Jays prospect explodes for 7 RBI in one game

Blue Jays prospect Brian Dopirak has risen through the ranks in his time in the Toronto system. Considered a late bloomer at 25, Dopirak scorched at the ball with class AA New Hampshire this season, where he put up 19 HR and 68 RBI in 87 games. He was promptly summoned to AAA Las Vegas two weeks ago and hit for a great average, but only had 3 RBI to show for it.

That was until Wednesday night, where he racked up 7 RBI with grand slam and a 3 run bomb. In 13 games, Dopirak has also hit for a sterling .340 batting average.

A Cubs 2nd round pick in 2002, Dopirak, who splits his time between designated hitter and 1st base, fell out of favour after struggling in Chicago's system, so the Jays scooped him up last year. All he did for the Blue Jays affiliate single A Dunedin was blast 27 HR and 88 RBI with a .308 average.

Dopirak has been mentioned a couple of times here for his potential to finally put it all together and be a shrewd pickup by the organization, and he hasn't disappointed. Should the Jays trade Lyle Overbay at the deadline, there is a chance he'd get the call up to the big club.

Hey Red Sox, trade for John McDonald!

I have mentioned it several times on this blog before Mr. Red Sox General Manager Theo Epstein, and I'll continue to bother you until you do something about it: TRADE FOR JOHN MCDONALD!

Never has it been more apparent that your club is in desperate need for a shortstop that can field his position well than Tuesday night. Up 2 in the 9th, incumbent Nick Green committed two costly errors, allowing the A's to tie it, and they eventually went on to win in extra innings. He now has 11 errors on the season. And I know you are big on Jed Lowrie, but he just came off the disabled list. He might still take a while to get into his groove, or worse yet, find himself back on the DL, so why not acquire McDonald as insurance?

Call J.P. Ricciardi and inquire about trading for slick fielding Johnny Mac. It'll be worth your time. He could provide dynamite defense at short, which is what you need. Since your team clearly has enough big bats to withstand his light hitting, he can be penciled in at the bottom of the order. He'll come relatively cheap, and his contract expires at the end of the season.

This makes perfect sense Mr. Epstein. If you can pull it off, it might prove to be a wily transaction come playoff time, when defense is at a huge premium.

Obviously he is incredibly loved here, and would be sorely missed by all the fans of the team, including myself. But this is about business, and you are in the business of winning World Championships.

And we apparently are not.

SO TRADE FOR JOHN MCDONALD!

Halladay likely won't be a Doctor "Phil"

It appears as though Roy Halladay will not be donning a Phillies uniform after all with Philadelphia and Cleveland striking a deal for Cliff Lee Wednesday afternoon, making it increasingly likely Halladay will remain a Blue Jay heading into 2010. The deal still could go through, because the players the Jays believed to want (Kyle Drabek, J.A. Happ, Dominic Brown) did not head to Cleveland in the Lee acquisition.

Halladay may have been distracted Wednesday (and who could blame him?) in what might still have been his last start with the only organization he's known, allowing a season high 11 hits while coming out on the losing end of a 3-2 contest. Halladay has now just 1 win in his last 7 starts, but that's more to do with the Jays anemic run support (averaging 2.5 runs in those 7 games) than a reflection of how he's pitched.

My position all along is that the Jays will not deal Halladay, and it appears likely they won't. J.P. Ricciardi has indicated they now might go all in for 2010 to try to win. Although, that could be posturing in order to get someone to "wow" him with a substantial trade offer. If there is one thing we know about Ricciardi, it's that we can't trust him. So he might be finalizing a deal to move Doc Halladay after all.

Stay tuned.

Downs coughs up another one

In hindsight, I was obviously a bit too hasty last night in declaring that Scott Downs had shaken off his recent woes. Because after one solid outing Monday, in which he retired the side in the 8th inning of a blow out ball game, Downs reverted back to the reliever that has struggled mightily in the past week, but not without a high degree of drama.

Downs nearly made a phenomenal turnaround in the 9th inning after a messy beginning to a 3-3 ball game. He allowed a base hit to open the frame, then issued a walk. Downs mishandled a sacrifice bunt, allowing the bases to be juiced with nobody out. Undeterred, the Jays closer retired the next two batters, setting the stage with Ichiro Suzuki. He had Ichiro right where he wanted him with two strikes, however he couldn't escape the large jam he'd created when the American League leader in hits poked the game winning RBI single to centre.

Downs (1-3) takes his 3rd loss in his past five appearances to go along with his two blown saves in that span.

Yikes.

Rookie Rzepczynski continues to impress

Rookie lefty Marc Rzepczynski has a great last name. His surname is also incredibly hard to spell. Well now he's proving to be a great pitcher that is incredibly hard to hit off of. Tuesday in Seattle, Mr. R turned in a fine performance that was better than the final stat line suggests.

After giving up a run in the first inning and running into trouble in the 2nd frame, Rzepczynski settled down, retiring 11 batters in a row, whiffing 7 of them, striking out the side in the 4th inning. Rzepczynski winded up leaving after 8 strike outs (setting a career high) in 5.1 innings of work, where he allowed three earned runs.

The 2007 fifth round pick has shown a great ability to pitch at the big league level, in particular displaying his talent for striking out batters. While not factoring into the decision in this one, his 8 K's Tuesday gives him 30 over the course of 27.2 innings in his first five starts in his major league career.

Richmond & Marcum return to Jays clubhouse

A pair of starting pitchers were back with the Blue Jays in time for their six game west coast road trip Monday, as both Scott Richmond and Shaun Marcum were in the clubhouse for the series opener in Seattle. Both Richmond and Marcum are expected to be activated off the disabled list shortly and should be inserted into the clubs starting rotation.

Marcum, who was expected to miss all of the 2009 campaign following Tommy John Surgery on his elbow, was in Seattle to receive treatment on his back before heading to AAA Las Vegas. The 27 year old injured himself in his latest rehab assignment, pulling himself out of the contest as a precautionary measure. The club has set a tentative return date in Toronto for early August.

For Richmond, who has been out since July 5th with a shoulder injury, the 29 year old rookie will be able to help the Jays shortly, as he's expected to get the start Friday against the Oakland Athletics.

Having both Richmond (6-5 with a 3.69 ERA in 13 starts) and Marcum (0-2 with a 2.30 ERA in 5 starts in his rehab stint) back will significantly aid the teams starting rotation, which is expected to expand to a 6 man staff to preserve the young starters for the stretch drive of the season.

Snider heating up in AAA

Travis Snider appears to finally be healthy after battling a lingering back injury for the better part of a month, and has settled in nicely as the cleanup hitter for the the Jays AAA affiliate in Las Vegas.

In Snider's past 6 games, the 21 year old left fielder has 3 home runs, totalling 8 RBI's with a solid .320 batting average, including 5 hits in his last 9 trips to the plate. The pop in his bat is a welcomed sign for the Blue Jays top prospect, who scuffled at the major league level this year after posting 3 home runs in his first 6 games, ultimately leading to his demotion.

While Snider is unlikely to receive a promotion to the big club any time soon (which will allow him to get regular at bats against both righties and lefties in the minors) he should be in line for a September call up when rosters expand.