First Three Game Losing Streak, Don't Panic.....

The reason Rios slow start was harder to accept than Vernon’s was because Vernon is an excellent fielder. Rios is not. His attempt at the homerun ball brought back the memory of last year at Fenway when he watched a person in the front row catch a homerun ball. Watching him duck a ball off the wall this year a game after getting hit in the head with a flyball makes me feel he is not one of the better fielders in the game.

Yes I guess you’re right. I haven’t been impressed by many fielding gems of Rios

Didn’t JP say “four or five starts”? Ray may get another start to get to “five” and he’ll look good against the O’s. But even if he does well in Baltimore, I’m not sure if he should face the RedSox or the Angels or the Rangers after that. The time to send him to AAA is now. Let whoever replaces him look good against the O’s.

Rios is unwilling to lay himself out to make a play. Has he ever dove for a ball? He only slides feet first and pulls up short of the wall. No danger of getting Vernons injury. He does get to the ball quickly after it comes off the wall.

After seeing the replay, Rios should catch that ball. It hit the top of the wall. Too bad. WOuldn’t have changed the eventual outcome. Jays were no match for Boston in this series. They were apathetic.

Tomorrow is a new day. Thank god this trip ends in Baltimore.

Rios has such natural talent i am often left wondering how he manages to waste it all. He has misplayed or should I say not made many plays an outfielder with his speed and athleticism should make this year especially. Tonite was very bad, any good Canadian boy would have ran through the fence to get that ball, let alone just get close to it. You have to sacrifice the body on a low fence.

Anyways, I agree I would send down Ray, he needs some more seasoning but could be a solid 4 or 5 down the road, under no circumstances would I send down Cecil yet. You cannot be misused when tired and then sent down after 3 other very solid outings. Rember how you felt the last time you had the air knocked out of you, you can get back up, but are never the same that day. He in my books gets one more start at least, then Romero if he falters.

Hitting these last 3 reminded me of last year, lets just hope bad series and Doc gets us turned around.

is not that he’s a wuss. He clearly was paying attention to the ball and not the wall, I just think his focus is not as strong as it can be. He makes a few errors in the field, not due to ability but due to lack of concentration.

I think if he makes the right initial read on the play (e.g. a quicker jump) he makes the play but still a tough one. Bay did hit to the wall afterall and that’s on the pitcher mostly.

http://jaynation.mlblogs.com/

Panic? I would say so. After we ran over all those amazing Central teams for a few weeks there, we got a dose of reality about what playing with the big boys is about. Ray is gone to the farm after that as far as I am concerned, and Casey needs to get the call ASAP. Sending down Snider? Tough for the rook especially going to Sin City rather than down the 403 to ’Cuse.

I think part of the reason why we lost this series was because the pitching staff got intimidated. It’ll be a good measuring stick if we can rebound back into a winning streak. If we learn the lessons from this sweep mentally, we’ll be golden. The young hurlers have to learn to stare down those hitters so that we don’t have to play from behind against good pitching teams. It’s a long season and we have the goods. So no worries. Also, forget about the bandwagoners, they a waste of time. This team has more talent than I have seen in years, barring injuries, we’re going to have a solid year.

Too bad about the series. On the other hand, it was a beautiful night for a ball game…. couple of observations that may have been missed elsewhere.

Sox fans are loud. Everywhere in the park, no matter what seats.. They just never stop talking. It is like watching a ballgame with 37,000 drunk yapping smartass teenagers—-a constant din of medium decibeled inanities. That being said, they are a damn nice bunch—-and their smiles are wide and unceasing—-the contrasts to the Rogers/ Skydome crowd is marked.

As for the game:

Robert Ray didn’t pitch that poorly—he deserved a little better fate. As a sinkerballer (or whatever he throws) topping out at 92 mph, he relies on the ability of his fielders…and Millar let him down twice in key situations—-the leadoff double by Elsbury was catchable, and the Scutaro throw which took Millar off the bag—-Overbay would have handled both plays.

Lester had the Jays uncomfortable the whole night—-notwithstanding the barrage of singles….you never had the feeling he was in trouble….

Wells is a good hitter but has serious psychological problems…another typical night…

Finally, while I love Cito’s calm attitude, the team needs some gung ho approach at times too. It’s not up to Cito to provide it; but there should be some leaders in the clubhouse to amp it up when necessary…a Joe Carter type or two…i’m not sure if this edition of the jays have such players…but they were certainly looking mopy and shell shocked in Boston.

Anyway, it’s a long season…let’s beat up on the crappy teams, play the good ones to a .500 mark and we can win it all