Jo-Jo Reyes Pitches a Good One, But Angels Still Beat Jays.
by Tom Dakers on Apr 10, 2011 6:55 PM EDT
in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps
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PrintGood news? Jo-Jo Reyes had a good start. 7 innings, 6 hits, 1 walk, 6 k and just 1 earned run. He was hurt by a ball that Rajai Davis lost in the sun in the 4th inning. If that was caught, he would have had just the one run against. With that error the Angels had two guys on for Peter Bourjos to triple in. He sure is making it tough for the Jays to figure what to do when Morrow comes off the DL.
David Purcey started the 8th getting 2 outs while walking 2, not a good ratio. Scott Richmond got the last out.
Offensively, it took us 5 innings to get a hit and we only had 4 on the day. We did take 4 walks but Jered Weaver also struck out 15 Jays in his 7.2 innings. We did have chances with runners on, but when you only get 4 hits, you have to figure few of them drive in runs. Yunel Escobar had our only RBI. Jose Molina had our only extra base hit, a double. Jose Bautista was picked off first base in the 4th, one of the few base runners we had early in the game. Jose didn't have a great series. Having a new baby will do that for you.
Jays of the Day are Escobar (.183 WPA) and John McDonald (..126). Suckage numbers go to Bautista (-.241, he was up with runners on a fair bit), Hill (-.159) and Lind (-.138, same as Bautista, had his chances to tie things).
- A couple of notes: Davis left the game with a re aggravated sore ankle. Travis Snider moved into center when he left and didn't look out of place there.
- After the game Scott Richmond was sent back to Vegas and Corey Patterson was activated off the DL. I guess we'll see him in CF with Davis hurt.
We start a series against the Mariners in Seattle tomorrow, Jesse Litsch vs Felix Hernandez.
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Litsch vs hernandez
Yay!
To Infinity. And BEYOND!!!
by YunelTheLazyLatino on Apr 10, 2011 7:03 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I think I remember hearing in the preseason that we have one of the toughest opening schedules. Boy is it showing with the pitching match-ups, but the team hasn’t been laying down which is always a good sign.
We have THE most difficult opening schedule.
Off ESPN:
1. Toronto Blue Jays
Games against teams which had records of .500 or better in 2010: 38 of their first 44
Home/away: After opening the season with six home games, the Blue Jays will live on the road — 20 out of their next 25 will be out of Toronto.
Notable: Basically, the Blue Jays are staring at a month of consecutive games against contenders. From April 15 to May 17, every game Toronto plays will be against teams that were .500 or better last year, including 17 against the Yankees, Red Sox and Rays.
I'm really looking forward to seeing how this team handles it
Even if we lose more than we win during this stretch, we should look at how many games we are still in after the 8th inning, if our pitchers can learn to pitch out of jams, and if our batters can become more “clutch”.
by Minor Leaguer on Apr 10, 2011 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions
On that same note...
The Jays 4 losses have been by a combined 5 runs. Every game the Jays have lost so far, they’ve been in it in the last inning.
I think this is important, especially with a young team. It helps them to bond as a group and (rally) around each other. A perfect example was the 14-inning game the other night. After the miraculous turn of events where (Camp?) got out of a jam with runners on 1st and 3rd and nobody out, in the top half of the next inning, they cut to a scene of all of the Jays on the railing in the bench cheering on the batter. That’s what I like to see!
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
by Jeremiah Stanghini on Apr 10, 2011 8:39 PM EDT up reply actions
does anyone else think
that we rushed Davis back a little bit because we had so little depth at centre with Patterson out? It seemed apparent it wasn’t back to 100% when he returned.
"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
I wondered about that at the time.
And since McCoy was doing ok, I really wondered why he had to be back so quick.
The opening day trip up on the baseline made it worse.
I think you'll find I'm universally recognised as a mature and responsible adult.
Twitter is the thing with all the tweets...
Well...
With Patterson back, I guess it’ll give Davis time to heal up all the way (hopefully).
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
by Jeremiah Stanghini on Apr 10, 2011 8:40 PM EDT up reply actions
LF, CF, 2B, DH are all black holes so far
And Jason Nix is no answer at 3B, so that’s 5 out of 9. I have high hopes for Snider. Davis looks awful so far swinging at everything, but it’s a small sample so far. I hate watching Aaron Hill come to the plate. Just stick him in the bloody 8 hole until he’sbeen hitting well for at least a month, if not longer. Rivera, well, I just hope his Jays career is very short. Hope Cooper is for real so maybe he can take over midseason.
