Prologue

At 3:00 am this morning, little Theodore woke up and decided he wanted to play. For two hours. So he and I played. I figured when he went back to sleep he'd be out for at least three hours and I could get enough sleep to cope with the day. Instead, he woke up again at 6:30, raring to go.

It's okay, I thought, I'll just nap when he does. Well, he napped, but never for longer than 15 minutes at a stretch, and every time he woke up full of beans and energy.

As 10:00 pm approached, I knew I'd need a little extra to get through the game, so I purchased a magic elixir known as the Red Eye: a cup of dark roast coffee with a double shot of espresso in it.

This should explain some of my game notes.

On May 30, the defending Eastern League champion Fisher Cats stood at first place in the EL's Northern Division with a 28-20 record, after winning 6 of their previous 7 games. Today, a few days later, that record is 29-23, with the Cats tied for first place with Portland, to whom they lost last night. But I froze the stats on May 30 to write this report, so that's the snapshot we're using for the May 2005 Fisher Cat review.

Came down to the last pitch, anyways. Your thoughts?

The A's come into this weekend four-game set coming off their first series sweep of the season. Is it the tonic that might send the A's on one of their trademark charges up the standings, or was it simply the case of playing a club -- Tampa Bay, naturally -- that might as well have a "SWEEP ME" sign stuck to the back of their road uniforms this season? I actually think it might be the latter. When was the last time the Jays played a four-game set at Oakland where none of the starting pitching matchups looked particularly daunting?

Sure, Billy Beane has had some awful luck, with injuries and/or poor play plaguing most of his talent. But on the field, the A's have been full value for their sorry last-place standing; the club is 7-9 in one-run games and 7-15 in games decided by four or more runs (they were 5-15 before the visit by T-Bay). The club struggles mightily to hit righthanded pitching, fields an unquestionably subpar starting rotation (at least until Rich Harden returns), and has a badly depleted bullpen. The A's can creep back into contention with simultaneous returns to health and form from most of the roster, but to assert that they definitely will is by no means obviously true.

This week's Scout features a big-league debut of a minor-league star, a fading rookie and a starting pitcher with more important things on his mind.

On to the Advance Scout!

Dunedin had an excellent month in May, and now stand at 32-20, the second best record in the Florida State League. Unfortunately, they play in the same division as the Lakeland Tigers, who possess the best record in the league at 34-17. Still, the gap was closed this month, and with a good run in June, the D-Jays stand a chance at the first-half title.

What can I say about this one?

Not a whole lot, really. It's Frank Catalanotto in the on-deck circle, adjusting his batting gloves:

And my season's record drops to 0-5. Have I mentioned that I'm the only member of the Roster who hasn't written up a Game Report for a win yet? And that includes two losses in spring training.

Okay, I'll stop whining now.

A pair of pitching performances by two pitching people we all have a pair of peepers on. Make that "on which we have peepers," if you don't like ending a sentence with a preposition.

It's an epic Battle in Seattle, as Lex Luthor himself, Gustavo Chacin, takes on the legendary Uruk King, Gil (Ga) Meche. Oh yeah, there's also a ballgame, Blue Jays at Mariners.

Who said "there is no 'I' in 'team,'" anyway? That's what this particular team is all about.

I admit, I thought the Suzy Q's team, with just 43 candidates for roster spots, would end up being the hardest to fill. But then, there are exactly the same number of candidates, 43, for an "All-I," team -- that is, a team made up entirely of players whose last or family name begins with the letter "I." Let's just hope we don't end up with a team of (sorry) I-sores ...

Things are starting to shake out a little bit in the Central.

Pelfrey, Romero, Hochevar, Hansen. You're probably familar with the pitchers at the top of the draft, but the draft doesn't end after the first round.

Much like with the hitters last week here's several pitchers that could be available for the Jays to pick in the third round and beyond.

Shea Hillenbrand seems to have this reputation as a guy who never smiles. He looks like he takes baseball pretty seriously. But on Saturday, May 22nd against the Nationals, he seemed to be having a pretty great time:

The minor league season is approximately one third complete. The half way point will come soon after the draft, a busy time for minor league followers, so this is a good time to have a quick look at how the Jays top prospects are doing. The starting point was Baseball America's top 30 list, Russ Adams and Gustavo Chacin have been excluded, leaving 28 prospects to review. Da Box's Jordan, Mike Green, Rob and yours truly have combined to deliver our report cards on the Jays top prospects.

There is one question to ask. Has the player improved, stayed at the same level, or regressed, in their prospect status? There are three possible answers, Improve, Flat, or Regress. On with the show...

Only one win on the farm. An offensive burst from the Skychiefs, a pitchers duel in Manchester, and a rough night for Danny Core.