Edwin Encarnacion: Heart & Soul of the Offence

The name "Encarnacion" literally translates from Spanish to "incarnation". So, if my Babelfish is correctly lodged in my ear, Edwin Encarnacion is "the embodiment of a deity or spirit in some earthly form". 

OK, a bit of a stretch, I know, but still, it drives my point home: through the first 15 games of the season (small sample size alert!), EE has been the Jays' best hitter.

He leads the team in nearly every major statistical category, even stolen bases (3). His 13 RBI puts him among the AL leaders, He hits cleanup against lefties, and probably should be against righties too; he's hitting .341 against them so far.

Unlike the usual "I felt great in spring" bullhonky , a few things have changed for Edwin. His swing is shorter and two-handed, as opposed to the long one of past years where his left hand would fly off on the followthrough. He also eliminated the high leg kick and lost some weight.

And his much-maligned defence has been a non-factor; other than three games at first, E5 has been on DH duty.

What's most surprising - and a sign that this might be for real - is that EE doesn't usually get going until after the All-Star Break. Encarnacion was hitting a paltry .209 / .333 / .374 when he was traded to Toronto in July of 2009, and EE's 1st half splits as a Jay the following two years were...not the best:

2011 - .255 / .283 / .405
2010 - .221 / .304 / .463

His current .323 / .368 / .613 line is likely unsustainable for a whole season, but it's nice to have a presence in the middle of the lineup that isn't a complete muppet (see Lind, Adam).

It wasn't long ago that EE was dubbed one of the worst players in baseball, so as Dean Pritchard might say, it's been quite a journey.

Jays Demote Brett Cecil To Double A, Dirk Hayhurst Is Not 'Avin It

It seems I've read the same two stories about the 2012 Blue Jays all off-season: they're so underrated they're getting overrated, and that the starting rotation is the team's only and glaring weakness.

How these two trains of thought haven't derailed each other is a story for another day - that day being after a few turns through the back of the Jays rotation. But it appears we finally have an answer to the question, "Just who the heck is gonna start behind Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow and Henderson Alvarez?"

That answer: mercifully not Brett Cecil or Aaron Laffey.

Cecil's awful spring was rewarded with a demotion to Double-Ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif New Hampshire and Laffey will presumably be left on the side of road where the Jays found him.

Joel Carreno and his wicked sinker will take Cecil's spot in the rotation for a turn or so, followed by Alvarez and Kyle Drabek. The Jays will likely shift Carreno back to the pen and roll four starters for the rest of the month.

This rotation shuffle seems to sit well with everyone except former Jays pitcher and author extraordinaire Dirk Hayhurst, who's filling up his Twitter feed with how much he disagrees with the move.

While I'm very much looking forward to reading Hayhurst's new book Out Of My League, I must say that said title aptly describes his reasoning.

All Tweets are [sic]'d:

OK, first off, the argument Vegas is where pitchers go to die is dumb.

No, it isn't. A cursory look at the 51s pitching stats from 2011 reveals that the likelihood of Cecil "figuring it out" in Vegas isn't great. Drabek was awful there last year as well.

2nd, busting a guy whose pitched in the Bigs or AAA for the last 3 years to AA is not better for their confidence, it's like saying "not only do we think there is something wrong with you, we KNOW there is. You cant handle AAA in your present state"

It's not LIKE saying that, it IS saying that. Cecil wasn't getting anyone out in spring training, and has no business being part of a rotation that's considered the weak link in a contender.

Young, lefties always have the potential to be something.

True, lefties often hang around forever as relievers, but a guy topping out at 89 as a 25-year-old isn't worth taking a chance on (see Mills, Brad).
I could go on - Hayhurst sure did - but Shi Davidi dropped the hammer on everyone:

Cecil says demotion was expected, that he chose to go to double-A because it gives a truer read of results

Boom, Garfoosed.

Welcome Back, Dewayne Wise!

