It took me a while to find, but was able to located some hitting stats for Jesse Litsch while he was at South Florida Community College. 

Jesse's line in his last year at SFCC was .367 (78-for-212) with five home runs and 49 RBI.  Pretty decent for a guy who had a 9-1 Record with a 2.11 ERA.

The rest of the snipet from Rolltide.com, University of Alabama's Athletic website,

"Jesse Litsch is one of three All-Americans in the Crimson Tide’s signing class. He is also one of two junior college players in this signing class.  The hard-throwing right-hander was a First-Team NJCAA All-American last season as a freshman at South Florida Community College for coach Rick Hitt. He was also tabbed First-Team All-American by American Baseball Coaches Association and Rawlings Sporting Goods.  As a freshman at SFCC, Litsch posted a 9-1 record and team-best 2.11 ERA last season. In 89 1/3 innings, he struck out 100 batter.  He also added five shutouts and recorded 15 strikeouts in one game.  At the plate, he batted .367 (78-for-212) with five home runs and 49 RBI.  He added a school record 21 doubles (2nd most in the state) and 39 runs scored in 2004.  He was a First-Team FCCAA All-State selection and First-Team All-Region selection.  In addition, Litsch was named to the FCCAA “Pitcher of the Year” as a freshman.  He was drafted in the 24th round by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2004 MLB Draft.  Jesse attended Dixie Hollins High School, where he played for Brennon Hervey.  He was selected in the 39th round by the Colorado Rockies in the 2003 MLB Draft."

Casey Janssen and Shaun Marcum were also pretty good hitters in college. Maybe the Jays have some secret weapons stashed away for the interleague games.

I've never been a fan of interleague play since it began, on principle alone. But the Jays' historic struggles against National League teams have made these matches particularly unattractive. The Phillies have been playing better recently after their rough start and appear to be a better team than their record. With three veritable rookies on the mound for Toronto, it could be a difficult weekend.

Janssen and Marcum were both position players at one point.  It might make them a little better than a pitcher that never hits, but most good college hitters never even make it to the majors so I would just expect them to not embarass themselves, and perhaps be able to drop down a bunt.

Marcum:

Year	AB	Ave	OBP	SLG	K/BB	K%
2002	220	0.350	0.414	0.509	2.7	16.3%
2003	246	0.280	0.331	0.427	2.6	14.6%

Janssen:

Year	AB	Ave	OBP	SLG	K/BB	K%
2001	9	0.222	0.300	0.667	4.0	40.0%
2002	98	0.255	0.362	0.367	2.5	30.4%
2003	29	0.138	0.306	0.172	1.8	30.6%
2004	2	0.000	0.000	0.000		50.0%

Looks like they both made the right choice to be pitchers!

I really hope McGowan brings the good stuff tonight.  Obviously I want him to bring it every night, but it would be disappointing to see him struggle after watching guys with lesser stuff throw so well lately.

I don't know if there's anything to the theory that pitching/hitting is contagious, but my fingers are crossed that there is.

This is just a hunch, but interleague play might be good for Thomas. A few games off (with two or three pinch-hitting assignments) might help him get back on track.

I have available to me 4 tickets to the Hall of Fame Game on Monday at Double Day Field in Cooperstown.

I ordered them but can no longer use them.

If anyone is going and wants the tickets please send me an email through my profile and I can give them to you for my cost. 

A few games off (with two or three pinch-hitting assignments) might help him get back on track.

Don't forget that he'll be competing with McDonald for those PH AB's.

We all know Gibbons won't use Thomas to pinch-hit unless there is a left-handed pitcher on the mound. He'll use Stairs otherwise.  And unfortunately for Big Frank, Philly only has 1 lefthanded reliever, Fabio Castro (no relation to Fidel), who has appeared in only 4 games this season.

Get used to the bench Frank!

Well, J-Mac is hitting about 30 points higher than Hurt...

One very encouraging sign about Dusty McGowan's last start in the MLB (and six in the minors) in '07 is that now seems to have good control of his mid nineties fastball and his curve. Although control is only the ability to throw the ball over the plate, this concept was foreign to him as a starter in 05 and 06. In his seven starts in '05, McGowan walked 17 in 35 innings and took a step back in '06 with a whopping 25 walks in 22 innings.  Granted he started only 3 games in '06, but he definitley seems to have turned the corner and can now at least consistently throw the ball over the plate. Command of those pitches ( the ability to throw the ball where you want) is the next step in his process.  Hopefully tonight he can at least get the first one down pat. With his stuff, that gives the Jays a fighting chance and is much better than his 5+ walk trainwrecks we've seen up here before (last year in Oakland).

Judging by the '06 numbers, it doesn't seem so odd that the Jays have held Dustin back especially with the diabetes problem. I am really pulling for this guy, and I think most people around baseball are pulling for him. Go Dustin!

 

There's an article at Hardball Times about the Jays.  McGowan is mentioned, the writer suggesting that with his filthy stuff and recently found command, if he gained some confidence, "watch out".

www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/anatomy-of-a-losing-skid/

 

There's an article at Hardball Times about the Jays.  McGowan is mentioned, the writer suggesting that with his filthy stuff and recently found command, if he gained some confidence, "watch out".

Let's just clarify that there's no reason to believe that statement any more than if someone here said it, no offense to Bauxites. The aforementioned writer also opens with a paragraph worthy of Shecky Souhan and I'm a little surprised that THT ran that article (or several others). Let's just say I expect a lot better from The Hardball Times.

Josh Towers hit a respectable .200 in 2006.  I remember seeing him wearing a double flap helmet; I wonder if all the pitchers share it during interleague? 

If Roy Halladay hits a HR someday I might say that interleague play isn't completely without its merits, but until then I'll curse the fact that the Jays play 6 with the Dodgers for some reason and only 7 with historic rivals in DET in '07.  How many teams actually have a natural interleague opponent?  NYY-NYM, CHC-CWS, CIN-CLE, LAA-LAD, OAK-SFG, HOU-TEX, ok and I guess FLA-TAM until one or both franchises are relocated.  So for roughly half the MLB IL has pretty much zero appeal, so why can't it be reduced to one series a year rather than 18 games?

jeff mcl: In a word: MONEY. These silly contests still generate more revenue than the regular ones and until we as fans do something, like not go to them, they will continue to inhabit the schedule. Unfortunately, the obvious rivalries are driving the bus and making fans that are not in those markets have to hold our noses. Interleague marks it's 10th anniversary this year and I for one hope that it will not be like the amplifiers in "Spinal Tap" and be an "innovation" that "goes to 11."

These silly contests still generate more revenue than the regular ones

Actually, they don't.  If you notice interleague games are all on the weekends, and all when the weather gets better.  Someone did a study on this recently, but I don't know the link.

Boycott interleague games!  granted nothing we do here will be enough to kill it seeing as the jays and expos played the last all canada matchup in san juan.

really it should drop to 6 games.  A home and home for the NY and CHI and other teams with real rivals and less of this pointless stuff for the rest of us.

Pistol, you're probably right but the owners will still point to the raw numbers and say interleague brings in more dough and thus should be kept on. It doesn't seem to matter to them that the weather is much better and that 2/3 of the interleague schedule lands on the weekend. Then again not much about baseball owners does make sense.