I seriously messed with karma with my shuout talk yesterday.. so this loss is my bad

First of all, I hope Corey's OK.

If he's out for any length of time...I hope this doesn't mean a steady diet of Menechino. It could be an opportunity for Gabe Gross to step in and do some DH'ing.

I'd be seriously disappointed if Gross was called up and installed as a DH with Cat remaining in leftfield. Seniority means something, but there is a huge disparity in their defensive abilities.

It wouldn't surprise me if JF Griffin gets the call instead.

According to Wilner it's a fractured right thumb. No word on how long he'll be out.

Six to eight weeks for Koskie according to The Fan sports update.

I would have to guess that John-Ford Griffin will be given a chance to prove himself... Gross just hasn't hit nearly as well as his fellow former first round pick.

Too bad about Koskie though, it will be hard to replace him... even though he was struggling.

Well, actually Gross has outhit Griffin every year. He hasn't hit as well as Griffin for the first 6 weeks of this season. Bad timing.

Fractured right thumb? Argh. That's not good news for the power Koskie was supposed to add to the lineup, nor for his throws from third. A hand injury pretty much ruined Hinske for two years. It's going to be a long six to eight weeks for Jays fans.

Most of the reports on Gross indicate he's pretty messed up at the plate right now, and moving up to face big-league pitching probably won't help that. Plus, Cat has never done well as a DH, and it would be ridiculous to make Gross sit while Frank continues his adventures in left field. Eric Crozier is hitting .226, and they won't start Hill's clock this early. So Griffin seems like the natural choice: he's at .294/.386/.471 with 6 HRs and 21 BB in 136 AB. He's also struck out 37 times, so this team wouldn't get any less whiffier with him at DH. Shea Hillenbrand gets his wish for more playing time at third.

I wonder if this will accelerate the team's plans to go get a mid-season bat. The money is there, and the need is certainly great; the Jays aren't scaring anyone at the plate. The difficulty is that no one's waving the white flag in May -- the market probably isn't ready yet. Time to dust off that Small Ball manual from spring training.

Am I the only one that thinks the infielder Hill should get a look?

Your 2005 Syracuse SkyChiefs, by the numbers, minimum 100 AB. Or, "Another vote for Griffin".

Name	Bats	Age	AB	HR	BB	K	 AVG	OBP	SLG
Griffin	L	25	136	6	21	37	.294	.386	.471
Hill	R	23	152	4	4	16	.303	.337	.454
French	L	29	125	5	9	30	.256	.301	.488
Crozier	L	26	124	5	9	39	.226	.281	.460
Mottola	R	33	122	5	6	24	.238	.279	.443
Nelson	S	31	155	2	14	21	.277	.339	.355
Gross	L	25	130	0	13	23	.231	.301	.323
Alfaro	R	27	115	2	6	17	.226	.270	.339

Hill is certainly hitting well, but Griffin is hitting better, and is doing so from the left side. Also, the prospect status of each is an important consideration: Hill will have to go on to the 40-man this offseason, and there is absolutely no doubt that he will. Griffin on the other hand is already on the 40-man, and the decision about whether or not to keep him there will be facilitated by seeing if he can continue his solid hitting at the major league level. Also, Hill's future value will be largely affected by where and how well he plays in the field; Griffin has the potential to be a valuable big leaguer strictly based on what he accomplishes with the bat, so DHing him is not a concern.

I like the 40-man argument for calling up Griffin, even if there's a spot open. Also, if it's Hill, then he doesn't get to play shortstop where he has been playing (and for which he's ostensibly being groomed), it's either third base or DH. If it's Gross, then he plays left and Catanalotto has to DH, which he dislikes. If it's Griffin, he DHes and everybody's happy.

If JFG comes up -- the best option at this time -- the order would look something like this, I guess:

Rios
Cat
Hillenbrand
Wells
Hinske
Hudson
Adams
Griffin
Huckaby

When Zaun returns, he bats behind Hinske with everyone moving down a spot. JP said last night that it was time to take the kid gloves off Adams, so hopefully he will play more against LH. Adams, that is -- McDonald can easily outhit JP.

"Another vote for Griffin".

Might be the first time that phrase has ever appeared on THIS site!

The Jays called up Aaron Hill. Just heard it on the FAN. I would prefer JFG, but hey, Hill works.

Who's getting Designated for assignment or is Koskie going on the 60 Day DL? The 40man roster was full before Hill got called up.

interesting.

the 40-man argument was a good one - you guys had just convinced me that it should be Griffin (I even did a comparison between Griffin and Gross showing that aside from 2004, these two are actually very comparable prospects).

And then we hear my gut choice Hill gets the call.

heh.

I wonder if he'll be playing 3rd.

I'd like to see Hill come in and play everyday, completely replaceing Koskie's role, and leaving Reed/Cat in their normal platoon.

Well I just came over here to see if people thought Hill might be the guy, then I get convinced that Griffen is probably the best choice... now it's Hill :)

Should be interesting to see how the lineup shakes down. I would bet on Hill seeing time at both third and short with Hillenbrand continuing to platoon similar to the way he has so far this season.

We have to work on getting Veto power for the Box on Blue Jay transations.

I would have voted Griffen as well. He is hitting better (compare OBP) and you might as well find out what they have. This move with Hill makes me think they may have already decided that Griffen is not going to make it.

I guess the good side of getting Hill up is that we get to see what he will do with the bat. It should help a lot in evaluating Hudson, Adams and Hill as future choices for the middle infield. The main issue is where you are going to play him. Its tough to evaluate his D when he is DH. Its also unfair to sit Adams.

This is bad news for McDonald's playing time.

sorry I spelled Griffin wrong.

A new thread on Aaron Hill being called up is up:

http://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=2005051917422687