The Blue Jays turned the clock back to the days when steroid use in baseball was still shrouded in mystery, by bringing back a guy who probably could have used some.

Toronto signed outfielder Dewayne Wise to a minor-league deal on Saturday; he will report to Dunedin for extended spring training, aka "They're paying me to play consequence-free baseball in Florida", aka the best job ever.

Wise was a member of the 2000 Jays (contributing exactly zero homers to that year's club-record of 244) and also played on the '02 team before shuttling off to the National League.

Wise's claim to fame is without question his Mark Buehrle perfecto-saving catch last season for the White Sox.

MLB.com describes Wise as being "primarily known for his outstanding defense", which means he can't hit water if he fell out of a boat.

Still, nice to have you back in the fold, Wisey. Anyone know the whereabouts of Rob Ducey and Chad Mottola?

If Chicks Dig The Long Ball, Then The Jays Are Casanova

Four more jacks today makes it an even 50 for the month of May, setting a franchise record for most homers in a month.

The 2010 Jays are on pace for 267 swats, which would break the all-time single-season record set by Seattle in '97.

While that's perhaps a stretch, the franchise single-season record of 244 (set in 2000) is well within striking distance.

Some of the members of that '00 club: Tony Batista (41), Brad "Pipes" Fullmer (32), Jose Cruz (31), Raul Mondesi (24), and the Original Alex Gonzalez™ (15).

What makes this 2010 outburst even more impressive is that pretty much everyone on that 2000 Jays squad was juicing.

No one will accuse the likes of Jose Bautista (195 pounds) or Aaron Hill (5'11", 205) of being roided up, especially now that steroids have been completely and totally removed from baseball, right?

Anyway, home runs are awesome.

Oh Look, Everyone Cares About Jays Games All Of A Sudden

The city-wide outcry over the G20 summit cockblocking the Roy Halladay Reunion Tour would be amusing, if it weren't so terribly misguided and somewhat pathetic.

I must remind myself that most of the whining and bitching is coming from sports fans and/or those in the sports industry, who by and large aren't the most logical group of people out there.

But it's profoundly irritating and downright insulting to someone like me, a legitimate die-hard Jays fan since I was a toddler, to hear griping from these people.

It's a simple inequality: The G20 Summit > Late June Baseball Games.

We're talking about the leaders of the free world convening to discuss issues that will impact the future of the planet. We're talking about an event that will surpass the Vancouver Olympics in scope. There will be protests. There will be heavy security. There will be massive areas of the downtown Toronto area cordoned off. Not exactly the most ideal circumstances under which to host a series of likely meaningless baseball games.

This childish reaction is to be expected from the largely fairweather fanbase in the GTA; where in the living fuck have you people been the rest of this season, when the Jays were and are struggling to hit 10,000 fans a game? Heck, where were you when Halladay was actually pitching for the Jays? Attendance has been an absolute joke this season, and this pretty much underscores the fact that most Jays fans are only interested in a couple of sexy, trendy series matchups and don't actually care about the team, even when it's winning more games than expected.

For what it's worth, there's only a 60% chance that the Doc would even make a start in Toronto, and based on current rotation projections it's unlikely his turn would be up that weekend. Either way, relax. Halladay will pitch again in Toronto someday; this won't be the last chance for fans to get another glimpse of the best pitcher to ever don the uniform.

The only people with a legitimate reason to complain are the other contenders in the National League, more specifically in the NL East, because the Phillies essentially have been handed three extra home games, which is not an insignificant number.

From their perspective, playing the series in another city would be the best-case scenario, but a neutral site doesn't do much for the Jays organization or for those who've already bought tickets and made plans for that weekend. Paul Beeston & Co. struck a deal with a Phillies organization with which they have a long-standing good relationship, and are prepared to deal with the consequences, whether they're warranted or not.

