Roberto Alomar: Second to One???

Move over Robbie, Aaron Hill is in the house.

Romero does more than just beat the Nats

Making his fourth start since returning from the disabled list and just the ninth of his career, Ricky Romero did a whole lot more for the Blue Jays than just bringing home the "W" Sunday afternoon. Romero tossed seven solid innings, limiting the Washington Nationals to just two runs while striking out six. He had to battle through trouble in the first few frames, and ended up throwing a career high 118 pitches. It was an important start for the young lefty for a couple of different reasons. Despite an 8-inning gem from Scott Richmond and 7 innings from both Romero and Cecil in each of their starts, three of the first five games of the Jays' road trip went to extra innings. The Jays bullpen was forced to pick up the slack, logging a total of 18.2 innings over the five games. A beleagured group Saturday night, the Jays were forced to turn the ball over to Scott Richmond for the 11th and 12th innings, just three days after he threw 107 pitches in his best performance of the year vs. the Philles.

All Hands On Deck!!!

The Toronto Blue Jays have emptied the proverbial cupboard in AAA-Las Vegas by promoting both LHP Brad Mills and LHP Brett Cecil to fill the gapping holes in their rotation. RHP Jeremy Accardo was also summoned by the team to replace Scott Downs in the bullpen.

In case you've been living under a rock, the Jays added RHP Roy Halladay, Casey Janssen and LHP Scott Downs to the DL yesterday with various injuries.

Brad Mills makes his major league debut today vs. Joe Blanton and the Phillies.

Fearless Prediction for Mills: 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 BB, 3 ER, 3 K (no decision) as I expect the Jays bats to come through and complete the sweep of the defending World Series champs.

2009 First-Year Player Draft Rundown

1st (20th) overall - RHP Chad Jenkins
37th overall - LHP James Paxton

Hallady will be the AL starter for the allstar game

That's right you heard it.

HALLADAY'S CAREER NIGHT LIFTS JAYS OVER HALOS

The Doctor was certainly in tonight!

Outside of a 4-run debacle in the 7th, Halladay pitched a gem to lead the Jays to a 6-4 win on Tuesday night. Along the way he piled up a career-high 14 K's in his second complete game of the season to improve his record to 9-1 on the season.

The Jays offense pounded out 9 hits and 6 runs on Angels' starter Joe Saunders over his 5.1 IP. After the bullpen blew a disasterous 5 run lead in Halladay's last start vs. Baltimore, Cito Gaston wasn't taking any chances tonight and let the Doctor go the distance, throwing a total of 133 pitches, 88 for strikes.

Next up: Casey Janssen (1-1, 4.15) takes the hill for the Jays' in the second of a three game set. The Angels will counter with Jered Weaver (4-2, 2.36 ERA) who is off to an impressive start to the 2009 season. The Jays will have their work cut out for them as Weaver has posted a 4-1 record against the Jays in 5 career starts.

"Desperate...

but not hopeless. The clock strikes midnight..."

Shhh...do you hear that?? That's the collective sound of thousands of fair-weather fans jumping off the Blue Jays bandwagon. Let's remember folks, Cito said it himself in spring training. 2009 is meant to be a bridge of sorts to 2010, when the rotation should be fully intact and all the young players will have an extra year of development under their belts.


Do you know your enemy? Do you know your enemy??


Much like Green Day's newest release, the 2009 Toronto Blue Jays are desperate, BUT not hopeless.

The TSN Curse

Well Mr. Balsillie, we've "made it seven" in our own way.

Here's the funny part: Ever since TSN.ca posted their comparison between the 1992 and 1993 Jays and a bunch of other articles about the Jays championship years priar to the start of their "key" series with Boston earlier in the week, the Jays have not won a game.



That's right, 7 straight losses. The road trip started with three straight losses in Boston, followed by the first three interleague games of the year in Atlanta (rematch from the 1992 World Series) and now the first of a three game set in Baltimore. The Jays turn the ball to LHP Ricky Romero tonight, who's making his return from a month on the DL with a strained oblique. Prior to his injury, Romero was 2-0 in 3 starts with a 1.71 ERA and a 13/4 K/BB ratio. His last start vs. Oakland was a 7 inning, 4 hit, no run performance with 6 K's and only 2 walks.

If Romero is back to full form tonight, the Jays have a good chance to snap a nasty losing skid vs. Baltimore rookie Jason Berken, who is making his major league debut tonight.

