as close to meaningless as you can get, so all I’m looking at is his regular season performance.

If Drabek is going to succeed he is going to have to cut down on his walks. He has good stuff, he just needs to pitch ahead. When he falls behind hitters, it allows them to lay off his breaking pitches and he hasn’t shown any consistency throwing them for strikes. On Sat at NY Drabek’s strike to ball ratio was nearly 1 to 1 (40 to 38); ideally you want to be around 2 to 1. Not only does the bad ratio put him behind in the count more often it runs his pitch count up and means he doesn’t go as deep into games. The good news is he is still young, and we saw the Jays just last year make adjustments w/Morrow and he cut down his walks and really turned into a different pitcher. It will be interesting to watch Drabek throughout the year and see how he develops as this will be the key to him becoming an elite pitcher.

Here are some stats:

Game 21 (vs TB)
NAdv: Shoppach, Escobar (1)
P-NAdv: Shields, Romero (4)
ME(r): Bautista (1)

Game 22 (@ TEX)
NAdv: Lind (2), Young, Andrus
P-NAdv: Drabek 2 (4), Lewis
ME(r): Patterson (2), Escobar (1), Kinsler
T-Sc: Andrus 2
R-Sc: Moreland 2

Game 23 (@TEX)
Adv+: Lind (2), Borbon
P-Adv+: Camp (1), Harrison
NAdv: Snider (2)
P-NAdv: Harrison
WG: Borbon
ME(r): Arencibia (3)
ME(f): Bautista (2)

Game 24 (@TEX)
WG: Napoli
T-NSc: Encarnacion (1)
R-NSc: Lind (1)

Game 25 (@TEX)
Adv: Andrus
P-Adv: Morrow (1)
ME(f): Patterson (3), Kinsler 2

Game 26 (@NYY)
Adv: Arencibia (1), Swisher
P-Adv: Romero (1), Garcia
NAdv: Teixeira
P-NAdv: Romero (5)
DE: Teixeira

Game 27 (@NYY)
Adv: Posada
P-Adv: Drabek (2)
WG: McCoy (1)
ME(r): Cano
ME(f): Davis (1), Escobar (1), Granderson

Game 28 (@NYY)
Adv+: Gardner
P-Adv+: Litsch (1)
NAdv: Escobar (2)
P-NAdv: Nova
WG: Litsch (1), McDonald (5)
ME(f): Escobar (2)
T-Sc: Escobar (1), Litsch (2)
R-Sc: Lind 2 (8)

I Hate (Sacrifice) Bunting

John Farrell made his 1st indefensible mistake as manager in the 9th inning on Sat. There is absolutely no way Snider should be bunting in that situation. I don’t care if Albert Pujols and Babe Ruth are due up after him, yet alone John McDonald and Mike McCoy. You have a guy on the mound who throws a straight fastball and a LH power hitter who can crush a fastball up to bat. You have to let me swing away in that situation. There is a reason Farnsworth was booed every time he even got up in the pen while he played for the Yankees and why he has never been a successful closer despite an upper 90’s fastball. Farnsworth’s fastball is straight and it doesn’t matter how hard he throws it, major league hitters will time it and square it up. Farnsworth has never been able to develop a good enough secondary pitch to at least throw off the timing of the hitters.

I know Snider has been struggling in the early going this year, but most of that has been when he chases the breaking ball. I think Snider vs Farnsworth is a very good matchup for Snider and I would rather see him try and win the game w/one swing of the bat. Snider will be a legit middle of the order hitter for the Jays very soon and the early season struggles don’t worry me one bit.

One other reason not to bunt in that situation, they had Jose Molina running at 2B. Given how slow Molina is, that makes it that much harder to lay down a successful bunt, as the defence would have plenty of time to throw to 3rd to get a force out on Molina. As it turned out Snider laid down such a good bunt that he actually beat it out for a hit (oh wait, nevermind Mike Everitt is an idiot and so he called him out). You can’t count on that good of a bunt all the time though, and even if you could you still need McDonald or McCoy to come up w/a hit.

I like that Farrell is allowing the players to attempt steals more freely and that he has employed a few hit and runs, but I cannot stand wasting outs on sacrifice bunts. Sacrifice bunts should be limited to very, very rare situations or when pitchers (or John McDonald) are batting. I don’t hate all bunts, as I don’t have a problem w/a player trying to bunt for a hit should they see the defence provide the opportunity.

Here are some stats:

Game 10 (@ SEA)
NAdv: Bradley, Wilson
P-NAdv: Litsch (2), Purcey (1)
DE: Ryan
T-Sc: Litsch (1), Hill (1)
R-Sc: Lind 2 (4)

Game 11 (@ SEA)
NAdv: Lind (1), Wilson
P-NAdv: Romero (2), Pineda
DE: Romero (1)

Game 12 (@ SEA)
Adv+: Bautista (1)
P-Adv+: Ray
DE: McDonald (1)

Game 13 (@ BOS)
NAdv: Arencibia (2)
P-NAdv: Aceves
WG: Pedroia
ME(f): Saltalamacchia
T-Sc: Nix (2)
R-Sc: Lind (5)

Game 14 (@ BOS)
Adv+: Gonzalez, Youkilis
P-Adv+: Reyes 2 (3)
NAdv: Cameron, Youkilis
P-NAdv: Reyes (1), Villanueva (1)
WG: J. McDonald (2), Pedroia
T-Sc: J. McDonald (2)
R-Sc: Lind (6)

Game 15 (@BOS)
Adv: Lowrie
P-Adv: Camp (1)
NAdv: Snider (1), Rivera (1), Drew
P-NAdv: Camp (1), Lester, Bard
DE: Lowrie
ME(r): Snider (1), Patterson (1), Lowrie
ME(f): Crawford

Game 16 (@BOS)
Adv+: Ortiz
P-Adv+: Romero (1)
NAdv: Crawford
P-NAdv: Romero (3)
WG: J. McDonald (3)
ME(r): Youkilis
ME(f): Patterson 2 (2)

Game 17 (NYY)
Adv: Snider (1)
P-Adv: M. Rivera
Adv+: Posada
P-Adv+: Drabek (1)
NAdv: Gardner, J. Molina (1)
P-NAdv: Burnett, Drabek (2)
DE: Martin, McDonald (2)
ME(r): Lind (1)

Game 18 (NYY)
NAdv: Granderson
P-NAdv: Janssen (1)
DE: Bautista (1)
ME(r): Arencibia (2), Snider (2)
T-Sc: Cano
R-Sc: Teixeira

Game 19 (TB)
Adv: Damon
P-Adv: Reyes (3)
NAdv: Upton, Encarnacion (2), Arencibia (3)
P-NAdv: Hellickson 2, Frasor (1)
WG: McDonald (4)
DE: D. Johnson, McDonald (3)
ME(f): Fuld, Upton, Zobrist

Game 20 (TB)
Adv: Fuld
P-Adv: Janssen (1)
Adv+: Damon, Lind (1), Molina (1)
P-Adv+: Price 2, Morrow (1)
WG: Fuld
ME(f): Lind (1)

Early Thoughts

Some thoughts on the opening week and a half: (keeping in mind how super small a sample this is)

- I don’t know what I hate to watch more, Encarnacion throw or Rivera waddle after fly balls
- I don’t know how much his ankle has to do with it, but I’m not sure Davis is a viable leadoff guy. Even if it is bothering his swing, partially explaining his low AVG, the more concerning fact is the lack of patience he is showing. He is chasing far too many pitches for my liking in order to maintain a high OBP. Davis walked 29 times in 432 PA in 2009, and then just 26 times in 561 PA in 2010. He has yet to draw a BB this season.
- I’m not sold on Reyes yet. I throw out spring training stats, and he got hit hard by OAK and that was a very weak offensive lineup that the Angels put out there on Sun. He is still the obvious candidate for me to be dropped from the rotation.
- I’m going to withhold thoughts on John Farrell for now and give him some time. I do have some concern over some of his early bullpen handling, but I want to see more as the season progresses.
- Travis Snider will go 20/20 this season.
- I love watching Johnny Mac play defence.
- Aaron Hill looks like he is back defensively, offensively is TBD
- I love watching BOS fans freak out at their bad start (though taking 2 of 3 from the Yankees I’m sure helps). Just because it has never been done (0 – 6 start and make the World Series) doesn’t mean it can’t happen. Just check out the 2004 ALCS. Don’t forgot that starting 0 – 6 in the wild card era is completely different than 0 – 6 in the old 2 division format.
- I’m much more concerned about TB’s start. They have less margin for error, and that offence already had question marks w/Longoria.