In the end they made the only decision that would have made sense for the team and for the City of Toronto, and if you don't like it, then you're missing the point.

And if your reaction to this news is to further boycott going to games, then perhaps you shouldn't be a fan at all.

Ike Davis Is White, Brandon Morrow Is Not So Bad, And Boston Is In Trouble

Only one of those statements is 100% true. If you're from Bahston, one of them is 100% false, but fuck those Massholes and their upcoming Jersey Shore ripoff show.

Anyway, the Mets called up Davis, their highly-touted 1B prospect, and promptly inserted him into the starting lineup (where he went 2-for-4 with an RBI), because the trio of bums who've patrolled the position (Mike Jacobs, Fernando Tatis, Frank Catalanotto) have combined for an Overbay-esque .180 AVG with one homer. (That said, the Jays should definitely kick the tires on Jacobs if he hits the waiver wire; you don't hit 32 homers in the major leagues by fluke.)

But the real story here, as mentioned in the header, is that Ike Davis is not a strong safety in the NFL, or a rotation player in the NBA. He is a white baseball player, and has got to be the first white baseball player named Ike in the history of the game.

So good luck, kid. You'll need it at Citi Field.

Some good news out of Blue Jay land, as Brandon Morrow finally showed everyone what he's capable of, taking a no-no into the 6th against the Royals and striking out eight batters through seven innings.

Needless to say, a welcome change from his first two dreadful outings, and all of a sudden a Romero/Marcum/Morrow/Eveland rotation looks pretty nasty (what kind of Jays fan would I be if I didn't wildly extrapolate?) and leaves Brian Tallet as the no-brainer odd man out whenever one of the dudes who is either injured, rehabbing or getting seasoning in Vegas returns. (UPDATE: Tallet's next start is being pushed back due to a sore forearm; hopefully until the 5th of fucking NEVER, amirite?)

And finally, back to Boston. After being swept at the hands of the Rays, the BoSox sit at 4-9 and are tied for the 2nd worst record in the American League.

They were booed early and often during their 8-2 loss to Tampa on Patriots Day, and understandably so: they were 0-for-30 with runners in scoring position in the series, and the rotation has been pounded to the tune of 26 runs in 26 2/3 innings of work in their last five starts.

David Ortiz looks lost at the plate, Jacoby Ellsbury is banged up, and Victor Martinez and Kevin Youkilis are struggling to hit their weight.

Hopefully Theo Epstein was following the Boston Marathon, because he could probably put a bunch of Kenyan distance runners out there and get a better result.

Sure, the Sox won't be this terrible all year, and almost certainly won't finish 4th in the East. But the Yankees are the Yankees, the Rays look scary, and the Jays love to beat up on Boston.

Plus it's still April, so, you know, optimism and all that.

I Like This Fred Lewis Guy Already

You may have heard by now that Fred Lewis is the newest member of the Toronto Blue Jays. What you may not have heard is that you heard it from him first.

This screenshot is of Lewis' Facebook page, about an hour or so before any media outlet reported the news.


I like his moxy. He's not gonna let some crotchety old beat reporter or hot-shot Twitter-phile beat him to the punch. If he's this fast in the social media world, imagine him on the basepaths!

He even changed the little info box on his profile page to read "Blue Jays Outfielder Fred Lewis Is Nothing, But A STUD!" THAT'S GREAT HUSTLE!

Lewis is clearly happy to be out of San Fran and in Toronto (for some reason), so let the man have his moment of glory, before he realizes he's a bench player for a team that can't draw more than 10,000 fans for any game that's not Opening Day or against the Red Sox or Yankees.

Plus check out this glowing endorsement from Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos:

“What he’s done in the past, having been an everyday player before, those are the guys ideally you’d like to fill your bench with, guys with experience. Those are better bench players. We felt it was an upgrade maybe over what we have currently.”

Suck it, Jeremy Reed! See you in Vegas at the end of the month.

