Unrelated note & message for MyLegacy:

Were you by any chance in Toronto on April 7?

Not that I'm suggesting you are anything less than honest and law-abiding, but that would be pretty tempting. (And I don't know if there's any resemblance...)

I love the message Gibbons is sending to Lind (.231/.380) and the team tonight by batting him #2 - get on base, it's the most important thing you can do.

It is creative.  I do hope that if it's a tie game in the 5th inning or so and Lind reaches base, they pinch-run for him (with Davis).  Lind would likely see a LHP anyways the following time up.  The possibility of doing this mitigates somewhat the loss of speed in the 2 slot. 

That would be smart. And when Melky was the #2 it's not like you were using speed in front of Bautista anyway.

I love the message Gibbons is sending to Lind (.231/.380) and the team tonight by batting him #2 - get on base, it's the most important thing you can do.

Zaun's reaction should be interesting. He argued that Arencibia should continue his all-or-nothing hitting approach and not worry about walks, since he'd just be "clogging up the bases" (his exact words). Hayhurst, cast as the stathead on the panel, made a quick retort that having baserunners was not actually a bad thing. I'm not sure that Lind is any faster than Arencibia.

It will be interesting to see if Lind's recent flurry of walks is just one of those anomalous things, or if he has truly changed his approach... and if he'll further accentuate that change now that he's in the 2-hole with a specific mission to clog up the bases. 

My first introduction to on-base skills versus speed at the top of the lineup was as a teenager in a Montreal Strat-O-Matic league in the 70's when one of the managers chose Gene Tenace as his leadoff hitter. Definitely a man ahead of this time.

Via B-R (link has data about today's matchups)...
Miguel Gonzalez for Baltimore.  He has been wild this year (4.5 BB/9) and hasn't K'd much (9 in 18 innings).  Just his 2nd ML season at age 29, a career minor leaguer who got a shot and was 'wow' for the O's with a 130 ERA+ last year over 105 IP.  Someone the Jays should be taking a few with and seeing what the umps are/are not calling tonight.

Nice thing about the B-R link is it shows reliever usage lately. 
16+ pitches in past 2 days: Cecil, Delabar, Loup, Oliver, Rogers (pitched 3 of past 5 days).
Janssen has a total of 18 pitches thrown in the past 7 days over 2 games, 2 full days of rest. Very available.
Ortiz is very well rested and could go 5+ innings if needed.
Of the others Oliver & Cecil are probably available tonight, with Delabar and Loup not available and Rogers should be given the day off if possible.

So lets hope Dickey is ready and able to go deep tonight.  Ideally he goes 8 and Janssen comes in for a save.  Then just Loup & Delabar should have tomorrow off.

JohnL - I'm shocked I tell you, shocked, that anyone would compare me to that loathsome creature who stole scotch and then didn't offer to share with his friends. I assure you had it been I - I'd be sharing it with my many friends and fellow connoisseurs of the amber dew. Or not...

I cannot believe that the use of Kawasaki as a lead-off hitter is getting by without comment. His OBP in the major leagues (based on very few at bats because he can't hit) is .274 and he has absolutely no power. I like his personality and I think he's fun. The injury to Reyes called for some kind of stop-gap measure but why would you give the most at bats on your team go to one of the worst hitters in baseball? If Kawasaki must play, then he should bat ninth. It's true that there are several Blue Jays who have tossed their caps into the mix for that honour but there is no way Kawasaki should be batting first.

Now now, Mylegacy...

If it was you, I am sure you would have shared it with your friends (but not too many). And are you accusing that fellow of not sharing with his friends?

And honest fellow, he did pay for the wine.

Pretty brazen. He deserved a drink.

I wonder if Lind's OBP says something about the way opposing pitchers are pitching to the Jays batters. Many of the hitters won't take a walk (Arencibia 2 BB, Lawrie 1, Izturis 2, Davis 0), so why throw them a strike? In a recent game, the opposition obtained four outs on four pitches against the Jays.