Here are the stats from the first 3 series:

Game 1
NAdv: Cuddyer
P-NAdv: Romero (1)
WG: Janssen (1)
ME(f): Nishioka

Game 2
Adv: Mauer
P-Adv: Drabek (1)
Adv+: Escobar (1)
P-Adv+: Capps
WG: Nix (1)
T-Sc: Valencia, Nix (1)
R-Sc: Morneau, Lind (1)

Game 3
Adv+: Butera, Tolbert
P-Adv+: Cecil 2 (2)
ME(r): Cuddyer, Rivera (1)
ME(f): Cecil (1)
T-Sc: Tolbert
R-Sc: Cuddyer

Game 4
Adv: Crisp
P-Adv: Reyes (1)
Adv+: LaRoche, Escobar (2)
P-Adv+: McCarthy, Reyes (1)
WG: Kouzmanoff, Hill (1)
DE: Hill (1)
T-NSc: Kouzmanoff
R-NSc: Barton

Game 5
Adv+: Hill (1)
P-Adv+: Ziegler
NAdv: Willingham
P-NAdv: Litsch (1)
WG: Hill (2)
DE: Davis (1)
ME(r): Arencibia (1)
ME(f): Dejesus

Game 6
NAdv: McDonald (1)
P-NAdv: Cahill
WG: Jackson, McDonald (1)
ME(f): Romero (1)

Game 7
NAdv: Abreu
P-NAdv: Drabek (1)
DE: Drabek (1)
ME(f): Bautista (1)
T-Sc: Izturis
R-Sc: Trumbo

Game 8
NAdv: Hill (1), Encarnacion (1), Arencibia (1), Wells
P-NAdv: Dotel (1), Palmer, Bulger 2
WG: Snider (1), Callaspo
DE: Kendrick 2
ME(r): Hunter, Callaspo
ME(f): Snider (1), Wells
T-Sc: McDonald (1)
R-Sc: Lind (2)

Game 9
Adv: Wilson
P-Adv: Reyes (2)
Adv+: McDonald (1)
P-Adv+: Weaver
NAdv: Bautista (1)
P-NAdv: Weaver
WG: Bautista (1)
ME(f): Wells

Opening Day Thoughts

I won't make specific predictions, but instead I'll give 3 groups as far as their chances go to make the playoffs. I won't even touch the World Series because frankly the playoffs are such a joke, I think all 30 teams could win the World Series if they just make the playoffs.

Teams just hoping for a sniff of a .500 season: KC, CLE, SEA, NYM, WSH, PIT, HOU.

Teams that have a few too many if's: TOR, BAL, DET, LAA, CHC, STL, ARI, SD.

Teams that can handle a few hiccups: BOS, NYY, TB, CWS, MIN, OAK, TEX, ATL, FLA, PHI, CIN, MIL, COL, SF, LAD.

Now for some notes on each team:

BAL - Nice young pitching coming up, but where are the position players?
BOS - Have people forgot the year Beltre had? So Adrian Gonzalez basically replaces Beltre, and then Crawford improves on Cameron but, Saltalamacchia is several steps down from Victor Martinez. The big difference of course will be healthy yrs from Youkilis, Pedroia, Ellsbury. Still major question marks with more than half the rotation.
NYY - No, they didn't get Cliff Lee, but they didn't have him last year either. Only significant loss is Andy Pettitte and another yr gone on the age clock.
TB - Will prove just how little value should be assigned to relievers. The bigger concern is on offence and will anyone help out Longoria.
TOR - It's not about the wins and losses, it is about the development of Snider, Drabek, Arencibia, Lawrie, & Stewart, determining the true level of Hill, Lind, & Escobar and keeping those starting pitchers healthy.

CLE - If they are smart they deal Fausto Carmona to the Yankees and take advantage of Steinbrenner's desperation to speed up the rebuilding process.
CWS - How about John Danks for Cy Young? One of the most underrated pitchers in baseball.
DET - Lots of power arms will have to lead them, as offence is dependent on one man dealing with alcohol issues.
KC - Will be awful to watch for half the year, but very exciting in the 2nd half as they start calling up prospects.
MIN - Better hope Nishioka is more Ichiro than Kaz Matsui b/c I'm not convinced Casilla can handle a starting middle infield position.

LAA - Badly need Morales back in the lineup, there is a reason he should have been the 2009 MVP.
OAK - Love the pitching, but no power in the lineup.
SEA - At least they get to watch King Felix every 5th game.
TEX - Absolute wrong decision leaving Feliz in the bullpen, especially considering their starting staff. If only Hamilton, Cruz, and Kinsler could just stay healthy they'd have the best offence in the league.




ATL - What's new? The Braves have great starting pitching and will be in contention for the division crown.
FLA - Keep churning out young talent, but window is so short they can't get it all together at the same time.
NYM - I'm sorry, but from the ownership on down, this team is a mess.
PHI - Pitching may win in October, but it can't get you through a season alone. Case in point, see the 2008 Toronto Blue Jays - #1 Starting Pitchers AND #1 Bullpen.
WSH - Starting Livan Hernandez opening day is not a good sign, but it won't be long before Zimmerman and Strasburg are the top of their rotation.

CHC - 1908, enough said.
CIN - A lot of young talent still improving and good rotation depth coming into play early in the season.
HOU - If they are smart they deal Wandy Rodriguez to the Yankees and take advantage of Steinbrenner's desperation to speed up the rebuilding process. Wait, haven't I used that line already.
MIL - Ryan Braun for MVP. Of course that is assuming their pitching doesn't get too frustrated by all the balls in play going for hits or errors and they fall out of contention (since apparently you're not valuable on a non-playoff team).
PIT - I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, it starts with Alvarez, Tabata, McCutchen.
STL - Albert Pujols.

ARI - I like this team more than most and in this division I think could be the surprise of the season.
COL - It may be an uncomfortable situation, but they really need to look at replacing Helton at 1B.
LAD - Time is running out on the core of Loney, Kemp, Ethier, & Billingsley to reach superstardom and bring the Dodgers to the next level.
SD - Built perfectly for their ballpark, but Brad Hawpe is no Adrian Gonzalez.
SF - Pretty much the same story with this team as the last 4 yrs, if they can just make the playoffs they can be dangerous in a short series. Keeping Brandon Belt goes a long way towards getting them there.

Unthinkable

I couldn’t believe what I was reading. The Jays had traded Vernon Wells and weren’t including any cash in the deal and weren’t getting a bad contract in return. Frankly, no matter who they got back, assuming it wasn’t a similarly bad long term contract (ie. Alfonso Soriano), would be considered a win for the Jays. I will be sad to see Vernon go though. I was kind of excited knowing that Vernon would break all the Blue Jays Career Franchise Records (since I assumed there was no way he was going anywhere for 4 more yrs). I saw no point in trading Vernon b/c I believe he is a good player to have on your team and AA and Paul Beeston have said money is no issue with Rogers. So maybe Vernon is not worth $18 mill/yr, but you’d have to pay a free agent probably at least $12 – 13 million per yr to get similar production (based on a healthy Vernon year). So if you traded him and picked up a chunk of his contract, you’d just end up spending the same total amount between a replacement plus the money you still owe for Vernon. Of course, I never imagined a scenario in which the Jays wouldn’t have to pay any of his contract.