The Entire World Conspires Against Ricky Romero

Last night, Blue Jays ace Ricky Romero found himself six outs away from the first Jays no-hitter since Dave Stieb and his sexy stache-mullet combo blanked the Indians in 1990.

And then the collective baseball gods rose up and said, "Nay."

Since I was raised Catholic and know that God works in mysterious ways, I'm not surprised that the baseball gods also subscribe to this doctrine, revealing their dastardly plans in reverse.

First, the man who ended the no-no bid was none other than Alex Rios, the former can't-miss-but-did-miss prospect who the Jays unceremoniously dumped on waivers, who crushed a mistake changeup from Romero into the left field bleachers (Hey, I thought he didn't give a fuck) for a 2-run homer.

Then, upon closer scrutiny of the guy on base for the Rios blast, it was shown that White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski had duped home plate ump Tim McClelland into thinking he had been hit on the foot by Romero's pitch in the dirt, when clearly that was not the case.

Pierzynski is well known as one of the dirtier players in the game, but he got away with one despite his past history, which forced Romero to pitch from the stretch and may have served to rattle him somewhat.

And finally, no story of deception and sabotage would be complete without the "we got a man on the inside" angle, played in this case by new Jays starting catcher John Buck (What kind of name is "John Buck" anyway? He's gotta be a double agent).

Buck was discussing Romero's outing with pitching coach Bruce Walton (which is a no-no, pun not intended) when he glanced at the scoreboard.

"I kind of looked up there I was like, 'Oh my gosh, they don't have any hits,' " Buck said.

And all was lost.

Still, a superb outing from the kid, who clearly has the goods to be the best Jays lefty since Jimmy Key.

And uh, not to jinx it or anything (see what I did there?), but a 6-2 record for tops in the AL East? I'll take it!

(Just get me to the World Cup, Jays, that's all I ask...seriously.)

B.J. Ryan Released, Fans Rejoice

Amidst the Roy Halladay trade buzz/impending apocalypse, a ray of sunshine warmed Jays fans' hearts today, as former closer/current pile of crap B.J. Ryan was given his unconditional release.

It used to be when Ryan entered a ballgame, the reaction was: "Fuck yeah! This game is OVER!" But this year every time Ryan came in from the pen, fans were more like: "Ah fuck. This game is over."

The Beej underwent Tommy John surgery in '07 and has looked like a husk of a shell of his former self since. Ryan was openly frustrated about his role this season, and felt he needed frequent work to regain his rhythm.

Cito Gaston clearly wasn't buying that load of B.S. from B.J.

The team will still have to pay Ryan (wince) $10 million for 2010, but it's a number I'm willing to eat if it means never seeing this fucko pitch for the Jays again.

Replacing Ryan on the roster is current closer and our Lord and saviour Scott Downs, who looks to be recovered from his obsessively-reported toe injury.

Some positive news on a day where the Jays could drop to .500 for what feels like the first time since April. There's hope yet!

J.P. Ricciardi Wants To Ruin The Jays Franchise

Yes, it's early July, and yes, the Jays are pretty much out of the playoff race again.

Six games out of the wild card at the All-Star Break isn't insurmountable, but given the usual gaggle of teams the Jays would have to jump ahead of, it's a much bigger deficit than it appears.

And today the last shred of good will that the team built up from its hot start was erased today, as GM J.P. Ricciardi publicly stated that the team would listen to offers for Roy Halladay.

Ricciardi can cover his ass all he wants with the "We're just listening" statements, but what he's really saying is that the Jays are giving up, and headed towards seller mode.

I don't blame him for being realistic, but trading Halladay would be the worst thing to happen to this franchise in at least 10 years. I don't care what kind of package he gets back; nothing short of the sun, moon, and stars is enough for a pitcher that many consider to be the best in baseball (especially everyone in the A.L. East).

