Blue Jay Batters in May

The Blue Jays went 13-15 in the month of May, a big improvement on April, but still not what we would like to see. The batters had a good month, hitting .269/.337/.437, up from .231/.294/.403 in April. If the entire pitching staff hadn't ended up on the DL, we would have been alright.

Let's take a look at our batters in May:

J.P. Arencibia: .208/.232/.375 with 4 home runs, 4 doubles, 2 walks, 13 RBI, 1 caught stealing. I've always been a fan of JP's, I have thought that, if he could have an injury free season, he could put up pretty special numbers, but I'm ready to give up. He has to learn how to take a walk. Unfortunately he is getting worse, his rookie season he walked 7.4% of the time, last year 4.8%, this year 2.0%. If he would show he doesn't always chase, he might get more pitches to hit. He seems to be digging his heels in and wearing the 'I don't walk' label as a badge of honor, though he has had 2 in the last 2 weeks. He will always be a streak hitter, but he could level out the bad streaks if he would get on base a bit. His defense, well you know, it's not great.

Henry Blanco: .227/.273/.300, 2 doubles, 0 RBI, 2 walks. Better than he hit in April. I don't understand why he still has a roster spot.

Edwin Encarnacion: .292/.364/.504, 6 home runs, 6 doubles, 26 RBI, 13 walks, 1 steal. A step up from April in all ways except home runs, he had 9 in April.

Adam Lind: .346/.409/.590, 4 home runs, 7 doubles, 8 RBI, 9 walks. Super month. He's had 11 at bats vs. LHP, and has 4 hits, 2 doubles and a home run against them. I'd consider giving him the odd start against lefties, just to see what would happen.

Emilio Bonifacio: .250/.266/.368, 3 doubles, 2 home runs, 7 RBI, 2 walks, 15 strike outs, 5 steals, 2 caught stealing. A big improvement over April and still not good. He is looking better on defense.

Maicer Izturis: .232/.283/.339, 3 doubles, 1 home runs, 2 RBI, 0 steals, 2 caught, 4 walks. He's been playing mostly against LHP and is hitting them much, .268 vs. lefties, .172 vs. right-handers, but all 3 of his home runs came against RHP. He hasn't won me over yet.

Munenori Kawasaki: .224/.346/.284, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 11 RBI, 6 steals, 0 caught, 13 walks, 14 k. He is so much fun to watch. That game winning double is one of the best moments I've ever seen live at a ballpark. He's make just 4 errors but it seems like every one of them has come at the worst possible time, but then it seems like every error the team makes is a huge error. The Kawasaki Super Pac would like to remind you to vote Kawasaki (ML: when are we going to be paid for all this advertising?).

Brett Lawrie: .207/.271/.391, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 3 home runs, 9 RBI, 2 steals, 1 caught, 6 walks, 20 k. His bat seemed to be coming around just before the injury. He had 7 hits in his last 5 games, covering 17 at bats. Hope that the injury doesn't ruin that little bit of momentum.

Melky Cabrera: .319/.361/.460, 10 doubles, 2 home runs, 14 RBI, 8 walks, 17 k. His May was much better than his April. If he keeps hitting like this, I'm ok with his lack of range in left.

Colby Rasmus: .263/.330/.463, 4 doubles, 5 home runs, 15 RBI, 1 caught stealing, 9 walks, 28 strikeouts. In April he struck out 38 times in 84 at bats, May 28 times in 106 at bats. If he continues to hit like this, I'd be happy.

Jose Bautista: .337/.446/.548, 7 doubles, 5 home runs, 2 steals, 22 walks, 19 strikeouts. Just like last year, a lousy April is followed by a great May. He's on a little 2 game streak with no hits, and we really could have used a hit in that 17 inning game. Our player of the month for May.

Rajai Davis: .300/.364/.350, 1 double, 2 steals, 2 walks, in 20 at bats before hitting the DL. How come players always seem to be on a hot streak when they get injured?

Mark DeRosa: .243/.333/.514, 4 doubles, 2 home runs, 12 RBI, 5 walks, in just 37 at bats. Another batter than had a lousy April, then a great May. 921 OPS vs. LHP, .472 vs. RHP this season.

Anthony Gose: .235/.350/.294, 1 double, 3 walks, 4 k in 17 at bats. In May, he had 1 more walk than JP, in 1/5 the at bats.