It is a shame the fans turned on him so much. No, he is not worth the contract (in baseball relativity) but that is only b/c of injuries. The fact is he got paid fair market value at the time. Just compare his contract to some similar ones at the time (Wells signed his extension Dec. 18/2006, 1 yr prior to free agency, and got 7 yrs at $126 million):
- Torii Hunter, 5 yrs at $90 million (signed Nov. 2007 as FA) – same Avg Annual Value just less yrs due to Hunter being older
- Alfonso Soriano, 8 yrs at $136 million (signed Nov. 2006 as FA) – Less per year (which makes sense due to Soriano playing a less premium position), but did get an 8th year making the total greater
- Andruw Jones, 2 yrs at $36.2 million (signed Dec. 6, 2007 as FA) – a tick more per year (gotta love Scott Boras – had to make sure Jones was the highest paid CF), but only 2 yrs due to Jones’ awful walk year (.222/.311/.413)
- Carlos Beltran, 7 yrs at $119 million (signed Jan. 2005 as FA) – $1 mill less per year but signed 2 yrs earlier
- Carlos Lee, 6 yrs at $100 million (signed Nov. 2006 as FA) – less per year but is a below avg defensive OF, and compared to those above who all but Soriano were among the best at a premium defensive position.

The one other thing to note is you’ll notice all the other signings were as free agents. So the Jays didn’t exactly get any kind of discount in extending him 1 yr prior to free agency, but rather they just paid him what it would have cost to sign him as a free agent.

Only injuries have kept Wells from continuing to produce the types of #’s he put up prior to the contract as he showed last year and maybe people would still view the contract as a bad one (as all 5 of the other ones above are), but not one where fans feel they need to boo him every chance they get. Now I don’t know how well Vernon would have aged over the remaining 4 yrs of the contract had he stayed in Toronto, but hopefully playing on natural grass will at least help decelerate the aging process. Although his offence was still there last year, it is clear he is no longer the same defender in CF. Too many injuries (especially the ’08 hamstring) and beating on the artificial turf have slowed him down.

As far as the players the Jays got back. Juan Rivera is only costing them $5.25 million for one year and is an ok corner OF who is basically a Vernon Wells light offensively (doesn’t walk much, but will hit 20-25 HR) and without the defence. More than likely he plays one of the corner spots with Snider at the other, and Rajai Davis in CF. They also get Mike Napoli, who is a better version of John Buck and Rod Barajas, bad OBP, but will hit some HR’s. Napoli could probably hit 30 HR’s though. The problem is Napoli is worse defensively. He never really got a shot at the full time gig in LAA, due to Scioscia’s insistence on splitting time with the all glove, no hit Jeff Mathis. (I really do like Scioscia as a manager, but I think the former C in him way overvalues the defensive abilities of Mathis which do not come close to making up for his inadequate offense). Napoli will be added the rotation of C/1B/DH. The problem is if the Jays elect to keep Molina as a backup and want to give Arencibia a chance to win the starting job, that means in order to keep all 3 of them, the Jays will be left w/only 2 other bench spots. On any given day on the bench the Jays would have 2 of Arenciba, Molina, Napoli, Lind, Encarnacion, plus McDonald and 1 other. Presumably the other would have to play OF, though if necessary they could put McDonald or Encarnacion at 3B and move Bautista to the OF, but more likely that final bench spot goes to Corey Patterson or Mike McCoy. McCoy would at least give you the flexibility of playing INF and OF, but my guess is they are leaning towards Patterson. Of course, they may also elect to either start Arencibia in AAA, or just release Molina (assuming he won’t accept a AAA assignment). No matter what they still have decisions to make and I wouldn’t be surprised to see another trade. I have to think the main priorities are Lind and Arencibia in this juggle. Those are the 2 that will be here for the future, and they are the ones the Jays need to see how they handle their positions. The Jays do have Napoli under control for 2 yrs, so I am curious whether he gets more time at 1B or C. Of course, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Napoli flipped to another team as there are a couple teams out there interested in him as a catcher.

Just to briefly comment from the Angels perspective on this deal. Yes, they are assuming a large contract for the next 4 yrs, but Arte Moreno is willing to spend a lot of money so they have a very large budget to work with. In the short term Wells is a nice upgrade on Rivera and Napoli was basically dead weight due to Scioscia’s preference for Mathis and a couple younger catchers the Angels have coming up, plus Kendry Morales will be back at 1B this year, and more than likely Bobby Abreu will now be the full time DH. Napoli basically had nowhere to play. So this really only hurts them if Moreno is unwillingly to continue spending money on his team.

One other thing I have seen some people speculate on in the aftermath of the Wells trade. Some believe this free’s up the money needed to sign Bautista long term. Well if we believe what AA and Beeston have said that they the money from Rogers then I don’t think having Vernon makes a difference. Plus do the Jays really want to get rid of one long term problem contract for another. Now I have no idea what type of player Bautista is going forward, but it is far more likely he is closer to the 16 HR guy then the 54 HR guy. So do you really want to invest in him after 1 big year. Isn’t that why people hated J.P.? Maybe a little too often he would give out a large contract after it looked like a player had his breakout year. See Eric Hinske, Vernon Wells (the 2nd extension – though I strongly believe this was Paul Godfrey’s decision; the 1st extension actually worked out nicely), B.J. Ryan, Josh Towers, Lyle Overbay (though he had pretty solid yrs in MIL before his 1st big yr in Toronto), Frank Thomas (in this case after 1 big revival yr), A.J. Burnett. Do you really want to make the same mistake again? Yes, Bautista may go out and say hit 35 HR’s again this yr, but I think that is a chance you have to take. Don’t forget the Jays won’t be ready to really compete until 2012 at earliest, but more likely 2013 or 2014 where they are truly legit contenders in the AL East. Even if Bautista can somewhat repeat his 2010, what will he be like 2 or 3 yrs down the road. He is playing the 2011 season at age 30, so he may only have a couple yrs left of his prime. I do hope the Jays turnaround and spend some money, but I don’t think it has to be this year (at least not at the ML level, there is however the signing bonuses for draft picks and international Free Agents). As their nucleus develops then the Jays can spend as they go through arbitration and to keep them here for an additional couple yrs delaying their first foray into free agency.

I’ll close by saying I wish Vernon the best in Anaheim. I appreciated his time here, and loved watching the perfect reads he so often got in the OF. He really made it look so easy out there before injuries and wear and tear took their toll.

2010 New Ballparks

I guess it is about time I talked about the 4 new ballparks I saw this yr. I made the trip for each of the Jays 3 road interleague series (of which they were the official away team). I also went to NY to see the new ballpark.

First up was Phoenix in May. I wasn’t a huge fan of Chase Field. Don’t get me wrong, it is a nice ballpark (as are all the new stadiums), but I want to talk relatively. I’m not going to stay they are all great. Unfortunately for Toronto fans, they are almost all better than the Rogers Centre (to be fair Rogers Centre is among the 10 oldest). They do have a retractable roof but one huge issue I had with it was that they closed it for one game while it was 87 degrees Fahrenheit out and sunny. The outside walls were built up high and there was an overhang around most of the stadium. It made it feel way too closed in and didn’t give me that open air stadium feeling even when they opened the roof.

As for the city of Phoenix, well it wasn’t much to look at. Due to the dryness there is very little grass around, just some plants that can survive the conditions. I saw numerous homes where they don’t’ even try to have a green lawn, it was just dirt or patches of dead brown grass.

Next up was Coors Field in Denver, but first I had to get there. I had a 6:00 flight out of Buffalo on Fri, so I took the night bus out of Toronto on Thur. Everything was going good until our plane got out to the runway (by which time I had already fallen asleep) and then the engine wouldn’t start. When I woke up I was thinking we just landed in Cincinnati. However as much as it is possible I slept right through the flight, it didn’t quite seem right. When I asked the person beside they gave me the bad news that we hadn’t yet taken off. So we had to get off the plane and wait for mechanical to come check it out. Because of my connection though it wasn’t looking good to make it to CIN on time. At first they booked me on another flight to Denver (through DET) but told me to wait and see if they would get the original flight off. I can’t say I was surprised that I got called back up and they said they would get my luggage moved over to my other flight. The problem was this new flight didn’t get me into Denver until 5 to 5. On the plus side, on my flight to DET I sat beside a guy from Kitchener who was one of about 5 or 6 guys headed to MIN to see a couple games at Target Field (an annual trip to a different stadium) meaning at least I was able to get a good baseball conversation on the flight. Oh yeah, Delta also gave me a whopping $6 food voucher to use at Buffalo airport while I waited.

