Jays overachieving with leaky batting order

With the Jays stumbling to yet another extra innings loss to the Yankees, it's remarkable that the team finds a way to be competitive in every game given the current state of the roster. Not only has there been five rookie starters that have made their major league debut this year (Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil, Brad Mills, Robert Ray, Marc Rzepczynski) which would be hard for any team to overcome, but the batting order leaves a lot to be desired also.

Take the series finale against the Yankees as an example. The last four hitters slotted in the lineup were Randy Ruiz, Edwin Encarnacion, Raul Chavez and Joe Inglett. Add the fact that Lyle Overbay is hitting cleanup and Kevin Millar and/or Jose Bautista appear in half the games, and it becomes crystal clear that this team is overachieving. That batting order is a mishmash of role and bench players, and is not even close to one of a contender, even though each of them have had their moments this year.

It appears as though the Jays are now taking steps toward rebuilding with the departures of B.J. Ryan, Scott Rolen and Alex Rios this season. The organization needs to be shaken up, because with this lineup day in and day out, there simply is no way they can compete with the titans of the American League East in a grueling 162 game schedule.