John Bucking the trend

Holy Buck John had one helluva game against the Athletics last night, absolutely mashing three homers in his first three at bats. His 2nd homer was a total moonshot. Buck also received the proverbial shaving cream face wash from Shaun Marcum afterwards. Where has this been all season? With those three dingers, Buck ties Ernie Whitt and Darrin Fletcher's franchise record for homers in one game for a catcher. If someone would've asked me pre-game which Jay would hit 3 bombs in the game, suffice to say Buck would likely be last on that list.

Just how unexpected was Uncle Buck's massive outburst? He's owned by only 2% of owners in Yahoo fantasy baseball. I wonder how high that number will spike after this contest, and then how quickly it'll drop by next week when Johnny comes back down to earth. Buck had been hitting a measly .155 coming in to the game, with just 1 long fly and 6 RBI. Following his epic night, he now has 4 HR's and 11 RBI!

Bucko was given a hitting lesson prior to the game from batting instructor Dwayne Murphy, but more importantly, Cito Gaston. That's why he was awesome. Cito knows offense. The look that Cito had after the third homer was one of a proud Papa. He should be ecstatic, because a night like this doesn't come around often. Holy Buck.

Jays prospect Wallace tearing up AAA

Maybe there is a reason why Lyle Overbay has suddenly woken up and realized the season has started. If he has continued his dismal play any longer, his starting role could have been in serious jeopardy because Jays prospect Brett Wallace has been scorching hot at the plate with AAA Las Vegas.

Wallace, acquired in the deal that sent Roy Halladay to Philadelphia in the off-season, hasn't disappointed in his brief tenure with the organization. In just 19 games, he has already smacked 8 home runs, driven in 13, hit for a solid .286 average to go along with a .375 on base percentage. Suffice to say, our first baseman of the future is clearly showing he wants to be tabbed the 1st baseman of the present.

Overbay, meanwhile, has finally picked up his play considerably, going 6 for his last 12 with 2 HR's and 6 RBI in the last 3 games. However, even with the hot stretch, his average still sits at .183. Prior to the aforementioned three contests, he hit just .119 with only 3 RBI. Overbay, on the final year of his contract that will pay him $7 million this season, can keep his job if he swings the bat like he has recently. Any more massive lulls like he had at the start of the campaign, and he might not have to peer over his shoulder any longer, because Wallace will have taken over. The highly touted prospect has shown he's ready to make his debut in the show.

Tattered Jays bullpen receives shakeup

A taxed Blue Jays bullpen that has been totally annihilated the past four games has been given a face lift, as the organization has demoted two struggling hurlers and purchased the contract of a pair from AAA Las Vegas. Hard throwing Josh Roenicke and lefty Rommie Lewis (who?) are in, with the little used Merkin Valdez joins Jeremy Accardo as the relievers that are out.

Accardo has really fallen on hard times, allowing all six inherited runners to score this year, putting up a ghastly 8.10 ERA, which, though awful, is actually worse than the number suggests. Valdez, was brought to the team in the off-season from San Fran, but mostly only made the cut because he was out of options and the Jays didn't want to expose him to waivers. He wasn't effective in the two contests he entered, so Toronto now has 10 days to release him, trade him or try to pass him through waivers to AAA.

As for the call-ups, the 26 year old Roenicke is back with Toronto after playing down the stretch in '09 following the trade from Cincinnati in the Scott Rolen deal. He hasn't allowed a run with the Las Vegas 51's this year in 8 2/3 innings. The 27 year old Lewis, who impressed Cito Gaston in spring training, receives the promotion and will make his long awaited debut in a major league uniform after being drafted way back in 2001. He's been solid in the minors, posting a 2.35 ERA in 7 outings following a dazzling 1.50 ERA over 6 innings in the spring.

What does this mean for the Jays bullpen? It allows the team to bring in fresh arms after cycling through countless pitchers the past four games, however these two shouldn't be leaned upon too heavily going forward. Roenicke has the most upside, and if he can consistently find the strike zone could find himself a bigger part of the relief corps. Lewis will need to impress early in order to stay with the team for any length of time.

Say hello to Blow Jay Frasor

Last year it was Blow Jay Ryan. This year, because Ryan is no longer on the team, a new Toronto pitcher has surfaced to steal his moniker. Say hello to Blow Jay Frasor. After a scintillating season in '09, he was supposed to be phenomenal this year as the teams closer, or set up man, or at least in some useful role. The problem is, Blow Jay Frasor has been completely useless thus far in 2010.

