Gil "Ga" Meche

Is that a Moffatt original nickname? I like it.

Is that a Moffatt original nickname? I like it.

'Fraid not. I appreciate you wanting to give me credit, though. ;)

No offense to Mr. Baker, but are the Jays really reeling?
Yeah, they've got some injuries and have lost two in a row. But they won 5 in a row before that and are getting good pitching.

Did you know it's possible to strain a muscle in your bum?

Must... avoid... lame... and crude... joke... so... difficult... aaack... surrendering...

So, Mike, which was it this time, sphincter ani externus, or sphincter ani internus?

Awfully petty of you, Moffatt, you old tom cat, to make fun of a guy's bathroom accident. Just wait til you're 45 or 50!!

So, Mike, which was it this time, sphincter ani externus, or sphincter ani internus?

Ewwwwwww. Double ewww.

No, I tweaked one of my glute muscles playing softball. I didn't even know that was possible, but I guess it is. I'm considering going to the massage therapist because I don't want it to get worse, but what do you say, "Uhh, yeah, could you please manipulate my left bum cheek?" :)

Awfully petty of you, Moffatt, you old tom cat,

Hahahaha.. nice. It was Petty, Tom with "Don't do me like that". Twenty million points!

The Declan Patrick Aloysius MacManus fans thank you for that little homage this morning!

Is anyone else feeling frustrated with the Jays? I know I was tired last night but when I packed it in during the 7th I was pretty certain that two runs would be too much for the Jays to overcome.

First question: Why was Estralella (sp?) playing again and why did he bat fifth? We can only go to well so many times with these cast off catchers. Good base running on day one, should not guarantee a start the next day.

Second question: Phelps? Stick a fork in him, it's not going to happen?

Third question: Rios? He looks alright and he drove the ball well last night. I have yet to see his arm. Thoughts?

On the good side of the ledger: Menechino, Reed, Hinske coming around, the pitching.

Moffatt, I'm not going to be petty about this one. You can do it like that anytime!

Pat Hentgen is like my golf game.
Ten years ago I was very good, 5 years ago, pretty good. Having played only a handful of times since then, it's become very frustrating standing over the ball knowing what I want to do, but no longer having the swing to do it.
Pat seems to have accepted that he's not the same pitcher he once was, but man, it's go to be so frustrating for him.

For those who don't care to read Woolsey's column today, these quotes courtesy of ex-NBAer sir Charles Barkley:

on gambling ...

"Of course I bet thousands. What am I going to do with $20?"

"You can't leave all that money to your freeloading family," Barkley tells the Los Angeles Times. "When it's time for the Chuckster to keel over, I'll be dead broke."

That was worth wading through the rest of the drivel. Not sure what it has to do with baseball though.

Ooops... don't mind me...

There seems to be some mechanical problem with Phelps. He hits the ball hard but it's always on the ground. He turns every pitcher into a sinkerballer. Does anyone have the breakdown of groundball/flyball for him.

Does anyone have the breakdown of groundball/flyball for him.

Phelps' 2.05 groundball:flyball ratio currently ranks fifth (behind Ichiro (Sea), Harris (ChW), Jones (Min) and Damon (Bos)) among qualified AL hitters, according to espn.com.

In fact, MatO, the trend is disturbing.

GB:FB for Josh Phelps
2002: 0.97
2003: 1.37
2004: 2.05

Not good for a budding power hitter.

I thought Rios had a great game yesterday. He could have had three extra base hits had the ball traveled to slightly different parts of the park.

I think that trend for Phelps is indicative of pitchers making an adjustment to him. He got himself a lot of attention in 2002.

I agree that there is something going on with Phelps swing. From my observations (which may be completely wrong since I haven't studied his swing in slo-mo), it seems that he swings down too much before he uppercuts. This means that he's able to hit low balls but misses the ones higher in the zone. He's made himself a low ball hitter.

The pitchers aren't throwing him soft stuff up that's for sure. They are keeping the ball low, or else going up and away or up and inside with the hard stuff.

Rios and The Hulk certianly looked impressive last night. So did The Hentgen in the first two innings but I digress...

If Rios and the Hulk keep developing this way the season could become real interesting. That AB against Everyday Eddie was particularly impressive.

