We're Going Streaking!

As I sit down to write this, the Jays are on an 11 game run, which ties the franchise record.  They are also down 4-0 in the 6th inning.

The plan was to have a running diary of this bad boy as they go for 12, but apparently I can't work my PVR.  So.......let's pick it up with nobody on in the top of the 6th, 2 out. 

Starting Lineups

Toronto Blue Jays
LF Melky Cabrera (S)
RF Jose Bautista (R)
DH Edwin Encarnacion (R)
1B Adam Lind (L)
CF Colby Rasmus (L)
C J.P. Arencibia (R)
3B Maicer Izturis (S)
2B Emilio Bonifacio (S)
SS Munenori Kawasaki (L)

RHP Esmil Rogers

Tampa Bay Rays
LF Matt Joyce (L)
2B Ben Zobrist (S)
DH Luke Scott (L)
3B Evan Longoria (R)
1B James Loney (L)
RF Wil Myers (R)
CF Sam Fuld (L)
C Jose Lobaton (S)
SS Yunel Escobar (R)

RHP Jeremy Hellickson

8:45 - Jays have one hit thus far......not a great sign.  Rogers also gave up BACK TO BACK TO BACK JACKS! in the 2nd.  Um, I guess I'm kind of glad the PVR didn't work. Bautista pops up.

8:47 - Looking back at the box score, it appears Rogers has not had his best stuff tonight.  3 BB only 2 SO and the 3 HR's. 

8:48 - Will Myers alert!  Remember prospects will break your heart:

http://jeffsoutoftheblue.blogspot.ca/2013/05/prospects-will-break-your-heart-ballad.html

.......until they hit an 0-2 breaking ball into centrefield for a clean single.  And he's only 22????  Damn.

8:49 - Will Myers thrown out on a missed hit and run, but he should have been called safe.  We will take it.  Off to the 7th.

8:53 - Man, Gregg Zaun is a complete moron.

8:55 - Jeremy Hellickson is not this good.  But it's baseball; the breaks can't go the Jays way forever.

8:56 - 2 out.  That was quick.  Apparently it's also game 6 of the Stanley Cup tonight?  Perhaps that would have been a better option.

9:00 - Rasmus still at the plate and battling.  He is slowly turning into a very good player.  He might never be a superstar, but he is quietly improving.

9:02 - Ramus draws his 3rd walk of the night after 11 pitches.

9:02 - Conversely....here comes JP!  Will he see more than 3 pitches?  I doubt it!

9:03 - He swings at the first two pitches.  Both would have been called balls.  A.J. can't come quick enough.  I mean his name is A.J.  How can this go wrong?  Oh right.

http://blogs.thescore.com/djf/2013/06/21/who-is-a-j-jimenez/

9:06 - Arencibia strikes out for the 415th time this season.

9:07 - I guess I should say something positive about this streak while it is still alive.  It has been a hell of a run, but not really surprising.  I mean I'm wrong all the time, see: Lind, Adam, but I was 100% confident that this team would win 10 or more in a row at least once this season, I just didn't know when. 

9:09 - Here's Juan Perez on to pitch the 7th.  Perez is probably a candidate along with Muni, McGowan, Wagner and Loup to be sent down once Reyes comes back.  You can't send down Wagner with the way he's throwing and the Jays have invested too much time in McGowan to try and pass him through waivers.  I would send Muni down, but if I had to move a pitcher, it would be Loup or Perez.  So this could be a pretty important outing for Perez.

9:12 - You can't, and shouldn't, teach these pitching mechanics.  Arms and hips flying all over the place.  I half expect Perez's arm to fly off on the next pitch.

9:16 - Perez give up a hit, but then he yelled "OBAMA" and Luke Scott got angry and popped out to end the inning.

http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/12/08/luke-scott-obama-does-not-represent-america-he-was-not-born-here/

9:21 - The Jays are giving me nothing to work with here.  Alex Torres is dealing and the Jays are down to their last 5 outs.