After watching 7 straight ugly, painful losses I'm quite happy that my ball hockey game tonight is forcing me to miss the game. Perhaps if I don't watch... they'll actually win one for a change.

Cito REALLY blew it tonight!!!

I can't believe the way the Blue Jays ended up losing tonight's game. Scott Rolen leads off the top of the 8th inning of a 0-0 game with a double, just Toronto's third hit of the game. Lyle Overbay comes to the plate with a simple task, to move Rolen over to third ANYWAY HE CAN. Forget putting down a bunt (WHY??), but let's allow Overbay to swing away in hopes that he can pull a ball to the right side of the infield to advance the runner, or perhaps even find a hole for a base hit. However, Overbay pulls a grounder to the 1st base side of the mound, only to be snagged by Kenshin Kawakami who looked Rolen back to the bag before throwing Overbay out at first. Rod Barajas is forced to swing away with the pitcher Roy Halladay waiting in the on-deck circle. Barajas proceeds to fly out to right, certainly deep enough that it would have scored Rolen from third. Instead the 3B was pinned again at second, leaving Cito Gaston with a decision. Roy Halladay had completed 7 innings, throwing 95 pitches, 63 for strikes, but was lifted from the game for pinch-hitter Joe Inglett. In his first at-bat of the season after being recalled from AAA-Las Vegas earlier in the day, Inglett promptly strikes out looking.

Not only did the Jays fail to score the leadoff runner from second base in a scoreless ballgame, but they also lost their starter to an ice cold pinch hitter in a two-out situation and would consequently give up the only run in the bottom of the 8th, and again fail to drive in a runner from 2nd (this time with 1-out) in the 9th.

The irony lays in the way the Atlanta Braves scored their lone run of the game, in the bottom half of the 8th. Jesse Carlson came out of the pen for the Jays, and the Braves replied by pinch-hitting Matt Diaz for Kawakami. Diaz hits a ground rule double, and is successfully pushed over to third on Yunel Escobar's grounder to first. Casey Kotchman, like Barajas, lifted a fly ball (this time to left), deep enough to score Diaz from 3rd with the would-be winning run.

Is Lyle Overbay physically unable to put down a bunt?? Perhaps Kevin Millar, Jose Bautista, or even good old Johnny Mac could lay one down. Now perhaps you're thinking, then who do the Jays send out to play 1B? Either Millar or Bautista are capable of playing the position, albeit are no gold glove candidates. However, the importance of moving Scott Rolen over to 3rd base with less than 2 outs definitely warranted a pinch-hitter if Cito felt Overbay was unable to put down a bunt.

The Jays' offence has been sputtering as of late, ever since sweeping a 4 game set from the White Sox at the Rogers Centre. Roy Halladay pitched a gem tonight, and a 1-run lead likely would have been more than enough for the Doc. Provided he avoided major trouble, he could have pitched the rest of the game and finished somewhere in the neighbourhood of 120-125 pitches, certainly high but definitely capable for a workhorse like Halladay.

Instead, Overbay and consequently Barajas' futility forced Gaston to lift Halladay from the game for a pinch-hitter in hopes of cashing in the first run of the game against Kawakami, who turned in a strong performance for the Braves. The "rookie" tossed 8 innings of shutout ball, allowing just 3 hits while striking out 7. Mike Gonzalez gave up a 1-out double to Aaron Hill in the 9th but managed to strand him at second after consecutive groundouts by Alex Rios and Vernon Wells.

Adam Lind is due, but hell so are Rios and Wells.

I really hope Derek Lowe feels the wrath tomorrow night, or this might turn into a real funk for the Jays. Here's also hoping that Casey Janssen can be effective early and give his offense a chance to get out in front.

'Till next time.

Time to shuffle the deck!!

Less than 24 hours after being swept away by the Red Sox, the Blue Jays have made a flurry of roster moves. Optioned to AAA-Las Vegas were promising young sluggar Travis Snider, and rotation fill ins, LHP Brett Cecil and RHP Ricky Ray.


Snider was hitting .242 with 3 HR and 12 RBI in 99 AB's over 32 games, primarily in the outfield. With interleague play beginning tonight in Atlanta, and covering most of June, Snider was set to lose a lot of playing time in NL parks as regular DH Adam Lind will be shifted to LF to keep his bat in the heart of the Jays' lineup. The timing could not be better for the Jays as Snider had been scuffling of late hitting at just a .216/.237/.243 clip in May. The move will allow Snider to play everyday in AAA and refine his game after being exposed by major league pitching. One of the biggest things Snider has to work on, like most hitters is his plate patience and pitch recognition as he was often the victim of nasty breaking pitches, swinging at balls nowhere near the plate. It will also allow Snider to play every day again after spending the first month and a half of the season riding the pine vs. lefties.

