Thursday Bluebird Link Barrage

Does anyone else remember that year that the Jays won 16 or 17 games against the Oriole's? Neither do I. Game recaps of yesterday's loss from Wilner, Gregor Chisholm, Griffin, and John Lott.

JAYS LINKS

Johnson among AL second base leaders
Griffin is happy with Kelly at 2B. He stacks up well by other metrics as well thus far. He's 2nd in wRC+ (behind Kinsler) and 3rd in UZR/150 (behind Kinsler and Cano).

Thames takes series-opening loss hard
Lots of people inside the Blue Jays' clubhouse were surprised at how hard Eric Thames took Tuesday night's 2-1 loss to the Orioles, but manager John Farrell wasn't among them.

This Tricky Thing with Thames and Travis
Is that we still like him? What would people think of Snider in LF, EE at 1B and Thames at DH?

Toronto Blue Jays' Omar Vizquel 'grateful' to be playing at age 45

Baseball player. Painter. Dancer. Musician. Poet. Writer. Calf-thrower. Lover of arepas

Omar sounds like a cheesy movie character cliche.

A few more Jays links and lots from around the league, after the jump!

The Run Support Curse of #37
Change your number Henderson!

Toronto Blue Jays at Baltimore Orioles - April 26, 2012
Gameday preview of tonight's game.

Reliever Luis Perez not only leads the club in innings out of the bullpen, but the left-hander has yet to allow a run this season. Perez has tossed 11 1/3 scoreless innings, while surrendering just four hits with 12 strikeouts and four walks.

I watch most of the games and still didn't realize how good Perez has been to start the season!

Dunedin Blue Jays Scouting Video & Player Notes (04/23/12)
Matthias Koster caught a Dunedin game. Here are his thoughts and a bunch of videos.

Mets Sign Fred Lewis, Brad Emaus
In ex-Jays news...Kind of sounds like our Emaus reaction (when the Jays left him unprotected last year) was a bit of overkill.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Wright becomes Mets' RBI leader in win over Miami
I'm kind of surprised that Wright was able to take the franchise lead so quickly. One of a couple of milestones reached over the past couple of days, as Paul Konerko hit homerun number 400 as well.

Andy Pettitte throws five-plus innings in first Double-A start
Just in time for the Yankees. With news breaking that Pineda is out for the year, and that Hughes is terrible, they must be hoping that Pettitte can contribute in the near future.

The Nationals Do Not Give Up Home Runs
As a team, they've only allowed 3 homers this year. If they keep this up for the next few days, they would have maybe the best month ever in terms of home runs allowed.

Outs Generated Per Plate Appearance Since 1950
Not surprising that Barry Bonds has the top 4 seasons for this.

Unlikely aces, rejuvenated sluggers among early season surprises.
Joe Lemire at SI looks at the Good, the Bad and the Curious from this season.

The Problem With Power (Rankings)
Parkes isn't a fan.