In 10 appearances in April, Frasor is sporting a hideous 9.35 ERA, blown two saves, ruined potential come backs with melt downs (most recently allowing 4 to score in the 8th Sunday with the team down 2 runs) and has only pitched one clean inning. In the remaining 9 outings, he has surrendered at least one base runner, making it impossible to feel confident in his ability with the game on the line. So what happened? Last campaign he had a sparking 2.50 ERA with 11 saves. This year, not so much. He can't seem to deal with expectation very well, so essentially he is as shell shocked as this guy when he comes in to pitch.

Frasor has also lost velocity on his fast ball, which pitching coach Bruce Walton has pointed to as a reason for his poor production. Though he's been pathetic, there is no way Blow Jay Frasor is this bad. My guess? He's nursing some kind of injury that will either put him on a DL stint, or we'll find out after the season that he played through the pain but was hampered all along.

Molina says no way Jose

Blue Jays backup catcher Jose Molina turned in a virtuoso performance Sunday against the Rays, setting a franchise record by throwing out 4 would be base stealer's. Basically he threw out 4 more runners than Gregg Zaun ever did in his entire tenure with the Blue Jays. Molina saved the bacon of starter Brandon Morrow, who issued 6 base on balls by nabbing the speed merchants on the base paths. It's not as if he threw out sieves like Zaun or Bengie Molina trying to steal; Molina got the best of the great Carl Crawford twice, and B.J. Upton and Sean Rodriguez once.

There has been some debate over whether or not Molina should be the every day catcher instead of incumbent John Buck. Buck has more offense, but not as good defense (throwing out just 2 base runners in 12 attempts), and Molina has great defense (7 caught stealing, just 1 base stealer), but horrid offense with a .211 average and just 2 RBI on the season. The problem with Buck, however, is that he hasn't fared much better in the batters box, hitting just .163 with 1 HR and 6 RBI, leading to the debate.

Despite their early tear at the dish, the Jays have too many holes in the batting order to consistently put up a lot of runs so they can use all the the offense they can get. Buck should come around and hit for decent power, while we know Molina likely won't. But if the team knows it won't score many runs anyway, it could be prudent to try to prevent runs with the defensively minded Molina. It's like the chicken or the egg theory. What do you think? Should John Buck or Jose Molina be the Jays starting catcher?

Low attendance at Jays games embarrassing

To those so called Blue Jays "fans", and apparently there aren't all that many of you, not making it out to the park to watch a decent ball club should bring a great deal of shame to you. The fact Toronto has set not one, but two all time low attendance figures in the past week is a complete an utter embarrassment to the city, the organization, and mostly, the supposed supporters of the club.

If the Blue Jays started out the season like the horrifically pathetic Baltimore Orioles (who sport MLB's worst record at 2-13), then I could understand why so many people would shy away from purchasing tickets this early in the year. However, the Jays have gotten off to a solid start, especially in light of expectations at an all time low. Toronto's 9-6 record would put them in at least a tie for first place in every division in baseball but one (except for their ultra competitive American League East) In the first game of the 3 game set against the Royals, Rogers Centre got just 10,314 fans out to the game, setting a new benchmark for attendance futility. I know it's only the Royals, but come on!

I'm sick of so many fair weathered "fans" of sports only liking a team when they are winning. I can't stand it. Whomever you like, you should support them through thick and thin. One of the lame excuses for the low attendance bandied about is the fact that the Jays just "need to produce a winner" and then people will start going to games. Fair point, but how come no one came out when they were 27-14 last year? And as I mentioned earlier, it's not like they are the Orioles. What would constitute "producing a winner" to finally gets fans to show up? A 15-0 record after 15 games? That kind of expectation is totally unrealistic for even the greatest of teams.

For the record, I have gone to the first two games against Kansas City, and will make it out to the matinee tomorrow for the series finale against the lowly Royals. Why? Because I'm a loyal and die hard fan no matter how good or bad the team is. I just wish there were more of you out there.

Bautista explodes for career night

Jose Bautista this year has been largely a disappointment. He was expected to fill the role as the teams lead off hitter, but could barely make contact and swung at way too many pitches to be effective. With the acquisition of Fred Lewis, Bautista was moved down in the order, to middling results. That is, until he went off last night against Kansas City, matching career highs in home runs and RBI's in one contest.

Bautista mashed 2 home runs, accounting for 5 of the 8 runs for the Jays on the evening. When I say mashed, I mean mashed, because both were total no doubters to left. It makes you wonder why Bautista doesn't swing the bat better on a consistent basis. Will he be able to build off this impressive performance, or was it a one off? He did crush 6 dingers in his final 8 games last year, so it's not as if he doesn't have the ability to do it more often.

It's only a matter of time before Bautista's home runs are on par in terms of significance as this one in Jays history. OK, maybe not.