Now of course my problems didn’t end there. The flight from DET was about 20 mins late leaving and we ran into stormy weather as we approached Denver causing us to not land until around 5:30 – 5:45. Of course since we were late arriving our gate was occupied and we had to sit and wait for about 15 mins until we could get to an open gate. By the time I got my luggage it was pushing 6:20. Now the Denver airport is a little outside the city so I already knew it wasn’t looking good to get the ballpark on time. Since I was scheduled to arrive in Denver about noon I had planned to just take the bus to my hotel (google said it would take about 1.5 hrs). Due to the tight time though I had to change tactics and get on a shared ride shuttle instead. It was a couple minutes after 6:30 when I bought my ticket and there was a shuttle scheduled to leave for downtown at 6:30. Luckily it hadn’t left yet and the person at the counter made sure the van waited until I got outside.

It was probably about 7:20 by the time I got to my hotel. I quickly checked in and just dropped off my stuff in my room. I had a booked a hotel a little outside of the core downtown (about 5 km) which was fine for to walk except it would take me ~45 mins which was no good since I was already late. At this time the rain had basically stopped so I wasn’t sure if they would have got the game started or not. The hotel didn’t get the channel with the Rockies game so I couldn’t check there. I caved in and asked the hotel clerk to call me a cab. It ended up costing me $12 for the Taxi ride. On the way there it started to rain fairly heavily again so I realized if they had started there was a good chance they were in delay now. When I got there I asked one of the ticket attendants what has happening and they let me know that the game never started. I went and bought my ticket anyways knowing they would do everything they could to either get the game in that night or play a doubleheader that wkend. So after all my rush to get to the ballpark, I was still there for over an hr before the game started. First pitch went off at 8:55. The conditions hadn’t really improved all that much as they basically played through a drizzle the whole game. I was sitting in the 3rd row from the top in the upper deck behind home plate getting at least partial cover from the overhang. It was really too bad the conditions were so bad b/c I was really looking forward to watching Ubaldo Jimenez pitch and it wasn’t the most enjoyable sitting there getting wet. Not too mention I’m sure it wasn’t easy on the pitchers to pitch in those conditions, so I can understand why Ubaldo may not have been at his best. The game went back into rain delay after the 6th inning and after about 40 mins (with the clock around 11:30) they called the game.

After the game it was time to find my way back to the hotel in a light rain. I had a rough idea of how to get between the hotel and ballpark but I had planned to do more research on Fri afternoon when I was supposed to be in my hotel room. Nevertheless, I found my way back in a little bit of an indirect route. The next day I was able to do my research and I found a nice bike trail along the river that would take me most of the way to the ballpark.

As for Coors Field, it is a very spacious field. Again comparing it to the other new ballparks it doesn’t really stand up. It probably would have seemed a little nicer if I would have been able to enjoy it on a sunny day (and the Jays didn’t play so poorly). One of the interesting seating sections they have is in CF where they have an upper deck (above the batter’s eye) and the tickets were $4. I didn’t sit out there for any of the games, but I like the fact they have some very affordable seats for people to come out and watch baseball. One of the cool things they did have though was a sort of garden beyond the OF wall (actually connected to one of the bullpens). There was even a pond in the middle of the garden.

The rain didn’t stop on Fri night, in fact it continued on basically all wkend. I think the sun made a cameo appearance for about 10 mins on Sun afternoon. Due to this I didn’t get out very far on Sat afternoon and only managed to get do some walking around downtown on Sun after the game. After some walking around I stopped and had supper only to come out of the restaurant after eating and see the rain had started once again. It was just a light rain though and the walk back to the hotel wasn’t too bad. After picking up my luggage I had to walk back downtown in order to catch a bus to the airport. It was still raining a bit so I waited around the lobby until it stopped. The rain let up and it looked as if all the dark clouds had passed so I figured I could walk all the way (I had looked up buses I could catch to get me downtown just in case). On my way I went but about half an hour in some more dark clouds had rolled in and it started to pour rain. I ducked under a bridge to wait it out. I ended up standing under the bridge for 15 to 20 mins until the rain finally let up. I was then able to finish making my way to the bus stop and it was off to the airport.

I had a flight leaving early on Mon morning to SD (through Phoenix). No problems this time around and I arrived in SD around 10:00. After consulting Google I decided I could just enjoy the weather and make the walk to my hotel (about 5 miles from the airport). The nice thing was I could walk the majority of the way right along the harbour.

Petco Park is very beautiful (and the perfect weather they get doesn’t hurt either). They have a few interesting things around Petco Park. They have a “beach” just beyond the outfield wall in Right CF. A good way to distract the kids while still letting the parents watch the game. The only thing I wondered about is how many kids have been hit with a HR ball. I’m sure the kids aren’t exactly paying attention to the game while playing in the sand and they are just beyond the outfield fence. Of course it is very deep to that part of the ballpark so there probably aren’t many HR’s hit there, but there must have been some throughout it’s history. They also have a mini diamond set up beyond the CF stands and a kids park. You can even buy $5 tickets and sit out there on a grass hill, maybe even have a picnic while watching the game.

On Mon night during the game a very “interesting” experience for me occurred. During the game I started to feel the stands beneath my feet sway a little bit (I was in the upper deck). I didn’t really know what to think at first. I then started hearing some cheering, but I was thinking there was nowhere near enough people there to cause a stadium to shake (16,542 attendance). It was then I heard a few people talking around me saying it must be an earthquake. They all seemed to take it so casually, no big deal just another earthquake. As I mentioned some of the fans were even cheering. The earthquake ended up measuring a 5.7 (who would have thought that just over a wk later I would experience another earthquake in Toronto, though that one I didn’t feel).

On Tue afternoon I was able to enjoy the perfect weather as I just walked up and down the harbour enjoying the sights of all the ships and boats. By the way have I mentioned the perfect weather they have in SD. It was around 20 degrees Celsius and sunny everyday. Nice and warm but not so much that you are working up a sweat while you walk. I actually found the Mon night game a little bit cool sitting up in the stands in shorts. It is fine in shorts if you are walking around and moving, but the wind could get a little cool just sitting there for 3 hrs. That led me to change into jeans before heading to the game on Tue night.

The game on Wed didn’t start until 3:30 so I had some time after checking out of my hotel. I spent the time just walking around the city. After the game I once again made the walk along the harbour to the airport. My flight was scheduled to leave at 10:30, but once again problems lay ahead. When I checked in at the airport the flight had already been delayed until 11:00. Apparently the plane we were supposed to take was late arriving. As we waited for the plane to arrive they announced to us that we had to board the plane very quickly b/c of air restrictions above SD stating that they have to take off before 11:30. The plane arrived shortly after 10:30 and we were able to start boarding around 5 to 11. We managed to board on time and take off around 11:15 so we didn’t get stuck there overnight. I still made my connection in NY and was on to Buffalo from where I would catch the greyhound back home to Toronto.

The one AL ballpark I made it to this yr (other than Rogers Centre of course) was the new Yankee Stadium. Before I get to the new stadium though, I must say it was very sad to get off the subway and see the old ballpark was completely gone. They had knocked everything down and it was just a big area of dirt where the cathedral once sat. I realize they are at least doing something good with the area as they are building a couple ball diamonds and a park or something like that.

Now onto the new stadium. It is really nice around the concourse area, it has sort of a grand feel to it. You can see why it cost over a billion dollars to make. The field itself is fairly similar except they added a scoreboard in the RF wall. They still have monument park, but it is in a slightly different location. You still get the reminders of all the great players that played w/the Yankees when you walk through monument park but the stadium itself has lost that feel. You can no longer stare out at the field and picture Babe Ruth smacking a HR over the short porch in right, or Mickey Mantle chasing a ball down in CF, or Joe DiMaggio streaking his way towards 56, or Lou Gehrig patrolling 1B day after day. Now all you see is a ballpark built on greed by a team already w/more revenues than any other team. Now the old stadium wasn’t exactly a place of comfort as the concourse could barely fit 2 people wide, but let’s be honest the reason the Steinbrenner’s wanted a new ballpark was to add a bunch of luxury boxes, something the old stadium sorely lacked.