9:22 - Bonifacio hits a 20 hopper up the middle for an infield single.  In comes De Rosa to pitch hit for Kawasaki.  BUT WAIT HE'S OUR BEST PLAYER???? HOW CAN GIBBY NOT LET HIM HIT - said the idiot who will been calling Wilner in a hour or so.

9:24 - Hmmmmmm a walk.  2 on, 1 out for the top of the lineup.  C'mon Melkman!

9:27 - A little looper and the bases are loaded for Bautista.  If we ever get a dog, I may name him "little looper".  As I was writing that, Bautista swings at the first pitch and grounds into an out; a run scores.  EE then flies out, threat over.

9:30 - Gregg Zaun confirms he is still a moron.

9:34 - Black Magic time!  Is it just me or has Oliver put on about 10 or 15 pounds so far this season?

9:35 - Don't worry folks, everything is back to normal.  Romero gave up 5 ER in 3.1 innings tonight for the Bisons. Phew! I thought we were going to have a pitching controversy.

9:38 - Well last call, here at the Trop. Here's comes Rodney on for the save....hmmmmm....how did this end last time?

http://jeffsoutoftheblue.blogspot.ca/2013/05/that-was-awesome.html

9:39 - By the way, Tropicana field looks like the most depressing place to ever watch a baseball game.

9:40 - I wonder if Rays fans feel about Rodney the same way I feel about Lawrie?  Lind K's.

9:43 - Rasmus K's.  Jays down to their final out.

9:46 - Arencibia works the count and gets a two out hit.  Did I just type that?

9:47 - Game over. Streak over.  Time to start another one.  I guess a running dairy was a horrible idea.  Sorry.

10 Game Report #7 - It's a numbers game

Last 10 games: 8 - 2
Overall: 34 - 36
Projected Finish: 79 - 83
The numbers are starting to improve and the wins are following in bunches!  So let's have some fun with numbers, Jeopardy style. Ed Note: Must watch clip below

The Answer: 1, 0, 1, 1, 3, 7, 5, 1, 0, 1, 0, 0, 2
 

The Question: How many earned runs have the Blue Jay starters given up in each of their starts since June 4th (a span of 13 games)?

The only blips are the 7 run fog-crapball from Dickey in Chicago and the 1st Wang start which they actually ended up winning.  Shocking how great starting pitching can lead to wins.

A: .186 and Buffalo
Q: What was Lind hitting this time last year and where was he playing?

A: .342

Q: What is Lind hitting this year?

I'm very happy to have been wrong about Lind.  I would have jettisoned him a long time ago.  Apparently I don't know baseball.

A: .238 & .257

Q: What are Rajai Davis' Batting Averages in his two years with the Blue Jays

 

A: .301

Q: What is Rajai currently hitting?

 

Gibby is being smart and is not using him too much against RHP. Gibby getting the most out of his 4th outfielder.

A: 260.1
Q: How many innings has the Blue Jays bullpen pitched thus far?

Most in the majors, but they have done a TREMENDOUS job picking up the starting staff which floundered for the first two months of the season.  The most important job for a Manager?  Managing the bullpen.  Gibby master of the bullpen.

A: 10
Q: How many games has Jose Reyes played this year?

The Jays most important off-season acquisition and arguably their most important player has only played 10 games.....and he will be back any day now.  Things are looking up!

A: .137
Q: What are opponents hitting (or not hitting as it may be) against Brett Cecil?

Best number in baseball.  I repeat, Brett Cecil has the lowest opponents batting average for a reliever in baseball.  Goggles!

A: 11
Q: How many XBH's does Brett Lawrie have in approximately a quarter of a season's worth of AB's

I think his swing is broken, but fixable.  A healthy Lawrie (circa 2011) would take this team to the next level.

A: .523
Q: What is the average winning % of the Blue Jays opponents thus far?

They have had the hardest schedule in all of baseball by a large margin.  It doesn't get a whole lot easier, but July does provide a couple of weaker teams and hopefully some easy victories.

A: 15
Q: How many HR's has Arencibia hit this year?

