Game Thread for March 21 Jays vs. Red Sox
by Tom Dakers on Mar 21, 2010 12:30 PM EDT
17 comments
I won't be around for the game today, my boy is in a hockey tournament and has 2 games way across town today. It will be great fun to watch, this is pretty much the end of hockey for this season. On to baseball for the boy.
The Jays are playing a split squad of Red Sox, the Sox also have a game at their spring home park, so don't expect many of the regulars to make the bus trip to Dunedin. Shawn Marcum is starting for the Jays. The line up:
Bautista 3B
Hill 2B
Lind DH
Wells CF
Overbay 1B
Reed RF
Snider LF
Gonzalez SS
Molina C
Brandon Morrow figures he will be ready to start the season, he says he would have pitched the other day if it was a regular season game. Dustin McGowan is being shut down for a week with a 'dead arm', which isn't something that's unusual for a pitcher to have after throwing everyday in spring, when he hadn't thrown for a long period before that. But we'll see how things go. Edwin Encarnacion is expected to play sometime this week, but then we've heard that since the start of spring.
Not much out there for Jay news this morning. There are a couple bits of news around baseball. It looks like the Tigers are ready to release Dontrelle Willis and eat the rest of his contract. And Twins closer Joe Nathan is going to have Tommy John surgery, so he is gone for the season and maybe part of next year. Twins have been rumoured to be asking about Jason Frasor.
Enjoy the game today, if it happens, sounds like there is rain in the Dunedin area. Have a good Sunday.
17 comments | 0 recs
Happy Birthday Aaron Hill
by Tom Dakers on Mar 21, 2010 11:07 AM EDT
in Birthdays
1 comment
Our slugging second baseman turns 28 today. In his 5 year career he has hit .285/.337/.434 with 64 home runs (more than half came last year) and 296 RBI.
He's profiled in a piece by Richard Griffin, in the Star, this morning. He talked about leadership and the difference between last year's Roy Halladay lead clubhouse and this year's clubhouse. He referenced a story Jordan Bastian wrote which had a title that made it seem like the players were better off without Doc in the clubhouse. The headline said the Jays were "looser, relaxed" without Doc. Jordan doesn't write the headlines and Hill wanted to make it clear that he wasn't suggesting the team wasn't better off without Doc.
Anyway happy birthday Aaron. Have a good one.
1 comment | 0 recs |
Quick Recap: Spring Game 15, Braves and Jays.
by Tom Dakers on Mar 20, 2010 4:28 PM EDT
in Game Recaps
16 comments
Braves 6 Blue Jays 7 (10 innings)
Jays came back twice in this one, tying it in the 9th, giving up a run in the top of the 10, then winning it in the bottom of the inning on a 2 run double by Michael McDade. We are 9 and 6, the 3rd best record of the AL teams this spring.
Pitching:
- Marc Rzepczynski: didn't have the best of days. 5 innings, 6 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned. No walks and 3 strikeouts. 9 ground outs and 2 fly outs. All-in-all he got his work in, kept the ball in the strike zone and the hits on the ground so can't complain too much.
- Shawn Camp: 1 perfect inning, 2 K.
- Scott Downs: gave up 2 hits to start his inning but then got the next three out.
- Kevin Gregg: 1 inning, 3 hits, a run, 2 strikeouts. No walks and no homers, be happy for small things.
- Jason Frasor: 1 perfect inning.
- Merkin Valdez: gave up the go ahead in the 10th, 1 hit, 1 walk, 1 K.
Batting:
- Jose Bautista: had our first 2 hits of the game. 2 for 3. .542 for the spring. Can't complain about that.
- Aaron Hill: 1 for 3 with his 2nd homer of the spring. No walks for a change. .467.
- Adam Lind: 1 for 3, a double. .261.
- Jeremy Reed: 1 for 2. .400. Might be winning a job.
- Vernon Wells: 1 for 3, a double and a K. .391.
- Joey Gathright: 1 for 2. Important (well in a spring training sort of way) hit in the 10th and scored the winning run. .200.
- Lyle Overbay: 0 for 3 with a K. .353.
- Michael McDade. 2 for 2, both doubles, scored the run that tied the game in the 9th and drove in the winning runs in the 10th. Nice day for the young guy.
- John Buck: 0 for 3, K. .316.
- Randy Ruiz: 1 for 4, double and a K. .405. Is sad when you hit a double and still your average drops.
- Travis Snider: 0 for 2 with a walk. .273.
- Alex Gonzalez: 0 for 2. .211.
- John McDonald: 1 for 2, drove in the tying run in the 9th with 2 outs. Would be a clutch hit if it wasn't spring training, nice to see. .333.
Bits of news from around the majors: Kerry Woods is out for 2 months with a strained back muscle. Momentary Jay Casey Fien has come full circle, the Tigers signed him to a minor league deal. He has gone from the Tigers to Red Sox to Jays to Tigers in 3 weeks. The Nationals have sent Stephan Strasburg to Double-A. Thought he might make the team.
16 comments | 0 recs |
I just made the first team laugh: Game Thread March 20
by Tom Dakers on Mar 20, 2010 12:57 PM EDT
in Game Threads
123 comments
Jays are playing the Braves this morning at Dunedin and since it is a 'home' game we get to see the A team:
Bautista 3B
Hill 2B
Lind LF
Wells CF
Overbay 1B
Buck C
Ruiz DH
Snider RF
Gonzalez SS
It should be Marc Rzepcynzski Rzepczynski starting, but then yesterday it was to be Brandon Morrow. Morrow figures he'll make his next start and all will be well for the season.