If all goes well in the minors I wouldn't be surprised to see the young outfielder resurface sometime in late June as the Jays last visit to a National League park is a three game set at Nationals Park in Washington from June 19th-21st. In the meantime, I'd expect 1B Kevin Millar to receive the majority of at bats when the DH is required, although Jose Bautista might garner the extra start or two as well.

Cecil had been very impressive in his short stint with the Jays until his start Wednesday night at Fenway when he served up 5 (yes FIVE!!) home runs to the Red Sox. His ERA over his first three starts was a flashy 1.80 but skyrocketed to 4.38 after allowing 8 ER over just 4.2 innings @ the Red Sox. Cecil also surrendered 2 home runs in his previous start vs. the White Sox so the Jays brass probably felt it was best for the organization's top pitching prospect to go back down to AAA to continue to develop.

Ray, called up to plug a hole in the rotation in early May experienced some success in his 4 starts in the bigs, the best being his 8 shutout innings against the White Sox in which he allowed just 3 hits. His other 3 starts were not as pretty however as he allowed at least 3 ER in each of them. Ray likely would have been sent down earlier if the Jays had any better rotation options but now with some pitchers coming off the DL, Ray head to Las Vegas where he will get his first taste of AAA action after being called up straight from AA earlier in the month.

To replace these players on the roster, Toronto recalled IF Joe Inglett, LHP Ricky Romero and RHP Casey Janssen.

Inglett performed admirably for the Jays last season filling in for the injured Aaron Hill but with both him and SS Marco Scutaro playing so well, Inglett will have a tough time finding AB's. He hit .297/.355/.407 in 344 AB in 2008, his first full season with the Jays.

Romero, the 6th overall pick in the 2005 draft, pitched very well in his first 3 Major League starts after making the team out of spring training. After posting a 2-0 record and 1.71 ERA over his first 21 IP, Romero hit the disabled list with a strained oblique, suffered while sneezing. Luckily for the Jays, their rotation fill ins have performed quite well in Romero's absence and it will be interesting to see if he can pick up where he left off when he returns to the hill Tuesday night in Baltimore.

Janssen missed all of the 2008 season after after undergoing shoulder surgery in spring training last year. He made his big league debut back in 2006, appearing in 19 games (17 of which were starts) and compiling a 6-10 record with a 5.07 ERA. It wasn't until he was moved to the bullpen for the 2007 season that Janssen really thrived. Upon earning a late inning set up role, he posted a 2.35 ERA over 72.2 IP and racked up 6 saves and 24 holds.

Janssen was lights out during his minor league rehab stint posting a microscopic 0.76 ERA over 23.2 IP between Class A-Dunedin and AA-New Hampshire. He will bring a nice veteran presence to the Jays rotation, something much needed with only ace Roy Halladay having made more than 15 career starts. Although it appears to be Richmond's turn in the order, it has been reported by both Rotoworld.com and on the the Blue Jay's website that Janssen is set to follow the Doc in the 2nd of a 3 game set in Atlanta this weekend.

The Jays rotation now appears to be set up as follows: RHP Roy Halladay, RHP Casey Janssen, LHP Brian Tallet, RHP Scott Richmond, LHP Ricky Romero.

You know things aren't going well when...

Trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the 5th, Red Sox SS Julio Lugo hit a routine grounder to short and appeared to be thrown out at 1st base by Jays' SS Marco Scutaro. The 1B umpire ruled that Jays' 1B Kevin Millar was pulled of the base and that Lugo was safe. The replay CLEARLY showed that yes Millar was pulled off the bag by the throw, but that he was able to get his foot back on the bag in time to record the out, NOT TO MENTION that Lugo CLEARLY did not even touch 1st base at all.

Oh well, just one of those games.. or series, depends how you look at it.

Bring on the Braves!!!

Ray Day!!

The Blue Jays will send young righty Robert Ray to the hill tonight when they complete their three game series with the Red Sox at Fenway Park. It is a crucial game for the team, not just to avoid their first three game losing streak of the season, but to prove to themselves that even without their best starters, that they have a legitimate chance to battle the Red Sox and Yankees for the AL East Division crown.