3B I really, really wanted Encarnacion to work out, I’ve been a fan in the past but his start could not be any worse if he tried. A butcher in the field and hacking away at everything, popping it up at the plate. Either he turns it around quick or see you later Edwin.
The pitching staff minus Cecil looks great. Cecil is pitching exactly like Jesse Litsch did right before TJ surgery. Lack of velocity, no command, getting pounded for hits. Not saying he’s hurt, just noting similarities. One more start where Cecil gets pounded and he likely ends up being the one sent to AAA.
LF is a black hole? ok
I know we all want to read stuff into small samples but take a look at other teams, some always start slow, you get a line drive caught and you are 2 for 11 instead of 3 for 11.
I thought it was clear I meant so far...
I even said I expect big things…
Are you guys really that sensitive?
meh, I didn't mean to be writing any players off, just noting whats happening so far..
I guess all sports message boards are the same, mention that a player looks bad and you’re a panicky naysayer.
Just hope Davis’s plate dicipline is more like ‘09 than ’10 if he’s going to be leading off. Sure hope Hill can make me look stupid though. I am still a huge Snider fan, I was simply noting the start he is off to. Don’t even know what to think of Encarnacion any more, he is so frustrating.
+1
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
by Jeremiah Stanghini on Apr 10, 2011 8:41 PM EDT up reply actions
it is dishonest, not to mention silly
to dismiss people who are disputing your arguments as being “sensitive.” Tom said absolutely nothing that would suggest that he was being “sensitive” or taking your argument personally. It’s impossible to have a reasonable conversation that way.
"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
Take a look at AL Batting stats
Jays are 5th in BA, 6th in OBP, SLG and OPS. Other teams are scuffling as bad or worse than we are.
i actually traded him in my league
for cliff lee and jered weaver. fair trade?
To Infinity. And BEYOND!!!
by YunelTheLazyLatino on Apr 10, 2011 8:28 PM EDT up reply actions
EVERYONE IS SUCKING AFTER 30 AT BATS
PANIC
To Infinity. And BEYOND!!!
by YunelTheLazyLatino on Apr 10, 2011 8:02 PM EDT up reply actions
The five you've mentioned have been quite unlucky at the plate
BABIP (IP%)
Snider: .150 (65%); Davis: .217 (77%); Hill: .226 (84%); Rivera: .182 (71%); Encarancion: .185 (87%); league average: .282 (70%)
Look at the numbers for Hill and Encarnacion: they don’t walk or strike out a lot (high IP%) and are quite under league average for BABIP. This isn’t sustainable (I think).
I think we should wait until 100 ABs or so before we judge if a player is indeed a blackhole or not.
by Minor Leaguer on Apr 10, 2011 8:59 PM EDT up reply actions
BABIP is only relevant when looked at in combination with LD% etc.
For example, Hill had the lowest BABIP in the league last year, but he also had a LD% of about 10%, league average is 20%… If you’re popping up every at bat, you’re not unlucky, you just suck. (not saying thats the case now… its pointless looking at any stats like this before 200 or so at bats).
Onions Baby Onions
no, it's not
I’ve pointed this out easily a dozen times on this blog. while BABIP is partly a function of how well you hit the ball (obviously), xBABIP (expected BABIP based on a number of factors including LD% and speed, and is calculated a few different ways) – within certain bounds – doesn’t move much below .250 even in very “pessimistic” estimations or much above .350. you can have a crappy season (low LD%) and still get extremely unlucky, which is what happened to Hill in 2010. that said, Hill isn’t helping himself with his hitting, as you mentioned.
as an aside, one estimation (Beyond the Boxscore I believe but don’t remember the source exactly) put Hill’s expected BABIP at around .280, which means he missed out on 35 (!!!) hits he “should have” had; which would have given him an OPS around .760 which is very respectable, particularly for a 2B.
also
a common statistic I’ve seen pointed out a few times (not going to find where, but I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it) is that Hill’s line drive percentage was 10 or about 10. in fact it was 13, which – while it’s far from great, is much closer to normal and – no surprises here – is a full 30% better than a LD% of 10
ok that's partly wrong
apparently baseball-reference and FanGraphs use different batted ball data, which I didn’t know. FG has Hill’s LD% at 10.6 (about 10, as you said) but B-R has it at 13. that’s curious.
Bautista wasn’t that bad in the series.
No RBI but he did go 3-11 with 4BB. Thats not horrible.
