Look, no one said this was going to be easy.
After four weeks, the hometown nine sits at .500 (13-13) - only five other teams in the league actually have a better record at this point. Which none of you anticipated. Coming up next, however, is a 23 game stretch when they play at home just 5 times. They embark on a ten-day ten-game road trip tomorrow that will take them to Cleveland, Chicago, and Boston. The rotation, either by coincidence or cunning foresight, is set up so that only one of the three lefties (Eveland) will be asked to start in Fenway Park. After an off-day and a quick five game homestand, it's off for another eight games on the road. Let's see if they're still within shouting distance (let's say three games) when they're done with this...
Travis Snider's ill luck continues - he comes down with "flu-like symptoms" on an afternoon when Ben Sheets' curveball was hanging on a tee and his fastball was as straight as arrow. When Johnny McDonald is ripping extra base hits around the yard... don't we all want to grab a bat? I know I do. Anyway, Edwin Encarnacion is ready to return any day now - I would expect that McCoy (but possibly Ruiz, who simply doesn't have a role on this team) will be dispatched to Las Vegas. Everyone else - Lewis, Bautista, and Snider - will lose a little bit of playing time as EE fits back into the... uh, rotation?
But sooner or later, Snider has to actually start hitting. At some point, you do have to earn playing time in this league.
The two new guys in the bullpen have improved the situation considerably. This wasn't hard - they're replacing two guys who were essentially useless. Jeremy Accardo may look like the guy who saved 30 games a few years ago, but he's got nothing else in common with him, starting with fastball command. The guy down in Vegas at the moment doesn't have any. I wasn't too impressed with Roenicke in his late season audition last year - oh great, yet another guy who can throw 95 but doesn't have a clue where it's going. But Roenicke, who is fairly new to the job, looks much more like a pitcher this time around. Rommie Lewis got touched up for a couple of cheap runs yesterday. made possible by about as lame a double as you can imagine (but Eric Chavez needs a break so desperately - it was his first hit against a LHP since April 2009 - I don't really begrudge it). I've been somewhat impressed by Lewis anyway. Not surprised - I knew absolutely nothing about him before he got here. Knowing nothing, I had no expectations, and therefore could not be surprised. Anyway, what I've liked about Lewis is that he throws strikes. I always like that.
A bit of a break out day for Aaron Hill yesterday, who posted his first multi-hit game of 2010 and also drew his 10th base on balls in just 12 games. Hill's career high in walks is 42 (he's done it twice), and as I don't believe for an instant that he's really a 30 homer guy, I hope this is a genuine new ability. My problem with Hill, even last season, has been the enormous number of outs he consumes.
And what can we say about the Alex Gonzalez experience? You can not possibly stop him. You can only hope to contain him.
Inspired by the team's former ace tossing his second shutout and third complete game of the young season, I offered up a series of quizzes on complete games to my press box companions yesterday afternoon. No one knew anything. Neither did I, but I cleverly looked up the answers before posing the questions. Let me share them with you.
Who on the current Toronto staff has the most career complete games?
Dana Eveland and Scott Downs, naturally. They both have one, and neither came with the Jays, of course. Three guys currently on the DL can beat that: McGowan has 3, Litsch and Richmond both have 2 - but they're on the DL.
Roy Halladay has thrown the last 9 complete games by Toronto pitchers. Who was the last Toronto pitcher other than Halladay to go the distance?
That was Scott Richmond, last May.
The fewest complete games ever thrown by a Toronto staff was 6 back in 1990, Cito Gaston's first full season as the manager. Todd Stottlemyre had 4, Dave Stieb had 2. (This mark was matched by the Season in Hell staff of 2004.) Will they come in under that mark this season?
I say they will.
Who will be the next Toronto pitcher to toss a CG?
I say Ricky...
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20100503030237536