Thus far this season the Blue Jays have only faced each of their long-time rivals once, dropping two of three to the Yankees at Rogers Centre earlier in the month, and thus far losing the first two of a three game set at Fenway. Unfortunately for the Jays, ace pitcher Roy Halladay was not scheduled to pitch in this series, and unless the team does some rotation juggling, he is set to pitch the final game of a three game set vs. the Orioles at Camden Yards (May 27) and will miss the Red Sox again during their three game visit to the Rogers Centre (May 29-31).

Unless Ricky Romero, Jesse Litsch or Casey Janssen are able to make it back to the big leagues from injury before the completion of that second series with the Red Sox, the Jays will be forced to continue pinning their hopes on their young arms. If no adjustments are made, the probable pitchers for that series are Scott Richmond, Brian Tallet and Brett Cecil.

Back to tonight's series finale, the Jays will try to take one from the Red Sox who will send LHP Jon Lester to the hill. The Jays have fared well against LHP this year thanks to solid contributions from platoon players Kevin Millar and Jose Bautista. Millar, although seeing the majority of his AB's vs. lefties, is actually hitting at a higher clip vs. righties (.277/.333) although it's important to keep in mind it's a very small sample size with only 71 combined AB's on the season. Overbay, however hit just .215 with zero HR in 149 AB vs. lefties in '08, so any production Millar can provide is an added bonus for the '09 Jays. 3B/LF Jose Baustista, who has regularly replaced young OF Travis Snider in the lineup vs. lefties this year has hit at a .316/.395/.474 clip vs. southpaws and will certainly be in tonight's lineup.

The lone lefty expected to be in tonight's lineup is DH Adam Lind who is 1-4 in his career vs. Lester. Expect to see the regular lefty lineup of: Scutaro, Hill, Rios, Wells, Lind, Rolen, Millar, Barajas, Bautista.

Lester is 1-2 in 5 career starts vs. the Jays with a 3.94 ERA and .212 BAA, however he has struggled in three of his last four starts.

Tonight's Prediction: Expect to see the Jay's bats come to life and if Robert Ray can provide a quality start, or an effort close enough the Jays should be able to pull it out. Jays 7 - Red Sox 5 and off to Atlanta to unleash the Doc on the Braves.

"Wolverine" up to the task??

Brian Tallet has a chance to help the '09 Jays make a statement tonight when he faces off against the Yankees "other" prized free agent acquisition in hefty lefty C.C. Sabathia. The Jays put the boots to former teammate A.J. Burnett on Tuesday night before dropping last night's contest 8-2.


Tallet will have to be on his game tonight to give the Jays a fighting chance against Sabathia, one of the top pitchers in the league over the last 5 years. In 5 starts this season, Tallet has surrendered 15 ER in 29 IP but 10 of those runs came in a rout in Kansas City. In his other 4 starts (OAK, @CHW, CLE, @OAK) Tallet has posted a 1.80 ERA over 25 IP with a 2-0 record and an 18/9 K/BB ratio.

Just like last nights starter (Canadian Scott Richmond), Tallet will face his toughest opponent thus far when he faces the Yankees tonight. Richmond, previously 4-1, was absolutely rocked by the Yankees last night. He surrendered 5 ER on 7 hits and 2 walks while retiring just 5 hitters before exiting in the second inning. That left 7.1 innings for the Blue Jays bullpen, and forced Cito Gaston to use RHP Brian Wolfe (2 IP and 32 pitches), LHP Bill Murphy (2 IP and 42 pitches), RHP Brandon League (1 IP and 17 pitches), RHP Jason Frasor (1 IP and 14 pitches) and RHP Shawn Camp (1 IP and ONLY 7 pitches). Luckily for the Jays, all 5 relievers were fairly efficient with their pitch counts and Ace Roy Halladay pitched a complete gam the night before, leaving the bullpen fairly rested for tonight's series finale.

If all goes well for Tallet, the bullpen won't need to do much work. In each of his last two starts, Tallet has thrown 7 strong innings, and both were quality starts. But this is the Yankees, not the lowly A's or Indians, and they've got one of the best pitchers in baseball on the hill. C.C. Sabathia, by far the biggest free agent (both in size and notoriety) during the offseason, is just 2-3 through his first 7 starts but has posted respectable numbers with a 3.94 ERA and 1.23 WHIP, pretty close to his career numbers. His K's are down a bit and his ERA a bit high, but in 10 career starts vs. the Jays (all while pitching for the Indians), Sabathia is 7-3 with a 3.46 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, while Jays hitters have hit just .215 against him.

