Dellucci gets his first hit, we still lose

by Tom Dakers on Jul 12, 2009 8:08 PM EDT in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps

Not the way we'd like to go into the break. Those wishing for not a walk off got their way today but it wasn't great fun. David Dellucci got his first hit but Raul Chavez didn't get his first walk.

Marc Rzepczynski did a good job in his second big league start. 6 innings 5 hits, 3 walks, 5 strikeouts, 3 earned. 3 straight left handed rookies start for the Jays and three straight good starts, only one win. Shawn Camp gave up an unearned run in an inning of work, Marco Scutaro made just his 3 error of the year to help it along and Jeremy Accardo pitched a scoreless 8th.

Offensively we just didn't do enough, again. 8 hits, 2 each for Scoot and Vernon Wells. These two and Rolen are about the only hitters having a hot July, Vernon is hitting .372/.400/.581 for July. Yeah, I know, he's been hitting good on the road all year we'll believe it when he gets back to Toronto and gives us a couple of weeks of good hitting. Scoot is hitting .357/.404/.476 for July. O fors from Aaron Hill, Alex Rios and Scott Rolen. Rios did get robbed of a home run by a nice catch from Adam Jones. Hill's at .204 for the month so far. Hope he has a lot of fun at the All Star and comes back slugging.

No Jays of the Day today, Scutaro come closest at .050 WPA. Suckage Jay is Aaron Hill (-.185).

Frustrating times, as Cito said:

"We had a road trip where we scored a lot of runs and couldn't hold them, and then we couldn't score any runs," Gaston said. "We hit one day, didn't pitch one day, then we pitch and didn't hit, so that kind of sums up the road trip we just came off of here."

We gave Cito a lot of credit for the hitting at the start of the season, so I guess the proof will be if he can pull them out of their slump now.

I'm hoping there will be a couple of moves over the All-Star break. I'd like to Travis Snider back. A) he can't hit worse than Dellucci and B) even if he does let's let him learn from Cito and Tenance. Bring him up and play him everyday the rest of the way. The other, let Millar go and bring up Randy Ruiz or Brian Dopirak. Again they couldn't do much worse and Millar isn't going to be here next year (oh please let me be right on one) so we might as well take a look at guys that might be here. Give Millar Rance's job. I'm sure he'd do a great job.

Blue Jays vs Orioles boxscore

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agree about Snider

bring back up to the Big Leagues… cant be any worse then Delluci…. at least he can learn from Cito and the rest of the guys

by Aquamelli on Jul 12, 2009 10:59 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah I think that's the point...even if he was as bad, he'll be here next year, Dellucci won't.

by Tom Dakers on Jul 12, 2009 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions

moves upcoming?

I think we’ll see Inglett and Diaz coming out of the all-star break and Dellucci and Millar released. No need for these “veteran” hitters now.

Granted, Inglett and Diaz aren’t youthszzzz, but Inglett’s hit .500 and slugged .800 in 12 games since his demotion, and Diaz has kind of deserved a look-see all year. Dopirak will move to AAA and Snider can just just hold the fort until August when the great Diaz Experiment ultimately fails.

by ayjackson on Jul 12, 2009 11:32 PM EDT reply actions

We should have a pool on what we think might happen over the break,

you might be right, might be Inglett over Snider, but I’ll bet you a donut that it’s Snider.

by Tom Dakers on Jul 12, 2009 11:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Who is bringing Inglett over Snider benefiting?

He’s a usable utility player and pinch runner, but has no future with the big club. Let’s let the kids figure out major league hitting.

Happiness is a long walk with a putter in your hand.

by craig in calgary on Jul 13, 2009 12:11 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Right now I think the Jays need to figure out major league hitting again. 5 series losses in a row now, thanks in large part to their (once again) sputtering offense. Did these guys suddenly forget how to hit? I can’t even count anymore how many good pitching performances they’ve wasted with their crap bats lately. Heck, if it wasn’t for stellar pitching in game 1 vs. Balitmore, you’d probably be looking at another O’s sweep. I mean, I knew they’d be in tough against teams like the Yankees and Sox, but losing even to the O’s? That’s really sinking to a new low. It’d be nice if they could go on a tear after the all-star break, but unless their bats get hot in a hurry, thats very wishful thinking. As for Snider, I agree, he can’t do any worse than Dellucci is doing. I don’t understand why Cito puts him in nearly every game. And also I’m getting tired of seeing Wells choke every single time he comes up with bases loaded.

by Icedragon on Jul 13, 2009 1:06 AM EDT up reply actions

funny that you put the word veteran in quotes,

I would have thought the word hitters should have been!
I am finding it tough to remain positive, in light of the upcoming series against the M’s. Sigh, would be nice if they meant something in the standings

I am a Free Canadian
Real Eyes Realize Real Lies

by Temujin on Jul 13, 2009 1:49 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions

Professional and Veteran hitters are my most favorite terms in all of baseball. Just because they seem so ridiculous in context. Most of these guys have been hitting balls for how long? And they are all professional ballplayers so… ipso facto…. professional hitters?