I think you'll find I'm universally recognised as a mature and responsible adult.
Twitter is the thing with all the tweets...
he look no different from last season but
it will take time until ppl realize Lind is actually good, and start pitching to him
we’ve come to expect a lot from Bautista. He didn’t have any Xbase hits in the series. Pitchers are pitching him really carefully, thus all the walks.
I don't think that's the whole story...
Bautista showed last year that he is very comfortable working the count and earning himself a walk.
I’d be surprised (barring injury) if he hasn’t eclipsed his career high last year in walks because of your point (that pitchers are being more careful with him) and because of his ability to see pitches.
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
by Jeremiah Stanghini on Apr 10, 2011 8:43 PM EDT up reply actions
not panicking, but Hill is a little worrisome
He doesn’t look much different than he did last year.
I agree he hasn't had a great start to the season and hasn't looked good
on the other hand, he missed a lot of the spring so I think you have to give him some time. One trend that is encouraging is that last season his line drive rate plummeted to 10.6%, while so far this year it’s a very healthy 23.3%
"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
I like looking for the positive...
But is that too small a sample-size to be seeing a silver lining? [sincerely asking]
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
by Jeremiah Stanghini on Apr 10, 2011 8:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes.
Let’s come back after 100 at bats
by Minor Leaguer on Apr 10, 2011 8:46 PM EDT up reply actions
for sure
but it cuts both ways. it’s too small a sample size to read much of anything in, positive or negative. But if you’re going to try to read into such a small sample size, there are positives and negatives.
"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's excellent and very encouraging
sometimes confirmation/selection biases are just impossible to resist. Snider’s is 14%, but his career average is 21% (better than the MLB average of 19, and he’s STILL 23), if you’re wondering
on the scheduling note
has anyone noticed the ridiculous interleague schedule? how did we get stuck with the reds, phillies, braves and cardinals? sure they gave us astros and pirates, but that’s three of the four playoff teams. the red sox for example get the padres, pirates, astros, phillies, cubs and brewers. yea…thats even right? the yankees also only face one of last year’s playoff teams, getting TWO series against the awful mets.
Jays need to get crappier natural rivals
Let’s find a way to develop a Toronto-Pittsburgh rivalry
by Minor Leaguer on Apr 10, 2011 8:42 PM EDT up reply actions
CONSPIRACY
To Infinity. And BEYOND!!!
by YunelTheLazyLatino on Apr 10, 2011 8:50 PM EDT up reply actions
Playoff teams fluctuate...
year-to-year. While the parity is not nearly as large as it is in the NFL, I’d bet that the NL playoffs will not have three of the four teams you mentioned (Phillies, Braves, Cardinals, and Reds). I know, that’s pretty bold, but looking at the playoff representatives from the NL in the last five years:
2010 – PHI, ATL, CIN, SF
2009 – PHI, STL, LAD, COL
2008 – PHI, CHI, MIL, LAD
2007 – PHI, CHI, AZ, COL
2006 – NYM, STL, SD, LAD
Philly has been a playoff team (since 2007). The Cubs made it in back-to-back years in ‘07 and ’08. Colorado made it in odd-numbered years (’07 and ‘09). Last year was the first time that Cincinnati or Atlanta made it in the last 5 years. STL has made it twice in the last five years (’06 and ‘09). The Dodgers have made it thrive in the last 5 years (’06, ’07, and ’09).
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
by Jeremiah Stanghini on Apr 10, 2011 8:51 PM EDT up reply actions
id say its likely
that philadelphia will be in the playoffs this year. id say its also highly likely that the braves and reds will either be in the playoffs or be in the race at the end of the season. the cards maybe not this year… but still when they make these schedules all they have to go on is the previous years records. the way i see it, there are two logical systems. the first would be that everyone in one division plays everyone in one division (like the nfl has it). that way atleast there’s divisional parity. the second rational method would be weighted scheduling based on record. so teams at the top of the standings would play the top NL teams. thats how you create parity. selig, however does not wish for parity. he’s perfectly satisfied with the immensely flawed system that he has
The parity myth
It is a common misconception that the NFL has lots of parity in its results, while the MLB has little. For one, even the worst MLB team will win ~25% of their games, which each year a couple NFL teams win 0-3 games in a season. As well, the very best MLB ever won 116 games, a 72% winning percentage. Several NFL teams each year win 12 games.