No matter the superhero nickname, it appears as if Tallet is truly overmatched tonight, but if there's one thing we've learned thus far.. it's too never count these Jays out.

Tonight's Prediction: Yankees 6 - Jays 3

Note: Jays 2B Aaron Hill, who left Wednesday's game after fouling a ball off his left shin, is expected to play Thursday.

JOSE BAUTISTA JUST GOT HOSED!!!

That 3-2 pitch from Sean Gallagher was DEFINITELY Ball #4.

Thanks for nothing Paul Nauert (home plate umpire)

Oh well, Thanks Mr. Gallagher for plunking Alex Rios and opening the first inning flood gates, only for them to be slammed shut by the ump.

Weekly Preview: April 13th - 19th

Opponents: 4 @ Minnesota, 3 vs. Oakland

After a strong start in the opening week of the season, the Toronto Blue Jays play their next four games at the Metrodome in Minnesota before returning home to host Oakland for three at the Rogers Centre. The four game set in Minnesota will be the Jays last ever trip to the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome as the Twins are set to move to their new home, Target Field, for Opening Day 2010.

The Jays swept the Twins in a three game set at the Metrodome last year, from May 13th-15th. Strong perfromances from right-handers Jesse Litsch, Roy Halladay, and Dustin McGowan gave the slumping offence a chance to put away the Twins in three closely decided games. In fact, Toronto relievers earned a save in each of the three wins. B.J. Ryan recorded saves in the first and third games. If it hadn't been for pitching in the last game of the previous Cleveland series (which ended with a double header), Ryan may have been called upon to close out all three games vs. the Tribe. However, Scott Downs was brought on to nail down the save for Roy Halladay in the second game.

Jesse Litsch will again open the series for the Jays as he takes on Twins right-hander Kevin Slowey. He will be followed by rookies Ricky Romero and Scott Richmond, before the final game of the series is a showdown of aces with Roy Halladay scheduled to pitch against Francisco Liriano.

Halladay is 7-0 lifetime in 9 career starts vs. the Twins, with a sparkling 2.92 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. At the Metrodome, the numbers aren't as gaudy but the Doc is still 3-0 in 5 starts while posting a 4.46 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. Jesse Litsch has also been dominant against the Twins over his brief career, posting a 3-0 record in 4 career starts with a 2.08 ERA and 0.96 WHIP. At the Metrodome, Litsch is also slightly more human with a 1-0 record in 2 starts and a 4.50 ERA and 1.30 WHIP.

"Ace" Scott Baker will be making his season debut for the Twins in the third game of the series after opening the season on the disabled list. Baker is a tough matchup for Canadian righty Scott Richmond and Romero gets to face Glen Perkins, coming off a solid start to open the season.

2B Aaron Hill and SS Marco Scutaro were the key table setters throughout the first week of the season but both have struggled in their careers at the Metrodome. Hill is hitting .226/.268/.245 with 2 RBI in 53 AB, while Scutaro has posted a .235/.235/.255 line with zero walks and just 4 runs over 51 AB. Coming into the series red-hot, hopefully Toronto's double play tandem will post better numbers at the top of the lineup throughout this series.

Expect the Jays to at least split this four game set in Minnesota with their best chances for wins coming in the first and fourth games. However, with the way their offence has been purring, the Jays could have the chance to win each game in this series. It will be interesting to see what young left-hander Ricky Romero can do for an encore after his strong 6 inning season debut against the Tigers.

Back at home for a three game set against the Oakland A's, it will likely be David Purcey, Litsch and Romero starting the three game set. Oakland's rotation is full of unproven youngsters, led by Dana Eveland's 36 career starts. With the Jays set to counter with their three youngest starters, it will be an interesting showdown of young talent between the teams. The A's visited Toronto twice last season, but faced two much different Toronto ballclubs. Their first road trip of the season was in Toronto from April 8th-10th and they swept a three-game set from the Jays. The Jays were struggling early on in the year, and after John Gibbons was fired as Manager in June and replaced by Cito Gaston the Jays were a much improved team the second half of the season. The A's returned to Toronto from August 4th-7th and were promptly swept in that four-game series.