If J.P. can find some sucker to take Vernon Wells and/or Alex Rios off the Jays' hands, by all means do it. But over the past 2-3 years, it's become pretty apparent that no other pitcher on the Jays' roster is at all reliable, and sending away Doc would condemn the team to an ever lower level of mediocrity than in recent years.

I was a big Ricciardi guy when he got here, but since then he has done everything possible to make me dislike him, including the whole saga with my boy Adam Dunn. This would be the final straw.

He's been GM for almost eight years (!) and has virtually nothing to show for it. Second and third place results don't count; I know that's not very Canadian, but fuck that, we haven't won shit.

It's time to let someone else take the controls, before he does the unthinkable and blows this franchise sky high.

Cue The Shea Hillenbrand Quotes

Well, this isn't going well.

Having lost both major-statement games so far not to mention dropping seven straight road games has made the Jays bandwagon much lighter.

This was, of course, inevitable. Everyone not named Alex Rios, Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay wasn't going to keep hitting over .300. Rookie pitchers weren't going to keep confusing major-league hitters. The bullpen wasn't going to remain immaculate all year.

The real problem now is when does the team hit bottom? Certainly dropping two of three to the Orioles might look like bottom, but who knows?

Unlike many apoplectic/apocalyptic/narcoleptic Jays "fans", I shall remain optimistic and list the positives:

1) Six games over .500 is still pretty good, and they're only 1.5 games back despite the losing skid.
2) The pitching is as healthy as it's been all year, with Casey Janssen, B.J. Ryan and Ricky Romero (who's starting tonight) back. Robert (Bobby) Ray and Brett Cecil can go back to the minors where they belong, and hopefully they won't need em again this year.
3) Aaron Hill is still an All-Star.
4) Roy Halladay is still an All-Star.

My prediction: The Jays will be fine. They go 3-2 the rest of the month to finish 15-14 in May, and then perform well in June (Toronto doesn't face an AL East team till Tampa on the 29th).

The ship ain't sinkin yet. It's just taking on a little water.

The Game of the Year (So Far, Again)

I know, I know, I've said all this before and it's still freakin' May, but I'd much rather hype this up than listen to people poo-poo the team's hot start as a mirage.

Let's not forget, the Jays weren't this good this late into the season even when they won back-to-back World Series. You have to go back to 1985 (McFly!) when the Jays won their first AL East division title for a start this hot.

Worst case scenario the Jays will still be in first if they get swept, but winning two of three would increase their lead to 4 1/2 games and put the fear of the Lord (aka Roy Halladay) into Boston and the rest of the East.

The Red Sox send Dirty Tim Wakefield to the mound tonight, which is not great since that dude can mess an offense up for an entire series. But the Jays have a few tricks up their sleeve as well; with Brian Tallet, Brett Cecil and Robert Ray, three guys the Red Sox haven't seen much of (in Tallet's case) or at all.

LET'S GO TO-RAHN-TO! OW-AH TEAM ERA IS BETTAH THAN YO-AH TEAM ERA! NO ONE DENIES THIS!

Halladay vs. Burnett: The Game of the Year (so far)

There's no reason to hype this game any further than it has been already, but it's without question the most important game of the Jays' season up to this point.

The rest of the baseball world (and who are we kidding, most of Toronto as well) still isn't sold on this team being for real, but the opportunity to prove just that is at the Jays' door.

The subplot is of course what the media has hyped as a mentor-versus-student pitching matchup in Roy Halladay vs. A.J. Burnett.

I'm not sure what it says about Burnett that in his 11th year in the big leagues, he claims to have learned more from Halladay than anyone else (Brad Arnsberg is sobbing softly in a corner of the Jays clubhouse right now) given that he had seven successful (albeit injury-filled) season before coming to Toronto and meeting Halladay.

What this does confirm, however, is that anyone who actually knows pitching knows that Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in the American League, if not the majors. I've heard Derek Jeter and Joe Torre echo that sentiment every time the Yankees face
him (Doc is 15-5 with a sub-3 ERA and two shutouts vs. New York in his career, so they know all about how nasty he can be).