Now before you scream “small sample size,” consider, too, playoff results. The important point to consider here is the difference in the number of teams that the leagues let into their playoffs: In the NFL, 12 of 30 teams reach the playoffs; in MLB, only 8. Clearly more different teams are going to make the playoffs in the NFL than in MLB, since more teams are admitted to the playoffs each year.
However, let’s look at how many teams have made the round of 8 in their respective league over the past 5 seasons. This means looking at how many franchises have reached the Division Series in MLB (i.e. have reached the playoffs) and how many reach the Divisional Round in the NFL (i.e. the second round).
If we look at the results of the last 5 completed seasons, 21 different teams reached the MLB playoffs, while 19 teams reached the NFL playoffs Divisional Round. After this quick analysis, the former hardly seems like the top-heavy hierarchy it is reputed to be, and the latter is no longer a bastion of parity.
I may expand this into a larger fanpost with more detail and including the NHL and NBA in the analysis as well. I did the research before and concluded that by looking at the number of different teams that reached the Round of 8 in each league, the MLB actually had the MOST parity, not the least as is commonly thought.
Stay tuned…
by SuckaMD on Apr 10, 2011 9:57 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Very interesting!
I never looked at it that way (starting from the second round of the NFL playoffs). I suppose it does (somewhat) make it easier to normalize to baseball. (I would imagine that you’d be doing the same with NHL and NBA [starting when they got down to 8 teams instead of using the full 16 teams.
Your fanpost would definitely spark a good discussion. :-)
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive." - Howard Thurman
by Jeremiah Stanghini on Apr 10, 2011 10:57 PM EDT up reply actions
i think youre overlooking far too much
its too simplistic an analysis to say that x amount of teams make the postseason. the fact is that the nfl has made efforts to create parity and it allows teams to make drastic turnarounds.first of all, look at the NFC South. Never in the division’s history has the same team won the division in two straight seasons. Teams that finish last in their division one year, only to win the division the following season, largely due to weighted scheduling:
2003 – Kansas City, Carolina
2004 – San Diego, Atlanta
2005 – Chicago, Tampa Bay
2006 – Philadelphia, New Orleans
2007 – Tampa Bay
2008 – Miami
2009 – New Orleans
2010 – Kansas City
Try doing that same analysis in the MLB…you’ll get:
Cubs, Dbacks (2007), Rays (2008)
Also, look at the proportions of repeat division winners over the past decade in baseball compared to football. I’d be surprised if that wasn’t very telling. I think it depends on how you define parity. But my point is that the NFL makes an effort to give the worse teams a better chance at reaching the postseason. The MLB does no such thing and their lack of a salary cap not only encourages the larger markets to spend continuously and it makes it almost impossible for small market teams to attract quality free agents.
well, I'm incredibly far from an expert on football
but there are only 4 teams per division in the NFL, which would make winning the division, whether or not you were last the previous year. additionally, as you said, the NFL artificially creates parity with strength of schedule – I think this makes the MLB’s parity argument stronger, not weaker.
how are you defining parity
by the quality of the teams? or by the ability of teams to compete late into the season? because sure in the nfl maybe those teams aren’t that great, such as miami two years ago and kc last season. but they were given a chance at the playoffs because of the league’s rules. in baseball, the teams are equally bad as they are in the nfl, but they have no shot to compete. Wouldnt you rather see playoff races at the end of the season where almost all the teams are still in it? If they employed a strength of schedule policy in baseball, you’d have alot more teams fighting til the end of the season. it would make it much more exciting, attract more fans in smaller markets and improve leaguewide revenues. youll notice that the nfl is by far the most popular sport, and the most successful. there are many reasons for that, and this is one of them
well actually I'm not sure what I'd prefer
in terms of easy quick “turn-arounds” (and when I do follow the NFL, I follow the Bengals so I know at least a little about flip-flopping from good to terrible and back again) or if I’d prefer teams to need a strong core to try to compete for a few years at a time. but I’m not sure a strength of schedule would work based on the prospect system in baseball where it does take a few years for a rebuiling team to see any fruits of the labour (the labour of being bad).