Because the A's rotation is so inexperienced, there isn't much statistical data we can use to predict how the Jays offence will fare. It's likely that the A's will use Trevor Cahill, Dallas Braden and Dana Eveland in the series in Toronto as they have an off day before coming to town, likely prompting them to skip 5th starter Josh Outman's next turn in the rotation.

Cahill is coming off a very strong second start to the season (and second of his career), where he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning in. Unfortunately Cahill, one of baseball's top pitching prospects, was the tough luck loser as he was outduelled by Seattle's Erik Bedard in a 1-0 final.

The Jays fared well against another young pitching prospect in Detroit's Rick Porcello during opening series in Toronto. It takes hitters time to adjust to a pitcher they haven't faced before, so if Cahill has his control early, don't be surprised to see Toronto's lineup struggle the first time through. Cahill has thrown 103 and 97 pitches, respectively in his two starts thus far, showing that he has the ability to work deep into games. Control might be his issue, as he issued 8 walks over his first two starts. If the Jays hitters can remain patient and make Cahill work, they'll get a look at his variety of pitches and should be able to do some damage the second and third times through the lineup.

Of the three projected starters for the series, only Dana Eveland pitched at the Rogers Centre last year. He has two career starts versus the Jays, a gem early in the season on April 10th and he silenced the struggling Jays over six-plus innings, surrendering just three hits and three walks, while striking out six Jays. Seeing Eveland later in the year in Oakland, the Jays put the beat on the young pitcher as he allowed 11 hits and 7 ER over 4.1 IP in an eventual 12-0 Toronto victory. Rod Barajas played a big role in that victory, and combined to hit 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI against Eveland last season.

When facing Twins left-hander Francisco Liriano or either of the A's two lefties in Braden and Eveland, don't be surprised to see Lyle Overbay and/or Travis Snider sit while some of the right-handed reserves get starts. As Braden and Eveland pitch back-to-back, it would be surprising to see Cito Gaston bench Snider for two straight games again. Expect him start against one of the two, likely Braden in the second game of the series. Again, the Jays have the ability to win each of these three matchups and anything less than a series victory has to be considered a disappointment. Look for the Jays to be puzzled by Cahill and Braden early in the games, but expect the offence to improve the second time through the order.

Prediction for the week: Roy Halladay improves to 3-0 with a win over Francisco Liriano and the Twins and the Jays finish with at least 4 wins in 7 games. That might not sound impressive, but it would be enough to win a playoff series wouldn't it??

Week in Review: April 6th - 12th

Weekly Record: 5-2

Overall Season Record: 5-2

Opponents: 4 vs. Tigers, 3 @ Indians

It's been an outstanding week for the Toronto Blue Jays, even after a sluggish finish to the final game of the week, an 8-4 loss to the previously winless Cleveland Indians.

The Jays received solid debut starts from Roy Halladay, David Purcey and Ricky Romero while both Jesse Litsch and Scott Richmond pitched well enough to give the offence a shot. Had it not been for a hot-hitting Miguel Cabrera and a franchise record rain delay in Cleveland, Litsch and Richmond's starts may have gone just as well.

Regardless, with series wins over Detroit (3-of-4), and Cleveland (2-of-3), the Jays are off to a torrid start and currently find themselves in sole possession of 1st place in the American League East.

Although the starting pitchers fared well their first time through, the true story this week was the productivity of their offence. While the Jays' two best hitters (Alex Rios and Vernon Wells) got off to a mediocre start, it's been the rest of the lineup pulling their weight and then some.

Marco Scutaro, Aaron Hill, Vernon Wells, Adam Lind, Scott Rolen and Kevin Millar all finished the first week of play batting over .300. Hill and Lind have been the two biggest contributors, combining for 5 HR and 20 RBI over the first 5 games. Scutaro has kept backup SS John McDonald nearly glued to the bench with his hot start, picking up 10 runs, 10 hits and 6 walks from the leadoff spot.

Star of the Week

DH Adam Lind (12-30), 3 HR, 12 RBI.

Lind stole the show in leading the Blue Jays to a win on Opening Night with a team record 6 RBI. He also had back-to-back 3 hit nights adding a home run in each game as well. Lind's hot bat kept him in the lineup against back-to-back left-handers to start the series in Cleveland. While fellow lefties Lyle Overbay and Travis Snider were replaced for two games with righties Kevin Millar and Jose Bautista to face Cleveland lefties Scott Lewis and Cliff Lee, Lind remained in the 5th spot in the lineup and continued to produce. At this point, Lind is the best bet of all Toronto's left-handed bats to see regular playing time against southpaw starters. If he continues to produce, don't be surprised to see Cito Gaston bump Lind ahead of Vernon Wells and into the cleanup spot against RHP.

