SB Nation User Blog: hugo

I Work These Hands to Bleed; I've Got These Mouths to Feed: Prospect Midseason Report, vol. 1

hugo — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:44:54 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

Ricky Romero has leapt tall prospect lists in a single bound, jumping all the way from the Jays' 9th-best prospect to one of the AL's better starting pitchers thusfar this season. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)

Browse more photos »

Thanks to Ryan Adams (not your inferior Canadian B-Ryan version and definitely don't call him that unless you want to be evicted from the 9:30 club) for today's title, from the beautiful sad song "In My Time of Need," off Heartbreaker, his finest record By the way, best shows I ever saw (and there have been hundreds if not thousands) was an all-acoustic show - Tegan and Sara and Ryan Adams, with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. Unfortunately, Ryan Adams also put on, by far, the worst show I ever saw, so there's that). I thought it appropriate since we will be looking at the Jays' farm system and the song is about a farmer. Anyway, we'll be looking at the Jays top 10 prospects, as we defined them in this LOTR themed post. Things have obviously changed, but we won't update the rankings until later on.

1. Travis Snider. Moonraker has had a tough time of it. Travis essentially was given the starting left field job before Spring Training even starter, and he did have a fine spring. Unfortunately that only carried about two weeks into the regular season before cracks started showing themselves. Travis couldn't hit much of anything after that, and soon found himself back at AAA. Sadly, Moonraker didn't even have a chance to get his feet under him before going down to shoulder and back injuries, and he hasn't even swung a bat in weeks. He'll try to get on track now that he's been reactivated and could be a September callup (or even earlier, though I tend to doubt that) for the team. Looking behind the numbers, Snider wasn't the victim of bad luck in the majors- just bad hitting. Quite the opposite, his numbers are actually better than his 13.9% line drive rate would suggest. Travis needs to refne his eye at the plate (6.6% walk rate this season, no different than his callup last year) before he finds consistent big-league success. That said, there's no reason to think his future is any brighter than it was before the season - the most worrying thing about this year isn't the 21-year old's hiccup, but the injury (from which he was just activated). It wouldn't surprise me to see him put together a nice second half and head into next year ready to make some waves.

2. Brett Cecil - Cecil wasn't expected to pitch in the bigs this early, particularly after flaming out early on in his spring training bid, but a steady stream of injuries has caused him to make 6 starts and find his way into the Jays' rotation. His 5.09 ERA doesn't look very impressive, but in truth Cecil has been quite good, with 4 good starts and 2 ERA-inflatingly poor ones. Brett has a 24/10 K/BB ratio over his 35 innings, and is more the victim of bad luck on home runs than anything else. With his sinking fastball, Cecil has always had devastatingly good HR rates in the minors, but he ran into a patch of HRs in the majors, particularly in one start against Boston in which he yielded 4 long balls. Cecil displayed a very good fastball, albeit one over which he could have more control, a world-class slider, and a decent changeup. I think his curve needs some work; he seemed to have trouble throwing it for strikes and he hung the occasional one too. With so many Jay pitchers hurt, it looks like Cecil has some more opportunity to show what he can do, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him put together a nice second half. I would like to see the team leave him in the majors at this point unless he pitches his way down.

3. J.P. Arencibia - Arencibia essentially entered this season with two main goals - continue to work on his defense, and develop an improved approach at the plate. While his defense has continued to progress, his approach at the plate has been another story. I thought the Jays were a little aggressive in starting Arencibia at AAA, and he has had some problems there - hitting just .236/.291/.417. That said, he has improved his walk rate - he already has 16 walks this season (in 287 plate appearances) after drawing just 18 all of last season (528 PAs). It's not a drastic difference and still is just a 5.6% walk rate, but it is something. While Arencibia's hitting hasn't been fantastic, he has turned it on some recently, and while he only has 8 HRs so far after hitting 27 last season between AA and AAA, he has 23 doubles and a triple already, which is encouraging. Unfortunately, he was recently put on the DL - let's hope it's not a serious injury. Although Arencibia hasn't progressed as fast as some of us would have hoped, he is holding his own and remains one of the better catching prospects in the game. He might not start 2010 in the majors, but he could be an early callup and an impact player that season.

4. David Cooper - Cooper looked like he was on the fast track to the majors after he jumped from Auburn to Dunedin and then, just as quickly, to New Hampshire last season, but his development has hit a snag so far this season. Cooper has shown a nice eye at the plate (10.4% walk rate) but hasn't shown much power yet (19 extra-base hits, including just 4 home runs). At 22, he has plenty of time to figure out double A. That said, a big second half would go a long way toward demonstrating that his first-round selection in 2008 was a wise one. As an underpowered first baseman with subpar defense, the margin for error isn't large with Cooper.