Lind appears to be responding by being more selective, to the point (shockingly) of taking the free pass. It is a small sample, though. I expect Lind to end up in the .280-.330 OBP range.

I don't know why so many of the Jays hitters are so walk-averse. No doubt talent plays a role (e.g., pitch recognition, bat speed and control). Other possibilities: coaching failure, lack of baseball intelligence, and/or a sense of entitlement (players wanting short-term gratification in the form of hits, even at the expense of team success).

agator - good point about Kawasaki.  I enjoy watching him play but batting him anywhere but 9th (8th if pitchers are hitting) is silly.  Still... he is currently 3rd in OBP this season for the Jays at 333 - Reyes is #1 and injured, and Lind is #2.  Cabrera could be put in that slot with his 322 or Rasmus with his 318 but at this point in time I can understand why the guy who is showing enthusiasm, who is actually going deep into the count (4.97 pitches per PA) is getting a shot at the top.  If nothing else he allows the team to see what the pitcher has and what the umps zone is like.

Btw, Jays are at 3.93 pitcher per PA so far.  Last year was 3.82, 3.73 in 2011, and 3.72 in 2010.  Surprised it is actually up.

In light of the recent "Rasmus looks bad at the plate" versus "Rasmus looks just fine" debate on this site, here is an interesting fangraphs piece on Rasmus's 2013 season. Worth a read.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/theres-going-to-be-a-colby-rasmus-change/

Blue Jays are now 8-12.

To get to 95 wins, they will need to go 87-55 the rest of the way - a 0.613 clip. Not impossible, but getting harder by the day..

95 wins won't be needed.

According to Pitchtrax, Dickey is getting squeezed out of one strike per batter.

I don't want to be cast with the sky is falling bunch, because I'm sure most of us, if told that Reyes would need to be placed on the 60-day DL would have been pessimistic about the season so the sky while firmly in place has to be considered partly cloudy... but... I have to say it.

This team is getting hard to watch.

Latest irksome bit -- Rasmus not scoring after his double, just seemed sloppy. Perhaps we were just spoiled by Butterfield in the past?

That's not at all surprising to me. It looks that way on TV.

Why is Bonifacio not pinching running? And why is Rajia bunting?

*pinch

Well, Gibbons takes one bat out of our hands and the ump takes another. Fun.

Pretty rough call against Cabrera on the 3-2 pitch. I do not like this umpire.

Leadoff batter reaches 1B; Lind is 1 for 2 with a walk, and an ice-cold Rajai Davis pitch hits and all he can do is a Sacrifice Bunt.   That's stupid!

Bonifacio has to be injured, otherwise I have no clue why Gibbons just managed the 8th like that.

Now I'm really confused. Gibbons thinks Davis handles RHP better than Bonifacio from the left side? I didn't.

You could argue Gibbons is right:

Davis .259/.300/.356 for a .656 OPS

Bonifacio .267/.313/.333 for a .646 OPS

The sad truth is that neither one of them has any business hitting in the major leagues against right-handed pitching. I anxiously await the day, perhaps in mid May, that Gose arrives and Bonifacio goes away. There's no point having every one of your 4 bench players with splits that heavily favor hitting against LHP.

This is becoming very painful to watch.

 I felt like Melky scores on the triple if he isn't stopped--The throw was up the line...but Buck and Tabler were adamant that he would have been toast at the plate.  I also was annoyed that Colby didn't get to third on the groundout to 1st (should have been going on contact to that side), and that he didn't read the flare quickly enough to score on the single from 2nd base (since he hadn't made it to third).

These two coaching/baserunning blunders cost us a tie if one of them works, and a possible win with both of them plated.

I ready for them to somehow turn a corner at the plate, but it's feeling like year's past when we were so dependent on the long ball to score....

The cut off man had the ball in his hands when Melky was rounding, he was toast.

The cut off man had the ball in his hands when Melky was rounding, he was toast.

