Jays need to put up or shut up

What an absolutely pathetic series by the Blue Jays. That's the best they can do? Disgusting. Vile. Rank That was the worst gong show sad sack despicable series of the season so far. One that might have just screwed us out of a shot at doing anything this year. It's time for the Blue Jays to suck it up and win. Now.

I don't give a crap if they've historically fared brutally against the Marlins. Besides, remind me again why that's the case to begin with? You can't get swept against an inferior team like Florida. If the Jays want to be taken seriously by Major League Baseball, they can't, under no circumstance, get pasted in their own barn to the likes of those schmucks.

I also don't want to be read stories painting the Jays in a good light. Not until they get their head out of their ass. I don't want to be told that Alex Rios has picked up his play, how Vernon Wells will soon break out of his "funk" or how it's wonderful that Dustin McGowan might be two months away from returning. I want the truth. The truth is the team sucks right now.

Instead of talking a good game, how about PLAYING a good game. Is that too much to ask?

Jays shouldn't rush Halladay back from injury

I think I speak for everyone when I say "phewwwww" regarding the status of Roy Halladay. When he was yanked in the 4th inning against the Marlins Friday with an apparent groin injury, Jays Nation held their collective breaths. Would he be gone for a long time?

Well, it turns out the Jays ace is nursing a mild groin strain, however "mild" a strained groin could possibly be. He will not be heading to the disabled list, at least for now, and the team is remaining optimistic he'll be able to start Saturday against Washington after missing his scheduled Wednesday trip to the hill against Philly.

I think that's being a little too hasty, especially if the club wants him to be around for the long haul. Doc shouldn't start in Washington simply because he'll be in a National League ball park and will have to bat. There's no reason to have him running any more than he has to at this point, risking further injury. No reason at all.

The fact the Jays are slipping down in the standing at an alarming rate (7-17 in their past 24 contests) might force the organization's hand in rushing him back to the rotation, even if it's not necessarily the smartest thing.

DON'T DO IT!

Alex Rios is the next Vernon Wells

An optimist would suggest that Alex Rios has busted out of his horrific slump since being moved from the 3rd slot in the order to the 6th. After all, since the demotion of sorts, he's gone 7 for 12 for a .583 clip, blasting two home runs and adding 4 RBI. He has made 2 all-star teams. And has the ability to be a 5 tool player. Good thing I'm not an optimist when it comes to Rios, because I'd be getting sucked in and fooled again. Rios is the next Vernon Wells.

Case in point, Rios long ball today against the Marlins. Florida was smashing the Jays 8-0. That's when he went yard. Hmm, sounds an awful lot like Wells doesn't it? Maybe Rios will do this for a few more years and parlay that into a 7 year/$126 million dollar contract like Wells did. All Rios has to do is pack on about 20-30 pounds and then he'll be a carbon copy of V-Dub. Maybe he'll fool J.P. Ricciardi into thinking he's Vernon.

Maybe I should be thinking positively about Rios. Perhaps he's figured it out. He could go off and heat up like Carlos Delgado did last year for the Mets. He could lead the Jays back to the promised land.

On second thought, Rios still sucks.

What....the...crap....

Alex Rios just hit a 2 run dinger.

Holy crap.

He is now 4 for 6 since being moved down to 6th in the order.

Pinch me.

FINALLY Cito changes the batting order!

After weeks of both Alex Rios and Vernon Wells performing terribly in the 3-4 spots of the batting order, Cito Gaston has mercilessly switched things up to try to spark the offense. Rios has been dropped down to the 6th slot, Wells moved up to 3rd in the order, allowing slugger Adam Lind to move into the cleanup spot.

What took so long? I admire Cito's loyalty in trying to get these guys to break out of their funk, but that can only last so long. I could understand why he wouldn't want to change anything when they had a sizzling start, but that's long behind the now. Rios and Wells have prevented the team from continuing that torrid pace. Lind has been outstanding all year, so he has earned his opportunity to hit 4th.

Scott Rolen moves from 6th in the order one spot to 5th, which is a good move considering he's had a great average all season. Don't be surprised to see him eventually switching with Wells in the order so he can get on base for the big hitters.

Hopefully this move jump starts both Rios and Wells. I'm not holding my breath.

Oh god please not Halladay!

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Oh my word please don't do this. No, this can't be happening. Don't tell me Roy Halladay's groin injury will sideline him for a long period of time. Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. Please wake me up from this nightmare.

Should he have an MRI Saturday and the club learns his "tweaked" groin is more like a "destroyed" groin then we're screwed. We'd mark June 12th on our calendar as the day our season went up in flames. Early reports suggest Halladay might miss just one start.

He's been lights out, putting together a major league leading 10 wins on the campaign. By comparison, he's racked up more than a third of his victories this year than the other four members of the rotation (Casey Janssen, Brian Tallet, Ricky Romero and Scott Richmond) have in their CAREERS! Combined they have 29 wins between them.

Ya, if Halladay goes on the shelf, we're toast.

Don't give up on Brandon League

I know Brandon League had an awful outing tonight against the Marlins. 5 runs in one inning is pathetic. And I know he can be frustratingly inconsistent, sometimes going long stretches without giving up a run, then having games were he gives up 3+ runs at a time. However, he's still a good pitcher. In 2 of the last 3 seasons his ERA has been 2.53 and 2.18.

There's something to be said about not having blind faith. If I truly thought he was garbage, I'd be ripping into him right now. I don't idiotically believe Alex Rios and Vernon Wells are in a "slump" but rather consider their performance as crap. Blow Jay Ryan and Jesse Carlson have drawn my ire also. So why is there such hate on League? In 17 of his 23 outings he hasn't given up a run. The reason his ERA is so bloated is because in 4 of those instances he's surrendered 3 runs or more. That's his problem more than anything, consistency.

League, Jason Frasor and Scott Downs are the only men in this bullpen we can rely upon. Unless you count relying on Jesse Carlson and B.J. Ryan to screw up EVERY time. We are going to need to count on League in ball games throughout the season. League will be fine. Have some faith, the dude can pitch. And it's not blind faith.