3 Homers Not Enough, Jays Lose to Angels.
by Tom Dakers on Apr 17, 2010 1:39 AM EDT
in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps
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PrintVernon Wells, Adam Lind and Randy Ruiz each homered, though the last two were after we were way behind. We had a hard time against Jered Weaver who struck out 8 in his 7 innings.
Shawn Marcum wasn't quite as good, though he did get through 7 innings, giving up 7 hits, 1 walk and 4 earned, striking out 6. Jeremy Accardo came in with us down 4-1 and quickly made it 7-1. The 3 runs he gave up made the 4 runs we got in the bottom of the inning too little too late.
Offensively Wells, Lind and Ruiz produced almost all the offense. Wells was 3 for 4 with the homer. Lind 2 for 4 with a homer. Ruiz 1 for 4 with his first home run of the season. Alex Gonzalez and John McDonald had a hit each. Jose Bautista, Lyle Overbay and John Buck were each 0 for 4 with 2 Ks. Travis Snider was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Jay of the Day was Vernon Wells (.200 WPA). Suckage Jays are Marcum (-.146), Overbay (-.130) and Buck (-.116). I'm going to add Accardo to the Suckage crew. At the time the 3 runs he gave up didn't seem important but after we scored 4 in the bottom of the inning those runs were important.
I don't know what to say about Lyle. He's in one of those slumps like Rod Barajas used to fall into, made worse because it's right off the start of the season and because he is batting 5th right behind a Vernon Wells who is looking like someone that might almost earn his huge contract this year.
Cito on Overbay:
We need Lyle to get going. I don't think sitting him is going to help him.
I don't know Cito, I don't think playing him is helping right now. He's down to a .070 batting average. You can tell us all you want how good a glove he has at first but no first baseman's defense is good enough to carry that batting average.
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it's not that it's a bad performance
or that WPA is flawed. We’re just taking the stat a bit out of context when we use it to call someone a “suckage Jay,” which can lead to results. If the Jays had scored a few more runs in the first 7 innings, Marcum’s WPA would look better.
If anything, I was just as encouraged by the 12 groundouts as anything. If Marcum has overcome the flyball tendencies that made him a little homer-prone pre-surgery, he could be even better.
"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
skewed results, that is
"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
Marcum's velocity
I hate to cite velocity yet again, but its important to note Marcum’s fastball was in the 85-88 MPH range all night. That’s an extremely worrying figure for a pitcher with fly ball tendencies. The disparity in velocity with the change is not that high, so batters can can sit on the change and foul off the non-speedy fastball. For this reason, its obvious Marcum is going to give up A LOT of homeruns & hard hit balls.
Now, I like Marcum, and he has an excellent change up and delivery deception, but the lack of even an average fastball for a pitcher whose best pitch is the changeup concerns me. Corey Lidle Redux?
???
Marcum almost threw a no hitter two outings ago. He only had 7 hits and 1 walk last night. Sure they got a couple of doubles, but they weren’t hit that solidly, just happened to be in the gap.
He’s alright.
Not Necessarily Talking about what happened last night
I’m talking about the fact he is a very hittable pitcher, and will be prone to giving up the long ball. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t belong in the rotation. Just means he’ll have his share of games where he gets hit hard.
Picture Brad Radke.
But'he'll also have his share...
of very good games because his changeup is so good. Marcum is the type of guy who can look brilliant and look terrible; it all depends how good his location and changeup are working that particular day. But he should also challenge for HR allowed in the AL if he gets enough innings. And thats not a cut on Marcum, just what his velocity and repetoire dictate.
Bert Blyleven & Phil Niekro were semi great while giving up the gopher, while Marcum can be servicable.
Catfish Hunter gave up a ton of home runs as well
"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
he had three times as many grounders as fly balls yesterday
you should consider that he is throwing more two seamers. That would explain both (1) the drop in his average fastball velocity; and (2) why he is getting more grounders and less fly balls.
"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
that should say
the possibility that he is throwing more two seamers. I missed yesterday’s game so I can’t say for sure.