Perhaps just wishful thinking on my part, but didn't the throw get past the catcher?  Perhaps I imagined that...along with some semblance of an offense.

Yes, sorry, I meant that's why he was held up. It's certainly possible that he would've scored due to the wild throw from the cutoff man but at the time of the hold it would appear that Melky would've been out by 5 feet. That's my opinion anyways.

Yeah, I saw a replay and the cut-off man did have it pretty quickly.  I guess I just saw it get kicked in the outfield and was thinking give it a shot--I just have so little confidence in anyone driving in a run with a 2-out hit (heck, or with any hit!).  Thank goodness for EE tonight in one such situation--Otherwise we would have been looking at a goose-egg.

On another note, I was so excited about the idea of Bonifacio at the start of the season....wow, did that change quickly.  I understand the small sample size points, but I dread seeing him anywhere in the field, and I think he must be trying to start a drinking game where folks get to chug every time he squares to bunt and it results in a strike.  I'm sure there's a much better version of Boni in there, but it sure would be nice to see him....soon.

Things have to turn around soon for the Jays, right??

This has been by far one of the worst stretches of Blue Jays baseball I've ever witnessed. (And I can vividly recall the Season From Hell) The team is absolutely no fun to watch and I for one think it's a miracle they've managed to win eight games at all. If I were a coach teaching young hitters or fielders I'd tape these Blue Jay games as examples of what not to do.

Frustrations aside, I like that Gibbons is at least trying to shake things up. He's juggling the lineup trying to find some (any) combination that can work, and figured out the best defense he can put out there right now (Izturis at 2nd, Kawasaki at short, Bonifacio nowhere). You can blame him (perhaps even rightfully) for the teams horrible start, but he's not one to sit on his hands while this thing collapses any further. Also, has anyone noticed how he looks in the dugout when the TV camera shows him these days? Early in the season he seemed relaxed, always leaning back and observing the game. Lately he's anxious, always standing and staring towards the field with distressed uncertainty.

Some good news on the out-of-town scoreboard, at least: Carlos Villanueva continues to confound the National League. He pitched 8.1 innings in Cincinnati, struck out six, allowed three hits, and left with a 2-1 lead and a runner on second. For some reason the Cubs then brought in Carlos Marmol to pitch to Joey Votto, which went as about well as you'd expect (the Cubs did end up winning in extras). Villanueva's now on a 1.53 ERA and averaging over 7 innings a start.

Lately he's anxious, always standing and staring towards the field with distressed uncertainty.

That's kind of my feeling. I understand that even good teams will have unsuccessful stretches...but from what I hear it's like these guys suddenly switched unis with a bad A ball team and no one noticed. If I were the manager I, too, would be mystified that a team full of quality seasoned vets suddenly (seemingly) forgot how to play baseball.

How do you fix something like that?

I've been assuming that they were over-confident early on and needed a wake-up call. Fine, that might be a good thing in the long run. But it really shouldn't take three weeks to wake up from that daydream.

I anxiously await the day, perhaps in mid May, that Gose arrives and Bonifacio goes away.

Honestly, I still harbor hope that Boni has more left to show. Davis may be the one guy on this team I have the least attachment to. I have no idea how he's still here once Boni was acquired (given AA's gushing over Boni). Laying aside the need for prospects to refine their game (an important consideration that I'm NOT laying aside in reality) I'd give away Davis to whoever would take his contract right now in favor of Gose, or Sierra, or hell even Mauro Gomez or Adam LaRoche maybe. Other than SB%, there's nothing at all about Davis' game that appeals to me.

(not to say that so far Boni doesn't look like very much the same guy but like I said, I still hope he can get better. We know clearly Davis won't)

I wonder if the Jays slide into irrevelancy will occur before the Maple Leafs season is over - That would be quite a feat.

Checking Brooks Baseball, it appears Dickey had 7 clear strikes called balls in the lower part of the strike zone, plus 3 on the edge of the zone (partially out) called balls.  He also had 1 pitch outsize the strike zone called a strike.  Baltimore's Gonzalez, on the other hand, had 4 on the edge called balls and 3 outsize the zone called strikes.