Stats Wrap

Here are the stats for the remainder of the season:

Game 35 (@BOS)
Adv: Drew
P-Adv: Eveland (3)
NAdv: Drew, Beltre
P-NAdv: Eveland (5), Camp (2)
DE: Bautista (2), Hill (1)
ME(f): Gonzalez (2)

Game 36 (@BOS)
NAdv: Bautista (4)
P-NAdv: Wakefield

Game 37 (TEX)
Adv: Kinsler, Wells (2)
P-Adv: Harden, Cecil (1)
Adv+: Hamilton, Guerrero
P-Adv+: Cecil 2 (3)
NAdv: Andrus, Cruz
P-NAdv: Roenicke 2 (2)
WG: Kinsler
DE: Bautista (3)
ME(f): Mathis, Gonzalez (3)
T-Sc: Kinsler, Bautista (5)
R-Sc: Smoak, Overbay (10)

Game 38 (TEX)
Adv+: Hill (2)
P-Adv+: Feldman
ME(r): Lind (2)
ME(f): Andrus

Game 39 (TEX)
Adv+: Smoak, Andrus
P-Adv+: Morrow 2 (6)
NAdv: Murphy, Guerrero
P-NAdv: Morrow (5), Frasor (5)
WG: Lewis (2)
ME(f): Treanor, Gonzalez (4)

Game 40 (MIN)
Adv: Ruiz (1)
P-Adv: Slowey
WG: Hudson, Gonzalez (4), Buck (1)
DE: Overbay (1)
ME(r): Harris

Game 41 (MIN)
NAdv: Hill (4)
P-NAdv: Pavano
DE: Wells (1)
ME(f): Punto, Bautista (3)

Game 42 (@SEA)
Adv: Gonzalez (2)
P-Adv+: Aardsma
Adv+: Buck (3)
P-Adv+: Fister
NAdv: Wells (2), Suzuki
P-NAdv: Cecil (3), Fister
DE: Hill (2)
ME(f): Bradley 2, Suzuki

Game 43 (@SEA)
NAdv: Wilson
P-NAdv: Romero (6)
WG: Encarnacion (3)
ME(f): Bradley
T-Sc: Encarnacion (3), Romero (1)
R-Sc: Overbay (11), Hill (1)

Game 44 (@ARI)
Adv+: LaRoche, Reynolds, Young
P-Adv+: Morrow 3 (9)
NAdv: Reynolds, C. Jackson
P-NAdv: Roenicke 2 (2)
WG: C. Jackson
DE: F. Lewis (1)
T-Sc: Encarnacion (4)
R-Sc: Overbay (12)

Game 45 (@ARI)
Adv+: Buck (4)
P-Adv+: E. Jackson
T-Sc: Ojeda
R-Sc: LaRoche

Game 46 (@ARI)
Adv: Lind (4)
P-Adv: Buckner
Adv+: Molina (1), F. Lewis (2)
P-Adv+: Valdez, Rivera
NAdv: Molina (2), Bautista (5), Hill (5), Upton, Hester
P-NAdv: Marcum (3), Gregg (1), Buckner, Rivera, Valdez
WG: Overbay (4), Hill (1)
DE: Hill (3)
ME(r): McDonald (1)
ME(f): Lewis (3)

Game 47 (@LAA)
DE: Frandsen, Cassevah
ME(f): Abreu
T-Sc: Encarnacion (5)
R-Sc: Overbay (13)

Game 48 (@LAA)
DE: Bautista (4), Willits
T-Sc: Gonzalez (4)
R-Sc: Overbay (14)

Game 49 (@LAA)
Adv: Izturis
P-Adv: Downs (2)
Adv+: Kendrick
P-Adv+: Morrow (10)
NAdv: Bautista (6)
P-NAdv: Fuentes
WG: Gonzalez (5)
DE: Encarnacion (1)
ME(f): Buck (2)
T-Sc: Izturis 2
R-Sc: Morales 2

Game 50 (BAL)
Adv: Lind (5)
P-Adv: Millwood
Adv+: Hill (3)
P-Adv+: Millwood
NAdv: Wieters 2, Scott
P-NAdv: Marcum 2 (5), Gregg (2)
WG: Gonzalez (6), F. Lewis (3)
DE: Moore
ME(f): Moore

Game 51 (BAL)
NAdv: Hill (6)
P-NAdv: Tillman
ME(f): Tejada, F. Lewis (4)
T-Sc: Encarnacion (6)
R-Sc: Overbay (15)

Game 52 (BAL)
NAdv: Hill (7)
P-NAdv: Guthrie
ME(r): F. Lewis (2)
ME(f): Markakis

Game 53 (TB)
Adv: Gonzalez (3)
P-Adv: Wheeler
WG: Crawford, Wells 2 (4)
DE: Longoria

Game 54 (TB)
NAdv: Crawford, Upton, Hill (8)
P-NAdv: Soriano, Tallet (1), Frasor (6)
ME(r): F. Lewis (3)
ME(f): Brignac
T-Sc: Encarnacion (7), Tallet (1)
R-Sc: Overbay 2 (17)

Game 55 (TB)
Adv: Jaso
P-Adv: Marcum (1)
NAdv: Crawford, Upton, Bautista (7), Wells (3)
P-NAdv: Price 2, Marcum 2 (7)
WG: Longoria, Marcum (2)
DE: Upton
ME(r): Rodriguez
ME(f): Longoria, Overbay (1)
T-Sc: Marcum (1)
R-Sc: Overbay (18)

Game 56 (NYY)
Adv: Overbay (3)
P-Adv: Burnett
Adv+: Jeter
P-Adv+: Cecil (4)
NAdv: Rodriguez, Cano, Gonzalez (3)
P-NAdv: Mitre, Cecil 2 (5)
WG: Granderson
DE: Wells (2)
ME(f): Thames, F. Lewis (5)
T-Sc: Hill (2)
R-Sc: Overbay (19)

Game 57 (NYY)
Adv: F. Lewis (1)
P-Adv: Pettitte
NAdv: Russo
P-NAdv: Romero (7)
WG: Swisher
ME(r): Cervelli
ME(f): Encarnacion (1)
T-Sc: Cano, Gonzalez (5)
R-Sc: Teixeira, Overbay (20)

Game 58 (NYY)
Adv+: Jeter, F. Lewis (3)
P-Adv+: Chamberlain, Downs (2)
NAdv: Swisher
P-NAdv: Frasor (7)
WG: Wells (5)
ME(r): Rodriguez
ME(f): Jeter, F. Lewis (6)

Game 59 (@TB)
Adv+: Longoria
P-Adv+: Tallet (1)
NAdv: Longoria, Zobrist 2, Brignac
P-NAdv: Tallet (2), R. Lewis (1), Janssen (2), Purcey (1)
WG: McCoy (1)
T-Sc: Encarnacion (8)
T-NSc: McCoy (1)
R-Sc: Overbay (21)
R-NSc: Overbay (3)

Game 60 (@TB)
NAdv: Buck (4)
P-NAdv: Price
WG: F. Lewis (4), Wells (6)
DE: McCoy (1), Rodriguez
ME(r): Rodriguez

Game 61 (@TB)
Adv: Aybar
P-Adv: Cecil (2)
NAdv: Rodriguez
P-NAdv: Cecil (6)
WG: Hill (2)

Game 62 (@COL)
NAdv: Bautista (8), Olivo
P-NAdv: Frasor (8), Jimenez
ME(f): Buck (3), F. Lewis (7)

Game 63 (@COL)
NAdv: Hill (9), Overbay (1), C. Gonzalez, Stewart
P-NAdv: Morrow (6), Purcey (2), Hammel 2
WG: A. Gonzalez (7), Barmes
ME(r): Helton
T-Sc: A. Gonzalez (6), Barmes 2
R-Sc: Overbay (22), Helton 2

Game 64 (@COL)
NAdv: Hawpe
P-NAdv: Litsch (1)
DE: McCoy (2), Stewart

Game 65 (@SD)
Adv+: Bautista (2), Venable
P-Adv+: Marcum (1), Gallagher
NAdv: J. Hairston
P-NAdv: Marcum (8)
T-Sc: Al. Gonzalez (7)
R-Sc: Overbay (23)

Game 66 (@SD)
WG: Headley, Denorfia
ME(r): Hundley

Game 67 (@SD)
NAdv: Buck (5)
P-NAdv: Webb
ME(r): Al. Gonzalez (1)
ME(f): Eckstein
T-Sc: Encarnacion 2 (10)
R-Sc: Overbay 2 (25)