Meanwhile Burnett might need to pick Doc's brain a little more, as his numbers so far this year aren't exactly Halladay-esque; he's sporting an ERA well over 5 through six starts.

And if any team knows how A.J. pitches, it's the Jays.

The offense teeing off on Burnett combined with a vintage Doc performance will not only evoke a bunch of lame student-master Star Wars bullcrap moments, but also send a huge statement to the rest of the American League that the Jays aren't going anywhere.

The atmosphere at the Dome should be at its highest in years, and I look forward to witnessing that in person, even if it means paying an extra three bucks for upper deck seats for a "Premium" game (I'll be going to sit in more expensive seats like I do every game anyway; I consider buying a 500 level ticket to be General Admission).

Halladay and the red-hot Jays! Burnett and the hated Yankees! Scores of fairweather drunk Jays fans! Almost as many upstate-New York loudmouth drunk Yankees fans!

Not having to listen to Jamie Campbell undoubtedly kill the mood with his buffoonery!

First pitch 7:07 PM! Let's get it on!

21-12

WARNING: Multiple Rush references ahead. Read this post at your own risk.

The Jays scored early and often on Oakland, leaving A's starter Sean Gallagher in tears.

Adam Lind was clutch once again, teaching us all lessons in how to bring runners home (Lindsy's in the top 5 in the AL in RBIs, dontcha know).

Brian Tallet was stellar (side note: look at the guy, dude's probably a huge Rush fan), providing a nice passage to the bullpen.

Scott Downs was shaky for the first time all year, which made you wonder if we were in the twilight zone, but Downsy wriggled out of trouble.

It would have been nice to be in a position to sweep the A's, but you can't get something for nothing.

ATTENTION ALL TEAMS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
ATTENTION ALL TEAMS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
ATTENTION ALL TEAMS OF THE AMERICAN LEAGUE EAST
WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL
WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL
WE HAVE ASSUMED CONTROL

18-9 And Feelin' Fine

Two more accomplishments in this early and unbelievable and unbelievably early 2009 Jays season:

- First series sweep; thanks Baltimore for settling who the worst team in the AL East will be, no matter what happens the rest of the way for the Jays.

- Responding when faced with real adversity; dropping three of four to the Royals could have sent the team into a tailspin, and instead they bounce back in a big way.

Plus Alex Rios and Vernon Wells went yard in the same game for the second time this season, which is already two more times than all of 2008.

And thanks to the Dome and its waterproof roof, the Jays won't be scrambling to make up rainouts later in the season, which can go a long way. That's rare praise for the Rogers Cavern but it's pretty much the only good thing you can say about it nowadays (that and cheap hot dog nights).

Up next are two at home against a struggling Cleveland club and then a five-game west coast roadie in L.A. and Oakland; three straight series against below .500 clubs.

This team could have 25 or even 30 (!) wins by Victoria Day. Wow.

Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday!

Blue Jays! Rangers! $5 tickets! $1 hot dogs! Halladay on the mound! No alcohol!

...Um, wait, that last one's not a good thing.

Anyway, see you at the game, which will be as dry as Chicago in the 20s (in that everyone was still drunk somehow).

More Reasons To Be Excited About The 2009 Toronto Blue Jays

- The Jays will have two rookies in their rotation (Scott Richmond and Ricky Romero) for the first time in team history.

- Closer B.J. Ryan has totally lost his velocity and may totally lose his job. Perhaps he has Scott Downs Syndrome? (Shameless fantasy team name plug)

- The one other guy with recent closing experience (Jeremy Accardo) got sent down, so that we could keep Jason Frasor and Shawn Camp.

- The bench includes Kevin Millar and Michael Barrett.

Home opener is on Monday! Tickets are in all likelihood still available!