your point of “the teams are equally bad as they are in the nfl” doesn’t make sense to me. I don’t know what metric you’re using here (or if it’s just subjective) but I think the point that SuckaMD made about teams routinely going 1-15 or 2-14 in the NFL (10% of games or less), but even horrible MLB teams winning 50+ games (30% or more) would imply that teams are closer in talent than in the NFL, but I’d like to hear your opinion on that
i think you misunderstood me there
i meant that there are teams with poor talent levels in baseball just as there are in football. that exists in any sport. however, it appears that in the nfl ,those teams have a better shot at competing than in baseball. the dolphins that won the division were not a good team. the chiefs this year were not a good team. but they took advantage of their easier schedule to take the division. that wouldnt happen in baseball, partly because its not 16 games, its 160 and also because by the end of the season in baseball, its the better teams (usually) that end up making the playoffs. naturally there are awful teams like the lions and browns who dont ever make the playoffs, but thats because of simply awful drafting and terrible management. theyre like…the pirates and orioles i guess would be fair comparisons. so yea maybe in baseball the average teams are closer talentwise to the better teams but have less chance of actually competing than in the nfl
it is an interesting point
I don’t really have an opinions as to which is better; but if I can borrow Hugo’s demonstration below:
NL West playoff appearances since ’95:
San Francisco – 5
Arizona – 4
Colorado – 3
Los Angeles – 6
San Diego – 4
so while the AL East is tremendously difficult to compete in, other divisions don’t really have that problem…
i suppose its true
that not every division has this problem. but the nl west is one of six divisions. look at the nl east, for example. the phillies have won 4 straight titles. the mets had one good season, and before that the braves won what? 10 straight or something? The twins have won 6 of the last 9 division titles. The As and angels have combined for 8 of the last 9 division titles in the AL west. The rays and yankees have combined for 8 of the last 9 in the AL east. Naturally the orioles and jays havent sniffed the playoffs in ages. In the NL central, the cubs and cardinals have combined for 8 of the last 9 titles. So yes…in one division there appears to be a semblance of parity. but in the 5 others? not so much
using those same 9 years that ive been using for my MLB stats
in that time frame, only 7 NFL teams have failed to win a division title, and of those, only three have failed to make the playoffs. So since 2002, only THREE NFL teams have not been in the postseason (houston, detroit and buffalo). In baseball, in those 9 years there are 11 teams that have failed to win a division, 6 of which haven’t made the playoffs. If you did this analysis prior to last season, you could also have added the rangers AND the reds to both of those lists, as neither had made the playoffs in the past decade.
Yes, that's true
But part of my original argument was that the NFL creates the illusion of parity by allowing more teams into the playoffs each year (creates more opportunity for weak teams to squeak in). It’s not enough to look at which teams make the playoffs in the NFL vs MLB, since of course more teams will make it in the NFL, since 12 teams get in every year vs 8 in the MLB. This is why I altered the analysis to only include teams that make it to the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs – this more accurately represents the team success required to make the playoffs in baseball, since it means that an NFL team is in the last 8/32, similar to being in the last 8/30 in the MLB. If we looked at this framework, I think we would see far more teams that failed to reach the Final 8 in their league over the past 7 seasons.
In regards to strength of scheduling – you are correct that the NFL alters teams’ schedules based on their previous season’s abilities. Though, these games represent only 2/16 of a team’s games and do not necessarily fulfill their promise of allowing weaker teams an appreciably weaker schedule since they are based on the previous year’s standings and teams’ abilities can fluctuate from year to year. However, I would argue that giving weaker teams a leg up in this way only further masks competitive imbalance. To wit, the prevailing notion (or, at least, the goal) of the NFL’s parity program is quoted as “on any given Sunday, any team can win.” By artificially weakening schedules for weaker teams, it allows these teams to win more games, but it doesn’t make them better teams and it does nothing to bridge the gap in skill between top teams and bottom teams. If anything, it even creates a small incentive to be worse if one can’t truly compete, so you can take advantage of a future easy schedule to make a playoff run.
When I write up my expanded fanpost, I will investigate the past 7 seasons and see if that changes the conclusions as compared to the past 5 seasons. My guess is that it won’t, but we’ll see what the data says.
Well we'll see what the statistics show
but you can make the same argument in the nhl. althought they have failed at creating parity, despite their attempt. bettman, by making the three point game such a prominent part of the league, has made it so that more teams are withing striking distance of the playoffs. and the teams are significantly closer in the standings than ever before (just take a look at the western conference this year). however, this is a true illusion of parity. because not only does it not improve the teams any, it also doesnt actually improve their playoff chances. you may be 5 or 6 points out the playoffs with 2 weeks to go which seems quite doable. but when it comes down to it, it isnt BECAUSE of the three point game. teams play for overtime to get their free point. so by trying to create parity, he has convinced fans that there is parity without actually creating any such thing. compared to the nfl where while it may not improve the teams, it atleast does offer the teams a better chance at a playoff berth.
