Snider & Dopirak continue to rip it up in Vegas

Travis Snider and Brian Dopirak, two Blue Jays prospects tearing it up with Toronto's AAA team in Las Vegas, have received considerable attention in these parts, particularly in the past week for their stellar play. They are showing no signs of letting up either, combining for 3 home runs, 6 RBI and 5 hits Sunday to lead the 51's to a massive 18-6 victory, their 7th in a row.

Snider and Dopirak, the 4-5 hitters in the heart of the 51's order, have been raking at the dish. Snider has cracked 4 HR and 16 RBI in his previous 8 contests, racking up 16 hits in 31 at bats (.516 average) while Dopirak has hit 5 HR and 12 RBI in his past 7 games, going 15 for 31 (.483 average)

This is the type of offensive production the Blue Jays could use! I hope to see both of them in September when rosters expand.

McDonald is a defensive genius

Did you see John McDonald's unbelievable dazzling defensive effort yesterday? The guy is simply amazing with the glove, and it's so exciting to know that he might see more action now that Scott Rolen has been traded.

With a man on 1st, McDonald stretched out to his left, snagged the baseball, tossed the ball with his glove and from his knees to Aaron Hill, starting an incredible inning ending double play. It was the kind of play that you find yourself simply saying WOW!

McDonald's sensational play made ESPN's #1 web gem of Sunday. It's hard to rate this majestic play high in McDonald's defensive plays of all time, because there are simply too many to choose from.
I love Johnny Mac.

Roenicke great in Blue Jays debut

It's an extremely small sampling, but the early look at the newest member of our bullpen is very promising. Josh Roenicke, considered the "lesser" of the two pitchers in the Scott Rolen deal (Zach Stewart, the former #2 prospect in the Reds system being the central piece in the trade), came in relief Sunday against the Athletics and looked very good.

Roenicke worked a scoreless 8th inning, allowing just one base runner, while striking out two batters. He threw fast, and mixed that in with a dirty slider. The hard throwing soon to be 27 year old (tomorrow) has a fantastic 2.51 ERA in 12 outings this season. He has stated his desire to be a closer at the major league level, and the Jays might experiment with that down the road particularly with incumbent closer Scott Downs injured, and also with only 1 year left on his contract.

Meanwhile, Stewart (4-1, 1.67 ERA in 3 minor league stops this season) hasn't yet pitched with the Jays AAA affiliate, the Las Vegas 51's.