Hill blasting toward A.L. home run crown

Coming into the season no one would have expected at the start of August that Aaron Hill had a great shot of amassing the most home runs in the American League. Coming off his concussion plagued 2008 campaign, simply having Hill in the lineup come August would have represented a small victory.

But the Blue Jays 2nd basemen has been sizzling all year the dish, shattering Roberto Alomar and his own franchise record for home runs in a season by a 2nd basemen (previously set at 17) The '03 first round pick has already cranked out 26 home runs, good for a tie for 2nd with Carlos Pena and Mark Teixeira, two behind Justin Morneau for the A.L. home run crown.

Since he started in his first all star game, Hill has been on a tear, blasting 6 home runs and 16 RBI in 15 contests. The scary thing is, Manager Cito Gaston believes Hill has only scratched the surface on his potential as a hitter.

This season hasn't been all doom and gloom. Hill has provided perhaps the greatest bright spot.

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.

Downs back to DL; Accardo returns to Jays

Well that didn't last long. 2 days Jeremy Accardo was sent down to AAA to make room for newly acquired Josh Roenicke, he has rejoined the ball club following the the foot injury suffered by Scott Downs.

On Saturday, Downs aggravated the left toe that caused him to miss 19 games the past two months, sending Downs back to the disabled list. The move means Accardo, who was miffed at being demoted on Friday, is now back in the fold with the ball club. He worked a scoreless ninth inning in the series finale against the A's.

Manager Cito Gaston admitted that Downs might have come back too quickly from his injury suffered while running out of the batter's box in Philadelphia. His numbers since being activated off the DL would certainly back that up, as the Jays closer struggled in his past six outings, blowing 2 saves, losing 3 contests while posting a 12.60 ERA.

Accardo, who hadn't reported to Las Vegas at the time of his demotion, should never have been sent down by the club, so it's a welcomed sight to see the former 30 game closer back with the team.

Cecil flashes brilliance in win over A's

Rookie Brett Cecil is continuing to make a name for himself around Major League Baseball in his first season in the bigs, serving notice that Ricky Romero isn't the only Jays rookie southpaw with supreme talent.

The former University of Maryland closer was so dominant, in fact, that he shut the door on the A's offense, retiring 15 batters in a row. He lasted all the way through 7 innings in picking up his 5th win of the campaign. In Saturday's game against the Athletics, Cecil responded like a season veteran after being tagged for four runs in the 2nd inning.

Having been given a 3 run lead in the Jays half of that inning, and then coughing it up, the 23 year old Cecil could have folded, gotten beaten around more, costing his team a chance at victory. However, Cecil dug deep and fashioned a brilliant performance for the remainder of the game.

He now has lasted 6 innings in 8 of his 12 starts in his maiden campaign in the major leagues.

Accardo not happy with demotion

If there was one loser in the trade of Scott Rolen to the Reds, it has to be hard luck Jeremy Accardo. After the Jays acquired the rights to right handed reliever Josh Roenicke in the deal, Accardo was optioned down to AAA Las Vegas to make room for the newest member of the bullpen.

Accardo was not impressed with the demotion either, nor should he be. He spent the first couple of months buried in AAA when inferior pitchers were called up to pitch for Toronto, and has been very solid in 16 outings, not allowing a run in 12 of those contests while posting a solid 2.87 ERA.

The 27 year old Accardo saved 30 games for the Jays in 2007, missing most of the '08 campaign with a forearm injury.