A: 13 : 1
Q: What is Arencibia's K:BB ratio?

He has hit more HR's than any other catcher in the majors, but his K's and his walk rate are ridiculous.  I can't decide how much (if any) he is helping this team.  WAR has him barely above replacement level.

A: 29,988
Q: What is the Jays average attendance thus far?

It has been a long time since they have averaged over 30K a game.  This number will likely rise based on their better play of late and the warmer weather.

A: 30
Q: At his current pace, how HR's will Colby bang out this year?

This one shocked me.  Quietly having a very good year.  He doesn't need to be an all-star.  He plays solid D, runs the bases extremely well and is producing at the plate.

A: 0
Q: How many wins does Josh Johnson have?

A: 10
Q: How many strikeouts did Josh Johnson have in his last start while going 7 shutout innings?

A: 18 or 19
Q: How many more starts will Johnson have this year.......IF he stays healthy?

A: 61
Q: How many times has Edwin taken the parrot for a walk since the beginning of last season?

2nd most in all of baseball, two behind Miguel Cabrera.

Yes, things are looking up my friends, things are looking up!

This is not for you.....but I'm happy to share

This blog isn’t for you; it’s for me.  It’s for me because I needed an outlet for my random Jays thoughts.  I had previously been bugging friends over email and in my baseball pools with my limited analysis and fan euphoria, but it wasn’t fair to them.  I mean I can be quite tiresome.

I also decided to blog for the season because I legitimately believed this would be the year.  A Special Year

http://jeffsoutoftheblue.blogspot.ca/2013/02/out-of-blue.html

I may have been wrong about that.  We haven't yet thrown in the towel, but as Rocky & Apollo showed us, you shouldn't hold it too long.

Rocky Balboa - Champ, I have to stop you. This fight's finished.  I have to call it.  Champ, you can't do no more out there.

Apollo Creed - I'm here to fight.

Rocky Balboa - He's killing you. I have to stop it.

Apollo Creed - I'm here to fight.  Promise me you won't stop this fight.

Broadcasters - That was a pulverizing round for the ex-champion.  Ivan Drago is definitely for real.

Apollo Creed - Don't stop this fight no matter what.

Broadcasters - Creed comes out for round two, dancing around.  The legs appear to be  still a little rubbery.  Now it is the Russian just standing there.  The Russian trying to intimidate Creed.  The Russian throws a right hand  and staggers Creed!  Another right to the jaw!  A left to the head! Creed is being pounded  without mercy!

Mary Anne Creed - Stop the fight!

Broadcasters - The referee tries to step in, and he's thrown across the ring!

Duke - Throw the towel!

Broadcasters - I have never seen Apollo take so much punishment!

Duke - Throw the damn towel!

 

 

In any event, I’m happy to share my obsessiveness with others, but really this space is just for my own shits and giggles. Hence the fact I am not focused on a perfectly grammatically correct blog and tedious proof reading. It is simply a stream of consciousness type thing.  Looking at you Cook!

Given the above, I give very little thought to “borrowing” ideas or photos from other sources and that’s wrong.  So here is a partial list of who I regularly read.  I recommend them all.

My absolute number one read is Drunk Jays Fans run by Andrew Stoeten. I’ve been following them from the beginning, and it is the best Jays blog out there.  I highly recommend checking it out every day.

http://blogs.thescore.com/djf/

Other Blue Jays fan blogs I sometimes visit include:

http://taoofstieb.blogspot.ca/

&

http://mopupduty.com/

Getting Blanked is sort of the sister blog to DJF in that it was started by Dustin Parkes (Co-founder of DJF) but is focused on the rest of MLB.  Now edited by Drew Fairservice with numerous contributors, it is well done and feels local (in a good way) but covers everything baseball related.

http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/

On a more mainstream scale, check out SI.com (Jay Jaffee is excellent) and ESPN on a regular basis. The Sweetspot blog by David Schoenfield is an old reliable.
 
http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot

It was formerly run for years by Rob Neyer who has now moved over to SB Nation.  Rob is a pioneer.