'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.

by JohnnyG on Jul 13, 2009 8:22 AM EDT up reply actions

While I don't necessarily disagree with the sentiments Tom

I want to play Devils advocate on one point re: bringing up Snider.

You mention so that he can learn from Cito and Gene, while the problem is with that, that the last time he was up and Cito talked to him, it leaked out very publicly that he had asked to not be coached anymore when it came to his hitting, that he blamed the extra coaching and too much going on for his slump.

Personally I thought that maybe he was looking for a scapegoat but that’s just me. What is the point of having him learn from Cito and Gene while having his confidence shot in the majors if he isn’t gonna listen anyways?

'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.

by JohnnyG on Jul 13, 2009 8:20 AM EDT reply actions

Yeah that's true

Cito at one point said he thought Snider was suffering from information overload. Hopefully, second time round, they will all know how to deal with each other better.

by Tom Dakers on Jul 13, 2009 8:58 AM EDT up reply actions

Re: Snider

Don’t mess with the kid. There’s no need to bring him up this early. He should only come back up in September. It’s not fair to him if you call him up again sooner (i.e. RIGHT after the all-star break), have him struggle, and send him down again. No rush. Get rid of Delluci and Millar, call up Inglett and someone else, but not Snider.

by JaysFanInKS on Jul 13, 2009 9:19 AM EDT up reply actions

Why wait until September?

If he struggles, let him struggle. I rather have him go through his lumps now, than next year.
They did the same damn thing with Carlos Delgado many moons ago. He started hot, got called down for the entire year and then he had to wait an entire calander year to figure how to hit the major leaguers’ breaking ball. That team was going nowhere, so why not let him sort it out sooner than later. I believe Cito was the manager back then too. That being said, I could be completely wrong about my timelines. Its early and Stampede was hard on me :(

Happiness is a long walk with a putter in your hand.

by craig in calgary on Jul 13, 2009 10:38 AM EDT up reply actions

Well there are reasons...

I’d like to have him now, but keeping him down there slows the time till he gets to arbitration and if he comes up and is over match it might hurt his confidence. I only want him up if the Jays don’t decide to send him back if he has a bad month. Next time up he needs to stay up.

by Tom Dakers on Jul 13, 2009 10:41 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

gotta agree with Tom

he’s too important of a prospect to be flip-flopping from the minors to the bigs. Just like Accardo (though for entirely different reasons) he’s gotta stick when he comes up.

Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog

by boo15749 on Jul 14, 2009 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions

Like I said, I don’t necessarily disagree as I would like to see him over Delucci or Millar but was just trying to point out another view.

'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.

by JohnnyG on Jul 13, 2009 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions

ambidextrous

if they do bring Snider up, agree with Tom that he needs to hit all the time. He is a talented hitter and should be developed from BOTH sides of the plate. The positive impact from his skill outweighs the marginal advantage of another batter hitting from his dominant side.

by aagoodfella on Jul 13, 2009 9:34 AM EDT reply actions

I agree completely there, If he comes up he has to be a full time player.

'But I don't want to go among mad people' Alice remarked.
'Oh, you can't help that' said the Cat 'we're all mad here'.

by JohnnyG on Jul 13, 2009 9:37 AM EDT up reply actions

injuries

My preference is to keep Snider down right now until he’s tearing it up at AAA. He hasn’t been playing every day, getting games and half-games off since coming back from the DL. He has a back and knee bothering him. I need more than a couple of homers to bring him up. If he can’t handle AAA on a daily basis, there’s no point in wasting service time.

by ayjackson on Jul 13, 2009 2:30 PM EDT reply actions

I tend to agree

I want to make sure that when he comes up he can handle everyday action, because I’d want him in the lineup everyday, similar to what the Jays did with Lind last year when he was brought up. Although Lind’s numbers tapered off as the season went on, I think he learned a lot from being in there everyday. At the same time, I don’t think we need to wait until September if he demonstrates he’s ready sooner than that.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Jul 13, 2009 2:40 PM EDT up reply actions

yeah

certainly on anecdata, it seems to have worked with Lind. And at some point, unfortunately, it seems that we’re going to have to admit we’re out of the race (yes, yes, next year might be a LOT of fun) and give Snider and chance to develop into a big leaguer who will stick and be a big lefty bopper in 2010

Prehistoric Hoops - a neat little Raps blog

by boo15749 on Jul 14, 2009 2:55 PM EDT up reply actions