And now prepare yourselves for something COMPLETLEY off-topic:

I was cleaning out a drawer in my desk when I found something I printed out in 1994. After reading it I thought I had to share it with the Bauxite community, my particular favourite is #3

Reasons Canada keeps beating the US in the World Series

As presented on the 10/25/03 brodcast of the Late Show with David Letterman

10. French baseball chatter very disorienting

9. US players get sleepy standing through two national anthems

8. Special enzyme in Canadian bacon that turns players into GAME WINNING ZOMBIES

7. American teams discouraged by Clinton's new RBI tax

6. All our secret plays are being funneled to them by that weasel Paul Shaffer

5. Exchange rates makes Canadian runs worth more

4. Stirring pre-game talks, which always end with "win one for Lorne Greene".

3. The dont bother to use actual Canadians

2. Let's face it -- We're a bunch of Hosers

1. Those damn mountie umpires

Well there you have it, sorry for such a hi-jack. I was cracking up when I read this with my new baseball appreciation. Figured you fellow Canadian Baseball fans could use some cheering up after last nights game.

Regarding Phelps, does anyone think maybe he has become to "opposite field conscious". Whenever they (the announcers) talk about his batting practice habits they always mention that he wants to take the ball the other way and that his power is to the off field (right centre). I'm not sure where most of his career homers have been hit too, but my memory says he rarely turns on a pitch and takes it down the left field line.

I'm not sure why but it seems to me that he has become pull averse.

Blue in SK:

The only successful AB's that Phelps has taken recently have been achieved through smashing grounders between SS and 3rd, or is that just my version.

Definitely he put his 'do over' homer out in left.

Regarding Phelps; Despite his tremendous power potential, as everyone knows, his struggles intensify. From what I've heard and read, he's a very intelligent guy. But then again, so is Batista, right?

Both players just need to come to terms with the contrast between their perceived abilities and actual, factual, reality.

Both players just need to come to terms with the contrast between their perceived abilities and actual, factual, reality.

Please, T, elaborate.

From what I've heard and read, he's a very intelligent guy. But then again, so is Batista, right?

I believe there is a difference between "sports smart" and "real life smart". This may smack of armchair psychology -- and it surely is -- but I believe that in the former, there is a level of intelligence that operates at a subconcious level. Call it instinct or intuition, but it is something that can't be intellectually deconstructed, or tapped with real life smarts.

For all the real life intelligence that Phelps and Batista are said to have, how much of this can actually be used to better themselves on the playing field? I don't ask this rhetorically.

In the quiet of a meeting room, certainly someone like Batista could, presumably, harness his intelligence and fully appreciate that hitters starting with 0-1 counts basically hit like pitchers as a group, and hence the importance of a first pitch strike is not just huge, it's HUGE.

Similarly, Phelps could be made to understand likely pitching patterns that he will face given his past record.

But when it comes to actually playing the game, can these two apply their intellectual strengths to better harness their physical abilities? It sure feels tempting to believe that this should be so, but proof to the contrary emanates from our idiot boxes every night.

Because I can't think of a clever segue, let me just start talking about Pedro Guerrero.

Pedro Guerrero was a tremendous hitter, a Gary Sheffield of the 1980's. Some will certainly recall the details better than I, but within the past 5 years or so, I believe there was a story where he was involved in a crime. His lawyers cited Guerrero's diminished mental capacity, as he apparently has an IQ in the 80's and is easily influenced by those around him.

That Pedro Guerrero was a great athlete who wasn't bright says nothing about the Batista/Phelps situations. I am not connecting any dots here. I only mention Guerrero to suggest that given enough phyiscal ability (and instinct/intuition) even the dimmest of players can do well.

I'm just wondering how much the off-field intelligence of Batista and Phelps can help them. Maybe this is a prematurely harsh indictment, but it appears that neither have the "sports smarts" to leverage their physical skills, and that no amount of "real life smarts" is going to change things.

As often, I would love to be proven wrong.

Batista is really in a different category. He's proven himself to be an above average major league pitcher. He's a better pitcher than Kelvim Escobar and Ramon Ortiz, both of whom have slightly better stuff. He's proven himself in some very big games too, so there should be no question about his mental fortitude.

Phelps is still in the developmental stage IMO. I see evidence that he is learning, in particular the three-walk game he had on Saturday. But there are two basic problems: 1) He has a long swing with a possible mechanical flaw and 2) pitch-recognition, particularly the hard breaking stuff down in the zone. I think it's possible that he's worked so hard at trying to hit the stuff that moves, that he's lost some of his ability to hit a belt-high fastball.

I believe there is a difference between "sports smart" and "real life smart". This may smack of armchair psychology -- and it surely is -- but I believe that in the former, there is a level of intelligence that operates at a subconcious level. Call it instinct or intuition, but it is something that can't be intellectually deconstructed, or tapped with real life smarts.


