Did Lyle Overbay ever pick the right time to crank a game winning 2 run home run! With two out and a man on base, the 1st baseman lifted an Dan Giese offering over the wall in right centre to cap off a thrilling 4-2 Jays victory in 12 innings...
Having seen his playing time reduced (to starting exclusively against only right handed pitching) Overbay has responded brilliantly. He went 2 for 4 in this one with the winning 2 run bomb, a double, scoring the tying run, and drew a pair of walks. Since the reduction in his at-bats, Overbay has gone 6 for 16, increasing his batting average from .200 to .290, to go along with 2 home runs and 6 RBI in his last 3 games...
Having squandered several opportunities to put this game away, the Blue Jays seemed destined to repeat what they did almost exactly one year ago. They suffered a crushing sweep at the hands of the Athletics at home in a series that left the team in a downward spiral for weeks. But with the aid of an improved Overbay, the Jays came out on top and with a win Sunday, they will improve their record to a sterling 10-4...
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Heads up baserunning by Scutaro nearly leads to victory
Marco Scutaro is having a fantastic start to his 2009 campaign. He leads Major League Baseball with 15 runs and has a solid .306 average to go along with 4 home runs and 10 RBI. But what Scutaro did in the 9th inning of Saturday's ball game against the A's gives a deeper and more meaningful look into why he's a key cog for the Blue Jays...
Deadlocked in a 2-2 affair in the 9th inning, Scutaro walked (his 3rd time on base in the contest.) Aaron Hill followed with a long fly out to centre. Scutaro alertly tagged up from first base and managed to make it into 2nd safely on the play. The following pitch, he swiped third base rather easily, leaving him 90 feet away from scoring the winning run. His heads up base running nearly resulted in a Jays victory, had Alex Rios, Vernon Wells or Adam Lind been able to come up with the clutch game winning hit...
Though it will go largely unnoticed (mainly because he didn't wind up scoring the winning run), Scutaro's intelligent base running illustrates why he's such a valuable member to the ball club...
Deadlocked in a 2-2 affair in the 9th inning, Scutaro walked (his 3rd time on base in the contest.) Aaron Hill followed with a long fly out to centre. Scutaro alertly tagged up from first base and managed to make it into 2nd safely on the play. The following pitch, he swiped third base rather easily, leaving him 90 feet away from scoring the winning run. His heads up base running nearly resulted in a Jays victory, had Alex Rios, Vernon Wells or Adam Lind been able to come up with the clutch game winning hit...
Though it will go largely unnoticed (mainly because he didn't wind up scoring the winning run), Scutaro's intelligent base running illustrates why he's such a valuable member to the ball club...
Tallet strong in first start since 2006
Brian Tallet performed admirably in his first start since 2006 Saturday against the Athletics. Get used to Tallet being on the bump every five days for the foreseeable future...
Having filled the role of long reliever in the first week and a half of the season, Tallet joined the Jays rotation after righty Jesse Litsch went to the disabled list with a forearm injury. Tallet didn't seem to be out of place at all, putting together a strong outing in the Blue Jays thrilling 4-2 victory...
The southpaw lasted 5.1 innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned), while giving up just 4 hits and tossing one strikeout. This marked his longest outing in almost 6 year...
Tallet will likely be a member of the rotation until May, assuming he doesn't completely falter with the absence of Litsch and Casey Janssen (who is also still on the D.L.) Toronto would like prospects Brett Cecil and Brad Mills to log more innings in AAA before they promote them to the big club. If Tallet continues to pitch the way he did against Oakland, it might be a little while longer for the young guns to get their call up to the show...
Having filled the role of long reliever in the first week and a half of the season, Tallet joined the Jays rotation after righty Jesse Litsch went to the disabled list with a forearm injury. Tallet didn't seem to be out of place at all, putting together a strong outing in the Blue Jays thrilling 4-2 victory...
The southpaw lasted 5.1 innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned), while giving up just 4 hits and tossing one strikeout. This marked his longest outing in almost 6 year...
Tallet will likely be a member of the rotation until May, assuming he doesn't completely falter with the absence of Litsch and Casey Janssen (who is also still on the D.L.) Toronto would like prospects Brett Cecil and Brad Mills to log more innings in AAA before they promote them to the big club. If Tallet continues to pitch the way he did against Oakland, it might be a little while longer for the young guns to get their call up to the show...