In response to your argument about more teams…it is irrelevant if you look at division winners only. In addition consider that there are also two additional teams in the NFL into your statistics. But thats the thing about the NFL. Any given week, any team can win and any given year, any given team can win (sorry lions fans…that doesnt include you). I think we can all agree that in baseball, about half the league has somewhere close to a 0% chance of winning the world series before the season even starts.
to add to my previous comment
the mlb segregates its small markets and doesnt seem to work hard at attracting those fan bases. instead, it just keeps giving to the big market teams, and fans of the other teams feel isolated and disinterested because of that. the nfl’s revenue sharing, salary cap, and other league policies, while not perfect, try to improve viewership and support in the smaller markets, which in the end benefits the league overall, something that selig has failed to grasp.
OK, there's parity in MLB
How about in the AL East? Playoff appearances since the introduction of the wild card in 1995:
Yankees – 15, Red Sox – 9, Rays – 2, Orioles – 2, Jays – 0
the AL East is totally ridiculous
but that doesn’t mean it’s a league wide problem. My guess is that if you look at the other divisions things would look quite different. For example, the NL West since 1995:
San Francisco – 5
Arizona – 4
Colorado – 3
Los Angeles – 6
San Diego – 4
"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
a guy on FanGraphs noted this
he said the whole “American League is way better than the National League” argument is completely off-base, and the way it works is a lot more like this:
AL East, in terms of “strength per team” is head and shoulders above the rest of the MLB
rest of American League, well below the East
National League just trailing the AL Rest
and I think I agree
With the NL trailing the rest of the AL Rest, and the AL including the AL East as a whole, the AL obliterates the NL.
It happens every year in interleague play; it happens pretty reliably in the All-Star Game. There’s a reason the NL is called the Senior Circuit.
For pitchers, it is.
For hitters, no. You go the AL and become a DH.
interleague play could be a good statistic
but the All-Star Game is not a good demonstration of the relative talents of one League against the other, for innumerable reasons (if I had to pick one; that no one gives a flying hoot about the All-Star Game on either side)
tommorow should be a good game litsch has ben looking nice but were facing the king:( pray he dosent have his stuff
Litsch is no Felix
but he’s no slouch either. if his first start proved his healthy and ready to be productive again, he should keep us very much in most games he starts. as recently as 2008 he had an ERA around 3.6, and the Jays defense is probably just as good now as it was then
LItsch will be pitching to the Seattle Mariners.
Reason for optimism if he continues his good start to the season. Hopefully the hitters support him and provide more opposition for King Felix than they did for Weaver today.
by transmogrifier on Apr 10, 2011 11:55 PM EDT up reply actions
1-0
Bautista with 1st inning HR. Sean Hill 1st (and only) win as Blue Jay.
RISP
Does anybody understand why the Jays seem to struggle with RISP. I know its extremely early in the year but i seem to be seeing some familiar trends already. They were 4th last in the AL with RISP last year and so far this year they are 4th last as well. Do they have the wrong approach in these situations? Im not a hitting coach by any means but it seems like some guys swing too early in the count at pitches they aren’t looking for. I really like Yunel’s approach, he looks to hit it the other way. I just hope this doesn’t continue on like last year and they try to change something in their approaches at the plate in these situations.
Say what Rajai???
An article in the SUN today has quoted Davis as saying that he “just lost focus” on the ball he dropped. He admited that he didn’t loose it in the sun. He went on to say that he has lots on his mind, and “needs to focus on what’s going on, not other things.”
http://www.torontosun.com/sports/baseball/2011/04/10/17942621.html
by Al Bundy is my hero on Apr 11, 2011 6:52 AM EDT reply actions
didn't think he lost it in the sun
its been awhile since i caught a fly ball outside, with sunglasses, but i remember they work quite well…..
by bowling_kid25 on Apr 11, 2011 7:00 AM EDT up reply actions
I gotta go see my shrink
I read that as “Sex with Rajai???” even after taking a double take…
by Minor Leaguer on Apr 11, 2011 2:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Seattle Games
I’m headed to Seattle from Vancouver for Monday and Tuesdays games, anyone have a message for Hernandez that you need me to relay? I’m pumped to see what the fan support is like from Canada although the last 3 years the series in Seattle has been mid week. If they did a fri-sunday series I gotta beleive they would come close to selling out, seems like a big gaffe by the league schedulers.
The 2010-2011 Avalanche - Driving up hits on www.beer.com all season!
by RyanO'Reilly FanClub on Apr 11, 2011 12:09 PM EDT reply actions
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