Game 68 (SF)
Adv: Overbay (4)
P-Adv: Zito
Adv+: Burrell, Encarnacion (1)
P-Adv+: Zito, Morrow (11)
NAdv: J. Molina (3)
P-NAdv: Zito
WG: Gonzalez (8), Hill (3)
DE: Uribe
ME(r): Huff
ME(f): Sandoval
T-Sc: Encarnacion (11)
R-Sc: Overbay (26)

Game 69 (SF)
WG: Gonzalez (9)
DE: Sandoval

Game 70 (SF)
Adv: Rowand
P-Adv: Purcey (1)
Adv+: Renteria, Buck (5)
P-Adv+: J. Sanchez, Marcum (2)
NAdv: Rowand, Whiteside
P-NAdv: Marcum (9), Tallet (3)
ME(r): Posey, Buck (1)
ME(f): Huff, Rowand, Hill (1), Buck (4)
T-NSc: Encarnacion (2)
R-NSc: Overbay (4)

Game 71 (STL)
Adv: Hill (2)
P-Adv: Garcia
NAdv: Ryan
P-NAdv: Cecil (7)
WG: Pujols, Freese

Game 72 (STL)
Adv+: Pujols
P-Adv+: Romero (2)
NAdv: Stavinoha 2, Ryan
P-NAdv: Romero 3 (10)
WG: Hill (4)
DE: Gonzalez (3)
T-Sc: Freese
R-Sc: Pujols

Game 73 (STL)
NAdv: Wells (4)
P-NAdv: Salas
DE: Wainwright
ME(f): Freese
T-Sc: Hoffpauir (1)
R-Sc: Overbay (27)

Game 74 (PHI; in PHI)
Adv+: Polanco, Utley, Howard
P-Adv+: Litsch 2 (2), Purcey (1)
NAdv: Ibanez
P-NAdv: Purcey (3)
WG: Wells (7)
DE: Wells (3)
ME(f): Wells (1)

Game 75 (PHI; in PHI)
NAdv: Bautista (9)
P-NAdv: Hamels

Game 76 (PHI; in PHI)
Adv+: Francisco, Victorino
P-Adv+: Cecil 2 (6)
NAdv: Ibanez, Francisco
P-NAdv: Cecil 2 (9)
WG: Werth, Hill (5)
DE: Herndon, Hoffpauir (1)

Game 77 (@CLE)
NAdv: Lind (7), LaPorta
P-NAdv: Romero (11), Westbrook
WG: Gonzalez (10)
ME(r): Wells (2)
ME(f): Romero (1), Hernandez
T-Sc: Hill (3)
R-Sc: Overbay (28)

Game 78 (@CLE)
NAdv: McDonald (1)
P-NAdv: Carmona
ME(f): Overbay (2)
T-Sc: Peralta
T-NSc: McDonald (1)
R-Sc: LaPorta
R-NSc: Overbay (5)

Game 79 (@CLE)
T-Sc: Donald
R-Sc: LaPorta

Game 80 (@CLE)
NAdv: Green (1), Wells (5), Hafner
P-NAdv: Marcum (10), Masterson 2
WG: F. Lewis (5), LaPorta
ME(f): Bautista (4), Donald

Game 81 (@NYY)
Adv: Teixeira
P-Adv: Cecil (3)
NAdv: Bautista (10), Wells (6), Rodriguez, Cervelli
P-NAdv: Cecil 2 (11), Burnett 2
WG: Gardner
ME(r): F. Lewis (4)

Game 82 (@NYY)
Adv: Rodriguez
P-Adv: Romero (3)
Adv+: Swisher, Teixeira
P-Adv+: Romero 2 (4)
NAdv: Rodriguez
P-NAdv: Tallet (4)
WG: Huffman
DE: Romero (1)
ME(f): Bautista (5), McDonald (1)

Game 83 (@NYY)
Adv+: Teixeira
P-Adv+: Camp (1)
NAdv: Encarnacion (2), Swisher, Rodriguez
P-NAdv: Morrow (7), Camp (3), Robertson
WG: Wise (1), Bautista (2), Teixeira, Gardner
DE: Wise (1)
ME(r): Encarnacion (1)
ME(f): Overbay (3)

Game 84 (MIN)
Adv: Cuddyer, Punto
P-Adv: Litsch 2 (2)
NAdv: Encarnacion (3), Green (2)
P-NAdv: Pavano 2
WG: Cuddyer, Hudson, Gonzalez (11)
T-Sc: Punto, Gonzalez (8)
R-Sc: Morneau, Overbay (29)

Game 85 (MIN)
ME(r): Encarnacion (2)
ME(f): Young
T-Sc: Encarnacion (12)
R-Sc: Overbay (30)

Game 86 (MIN)
DE: Hill (4)
ME(r): Gonzalez (2)
T-NSc: Hill (1)
R-NSc: Overbay (6)

Game 87 (BOS)
ME(f): Nava, Wise (1)
T-Sc: Gonzalez (9)
T-NSc: Overbay (1)
R-Sc: Overbay (31)
R-NSc: Buck (1)

Game 88 (BOS)
Adv+: Gonzalez 2 (4), Lind (3)
P-Adv+: Lackey 3
NAdv: Hill (10), Encarnacion (4)
P-NAdv: Lackey 2
WG: Scutaro, Encarnacion (4), Hill (6)
DE: Beltre, Bautista (5)

Game 89 (BOS)
NAdv: F. Lewis (1)
P-NAdv: Matsuzaka
WG: Gonzalez (12)
T-Sc: Gonzalez (10)
R-Sc: Overbay (32)

All Star Game (NL @ AL; in LAA)
NAdv: Braun
P-NAdv: Verlander
WG: Braun
DE: Holliday, Cano
ME(r): Mauer, Andrus, Ortiz

Game 90 (@BAL)
Adv+: Escobar (1), Overbay (4)
P-Adv+: Bergesen 2
NAdv: Bautista (11), Encarnacion (5), Buck (6), Jones
P-NAdv: Romero (12), Bergesen 3
WG: Escobar (1), Tejada
DE: Albers, Tejada

Game 91 (@BAL)
Adv+: Hill (4)
P-Adv+: Guthrie
NAdv: Lugo
P-NAdv: Morrow (8)
WG: Bautista (3), Hill (7)
DE: Jones

Game 92 (@BAL)
NAdv: Overbay (2), Wigginton 2, Pie
P-NAdv: Marcum 2 (12), Purcey (4), Matusz
ME(r): Wells (3)
ME(f): Wigginton

Game 93 (@KC)
Adv: Hill (3)
P-Adv: Davies
Adv+: Buck (6), Bautista (3)
P-Adv+: Davies, Farnsworth
NAdv: Bautista (12), Buck (7), Betancourt
P-NAdv: Cecil (12), Davies, Soria
WG: Encarnacion (5)
ME(r): Lind (3)
ME(f): Cecil (1), Butler
T-Sc: Escobar (1)
R-Sc: Overbay (33)

Game 94 (@KC)
Adv+: Encarnacion 2 (3)
P-Adv+: Hughes, Marte
NAdv: Encarnacion (6), McDonald (2), F. Lewis (2), Butler
P-NAdv: Litsch (2), Lerew, Wood, Marte
WG: Overbay (5), Hill 2 (9), Callaspo
DE: Podsednik
ME(f): Tallet (1), Podsednik

Game 95 (@KC)
NAdv: Molina (4), Butler, Betemit
P-NAdv: Rzepczynski 2 (2), Greinke
WG: Hill (10)
T-Sc: Callaspo
R-Sc: Butler

Game 96 (@DET)
Adv+: Buck (7), Cabrera, Raburn
P-Adv+: Camp 2 (3), Verlander
NAdv: Raburn
P-NAdv: Romero (13)
WG: Encarnacion (6)
ME(r): Escobar (1), Santiago, Ordonez

Game 97 (@DET)
Adv: Wise (1)
P-Adv: Porcello
Adv+: Escobar (2)
P-Adv+: Porcello
WG: Marcum (3)
ME(f): Porcello

