SB Nation - Rick Bauer

Perfect Plans Cannot Be Made: Game Recap - Tigers 10, Jays 4

hugo — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:47:02 -0000

The Jays took a beating this afternoon at the hands of the Detroit Tigers, losing 10-4.

That said, the news wasn't all bad. Casey Janssen had a pretty solid outing - pitching 3 innings, and giving up just one run on 2 hits (he did walk two and hit another) while striking out one. Janssen tired in the third inning after a Brad Emaus error extended the inning, and that's when he hit a batter and walked another. But overall it was a good outing for him and you can't argue with the results either.

Mike Maroth, another hopeful for a Jays rotation spot, didn't fare as well. Maroth slipped out of the first two inings but things really derailed in his third. Overall, Maroth had an awful line, yielding 7 hits, including a home run, and 3 walks in 2 2/3 innings for 5 runs, 4 of which were earned. Maroth wasn't helped by two Brian Jeroloman passed balls in the same inning. Since I don't see any reason to send Maroth to AAA, let alone the Jays, I didn't mind seeing him get knocked around a bit.

Of course, Maroth looked better when Rick Bauer really let things get out of hand, giving up another 4 runs in just an inning and a third on four hits. He wasn't fooling anyone. Robert Ray, though, turned in a quality ninth inning.

At the plate, the top of the Jays order fared quite well, particularly against Tigers starter Dontrelle Willis. Adam Lind plated two runs with a well-hit triple to centre field in the first inning, while Aaron Hill was 1-2 with an RBI double and a walk. Russ Adams walked and reached on an error to score two runs. That was most of the Jays offense, to be honest, though I'm leaving out singles by Lyle Overbay, Jose Bautista, John McDonald (bringing his batting average up to .130, to Alan Ashby's delight), and Brad Emaus. Hill also made what sounded like a great jumping catch to save the third inning for Janssen.

Tomorrow, the Jays return to Dunedin where Brad Mills will take the mound for our heroes.

Highway 19 Revisited: Spring Training Week in Review, Pitchers Edition

hugo — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:03:00 -0000

Another week gone, and the Jays' pitching continues to look good. Doc looks scary good, Litsch is pink, round, and efficient as ever, Purcey has been effective if a little erratic, and it's actually something of a battle for the last two spots, with Janssen, Richmond, Mills, Cecil, and Clement all looking worthy of a spot and Romero turning a much better performance in his most recent appearance. Here's the rundown:

Games Recaped: Canada/Italy, Jays/Yankees

Tom Dakers — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 05:59:01 -0000

Italy 6 Canada 2

Man that was a stupid game. Ernie Whitt, self proclaimed 'Best Manager the Jays Never Had' has the bases loaded in the 4th, 2 out, down by 2, lefty pitcher in. And lefty batter Pete Orr up. Now Pete, is a fine guy I'm sure, but he is hasn't looked good swinging the bat. So here he is in an inning where we finally look like we might score some. And Whitt leaves him there to ~~hit~~ swing over strike 3. Didn't Ernie understand that he needed to win this game? He needed to manage like he needed to win it. So later in the game, a runner on, another lefty pitcher and Whitt leaves Orr out there again.

Oh well, we are out of the tournament without using our best pitcher. I was a bit worried before the game when I realized I had heard of the Italian starter but I hadn't heard of the Canadian starter, Vince Perkins. I was right to be worried, Perkins in his two innings plus couldn't find the strike zone with both hands and a compass. When he did accidentally find the strike zone, it was hit hard.

Italy scored a run in each of the first 4 innings and 2 more in the 7th. Canada scored two in the 4th. The middle of the Canadian lineup did well, 3rd hitter Joey Votto was 1 for 4 with a walk, 4th hitter Justin Morneau was 4 for 5 and 5th hitter Jason Bay was 2 for 2 with 3 walks and drove home both our runs. These were the only guys to manage a hit off the great Italian pitching trio of Serafini, Cooper and Grilli.

Guys that had a rough game: Chris Barnwell was 0 for 3 with a walk. Russell Martin was 0 for 5 with 2 strikeouts, one of our few right handed bats going against the lefty pitching. Matt Stairs was 0 for 3 with a walk, leaving 6 guys on base. Nick Weglarz was0 for 3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts. And Pete Orr was 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts, leaving 4 on base.

After losing a good game against the USA team, this game was a big disappointment. Whitt's gamble to save Scott Richmond for a possible start against Venezuela didn't work out. It is too bad he didn't use Richmond in one of these two loses, because a decent start in US game might have bought us a win and a good start in this game could have made a big difference. Oh well, the WBC was fun while it lasted.