They've sent a few more down to the minor league camp: Willie Collazo, Rommie Lewis, Steven Register and Jorge Padilla. Down to 40 now, so the cuts will start being a little harder soon.
The Star has a nice story on Tom Tango who the Jays have hired as a statistical consultant:
"My work contributes far more in terms of evaluating baseball talent in terms of wins and dollars than anything else," he wrote. "(Coaches and GMs) can still use their instincts on things that have no data, but if the information exists, then I make sure they have it, in some digestible form. This way, they can make an informed decision."
I like anyone whose favorite player is Tim Raines, but the Jays couldn't have made a better choice.
The post title is from the Billy Bragg song The Saturday Boy, it would work better if the first team wasn't out there today but such is life.
The game is on MLB audio today and should be on the Fan as well.
123 comments | 0 recs
It's Only for the Things that Matter, Only for the Things that Really Count: Keys to the 2010 Season and Beyond, Part II
by jessef on Mar 20, 2010 10:36 AM EDT
in Analysis
11 comments
This is the second part of a series of posts on the keys to the 2010 season. Part I, where we introduced and laid out all the keys is here. In these next posts, we will be discussing each key in depth, elaborating on both its importance and how much we can reasonably expect and hope to see.
1. Kyle Drabek -- Even if Drabek doesn't throw one pitch at the major league level this season, his performance down in the minors is key to the Blue Jays future. Fairly or not, the Doc deal will be scrutinized all season long and because Drabek was the centrepiece, from the perspective of many of the graders, it won't matter how well Brett Wallace and Travis d'Arnaud do if Drabek really falls flat on his face. The fate of Alex Anthopoulos could rest on Drabek's performance over the next few years.
In my opinion, there are a few pertinent questions here. First, why does it matter how well Drabek does if he's not pitching in the majors? Second, how well should we hope for Drabek to do? And the third and final question relates to how confident should we be that he will do that well?
11 comments | 0 recs |
SB Nation Survey + Chance to donate $500 to a charity of this community's choice
by SB Nation Survey on Mar 19, 2010 8:47 PM EDT
5 comments
Tom here: SB would like you to take this Survey. Please do, it isn't very long and if we get the best participation they will give $500 to the charity of our choice.
>> Take SB Nation Survey
Hello sports fans! We're always striving to provide you with the best experience possible and it's been quite some time since we checked in with you.
So we're rolling out this survey to learn more about you and your sports world. It should only take about 10 minutes to complete.
We really appreciate your time and this is also going to help make a donation to a good cause.
By next Thursday (3/25) at 11:59pm PST the site that has the highest percentage of their community filling out the attached survey about their sports interests and consumption will win $500 to donate to a charity of their choice. We will leave it up to the discretion of the community manager(s) of the winning blog to decide how to choose the particular charity.
You can take the survey HERE
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WYR2WQT
Thanks for your support!
5 comments | 1 recs
Quick Recap: Spring Game 14, Jays and Astros
by Tom Dakers on Mar 19, 2010 4:00 PM EDT
in Game Recaps
21 comments
Blue Jays 0 Astros 2
The big news out of this one was that Brandon Morrow was a scratch with a 'sore shoulder'. Hoping it isn't anything serious but not good news. It is the time of spring for sore arms so maybe it is just that.
The Jays didn't take many of their regulars with them on their bus trip. In fact they used a few guys that will start the season in the low minors. I can understand them not wanting to have to ride the bus when they can get swings at their own training facilities.
Pitching:
- Steve Register got the start in place of Morrow, pitched 3 innings, 4 hits, no walks, 2 K with a 2 run homer given up in the first inning.
- Casey Janssen: 1 perfect inning.
- Jeremy Accardo: 1 inning with just a walk.
- David Purcey got 2 quick outs, then gave up a single and 2 walks, but got a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the inning. 2 walks, 2 strikeouts.
- Rommie Lewis: 1 perfect inning.
- Willie Collazo: a perfect 9th with 1 K.
Batting:
- Joey Gathright: 0 for 4. He made a couple of great catches in the outfield. .179.
- John McDonald: 0 for 3. .313.
- Jeremy Reed: 2 for 3. He must be in front of Gathright in the battle for the 4th outfielder spot. .394.
- Randy Ruiz: 0 for 3, with a walk and a strikeout. .424. Has slowed from his fast spring start.
- Chris Lubanski: 0 for 4, 3 strikeouts. .217.
- David Cooper: 1 for 4, with a strikeout. .333 on the spring.
- Jose Molina: 1 for 3. .133.
- John Tolisano: 0 for 2
- Sean Ochinko: 2 for 3 with a K.
Dustin McGowan pitched 1.2 innings in a Triple-A spring game. 2 hits, 2 walks, 1 K. They say he hit 88 on the radar gun so he's got a ways to go yet.
21 comments | 0 recs |
Game Thread for March 19
by Tom Dakers on Mar 19, 2010 12:45 PM EDT
in Game Recaps
89 comments
Rushing out the door, game is on MLB audio. Likely will be back sometimes during the game. We have the B team out there today:
Gathright CF
McDonald SS
Reed LF
Ruiz 1B
Lubanski RF
Cooper DH
Molina C
Tolisano 2B
Ochinko 3B.
Brandon Morrow will start. I get the feeling the Jays are skirting the rules about bringing some regulars on the bus trips but if no one complains, all is good. There is no reason Hill, Lind and all should have to have a 3 hour bus ride. They can get their swings in at camp.
89 comments | 0 recs
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