http://www.sbnation.com/authors/rob-neyer

Other essential sites include:

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/index.jsp?c_id=tor - Obviously

Plus check out Gregor Chisolm's blog

http://gregorchisholm.mlblogs.com/

FanGraphs – You can spend a lot of hours on this site. A lot of hours.....

http://www.fangraphs.com/

Baseball Reference - Another great time thief

http://www.baseball-reference.com/

MLBTR – Um yeah, I must check this thing a million times in the off-season and near the trade deadline

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

 
Cot's Baseball Contracts which is part of Baseball Prospectus.  The go-to source for contract details. 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/

Lastly, the local Toronto mainstream media have their pluses and minuses, but each of the following have something to offer:

John Lott - National Post

Bob Elliott - Toronto Sun

Richard Griffin - Toronto Star

Jeff Blair - Globe and Mail

Mike Wilner, Dirk Hayhurst & Shi Davidi - Sportsnet

You can also follow almost all of the above on Twitter. 

Remember, I’m happy to have you check it out, but......

 but I'm happy to share.

New Energizer!! - It'll surprise ya!

I have thought about this guy, approximately once a year, for the past 25 years.  He will just suddenly pop into my thoughts for seemingly no reason at all.

Yeah, I'm a weird guy and this is a bit of a weird, disjointed post, but give me a moment of your time.

The guys above is Mark "Jacko" Jackson, who is a former Australian rules footballer.  After his football career, he became notable for his television appearances, namely the Energizer commercials in the mid 80's.  He typically would scream and yell about the benefits of Energizer batteries.  To a 10-year old Jeff Lewis is was an amazing marketing campaign.  To the adult Jeff Lewis, the commercials make absolutely no sense.  Obviously they were playing off the sudden popularity of the Crocodile Dundee movies and everything Australian, but why would this screaming lunatic make me more likely to choose Energizer over Duracell?  Quite frankly it makes me question the common sense of the people running Energizer.

In any event, I think about Jacko every now and then and yesterday was one of those days.

I had just returned from our fantastic Vancouver vacation.  While I was away, some things went right and some things went wrong for the Jays. I'm not going to rehash it all now.  However on the flight home I found out the Jays had called up Dustin McGowan.  They also cut ties with no-hit Henry Blanco and called up Josh Thole.  Lastly, the Jays have also gone out and signed Chien-Ming Wang.  The McGowan move warms the heart and you hope for the best.  The Blanco move was a long time coming; he simply wasn't adding any value to the roster.  He could catch Dickey, but that was about it.  Thole can catch Dickey, add a LH bat to the bench and spell Arencibia before he drops dead from exhaustion.  The Wang move is the Jays trying to catch lightning in a bottle.  It may not work, but there is zero risk to the move.  They need a 5th starter so might as well give the former all-star a start or two.

These are the moves of a team not ready to give up on the season.  AA is trying fill in the holes as best he can. I for one look forward to watching this slightly revamped team over the coming weeks.  And it has started well.  A quick win Friday against the Rangers followed by another quick win yesterday .......wait......IT TOOK 18 INNINGS AND OVER 6 HOURS!!!!!

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=330608114&teams=texas-rangers-vs-toronto-blue-jays

Yes, yesterday was the longest game in Blue Jays history, and that is why I thought of Jacko.  I thought of Jacko because a few people on twitter referred to it as the "game that kept going, and going" much like this guy.

But when I think of the bunny I (unfortunately) think of Jacko.  So there you have it.  You decide for yourself, does this nutbar make you wanna buy some batteries?

Um, yeah I warned you it was going to be weird and disjointed.

10 Game Report #6 - This is your report

Last 10 games: 5 - 5

Overall: 26 - 34

Projected Finish: 70 - 92

I've been in Vancouver for a week with the family and we just got home. Lots of Jays stuff to write about (mostly positive) but that will have to wait a day or two........so.....um, hey we are on pace to win 70 games!!! Whoopty doooo!!! 

This is your report.  Goodnight.