And so it comes to an end.
Often entertaining, occasionally frustrating and certainly tantalizing for the near future, the 2004 season of Blue Jays baseball comes to a close this weekend with a visit from a rebuilding Tribe club that is a little further behind the development curve, but definitely on the right track.
It's hard to assess Cleveland's results at the major league level, since they first lost Ellis Burks and Omar Vizquel to major injuries, and then had to endure the sight of Milton Bradley, Matt Lawton, Ryan Ludwick and now Billy Traber going down with season-ending ailments. Jays fans making the trip out to SkyDome will see a whole bunch of rookies -- some of whom are really quite promising.
But of course, that's not why Toronto fans will be there -- at least not the Saturday fans. Doc tries to put the exclamation point on his Cy Young season by facing a young, inexperienced lineup in front of what should be a nice crowd. A trio of southpaws will be opposing the Jays this weekend; here's hoping that Crash Myers gets at least a pinch-hitting appearance so the fans can vocalize their appreciation for his steady contributions, both on and off the field, in his return tour in T.O.
Finally, this is the last Advance Scout of the season. Many thanks to those of you who offered support, praise and constructive criticism for the column over the year; all three, particularly the third, remain more than welcome. The Scout column will return in April of 2004, and like Batter's Box itself, it'll hopefully be better than ever. Without further ado...
On to the Advance Scout!
* The Tribe are just 5-16 in their last 21, and have sunk to a season-worst 25 games below .500 ... Casey Blake is likely to be the only non-rookie in the Cleveland starting lineup this weekend ... Eric Wedge has vowed to manage "to win" next season, rather than to teach and evaluate; for instance, he'll pinch-hit for Brandon Phillips next year if the second baseman is in a slump ...
* No team has been shut out less often than the Tribe (5) ... But the Red Sox turned the trick twice last weekend, with John Burkett (ugh) and Pedro Martinez shutting down the Cleveland attack ...
* Cleveland's payroll, currently at around $48 million, will never return to the league's top 5 as in the salad days of the mid-90s ... Mark Shapiro's plan is for the next championship-calibre Cleveland team to check in at around $70 million ... Noteworthy: Cleveland spends the second-most money in the majors in player development and scouting -- and spent the most money in the big leagues on signing bonuses this year ...
* Tonight's opponent, Jason Stanford, has taken two straight hard-luck losses on the chin as he seeks his first-ever win ... His combined line: 14 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 10 K -- against the playoff-bound Red Sox and Twins, no less ... But the finesse lefty took 2-0 defeats in both games. Sadly, he should get more run support against Cory Lidle tonight ... Since walking four in a nervous big-league debut in July, Stanford has never issued more than two free passes in a start ... Stanford: "I really refined my changeup this year...I have the confidence to throw it in any count" ... Grady Little said he was reminded of a young Jamie Moyer ...
* The prize of the Roberto Alomar trade to New York, Alex Escobar, is flashing some promise after his Cleveland career was initially derailed by a severe injury in '02 ... Playing regularly, the toolsy Venezuelan (who just turned 25) has gone 290/359/420 in September ... The 25-year-old is expected to add a bit more pop at the plate in the near future ...
* After struggling to adjust to big-league pitching, Victor Martinez is starting to show why he's not only one of the brightest catching prospects in the game, but one of the best prospects in baseball, period ... Not yet 25, Martinez has hit in his last 26 (!) starts ... He's hit .344 in September ... Although Martinez made a suspect "changeup" call on the pitch Nomar drove out of the park for the decisive home run on Friday, Stanford praised his ability to call a game generally ...
* He's never been considered to be a prospect of Martinez' calibre, but switch-hitting catcher Josh Bard is still young at 25 ... He's 7 for his last 12 (.583) ...
* Ben Broussard is in a severe funk at the plate, going 4 for his last 35 (.114) ... He did knock in four on Saturday, however, when Cleveland gave Red Sox nation a jolt with 12 runs in the seventh and eighth en route to a stunning 13-4 win ...
