Needless to say, Kansas City hasn't kept up their furious pace with which they went into their April series in Toronto. But this week's split of a four-game set at the Metrodome is perfectly respectable for this young club -- a team that still holds a division lead over squads in Minnesota and Chicago, both of whom have taken longer than anticipated to find their groove.

This series has two interesting pitching matchups: Halladay-Affeldt on Saturday, and Kelvim's return, on Sunday. The Royals' entire pitching staff has struggled over the last three weeks; this weekend, the onus will fall on the Jays' pockmarked staff to cut out their frustrating habit of losing games in which their lineup gives them five (or more!) runs of support.

Bill James thinks they're fluky, and the Royals may well come crashing down to earth when they hit the West Coast, starting Monday. Hopefully the Jays can kick-start their descent a bit early this weekend with another solid showing on the road. But oh, all those games against Cleveland and Detroit...the Royals will likely still be at least relevant after the All-Star break, and that's an accomplishment. Maybe Tony Pena's proving the Mike Scioscia Hypothesis true: crafty, annoying ex-catchers make good managers in the clubhouse.

On to the Advance Scout!

Actually, I believe it's called "The Last Word" -- that page of nonsense at the back of the Toronto Sun. Today, noted baseball authority Steve Simmons stoops to new depths in his "review" of an already-notorious title:

J.P. Ricciardi has not accomplished enough in baseball to have a book written about him. Not yet anyway.

But if you want to better understand the Blue Jays general manager -- who remains a local curiosity -- there is required reading available.

The new book is called Moneyball, The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, and any day now it should be in bookstores, explaining the quirky ways of Ricciardi, if not necessarily by name.

Mark Hendrickson has dodged the bullet and remains in the rotation. As long as he's careful with Sweeney, I think Lurch can do well again tonight. He's been excellent in three of his last four starts. Very few Royals have ever seen him, and the same applies for most of the Jays and 23-year-old lefty Chris George.

Carlos Tosca told Jerry Howarth on the radio pregame show that Eric Hinske's wrist is feeling better, and Dave Berg has a stiff neck, which explains why he hasn't been used much lately. Once again, the skipper bats Bordick second; Mike's playing third while Hinske enjoys another night off. Catalanotto makes a rare start against a lefty, because he's 4-for-6 off George.

The Blue Jays hitters got off to a pretty good start against some stingy pitching staffs, so it was expected that their solid offensive production would continue against weaker opposition. That, indeed, has happened: the Jays are now third in the AL in runs per game at 5.71, trailing the Red Sox (6.13) and the Yankees (6.08), but solidly ahead of the homerun-happy Rangers (5.38).

In any given baseball game, the "impossible" can happen. For example, last night the Tigers beat the A's, with Steve Avery getting his first save in 15 years as a pro, and Cleveland, with a rookie pitcher facing Freddy Garcia, beat Seattle. So the D-Rays can win this afternoon, even though their pitcher's ERA has been above 8.00 for the last three years.

Soft-tossing lefty Jim Parque, (maybe) 170 pounds, with a history of arm trouble, had his most promising start in ages last week. It was "only" the Tigers -- keep in mind the Jays have scored more than twice as many runs as Detroit this season -- but he had a no-hitter through six innings. He threw 100 pitches, just 57 for strikes, walking four while striking out just two, as the shutout improved his 2003 ERA to 9.24. Although Parque has had success against Carlos Delgado in the past (1-for-12 with 5 strikeouts) he has generally not been a lefty-killer, so I won't be surprised if Cat and Hinske are also in the lineup.

Instant karma's gonna get you. This article (which I lifted from our friends at Fanhome) lauding Jays pitching prospect Vince Perkins ran in yesterday's Charleston Daily Mail. That night, Perkins got rung up like a Walmart sale: 4 runs on 6 hits and 3 walks in 3 innings (Dick Scott was in the stands; maybe a little stage fright?). That pushed his ERA all the way up to 1.83. No big deal: Vince was overdue for a thumping, and he still struck out 6 in 3 innings. His promotion to Dunedin isn't too far away.

Nonetheless, I think the author of the piece, as well Vince's manager, might be letting their enthusiasm run away with them a tad.

Shannon Stewart was pulled from the game in the ninth after he complained of tightness in both hamstrings.

"He told our trainer he was sore in one leg in the seventh, and then it was both legs in the ninth," Tosca said.

