All the Young Dudes Carry the News: Friday Linkfest

Since the Drunks didn't do us the favour of listing us in their recent linkfest, we figured we would do our own.  Seeing as we've now linked them twice in the first sentence of ours, you can tell we don't hold a grudge.  Love us, you magnificent bastards!

The tireless worker, polish-lover, and fellow running enthusiast Jordan Bastian has a nice article on Aaron Hill's superb performance this season out of the two hole. 

The great Jon Hale takes a detailed look at Ricky Romero's first start using pitch f/x data and his keen eye for pitch movement and location.  Elsewhere, he also looks at Romero's relase point on different pitches.  Mockingbird is the go-to site for digesting and understanding the pitching performances of the Jays.  Jon doesn't do one for every start, obviously, but when he does one, listen up. 

The Drunks (that's three) have abandoned their reservations about the Jays hot start and are now fully engorged about the 2009 Jays.  Maybe I'm just a ornithophile, as you likely already know, but great Blue Jay photo, guys. 

Tao of Stieb is hoping for a big crowd tonight at the Rogers Centre.  I couldn't agree more, fellows.  We should welcome them home like conquering Roman generals returning from victory in the far-flung provinces.  Bring out the purple vestments and laurel wreaths!  However, they're starting to worry about when it will be okay to worry about Alex Rios. 

Southpaw doesn't like Cito's aversion to pinch-hitting.  Right there with you, Will. 

My blogging mancrush, the Ghostrunner on First, is enthused about Brandon League's quality inning in Wednesday's game and thinks he's figured out what was ailing League and how it's fixed.  Interesting stuff.   We know Brandon has incredible stuff, but I think it's fascinating how dependent he is on consistent mechanics and finding the proper release point to maximize his stuff. 

Our very own Tom Dakers takes a look at Vernon Wells, Bluebird Banter's 9th greatest Jay of all time.  A really well-written piece, Tom. 

I scribbled something over at Baseball Reflections about the Jays quick start to 2009. 

Joanna at Hum and Chuck can't resist kicking Dustin Pedroia when he's down and complaining about how his hometown (and its police department) isn't in sufficient awe of the fact that he is a major-league baseball player and is inappropriately focused on things like bringing child predators to justice. 

Okay, no way anyone can follow that last one up.  Great job, Joanna.