Alex Rios needs to wake up!
In the opening two weeks of the season, the Blue Jays are tearing the cover off of the ball. The team leads the American League in most statistical categories offensively, aided by the strong play of Adam Lind, Aaron Hill, and Marco Scutaro, among others. However, there is one batter that's lagging behind, and that's Alex Rios...
The 2-time All-Star looks completely lost at the dish. His swing is too long, he is out on his front foot a lot of the times, which is affecting his ability to drive through the ball. He is not seeing the ball at the release point well whatsoever. Rios is inching closer toward dropping below an average of .200! After another pitiful performance at the plate Saturday, in which he went 1 for 5, the concern is growing deeper in Toronto. Rios has just 6 RBI this year, 4 of which came in the same contest. His only saving grace is the hot start to the season by the rest of the team. If the club goes into a tail spin, he'll surely bear the brunt of the blame...
Come on Rios, wake up!
The 2-time All-Star looks completely lost at the dish. His swing is too long, he is out on his front foot a lot of the times, which is affecting his ability to drive through the ball. He is not seeing the ball at the release point well whatsoever. Rios is inching closer toward dropping below an average of .200! After another pitiful performance at the plate Saturday, in which he went 1 for 5, the concern is growing deeper in Toronto. Rios has just 6 RBI this year, 4 of which came in the same contest. His only saving grace is the hot start to the season by the rest of the team. If the club goes into a tail spin, he'll surely bear the brunt of the blame...
Come on Rios, wake up!
Michael Barrett injured; prospect Arencibia to get the call?
In the 4th inning debacle on Friday by starter David Purcey, the southpaw unleashed a wild pitch allowing the tying run to score. Catcher Michael Barrett tried to gun down Bobby Crosby at the plate, but in the process, injured his shoulder. It's an unfortunate situation for Barrett, because he had just worked his way back from a near career ending injury last season after he fouled a pitch off his face...
This injury, which will undoubtedly put Barrett on the disabled list, could have a ripple effect on the Blue Jays farm system. Upon first blush, it'd be great to see catching prospect J.P. Arencibia called up from AAA to take Barrett's spot. However, the more likely scenario is called up veteran Raul Chavez to take his spot. Chavez nearly beat out Barrett for the backup catcher's job in the spring. A somewhat surprising decision could be to bring up Brian Jeroloman from AA New Hampshire, because he is considered a very good defensive catcher, one that could very well back-up Arencibia in the not so distant future. Why not get his feet wet now?
This injury, which will undoubtedly put Barrett on the disabled list, could have a ripple effect on the Blue Jays farm system. Upon first blush, it'd be great to see catching prospect J.P. Arencibia called up from AAA to take Barrett's spot. However, the more likely scenario is called up veteran Raul Chavez to take his spot. Chavez nearly beat out Barrett for the backup catcher's job in the spring. A somewhat surprising decision could be to bring up Brian Jeroloman from AA New Hampshire, because he is considered a very good defensive catcher, one that could very well back-up Arencibia in the not so distant future. Why not get his feet wet now?
What happened to Brandon League?
Even more than Blow Jay Ryan aka B.J. Ryan, Brandon League has been the biggest bust in the Jays 2009 season. What has gotten into him, is he hurt? A trip to the disabled list might be in his future. Or has he simply lost his confidence? Either way, after Friday's pathetic performance against the Athletics, the team likely has no faith in him going forward...
It truly is a shame too, because League seemed to be ready to bust out to be an integral part of the Jays already stout bullpen. However, the 2001 second round draft pick has flamed out thus far. He took the loss, coughing up 3 runs in the 7th & 8th innings against the Athletics. In just 6 innings of work, League has issued 6 earned runs. That is simply awful. A demotion to AAA, or, as previously mentioned, a visit to the disabled list might be in store for the young flamethrower. What a shame...
It truly is a shame too, because League seemed to be ready to bust out to be an integral part of the Jays already stout bullpen. However, the 2001 second round draft pick has flamed out thus far. He took the loss, coughing up 3 runs in the 7th & 8th innings against the Athletics. In just 6 innings of work, League has issued 6 earned runs. That is simply awful. A demotion to AAA, or, as previously mentioned, a visit to the disabled list might be in store for the young flamethrower. What a shame...
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