From Moneyball:

Billy Beane == real life smart
Lenny Dykstra == sports smart

Robert, I certainly concur with you about Phelps' issues with pitch recognition. Likely because I'm more pressimistic than you, however, I don't see the same evidence that he is developing. Ignoring the macro view of K/BB ratio, in the micro view of a given at-bat, he seems to swing at at least one ball and take at least one strike (I acknowledge that this perception is subject to bias and is most likely exaggerated).

For someone who draws so few walks, he shows a strange passiveness when it comes to swinging at the best pitch of an at-bat, usually a fastball down the middle (echoing your sentiment that it's possible that "he's lost some of his ability to hit a belt-high fastball.")

Top Ten Reasons Canada keeps beating the US in the World Series

Thanks for a good mid-afternoon laugh. :)

I love Letterman.

I don't take Phelps failure to swing at a belt-high fastball as passivity. I believe his approach has always been the educated guess at less than 2 strikes. If he's guessing something down and away and he gets something belt high on the inner half of the plate, he takes, presumably to avoid popping it up. It's not a bad strategy.

I haven't seen enough to know whether his problems to date this year are "bad guesses" or "not hitting his pitch when he guesses right due to mechanical problems". I'd venture that it's probably more of the latter than the former.

I think it's possible that he's worked so hard at trying to hit the stuff that moves, that he's lost some of his ability to hit a belt-high fastball.

I think this is a function of his attempt to go the other way. To do so he has to wait a little bit longer on fastballs and therefore is having trouble catching up with them. He seems to then still be out in front of some of the breaking stuff and rolling over the top of it for grounders. It seems he is sort of stuck "in between" the two speeds. To me this is not fatal, just part of his development. Once he has learned how to go the other way, he will presumably be less likely to strike out and can still sit on a fastball from time to time.

No shortage of theories on why Phelps is struggling and a broad continuum of pessimism/optimism about him improving.

The next four months should prove interesting.

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/top_ten/archive/ls_topten_archive1993/ls_topten_archive_19931025.shtml
COMN for the actual link to that Letterman Top 10 list. Funny stuff.

All interesting comments.

Robert I kinda agree with your sentiment that Phelps has lost his ability to hit a belt high fastball. But my take on that is that he prefers not to hit that pitch since he wouldn't be able to take it the other way as easily as a pitch low and away.

Alsiem, you are very correct his do-over HR was pulled down the line...after his first one was hit the other way. But your point is taken.

Ducey, I hope you are right and that this process is just part of his development.

One last comment on a different issue...why is Estellala/Zaun batting clean-up. Why not drop VW down to 4th and give someone a shot in the 3 hole (like Rios or Pond or even Phelps). They might respond knowing that they have someone protecting them.

http://milb.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=minorbaseball&page=milb-intl/news/fates-fortunes.htm
Josh Towers has been recalled by the Jays. They need to open a roster spot for him. They could move someone, other than Greg Myers, to the 60 day DL, but I do not think any of the injured major leaguers will be out that long. Can Dustin McGowan be moved to the 60 day DL even though he is in the minors?

If not McGowan, what do the Jays do to activate Towers? They could try to sneak someone through waivers, such as Jason Arnold, Bob File or John-Ford Griffin.

Alternatively they could release someone from the big club. Would they cut Hentgen? De Los Santos has been disappointing. Could they cut Dave Berg? The mystery will be revealed later this evening.

JP will be on the Fan before the game at 9:05, I believe.

Towers maybe the new #5 starter and "the Hentgen" moves to closer???

Towers maybe the new #5 starter and "the Hentgen" moves to closer???

Given how thin they are with position player injuries, this must be a swap of pitchers. I assume it will mean cutting someone from the current 25 man roster as well. My first bet would be Lopez or Santos (although that would leave Tosca only one of his cherished lefties). Alternatively, Miller is said to be having problems with a hamstring injury so it could be him going on the DL. Even though his pitching deserves it, it's hard for me to see them cutting bait on Hentgen just yet. The plan would still be to try and get him pitching well and flip him at the deadline. Having said that, I'm not sure how much more you need to see before you say enough is enough.

On a side note, I posted yesterday saying that last night's line-up was a good test to see if Tosca really understood platoon splits. I was pleasantly surprised to see Pond in the line-up. Of course, no sooner did I turn on the TV and the first thing I heard was that Tosca originally had Berg in the line-up only to have pulled him with lingering back pain. So, I guess the upshot of that is that Tosca really has no clue about how to effectively use platoon advantages and all he really is doing (as he does with his relievers) is just go with traditional lefty/righty platoons regardless of understanding if that's a good strategy or not.