Game 98 (@DET)
NAdv: Hill (11), Raburn
P-NAdv: Cecil (13), Galarraga
WG: Wise (2)
ME(r): Bautista (3)

Game 99 (@DET)
NAdv: Lind (8), Cabrera, Damon
P-NAdv: Litsch (3), Tallet (5), Coke
WG: Encarnacion (7), Kelly
ME(r): Wise (1)
ME(f): Cabrera

Game 100 (BAL)
Adv: F. Lewis (2)
P-Adv: Albers
Adv+: Lind (4), Bautista (4)
P-Adv+: Bergesen 2
NAdv: Overbay (3), Wells (7)
P-NAdv: Bergesen 2
ME(r): Fox, Molina (1)
ME(f): Roberts

Game 101 (BAL)
Adv: Wells (3)
P-Adv: Millwood
Adv+: Markakis, Bautista (5)
P-Adv+: Millwood, Romero (5)
NAdv: Escobar (1)
P-NAdv: Simon
WG: Escobar (2)
DE: F. Lewis (2)
ME(f): F. Lewis (8)

Game 102 (BAL)
NAdv: Hill (12)
P-NAdv: Guthrie
ME(f): Tejada, Overbay (4)
T-Sc: Encarnacion (13)
R-Sc: Overbay (34)

Game 103 (CLE)
NAdv: Buck 2 (9)
P-NAdv: Masterson, Germano
WG: Hill 2 (12)
T-Sc: Masterson
T-NSc: Escobar (1)
R-Sc: LaPorta
R-NSc: Overbay (7)

Game 104 (CLE)
NAdv: LaPorta
P-NAdv: Cecil (14)
WG: Duncan, Hill (13)
DE: F. Lewis (3)
ME(r): Bautista (4)
T-Sc: Cabrera
R-Sc: LaPorta

Game 105 (CLE)
Adv+: Cabrera
P-Adv+: Litsch (3)
NAdv: LaPorta
P-NAdv: Tallet (6)
DE: Litsch (1)

Game 106 (@NYY)
Adv+: Encarnacion (4)
P-Adv+: Burnett
NAdv: Snider (1), Escobar (2)
P-NAdv: Burnett 2
ME(r): Molina (2), Thames
ME(f): Gardner

Game 107 (@NYY)
Adv: F. Lewis (3)
P- Adv: Mitre
WG: Hill (14), Escobar (3)
DE: Jeter
ME(f): Kearns
T-Sc: Escobar (2)
R-Sc: Overbay (35)

Game 108 (@NYY)
Adv: McDonald (1)
P-Adv: Hughes
Adv+: Jeter, Teixeira
P-Adv+: Marcum 2 (4)
NAdv: Swisher
P-NAdv: Marcum (13)
WG: Encarnacion (8)
DE: Buck (2), Cano
T-Sc: McDonald (1)
R-Sc: Overbay (36)

Game 109 (TB)
NAdv: Longoria, Molina (5)
P-NAdv: Garza, Cecil (15)
DE: Kapler
T-Sc: Garza
T-NSc: Garza
R-Sc: Zobrist
R-NSc: Zobrist

Game 110 (TB)
Adv+: Brignac, Arencibia (1)
P-Adv+: Shields, Mills (1)
NAdv: Lind 2 (10), Wise (1)
P-NAdv: Shields, Qualls, Choate
T-Sc: Encarnacion (14)
R-Sc: Overbay (37)

Game 111 (TB)
NAdv: Encarnacion (7)
P-NAdv: Wheeler
WG: Johnson, Wells (8)
T-Sc: LongoriaR-Sc: Johnson

Game 112 (BOS)
Adv: Lowell
P-Adv: Romero (4)
Adv+: Beltre, Snider (4)
P-Adv+: Matsuzaka, Romero (6)
DE: Martinez, J. McDonald (3)
ME(f): Scutaro

Game 113 (BOS)
Adv: Kalish 2
P-Adv: Tallet (1), Janssen (1)
Adv+: Beltre
P-Adv+: Marcum (5)
DE: Encarnacion (2)
ME(r): Martinez, Escobar (2)

Game 114 (BOS)
Adv+: Escobar (3), Lind (5), Hill (5)
P-Adv+: Lackey, Papelbon 2
NAdv: Hill (13)
P-NAdv: Lackey
WG: Encarnacion (9)
DE: Saltalamacchia
T-Sc: Encarnacion (15)
R-Sc: Lind (1)

Game 115 (@LAA)
Adv+: Lind (6)
P-Adv+: Kazmir
NAdv: Mathis
P-NAdv: Rzepczynski (3)
WG: Hill (15), Bourjos 2
DE: Overbay (1), Encarnacion (3)
T-Sc: Escobar (3)
R-Sc: Overbay (38)

Game 116 (@LAA)
Adv: Wells (4)
P-Adv: Rodney
NAdv: Snider (2), Aybar
P-NAdv: Cecil (16), Santana
WG: Escobar (4)
DE: Wilson
ME(r): Aybar
ME(f): Escobar (1)

Game 117 (@LAA)
Adv: Hill (4)
P-Adv: Haren
Adv+: Lind (7)
P-Adv+: Haren
NAdv: Wells (8), Kendrick
P-NAdv: Frasor (9), Haren
WG: Izturis
DE: Encarnacion (4)
ME(r): Bautista (5)

Game 118 (@OAK)
WG: Snider (2), Barton
DE: Encarnacion (5)
T-Sc: Suzuki
R-Sc: Barton

Game 119 (@OAK)
Adv+: Barton
P-Adv+: Morrow (12)
NAdv: Jackson 2, Cust
P-NAdv: Morrow 2 (10), Camp (4)
WG: Pennington
T-Sc: Pennington
R-Sc: Barton

Game 120 (@OAK)
Adv: Lind (6), Suzuki
P-Adv: Rzepczynski (1), Gonzalez
NAdv: Hill (14)
P-NAdv: Wuertz
ME(r): Lewis (5), Jackson, Crisp
ME(f): Escobar (2), Suzuki
T-Sc: Escobar (4)
R-Sc: Overbay (39)

Game 121 (@BOS)
Adv+: Escobar (4), Overbay (5)
P-Adv+: Lester 2
NAdv: Bautista (13), Lowrie, Beltre
P-NAdv: Cecil 2 (18), Lester
WG: Nava
ME(r): Lewis (6)
ME(f): Lester

Game 122 (@BOS)
NAdv: Lewis (3), Hall
P-NAdv: Frasor (10), Bard
WG: J. McDonald (1)
ME(r): Overbay (1)

Game 123 (@BOS)
NAdv: Lind (11), Lowell
P-NAdv: Marcum (14), Buchholz
WG: Wells (9), Hall
T-Sc: Escobar (5)
R-Sc: Overbay (40)

Game 124 (NYY)
NAdv: Wells (9)
P-NAdv: Nova
DE: Nunez
ME(r): Lewis (7)
ME(f): Lewis (9)
T-Sc: Nunez
R-Sc: Teixeira

Game 125 (NYY)
DE: Gaudin
ME(r): Thames
ME(f): Bautista (6), Encarnacion (2), Escobar (3)

Game 126 (NYY)
Adv+: Thames
P-Adv+: Cecil (7)
ME(f): Cano

Game 127 (DET)
Adv: Cabrera
P-Adv: Romero (5)
Adv+: Damon
P-Adv+: Janssen (3)
NAdv: Cabrera
P-NAdv: Janssen (3)
WG: Cabrera
ME(r): Lewis (8)

Game 128 (DET)
NAdv: Kelly, Rhymes
P-NAdv: Marcum 2 (16)
WG: Encarnacion (10)
DE: Snider (1)
ME(f): Verlander
T-Sc: Encarnacion (16)
R-Sc: Bautista (1)

Game 129 (DET)
Adv+: Escobar (5), Encarnacion (5)
P-Adv+: Figaro 2
NAdv: Santiago, Inge, Encarnacion (8)
P-NAdv: Thomas, Morrow (11), Downs (2)
WG: Inge
DE: Hill (5)
ME(r): Rhymes, Santiago, Bautista (6)

Game 130 (DET)
NAdv: Inge, Bautista (14)
P-NAdv: Valverde, Rzepczynski (4)
WG: Rzepczynski (1)
DE: Inge, McDonald (4)
ME(f): Lind (1)