"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
Good point Tom
Lyle’s slump is horrible, but it wouldn’t seem so bad if it was mid-season, because we wouldn’t be looking at that sub .100 Avg. He’ll bounce back.
Nice outing by Cecil last night
7 IP, 1 ER. He’s now 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA
Brett Wallace also hit another HR.
D'Arnaud tearing it up
Through 35 AB…
Avg. 429, OBP. 432, SLG. 743
3 HR, 8 RBI.
Nice to see. Only knock? Only 1 BB.
lol, three point difference between average and OBP
by aagoodfella on Apr 17, 2010 11:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Does Overbay have
pictures of Gaston in a compromising position? Cito’s “logic” wrt Overbay is puzzling. WTF!
Catcher Situation
Anybody else notice how much Cito is leaning John Buc to start the season? He’s played in 10 or 11 games already, well above pace to catch his high of 118 games caught in 2005. Buck only caught 59 games last year, as he was the back-up to Miguel Olivo in KC so I think Cito needs to chill out a bit in regards to putting him in the lineup.
BTW, he leads the AL with 15 SO in 35 AB
Molina is a worse option with the bat though right?
Life as a Toronto Sports Fan?... *sigh*... It is what it is...
Probably
But Buck isn’t exactly Mike Piazza. If you overplay Buck, you most likely get diminishing returns. 10 out of 11 games seems excessive.
Well it was 9 starts out of 11 as he came in as a late inning replacement in one of those games. But I would have thought 7 or 8 starts out of 11 would be ok. I know in the past Buck has only been a backup but he is our starter at the moment unfortunately. Let’s just hope that our catches of the future © can continue to develop and be ready for next year.
Life as a Toronto Sports Fan?... *sigh*... It is what it is...
My hope
Is that we rely lean onJohn Buck until June, and then JPA can take over.
Is Cito thinking this way? Probably not, but it’s my hope.
Knights, Canucks, Dolphins, Jays and Raptors all the way.
Its possible that the organization is thinking this way though. I imagine the plan was to have Buck and Molina for the year and then use JPA as a callup at some point this season and hopefully take over the starting duties next year under D’Arnaud is ready to go, Then we may have a battle on our hands. Although D’Arnaud looks to have the edge at this point if he continues to develop as he has.
Life as a Toronto Sports Fan?... *sigh*... It is what it is...
Yeah, but JPA could arrive anytime…D’Arnaud has to be at least 2 full years away still, I would think.
Knights, Canucks, Dolphins, Jays and Raptors all the way.
Before we star penciling in Arencibia
He’s got some proving to do in Las Vegas. He had a very poor year offensively in a hitters league, so he has to show better pitch selection and better overall strike zone recognition to get the call.
The brass however, seemed to think he looked good in spring training so it’s all up to Arencibia now. He can either be a decent prospect or get passed over depending on what happens. There’s a lot at stake for him this year..
If Arencibia keeps hacking away
this year like he did last year, he might as well be John Buck.
Overbay's Contract
Is it by any chance the last year of his contract? Do we have young guy ready to come up by next year or heck even this summer?
by icedbecker2007 on Apr 17, 2010 11:13 AM EDT reply actions
It is Overbay's last year
And we have plenty of capable guys that are, in my opinion, ready to take over that role.
1) Randy Ruiz
2) Brett Wallace
3) Brian Dopirak
All of these guys can contribute offensively, probably better than Overbay, and Wallace is apparently a good defender.
Accardo, I had enough
Jeremy Accardo came in with us down 4-1 and quickly made it 7-1. The 3 runs he gave up made the 4 runs we got in the bottom of the inning too little too late.
I know that I’m going to get jumped by the “Small-sample-size” guys, but I think it’s time for us to send him away. (Relief pitching IS “small sample size”…)
I’ve no idea how much he’s paid, but it doesn’t matter. This guy does not deliver. Same as we sent B.J Ryan to pack (and rightfully so), the same should go for Accardo.
We have enough decent pitchers.
Festina Lente
he was struggling last year and seems to have fallen off further this year.
Personally, I think he is done.
by aagoodfella on Apr 17, 2010 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions
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