* Travis Hafner is just 3 for his last 27 (.111) ...
* Coco Crisp has also gone soggy of late, going 2 for his last 27 (.074) ...
* Journeyman reliever David Lee earned his first win in over two years on Saturday by retiring the only two Red Sox he faced ...
* Third baseman Casey Blake hasn't doing much lately to secure his role as a fixture at the Jacobs Field hot corner ... He's been a dismal 217/283/289 in September ...
* Promising rookie Jody Gerut enters this weekend on a seven-game hitting streak ...
* Cliff Lee, acquired from Montreal in the Bartolo Colon deal, will pitch in both clubs' finale on Sunday ... Like Stanford, Lee's a promising young lefty who's been suffering from poor run support ... Lee held the powerful Boston attack to three hits over seven innings on Sunday, but was defeated, 2-0, by Pedro ... Lee: "Seven innings, two runs, not bad against the Red Sox...I'm satisfied with the outing, but not with the outcome" ... Lee vowed to cut down his mental errors, such as failing to back up the plate on a wild Jhonny Peralta throw on Sunday ... Terry Mulholland, the club's elder statesman, describes Lee as "mature beyond his years" ...
* Jhonny Peralta had his seven-game hitting streak snapped on Wednesday, going 0 for 2 with a walk ...
* Brandon Phillips has definitely not proven himself ready for prime time at 205/240/307, with erratic defence ... Recently, he's just 1 for his last 11 ... Mark Shapiro recently listed the organization's three offseason needs: starting pitcher, lefty reliever and second baseman -- a pointed slap at the disappointing Phillips ... Shapiro: "The prospect tag is off...Brandon is going to have to produce like any other player to stay in the big leagues" ... Phillips said that he felt like "a failure" and like his "life had ended" with his midseason demotion to AAA. Shapiro has said that he still believes in Phillips' talent, but that his swing has "legitimate, fundamental, mechanical flaws" ...
* Middle infielder Angel Santos is 3 for his last 25 (.120) ... Santos has only three walks to go with his 18 strikeouts. He's recorded a mere .250 OBP thus far ...
* Billy Traber, whose season-long resume included a dazzling one-hit shutout of the Yankees, was torched in his last three starts ... And the explanation couldn't have been worse for the Cleveland organization. Traber needs Tommy John surgery and is out of the club's 2004 plans ... Trainer Paul Spicuzza believes that the ligament was damaged in high school or college, and that Traber started to feel pain only recently, when the scar tissue stripped away ... Terry Mulholland will take his place in the rotation on Saturday ...
* Mulholland said that the young Tribe starters have the potential to become the next "Braves of the early 1990s" ...
* Meanwhile, Jason Davis, who leads all AL rookies with 165 innings pitched, has been shut down with "fatigue" in his pitching shoulder ... Thankfully for Eric Wedge, there's no damage that will require anything beyond an offseason of rest ...
* Cleveland will not pick up Ellis Burks' option for 2004 ...
* Did you know that Carl Willis (boo!) is the Tribe's pitching coach? ...
* Stanford and Grady Sizemore have both been invited to the U.S. Olympic tryouts ...
* Carsten Charles (C.C.) Sabathia, The Third, was born last week, to the colourful C.C. Jr.'s delight ...
Probable Batting Orders
* Note: Like an Alberta caucus in Ottawa, the Jays' rotation this series will have only righties.
vs. RH
8 Crisp
5 Blake
7 Gerut
9 A Escobar/Magruder
3 Broussard
2 Martinez/Bard
DH Hafner
6 Peralta
4 Santos/Phillips
Pitching Probables
Friday: LH Stanford vs. Lidle
Saturday: LH Mulholland vs. Halladay
Sunday: LH C Lee vs. Towers
Bullpen Usage
Long: D Lee R, Durbin R
Short: Boyd R, Cressend R, Santiago R
Setup: Baez R, Betancourt R
Closer: Riske R
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