Game 131 (@TB)
Adv: Crawford
P-Adv: Camp (1)
WG: McCoy 2 (3), McDonald (2), Snider (3)
ME(f): Cecil (2), Wise (2)

Game 132 (@TB)
Adv: Wise (2)
P-Adv: Sonnanstine
Adv+: Wise (1), Wells (2), Lind (8), Buck (8), Hill (6)
P-Adv+: Niemann 4, Cormier
WG: Wise (3)
DE: Hill (6)
ME(r): Johnson
T-NSc: McDonald (2)
R-NSc: Lind (1)

Game 133 (@TB)
NAdv: Hawpe
P-NAdv: Camp (5)
WG: Marcum (4), Longoria, Bartlett
DE: Rodriguez
ME(r): McDonald (2)
ME(f): Pena, Upton
T-Sc: McCoy (1), Hill (4)
R-Sc: Lind 2 (3)

Game 134 (@NYY)
Adv: Lind (7), Cano
P-Adv: Morrow (1), Nova
Adv+: Hill (7), Teixeira
P-Adv+: Morrow (13), Nova
DE: Bautista 2 (7), Cano
ME(f): McCoy (2)
T-Sc: McCoy (2), Nunez
T-NSc: Cano
R-Sc: Overbay (41), Cano
R-NSc: Teixeira

Game 135 (@NYY)
NAdv: Bautista (15)
P-NAdv: Chamberlain
DE: Snider (2), Rzepczynski (1)

Game 136 (@NYY)
Adv+: Pena
P-Adv+: Cecil (8)
NAdv: Wise (2), Hill (15), Jeter
P-NAdv: Gregg (3), Hughes, Mitre
WG: Bautista (4), Teixeira
ME(f): Pena
T-Sc: McDonald (2)
R-Sc: Overbay (42)

Game 137 (TEX)
NAdv: Francoeur 2, Hill (16)
P-NAdv: Hunter, Romero (14), Camp (6)
DE: Romero (2)
ME(f): Teagarden, Francoeur
T-Sc: Bautista (6)
R-Sc: Overbay (43)

Game 138 (TEX)
Adv+: Guerrero
P-Adv+: Marcum (6)
NAdv: Guzman, B. Molina
P-NAdv: Marcum (17), Camp (7)
ME(f): Feldman

Game 139 (TEX)
WG: Cruz, Guzman
ME(r): Francoeur
T-Sc: Young, Kinsler, A. Hill (5)
R-Sc: Cantu 2, Lind (4)

Game 140 (TEX)
Adv+: Borbon, Cruz
P-Adv+: S. Hill 2 (2)
NAdv: Kinsler, Guerrero
P-NAdv: S. Hill (1), Ray (1)
DE: S. Hill (1), Buck (3)

Game 141 (TB)
NAdv: Wise (3)
P-NAdv: Shields
WG: Bautista (5), A. Hill (16)
DE: Zobrist
T-Sc: Bautista (7)
R-Sc: Overbay (44)

Game 142 (TB)
Adv+: Bartlett
P-Adv+: R. Lewis (1)
NAdv: Longoria
P-NAdv: Romero (15)
DE: Wells (4), F. Lewis (4)
ME(f): Bartlett, F. Lewis (10)

Game 143 (TB)
Adv: A. Hill (5)
P-Adv: Niemann
Adv+: Overbay (6)
P-Adv+: Niemann
NAdv: Baldelli, Upton
P-NAdv: Marcum (18), Frasor (11)
ME(r): A. Hill (1)
ME(f): Bautista (7)

Game 144 (@BAL)
Adv: Wieters
P-Adv: Rzepczynski (2)
NAdv: Encarnacion (9)
P-NAdv: Johnson
WG: Wigginton
DE: Escobar (1)
ME(f): Escobar (4), A. Hill (2), Wieters

Game 145 (@BAL)
Adv+: Pie
P-Adv+: S. Hill (3)
NAdv: Wells (10), Scott
P-NAdv: Purcey (5), Arrieta
WG: Andino
DE: Andino
ME(f): Snider (5), Albers
T-Sc: Encarnacion (17)
R-Sc: Overbay (45)

Game 146 (@BAL)
NAdv: Escobar (3), Wigginton
P-NAdv: Drabek (1), Bergesen
WG: Snider (4), Wells (10), Markakis, Izturis 2
ME(f): Roberts

Game 147 (@BOS)
Adv: Martinez
P-Adv: Cecil (4)
Adv+: Lind (9), Overbay (7), Escobar (6), Bautista (6)
P-Adv+: Lackey 2, Bowden 2
NAdv: Buck (10), Saltalamacchia
P-NAdv: Downs (3), LackeyME(r): F. Lewis (9)

Game 148 (@BOS)
Adv: Drew
P-Adv: Romero (6)
Adv+: J. McDonald (2), Ortiz
P-Adv+: Romero (7), Beckett
NAdv: Molina (6)
P-NAdv: Beckett
DE: Bautista (8)
ME(r): Bautista (7), Kalish
ME(f): Beckett
T-Sc: J. McDonald (3)
R-Sc: Overbay (46)

Game 149 (@BOS)
Adv+: Nava, Navarro
P-Adv+: Marcum 2 (8)
NAdv: Kalish
P-NAdv: Marcum (19)
WG: McCoy (4)
T-Sc: Lowrie
R-Sc: Lowell

Game 150 (SEA)
WG: Figgins, McDonald (3)
DE: Tuiasosopo
ME(f): A. Hill (3), Snider (6)

Game 151 (SEA)
NAdv: Buck (11)
P-NAdv: League
ME(f): Smoak
T-Sc: Escobar (6)
R-Sc: Overbay (47)

Game 152 (SEA)
WG: Lopez
DE: Escobar (2)
ME(r): Smoak
ME(f): Overbay (5)

Game 153 (BAL)
Adv+: Markakis
P-Adv+: Cecil (9)
NAdv: Jones, Lind (12)
P-NAdv: Hernandez, Cecil (19)
WG: Jones
T-Sc: Wigginton
T-NSc: Encarnacion (3)
R-Sc: Snyder
R-NSc: Overbay (8)

Game 154 (BAL)
Adv: Reimold
P-Adv: Romero (7)
NAdv: Snyder, Bautista (16)
P-NAdv: Guthrie, Tallet (7)
WG: Wells (11)
DE: Encarnacion (6)
ME(r): Wigginton

Game 155 (BAL)
NAdv: A. Hill (17), Encarnacion (10)
P-NAdv: VandenHurk 2
ME(r): Snider (2)
ME(f): VandenHurk
T-Sc: Encarnacion (18)
R-Sc: Overbay (48)

Game 156 (NYY)
Adv: Escobar (1)
P-Adv: Burnett
NAdv: Bautista (17)
P-NAdv: Burnett
ME(f): Tallet (2)
T-NSc: Encarnacion (4)
R-NSc: Overbay (9)

Game 157 (NYY)
Adv+: Gardner
P-Adv+: Purcey (2)
NAdv: Jeter, Bautista (18)
P-NAdv: Sabathia, Janssen (4)
ME(r): Posada
ME(f): Encarnacion (3)
T-Sc: Rodriguez 2
R-Sc: Teixeira 2

Game 158 (NYY)
Adv: Teixeira
P-Adv: Gregg (2)
WG: Overbay (6)
ME(f): A. Hill (4)
T-Sc: Escobar (7)
R-Sc: Overbay (49)

Game 159 (@MIN)
WG: Encarnacion (11), Kubel
DE: McCoy (3)
ME(f): Escobar (5)

Game 160 (@MIN)
Adv: Snider (2)
P-Adv: Pavano
Adv+: Buck (9)
P-Adv+: Pavano
NAdv: Escobar (4), A. Hill (18), Hardy
P-NAdv: Romero (16), Pavano, Crain

Game 161 (@MIN)
Adv+: Casilla
P-Adv+: Marcum (9)
NAdv: Molina (7), Mauer
P-NAdv: Gregg (4), Duensing
WG: Escobar (5), Marcum (5)
ME(r): A. Hill (2)

Game 162 (@MIN)
WG: Blackburn
T-Sc: McDonald (4)
R-Sc: Overbay (50)