LATEST TEAM INFO
The Jays have been struggling once again, going 7-13 in the month of August. Injuries, injuries, injuries, isn't that always the way. With Carlos Delgado and Jose Cruz on DL the Jays are hurting for power. During Tuesday night's extra inning game against KC, the Jays got 16 hits, all singles. That kind of anemic power just doesn't cut it for an American league team.
Rookies Vernon Wells and Eric Hinske are still pulling their own, putting up great numbers and making timely hits. But honestly, is Chris Woodward really a cleanup hitter?
Catcher turned DH Josh Phelps has been erratic, hitting a smattering of home runs, but striking out way to much. Delgado's replacement at first base, Brian Lesher, hasn't given the Jays very much in the way of offense and has found himself riding the pine in favour of the multi talented Dave Berg.
The pitching staff has looked much better than they did in the first half of the season. Guys like Pete Walker and Cliff Politte are coming into their own with the team. But the loss of Chris Carpenter yet again is a big blow. Justin Miller has been called up to take his place in the rotation and has been effective, although limited in innings.
The Jays are hoping to get Delgado back this weekend sometime while Cruz is probably out for another few weeks and possibly the season. Now's as good a time as any to let OF Dewayne Wise show his stuff in the field. If he can get his average up, he can be a real force in the outfield with his defensive instincts.
ON THE FARM
If baseball goes into September, Blue Jays fans will get a chance to see some pretty decent minor leaguers get a chance to play in the big leagues. Former starting short stop Felipe Lopez is once again tearing up Triple A hitting .353 in 30 games since being sent down to Syracuse.
Another guy to watch for is Jayson Werth. He's catching at the moment because Kevin Cash is injured, has been playing alot in the outfield and stealing bases at a rate the big club would love to see from it's regulars. Werth also is showing some power boasting 16 home runs and 71 RBIs to this date.
QUICK VIEW
ADD: 2B Orlando Hudson - I said it before, but this guy can walk the walk. He's hitting and fielding like a pro and looks to remain in a prominent hitting position for the rest of the season
DROP: OF Jose Cruz Jr. - He won't be back for another couple of weeks and even then, it doesn't make much sense for the Jays to play him when there are a glut of OFs in the minors they would prefer to get a look at. Jose is probably done for the year.
HOLD: SP Roy Halladay - Duh! He got roughed up last night, but not to worry, he's solid, don't panic and go trying to unload him.
TRADE: It's too late, the trading deadline is past in most leagues. If you can get him, try to snag Delgado, he's not going to be happy about having been sidelined and watch for him to take it out on American League pitching.
LATEST TEAM INFO
The tale of the Toronto Blue Jays is a tale of peaks and valleys. Coming off the All Star break, the Blue Jay bats exploded, carrying the team to a 9-3 record for the two weeks following the break.
The pitching has picked it up too. All Star calibre outings from Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter renewed the Blue Jays' visions of a young talented Oaklandesque pitching staff to build on.
Then along came Minnesota. Touted as the battle of the titans, the two teams with the best record after the break met head to head. The Twins proved the more titanic of the two, and showed the Blue Jays why they were on top of the AL Central. Winning with solid pitching and timely hits, the Twins were a force to reckond with and swept the Jays in their three game series.
Coming down from their former high, the Jays packed their bags and headed to Kansas City where even a solid eight inning outing by Chris Carpenter wasn't enough to down the red hot Paul Byrd.
With Byrd out of the picture, the Blue Jays started back up the mountain, beating up on the Kansas City pitchers for 13 runs the very next night. Pete Walker managed to hold the Royals to 3 runs over 5 innings before handing things over to the bullpen. Heredia, Thurman and Prokopec held the Royals hitless over the next three innings until Scott Cassidy allowed a run on two hits to close out the ninth.
That game was followed up with another thumping in a nine run outing behind the recovering Steve Parris. Parris allowed only one run over six innings and the bullpen held the Royals to just one run over the last three innings to pick up the win.
The final game of the Kansas City series had the ball back in the hands of Ace Roy Halladay. Not much to tell, he held the Royals one earned run over seven innings and gave it over to Politte and Escobar to tidy up.
Returning to the SkyDome last night, the Jays lost a heart breaker, taking a two run lead into the ninth after having been up by seven at one point. Kelvim Escobar gave up a three run homer to Gary Matthews, sealing the Jays fate for the evening. This only adds to speculation that Escobar could soon lose his job of closer to the up and coming Cliff Politte. And with Luke Prokopec establishing himself as a reliable setup man, a move could come sooner rather than later.
LOCAL PERSPECTIVE
Toronto fans are now used to ups and downs of their MLB franchise. The performances of the young starting pitchers are the most exciting elements of the Blue Jays team. But the emergence of Vernon Wells along with Eric Hinske is giving us all something to cheer about. There is talk of contending as early as next season, but that might be wishful thinking.
The trading deadline came and went with little fanfare in Toronto. GM J.P. Riccardi made it clear to Blue Jays fans that he had successfully dumped enough salary to get things under control and no more deals would be made without getting solid value in return. I guess the rest of baseball wasn't interested making fair deals with a team that had been giving away the store only weeks earlier.
Riccardi will most likely wait until the current labour disputes work themselves out before commiting to deals. That's the only way to get real value for the veteran Blue Jay talent. The only deal that may still be in the makings is one that would send Escobar to a contender. His days as the Blue Jays closer are numbered and someone could use his talents in their bullpen.
QUICK VIEW
ADD: 2B Orlando Hudson - After a rocky start with the big club, this minor league All Star is hitting .280 with a triple and four RBIs in 25 at bats. Hudson is entrenching himself at second base and with Joe Lawrence securely back in triple A having cleared waivers, Hudson will be given ample opportunity to show why he O-dog is out of the doghouse for good. Look for him to move up in the order as his OBP improves.
DROP: C Darrin Fletcher - He retired. (Not that anyone was carrying him anyway)
HOLD: RP Cliff Politte - His number is quickly coming up, he will be the closer before the end of this season, whether Escobar is traded or moved to a less stressful, long relief position.
TRADE: RP Kelvim Escobar - I said this in my last report, but as long as he is the closer, he has value. He won't be for the rest of the season, so get that value for him while you can!