This is exactly what Shannon was trying to avoid by working out with Desai Williams, but it's a chronic problem, and the reason I stopped legging out triples in about 1975. In the same piece, by Mark Zwolinski in today's Star, Cory Lidle admits to concentration lapses late in games, especially with big leads, but also says he's pitching like he did last August. His honesty on both counts is refreshing.

Elsewhere at waymoresports.com, Richard Griffin says the main difference between Rocco Baldelli and Jayson Werth is opportunity. I hope he's right, but I'd make that trade in a heartbeat.

According to Yahoo's postgame summary, Carlos Tosca is quoted as saying that Kelvim Escobar will take Tanyon Sturtze's spot in the rotation. As well, Yahoo reports that Jayson Werth will be sent to Syracuse.

Any word as to who'll be taking Werth's place?

I got an e-mail (well, me and 4,400 other subscribers) from Kevin Goldstein of The Prospect Report, indicating that he's going to be on The Fan 590 tonight circa 9:40 pm Eastern (8:40 pm Central). You can listen online here. I presume that he'll be asked about Blue Jays prospects, so it would be worth tuning in to hear what he has to say.

Eric Neel of ESPN.com scribed this article about Billy Beane and the A's philosophy of stat-driven scouting along with a heavy preference for college players. The piece contains many quotes from other GMs, including a few other "small-market" guys like Terry Ryan of the Twins and everyone's favorite flogging boy, Allard Baird of the Royals. (Nobody mentions J.P. Ricciardi or Keith Law, but we know their philosophies.) The astute BB cabal has discussed many of these issues, and I -- and others, of course; I didn't come up with this notion -- have maintained the absolute key to the A's success is Tim Hudson, Mark Mulder, and Barry Zito. I've said it before, and I'll keep saying it: those guys aren't around, we're not talking about Beane quite so much.

I received this e-mail through gideon@battersbox.ca. I thought it was worth posting here, and inviting any BB readers who wished to do so to visit the site and leave a message.

====

To whom it may concern:

I'm not sure if you are aware of this or not, but on February 22nd, 2003, Carl Riccio, my cousin, a 17-year-old junior at Watchung Hills High School in NJ, broke his neck during a high school wrestling match. Carl was an undefeated wrestler and a star baseball player. This tragedy made headline news across the country. These accidents occur only twice a year in the sporting world.

The newest Skychief gets a rude welcome to AAA, and the hits just keep on coming for the New Haven Lumber Company. Here's the latest farm system news.

Tampa rookie Dewon Brazelton was a 2001 first-round pick (third overall) who got a huge bonus to sign, after going 13-2 in college, with 154 strikeouts and 24 walks in 127 IP. Still only 22, with limited pro experience, the righty faces a tough lineup tonight.

Cory Lidle held the Rangers to four runs in six innings last time, and was superb in his previous effort, a 3-hitter against Anaheim. He's going for his fifth win in six starts.

An interesting piece by our old friend Rich Griffin in yesterday's Star deserves a few comments (none of them venomous). Griffin spoke with Paul Godfrey, who said there'd be no salary dump trades at the end of July and that the Jays would be pushing hard for a balanced schedule in future.

Griffin took from this that Shannon Stewart won't be dealt at the deadline, but I don't think one can assume that. Salary dumps have nothing to do with Shannon, who's on a one-year contract and who will unquestionably be playing elsewhere next season. By contrast, Raul Mondesi and Alex Gonzalez, underperformers locked into long-term deals, were salary dumps of the highest order. Stewart will leave the team in July if he can bring good value in return; if not, he'll be allowed to walk out the same door through which Jose Cruz Jr. strode last winter.

It's a game of inches, and Roy Halladay noticed that his pitching arm was an inch or two too high during his delivery. He corrected that before his start against Anaheim, and it was vintage Doc as a result. Very good news for Toronto; very bad news for the rest of the league.

Halladay and Lidle look to be rounding into shape as reliable #1 and #2 guys for this team. That leaves, potentially, five guys to fill the rest of the rotation: Mark Hendrickson, Tanyon Sturtze, Doug Davis, Kelvim Escobar and Pete Walker. My guess is that Hendrickson goes to long relief and Walker stays in the pen, leaving Sturtze, Escobar and Davis in the 3 through 5 spots. But if I ran the zoo, Sturtze would be in the pen and Hendrickson, who has more upside, would be allowed to build on his two recent strong starts.