Cecil had one strike called a ball none the other way, Rogers had no issues either way.

Baltimore's Matusz had a clear strike called a ball, Johnson had a ball called a strike, and Strop had one of each.

So net on the night: Jays had 11 bad calls against, 1 for.  Baltimore 6-5.  So a net of 9 more pitches going against the Jays than for them.  Very poor umpiring as most of those missed calls were clearly strikes.  Yup, I want the robo-ump now.

My speculation on Zaun's reaction to Lind's lineup placement was wrong: he was actually a fan of getting an on-base guy (well, that's what Lind is at the moment) in front of the power hitters. But he did say something interesting, though not terribly accurate: "Lind is hitting well right now". Actually, Lind is walking well right now and his near .400 OBP means that he is contributing offensively. But he's hitting .244 and slugging .317, so the hitting part is not going terribly well. Lind's Lance Blankenship act will serve the team's on-base needs for now but I can't imagine it lasting too long so foreign is it to his true nature.

The team's inability to produce baserunners continues. They are walking at close to a league average rate but continue to be last in the league in singles per game (4.5 vs 5.7 league average). Surprisingly, despite their seeming all-or-nothing batting approach, they are only slightly worse than average in strikeouts per game (8.0 vs. 7.8). Houston is striking out an amazing 10 times per game.

Last night in Colorado, where the Braves swept a doubleheader, the temperature at game time of the first game was 23 degrees.

The Cabrera call was a potentially game-changing play. Instead of an inning-ending K, the Jays should have had a bases-loaded, two-out opportunity.

Still, the Jays need to start securing some leads early on. Enough of yearning for the improbable big hit (or string of hits) late in the game.

A number of comments:

Cabrera was rightfully stopped at 3rd on the triple. Yes, the cut off throw ended up being caught by the pitching backing up, but you can't justify a poor decision based on one result. Most throws would have had him out by 20-30 feet.

Regarding the Sportsnet Pitchtrax, I take it with a grain of salt. I've found it to be notoriously bad, especially on low pitches.

There was a comment about Rasmus not taking 3rd base on the hard hit grounder right at Chris Davis. When Davis caught it, he was prepared to throw to third base and eliminate Rasmus. I cannot blame Rasmus there.

Nice, Chuck.

It now seems clear what Gibbons' thinking was in the 8th.  He was planning to bring DeRosa into the game defensively and save Bonifacio for pinch-running duties in the ninth.  I don't agree with the thinking at all.  DeRosa on 1st nobody out, down a run, calls for Bonifacio as a pinch-runner.  When Strop comes into face Davis, you've got the perfect stolen base situation (Strop isn't fast to the plate- thieves are 5/1 in his career and stealing bases is the one thing Bonifacio does really well).  You can then have Davis bunt Bonifacio over (ideally, of course, you'd have LH bat to pinch-hit for Davis with, but Gibbons doesn't).  Anyways with Bonifacio on second and a Davis bunt moving him to third, the Bautista chopper would have tied the game. I am not saying that it would have worked exactly like this, but you have to give it a go.

The 3-2 strike call on Cabrera to end the eighth was pretty bad.  Strop looked up to the heavens afterwards.  Usually, pitchers do that to thank the almighty for giving them the strength to blow a 98 mph fastball by a behemoth with wrists of steel.  I took that upward gaze as a general expression of gratitude...

Being at the back end of the Jays pen is the definition of 'temporary job' it seems.  Once Laffey gets into a game we'll have seen the 17th pitcher used this season and it isn't even May yet. 

Btw, noticed this in the transactions at B-R: April 22nd: Sold Casper Wells to the Oakland Athletics.  Huh, guess they had no plans to use him or the A's were going to claim him but feared someone else might as well so they offered some cash to the Jays so they'd get something out of him.  FYI: Wells was 0 for 1 in his debut as an A.

oops sorry about the spacing