Opening Day: Almost Perfect!

The Jays put the boots to the Tigers last night, and with the exception of some drunk fans and a 7th inning where the wheels fell off for Roy Halladay, the Jays' couldn't have hoped for a better start to their '09 season. The Doc appeared fatigued as he struggled to finish the 7th inning. It makes you wonder why Cito wouldn't just go to the bullpen with a 9-1 lead and his ace struggling on the hill, but instead Roy took another 4 ER, which squashed his quality start.

He finished with the following line:

7.0 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 BB, 2 K and 2 Gopher balls (served up to Curtis Granderson and Brandon Inge)

The real story on this night however, amidst the wild and apparently drunk jays fans, was the play of the Jays two young hitting prospects Adam Lind and Travis Snider.

Lind got the party started in the first inning with a clutch, 2-out 2-run single to right after Vernon Wells had doubled. Scott Rolen was then plunked and chased around the bases with Lind on Lyle Overbay's double to the left-centre field gap. 4-0 Jays!

Snider led off the bottom of the second with a double, only to be stranded on second base. After Granderson's solo homer in the top of the 4th, Snider responded with a solo shot of his own to get the ball rolling again in the 4th. Later in the inning, Lind cashed Rios and Wells yet again, this time with a 3-run bomb (again with 2 outs).

Lind provided Jays' fans with a nice glimpse of their team's potential this year. The knock on the '07 and '08 Jays was their lack of clutch hitting and their impotent batting average with runners in scoring position. Lind provided just that on Opening Day, finishing 4-5 with 6 RBI!!

Now, David Purcey.. what can we do for an encore??

5th Starter.. Richmond or Mills?

Rich what?? Richmond!!

He wouldn't have been my choice, but I'd rather throw the 29 year old Canadian to the dogs and send 24 year old prospect Brad Mills down to Las Vegas to gamble the season away. Hopefully Richmond will be able to provide Toronto with several steady yet unspectacular starts every 5th day. He's never going to win many games by himself, but hopefully he can keep his team in it and give the Jays offence a chance to do some damage.

Now the question is...

Once Richmond (or Romero or god forbid even Purcey) gets rocked and sent back down to the Minors, who gets the 1st call for a spot start?

Matt Clement? If its early in the season, he might just be the guy as it appears that Cito doesn't want to throw Brett Cecil or Brad Mills right into the fire before they are truly ready.

Brett Cecil? He is probably the most talented of the Jays pitching prospects, but may also be the furthest from being ready. After being selected in '07 as a former closer, Cecil isn't yet stretched out enough to handle the grind of a full major leauge season. He set a career high of 118.2 IP in '08 while splitting time between all three levels, and should be limited to somewhere around 150 IP this year. Monitor his innings in the minors, but expect to see Cecil up with the big club at some point down the stretch, leaving him poised to battle for a spot in what should be a very interesting 2010 Jays rotation.

Brad Mills? Although Mills was the final cut from the Jays starting rotation race, I wouldn't expect him to get the first call for a spot start due to injury or a struggling rotation member. Expect Mills to emerge when Gaston and Co. feel he is ready to grab a permanent rotation spot. After throwing more than half of his innings last year in Low-A ball with the Lansing Lugnuts, Mills is due for healthy number of starts in the minors at whatever level he starts before he is deemed ready for the majors. I expect him to join Clement and Cecil in an interesting AAA-Las Vegas 51's rotation this season. His ETA? I'd say perhaps mid-July, but don't be surprised if he is shut down before the season's end after totalling just 147.1 IP last season.

News Flash: Romero may not be a bust after all!!

According to MLB.com, former first round pick Ricky Romero has claimed one of the two vacant spots in the Blue Jays starting rotation to open the season.

Jays Manager Cito Gaston was quoted as saying that Romero has "pitched himself on the team." After a strong spring start in which Romero limited the Astros to two runs over seven solid innings of work, Romero appears to have leap frogged both Canadian right-hander Scott Richmond, and lefty Brad Mills on the Jays depth chart to open the season.

