Results tagged ‘ Gregg Zaun ’
Addition, Subtraction and the Big Picture
We’re going to play a little game of addition and subtraction…
Subtraction:
Clockwise and missing time is Vernon Wells, Jeremy Accardo, Gregg Zaun, and Casey Janssen. Quelle Domage!
The dearly departed is Reed Johnson (46GP, 24RBI, .345OBP with the Cubs), Frank Thomas (44GP, 7HR, 27RBI, .444SLG, .258AVG with the As), Troy Glaus (57GP, 4HR, 34 RBI, .420SLG, .269AVG with the Cardinals) and of course Mickey Brantley the once hailed hitting coach who in your narrator’s opinion should be brought back just for Alex Rios alone.
Addition:
Starting at the top from left to right, Armando Benitez, Brad Wilkerson, David Eckstein, Jesse Carlson, Kevin Mench, Marco Scutaro, Rod Barajas, Scott Rolen, Shannon Stewart, Shawn Camp, Gary Denbo and the retro powder blue uniforms.
Bloop singles:
I was excited about the potential of Benitez when he was acquired but his first outing this season was pretty alarming giving up a homerun on his first pitch as a Jay though he has settled in and is looking pretty good; Wilkerson is looking to have turned that corner and is playing better and hitting for power with a grandslam under his belt; Eckstein, or Plucky as I like to call him, has impressed me with his grit and tenacity; Carlson has been a huge surprise and an easy call to make when going to the pen; Mench was a surprise acquisition and was apparently highly sought after by the Royals where they were willing to give up the farm for him, and while watching a Royals broadcast on FSN versus the Jays the commentator asked would you take one million dollars or Kevin Mench’s head full of nickels? thats a tough one; Scutaro has been a God sent! Hot Rod is showing us why Ricciardi was pressing to acquire him last season and is making it easy for Zaun to rehab his injury; Rolan has hit well, defended well and appears to be a rock however with a load of power leaving the team in Glaus and the Hurt I would like him to put some pop in his bat; Stewart is not Reed Johnson, obviously, but is showing signs of life and should he get back to his career average then you’ll likely here less of Reed’s name; Camp is another pleasant surprise; Gary Denbo almost had a lynch mob hunting him down while converting the team’s hitting strategy and now has to coach his pupils to find their power stroke; and the powder blues will hopefully be worn in the World Series and should be here to stay.
The reason to all these small pics is to get to
the Big Picture…
That’s all for now from yours faithfully… Shine on, Cheers and Smell you later!
The Garbage Man
What happened to the garbage man?
Last season’s commercial of AJ Burnett was almost a premonition of what was to come this season, AJ adding the garbage pitch to his repertoire; however most amateur reporters like yours truly think we were fed another line from Riccardi and when it comes down to it AJ is over paid, over hyped and when the Jays were in talks with the Marlins and had a shot at Beckett they should have stuck with plan A; however, when AJ’s curveball is on there really isn’t anyone better in the business.
So I ask again, what happened to the garbage, man?
As most Blue Jays fans know AJ got in a fight with his Land Rover and it bit off his fingernail rendering him unable to have command of his curveball. Fortunately this gave AJ the opportunity to turn some lemons into lemonade and work on his garbage pitch, aka the change-up during spring training. Apparently it was coming around until that infamous Land Rover of his delivered him to a nail salon where AJ received a phony nail to help him throw his curveball; and that curveball was there in New York game 2 of the season baffling the Bronx Bombers of the Evil Empire. Sadly since game 2 of the season of great expectations AJ has been a disappointment and what is worse I was talking that guy up like crazy this past off season because I thought after how he finished off last season with 10 dominant games and more importantly I thought with the contractual opt out/renegotiate clause at the end of this season he would find that consistency that has been missing in his injury plagued career–or that extra motivation most professional athletes seem possess in a contract year.
Yeah, I know this season is early; but, when only 3 teams per conference are allowed in the playoffs (which must be changed to save the game), a slow start and losing streaks will lead to another disappointing season.
Moving along the rotation, the number three pitcher Dustin McGowan did well to hold the O’s to 3 runs in 6 innings and give his team a chance to win. Unfortunately the bats were not there as Baltimore’s Albers and the most improved pitching staff in baseball held the lead for the eleven thousand fans at Camdon and took the AL East lead. Sadly it came down to Zaun who couldn’t keep the game going and make up for not holding the baserunners. On a positive note, Shannon Stewart made a phenomenal throw home from out field to catch a greedy Jay Payton.
That’s it for now from yours faithfully……Shine on, Cheers and Smell you later!
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