Jays 6 Yankees 2

It is getting harder not to get too excited about our young pitching. Brad Mills started and did give up his first 2 runs of the spring on a homer by Yankee's center field prospect, Brett Gardner. Other than that Mills did well, 4 hits, a walk and 4 strikeouts. Casey Janssen pitched a good 2 shutout innings, giving up 2 hits and striking out 2. Brian Burres and Rick Bauer pitched the final 3 shutout innings, not that they have a shot at making the team.

Offensively Russ Adams and Travis Snider each hit a homer. Other than that, Aaron Hill and Lyle Overbay each were 1 for 3 with a double. Backup catcher candidate Raul Chavez went 2 for 2 with a double. Chavez is the only catcher looking for that backup job that has more than 1 hit this spring. JP Arencibia went 0 for 2 and Michael Barrett also went 0 for 2, he is now 0 for 9 on the spring. Still that's not many at bats.Let's not write him off just yet.

Personal favorites Scott Campbell went 1 for 3 with a walk and Jason Lane was 0 for 2 with an RBI. Lane is batting .455 so far this spring. Campbell is at .278, he is starting to look like someone I'd like called up when Scott Rolen takes his turn on the DL this summer.

Tomorrow the Jays play the Rays, Matt Clement will get the start for the Jays.

The Ice Is Getting Thinner: Spring Training Week One in Review - Part I, Pitchers

hugo — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 01:17:05 -0000

Here at Bluebird Banter, we'll be following the hopefuls at spring training in their attempt to make the Jays. Here's how your corvid hurlers did in the first week of spring training. For brevity, I've not included every single player in Jays' camp, but have enough of them to make things interesting, I hope. And we haven't included players who are guaranteed a spot, barring unforseen injury. Tomorrow we will take a look at the hitters!

Game Recap, Jays Lose to Team Canada

Tom Dakers — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 00:09:28 -0000

In a game that made it hard to figure out who to cheer for Team Canada beat the Jays 6-4. Maybe let's talk about the two teams separately.

Team Canada:

It looks like the Canadian team will have a really good offense, maybe leaning a little too much on the lefty batters. Is it a Canadian thing that most of our best batters swing left-handed. I know that there are far more lefty golfers in Canada than there is in the US. In Canada about 25% of us swing lefty while in the states it is less than 5%. The explanation I agree with is it is a hockey thing, most of us on this side of the border swing a hockey stick long before we swing a golf club and many (half?) hockey players are left-handed shots. So it is natural for us to pick up a golf club the same way. Maybe the same is true with a baseball bat.

Anyway the Team Canada bats looked good today, get 8 hits and taking 7 walks. Of note, Corey Koskie looked good at the plate, he was 1 for 3 with a double, a walk, a hit by pitch and 3 runs. Leadoff hitter and shortstop Chris Barnwell was 1 for 3 with 2 walks. Justin Morneau was 2 for 3 with an RBI and Pete Orr was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI. Back-up catcher Luke Carlin hit a 2 run double.

The defense for Canada might be a problem. In the outfield we had Joey Votto in left, Jason Bay in center and Matt Stairs in RF. I'd like to think Adam Stern will play center in the tournament games, moving Stairs to DH and maybe Kosie (who DHed today) to 3B.

Pitching looks to be the weak link for the Canadian team, but it was pretty good today. Scott Richmond went 2.2, gave up 4 hits, a walk, a strikeout and 2 runs. Chris Begg followed him with a good 2.1 innings, striking out 4 while giving up just a run. First round draft pick Phillippe Aumont, Jesse Crain, Steve Green and David Davidson (what were his parents thinking) each pitched an scoreless inning except for Green. Green gave up a homer to Aaron Matthews (who?) but got lucky on a call where Mark Teahen, playing RF, trapped a ball against the RF fence but got credited with a catch.

Blue Jays:

Mike Maroth didn't impress, he walked 3, hit one batter but only gave up 2 runs in 2 innings. Fabio Castro didn't have a great showing either giving up 2 hits and 2 walks in 2 innings. Bill Murphy also gave up 2 runs in 2 innings. Rick Bauer gave up 1 run in his 1 inning of work. But TJ Beam and Robert Ray looked good, pitching a scoreless inning each. Ray in particular has looked good this spring.

Batting wise Scott Campbell went 2 for 3 with an RBI. Johnny Mac, Inglett, Jason Lane and Adam Loewen each went 1 for 3. Russ Adams was 1 for 2 with a walk and run, but he didn't look good in the field, playing second base.

Doing less well were Michael Barrett (0 for 3 with 2 strikouts), Buck Coats (0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts), Ryan Patterson (0 for 2), Brad Emaus (0 for 2) and Kevin Ahrens (0 for 2).

Tomorrow the Jays play Team USA. Brad Mills is to start for the Jays and Casey Janssen and Lyle Overbay will get their first game action this spring.