About a week or so ago, it was learned that Brett Cecil would be returned to minor league camp to prepare for the start of his third pro season, and that Matt Clement, this years annual reclamation project, wouldn't be ready to pitch at the Major League level to open the season. That left Romero, Mills and Richmond battling for the final two spots behind Doc, Listch and Purcey in the Jays rotation. Gaston has been raving about Mills all spring long. "This kid has got some talent, and he seems to be able to handle the ups and downs and the pressure."

With recent news that injured starter Dustin McGowan may not pitch at all in '09 after a setback in his rehab, perhaps the Jays are more inclined to overlook Richmond, the 29 year old rookie and "ace" of Team Canada's staff at the World Baseball Classic, in favour of exposing their top young pitchers to every day life in the big leagues.

If Marcum and McGowan could make complete combacks to be healthy and ready to go for the '09 season, the Jays could potentially be loaded with pitching options, and may actually be best off dealing from a position of strength. The question is, of all these arms, which are the best and who do the Jays foresee sliding in behind Halladay, Marcum and McGowan in 2010. Litsch appears to be a lock as long as he doesn't take any steps back in '09. That leaves David Purcey, Romero, Cecil, Mills, and LHP prospect Marc Rzepczynski to battle for the fifth spot in what could be a filthy Jays rotation.

Don't forget the Jays posted the best staff ERA in baseball in 2008, so 2009 may not be quite the down year people were expecting.

As for Romero, hopefully he will make the best of this opportunity and run away from the critics who pretty much wrote him off as a first round bust. In my own article on January 31st, regarding Baseball America's list of Top 10 Jays prospects, I wrote that Romero "got a bit of a gift even being named to this list. (He can thank his outstanding collegiate career and his #6 overall pick in the 2005 draft... Troy Tulowitzki would have been nice huh?)" Romero was the first pitcher taken off the board in what was a stocked first round in 2005. Sandwiched between Ryan Braun and Troy Tulowitzki, critics of J.P. Ricciardi the last few years had a tough time living with the knowledge that Tulo could have filled the Jays revolving door at SS, but instead were stuck with Romero.

For the sake of J.P.'s job, I hope Romero proves all the haters wrong. After all, he was billed with similar hype to current Rays phenom David Price. OK, that may be a bit of a stretch, but I've been proved wrong thus far.

Jays just aren't Rich enough to get over the Hill

Ok, the Jays had no money to spend this past offseason. We get it, but when even the lowly Orioles are both spending and making savvy offseason moves, I've just about had enough. Unless Travis Snider is an immediate second coming of Shawn Green, and left-handers Brett Cecil and Brad Mills come to town and win a combined 32-35 games, the Jays will be spectators come October, failing yet again to get over the Hill.

Lame duck GM, J.P. Ricciardi's biggest offseason acquisitions aren't even worth nothing. Instead I'll go straight to a specific Orioles acquistion, a guy who would've looked great in our nest instead: SP Rich Hill.

When I heard that the Orioles acquisition of Hill from the Chicago Cubs was imminent back in late January, I instantly screamed out "J.P, what the hell is wrong with you? Why don't the Jays go after him?". Coming off his first serious stint in the majors in 2006 where he posted a solid 4.17 ERA and K'd 90 batters in just under 100 IP, Hill was one of the most talked about young pitchers coming into the 2007 season. Accordingly he was taken 7th overall in the 2007 Tha Green Monster Dynasty Entry Draft. Hill status rose even greater to the point where, according to Rotoworld.com he was "almost untouchable a year ago". After a breakout 2007 season where he posted a 3.92 ERA over 32 starts, with a 11-8 record and 183 K's in 195 IP, Hill was on the verge of joining the ranks of the elite young starters in baseball and received a lot of draft day.

Unfortunately for owners who invested in Hill in 2008, their R.O.I. was terrible. Hill made just 5 early starts for the Cubbies before spending the rest of the season riding buses in the minors. Out of options after the 2008 season, the Cubs decided to part ways with the "former" promising youngster. According to ESPN.com, Hill made a cool $445,000 last year and I can't envision him getting any significant raise after such a disappointing season. At such an affordable cost, what better gamble could there be for a G.M. to take?

Just 29 on Opening Day, Hill should have an easy time securing a starting spot for the Orioles and playing in the AL East, Blue Jays fans will be sure to get a good look at a guy who could have replaced A.J. Burnett in a heartbeat and kept this year's squad in contention.

Thanks again J.P.