Justin Miller was put on the 15 day DL. I just saw it on ESPN news

Jesse Harper (who?) designated for assignment...

What's your source George?

I'm sorry, but I really can't get my head around the decision to jettison Harper. JP may get away with this one but even if he does, this is still a mistake. Harper is still a prospect. Admittedly his age and the fact he's currently in high A make him a bit of a longshot. Having said that, there is no doubt that he has more value to the organization than say Dave Berg. The thinking with every roster decision has to be who may help this team in the future because let's face it, 2004 is shot. Berg is toast at the end of this season for certain. Why not cut bait now? If you are worried about a middle infield replacement for 7-10 days until Hudson gets back then one of Adams or Sequea could fill that bill. Even if they stink it up for a week, so what? Harper has given every indication that he's healthy and ready for AA. Even as a bright shiny bauble to throw in a trade at the deadline or in the offseason he has some value. People may say who cares - but I think that's exactly the wrong attitude to take with this team right now. Maximizing prospects is all the team has right now in this stage of its success cycle. With McGowan and Rosario injured and Arnold looking for all the world like a bust, Harper may be the second most advanced starting pitching prospect (after Bush and maybe tied with Banks) that the organization has. I just think this is a stupid decision. Rant over.

Actually, in looking at Harper's age he's younger than I thought. He's 23 right now. He's actually a couple of months younger than Rosario and only a little over a year older than McGowan. So he would not be too old to be a legitimate prospect once promoted to AA. Now - rant actually over!

Great piece just aired or Sportscenter about Jays mid round (13th or 14th) round pick Matt Foster. He's a LHP who throws 94, but fell that far in the draft because he went to the Naval Academy and has to serve 5 years. He's petitioned the Navy to either put off his service, end it after 2 years like David Robinson, or pay back money from college and has been denied in all of them. They interviewed all different kinds of people (including JP) talking about various aspects of his special situation. It's too bad it doesn't look like he'll be able to play-taking those 5 years off will essentially kill his baseball career. He's now in nuclear submarine school and closed with "my heart is broken every day that I can't play baseball." It was pretty interesting, I hope something gets worked out where he can at least give it a shot.

Nigel, DITTO

Rant two over.

Wow, Jose Vidro hasn't had an extra base hit since May 14th! That's pretty amazing.

To be fair, Adams isn't on the 40 man roster so he wouldn't be a short term replacement option for Berg without sending someone off the roster. However, Sequea and Clark are on the 40 man roster so the point stands.

I have said it before about Harper. He will throw big league ball for somebody and throw well. He ws penciled in as a rotation guy at the start of AA season until the injury. Now that he is ready to go we stick him out there and hope no one grabs him? If he does not get picked up, how do the Jays convince him that he is still in their plans? I believe that his agents are probably working the phones and trying to get their client in the best possible scenario. I do not see this as being good for us at all.

JP is on the fan in precisely 25 minutes. I wonder if he will discuss the upcoming draft. That man is so unpredictable.

Vince McMAHON was just on off the record. I wonder why hardly ever have blue jays on his show. Well, they had Godfrey a while ago, but that's it.

Halladay has shoulder soreness, Kershner will start, according to the Fan

Are you kidding me Gerry---> KERSHNER????? this is unheard of.

http://me.woot.net
Ugh. I guess I missed JP already; it's not on 570 here in Waterloo, and I didn't have Windows Media Player installed on my iBook. So I figure I'll go get it.

Long story short, Microsoft insists on using a stupid installer, which is totally unnecessary on Macs, and it takes a couple of minutes to install instead of me just dragging the application into my Applications folder, so now I'm listening to a guy talking about Lacrosse.

Sorry, in case there's any question, my "source" was the ESPN Transaction page. Miller DL-ed, Towers' contract purchased, Harper DFA.

Darn, looks like I missed JP on the Fan.

I flipped my radio on at 9:08 and got that heated lacrosse discussion... was anything significant said?

No JP yet, maybe at 9:30

Ham strings, sore shoulders, pulled groins, bruised ribs, someone has put a curse on the Jays

Vernon Wells, Eric Hinske, Josh Phelps.

Who will be the last man standing?

Today is Tuesday, JP is on Wednesdays. Duh

Tosca on the Fan just commented that he's expecting/hoping Kershner will be able to handle the first 3 innings tonight.

After that they'll mix and match and hope they dont run out of relievers.