5. Justin Jackson - Jackson entered this season possessing a strong defensive reputation but some question marks as to how he might develop offensively. That's still very much true of the 20-year old. Jackson looked pretty good in spring training but really struggled to start the season, striking out in over 1/3 of his at-bats and not hitting much of anything. He returned from injury and was good at first but, since then, has continued to struggle at the plate, hitting just .233/.354/.291 on the season and .217/.360/.275 this month. The walk rates are very nice (15.6% this season) but that won't last if he can't start hitting more. He continues to strike out at a rather alarming rate (36%) so making consistent contact will be his primary goal for now. That said, Jackson is young for Dunedin and so it's not a huge surprise to see him struggle in the first half. The key will be seeing if he develops at all this second half. In the field, he continues to draw accolades, though he has also made 16 errors thusfar.

6. Kevin Ahrens - Ahrens, another 20-year old playing at Dunedin, has had some similar problems to Jackson - namely, making contact. Ahrens is hitting just .230/.307/.305 and not showing much in the way of power. The switch-hitter has been a bit unlucky on balls in play, it looks like, and, unlike Jackson, he hasn't had much of a problem with strikouts (22%), though he also hasn't walked as much (9.5%). Bottom line, both Jackson and Ahrens are practically teenagers playing A+ ball, so that they are struggling isn't a shock.

7. Scott Campbell - a bit of a personal favourite, Campbell continues in his quest to become the first native New Zealander to play in the major leagues. Campbell impressed a lot of people this spring after a very strong AA season last year, but of course there was no room for him on the big league team so it was a foregone conclusion that he'd end up in Las Vegas. AAA wasn't kind to Campbell the first time around, and he was unlucky in that just when he started going, he got hurt and missed several weeks. He recently returned and was doing quite well in AA, working his way back up, but then got hurt again. It's quickly turning into a lost season for the Kiwi and he'll try to get healthy and get himself back into AAA and hopefully put up some better numbers.

8. Brad Mills - Mills has had an interesting season. He drew a lot of good remarks in the spring, staying in the race for a rotation spot until the bitter end, when Ricky Romero and Scott Richmond won out instead. But Mills has had an up-and-down season since then. He started off terribly in Las Vegas, walking more batters than he struck out in April, before settling down in May. He struggled in June, though, until he was somewhat surprisingly called up when Casey Janssen and Doc Halladay went on the DL. With the Jays, neither of Mills' two starts could be said to be successful, but he did show his potential striking out 9 over his 7 2/3 innings. However, he had a ton of trouble throwing strikes (7.04 BB/9) and when he did, they got pounded (4 HR and a .442 BABIP against). Mills needs to keep the ball down (his flyball rates are troubling) and get ahead in the count to be successful, and he wasn't able to do that for the Jays. Back in AAA, though, Mills got back on track immediately with a gem of a start yesterday - 8 shutout innings, 2 hits, 7 Ks, and just 1 walk. His overall minor league numbers aren't bad, especially for the PCL, so it's just a question of doing it consistently.

9. Ricky Romero - What is there to say about Romero? Tom already covered Romero's progress, and it has been most impressive. I'm not sure he will pitch in the minors again (save a rehab start here or there). Yes, Romero has been the beneficiary of good luck (87% of runners stranded isn't sustainable) and/or good defense (4.04 FIP, compared to a 2.85 ERA). But he has also made his own luck - a sub 3 BB/9 (2.97) and 7.56 K/9 is extremely impressive for a rookie lefthander, and foretells continued success, as does his ability to get ahead of hitters. Romero has a good fastball, nice breaking pitches, and a very impressive changeup that he is able to throw in any count, making it a formidable weapon. His makeup has also been very impressive - he seems to exhibit excellent poise on the mound and seems both tough and coachable. The East LA kid has gone long way, jumping from 9th best Jays' prospect (and we got some raised eyebrows for ranking him this highly) to one of the better pitchers in the AL this season. If we can keep him away from pollen, we've got ourselves a keeper, I'd venture to say.

10. John Tolisano - Despite being consistently ranked lower than his draftmates with whom he has come up the system, Kevin Ahrens and Justin Jackson (including by us, but we like him more than most), Tolisano has performed more impessively than either of them at each level. At least, at the plate (I hear mixed things about his defense at second). Tolisano is hitting a respectable .255/.319/.427 this season, with 8 home runs thusfar. He has a decent eye at the plate, makes decent contact, and is showing some power (.173 Iso-p) and is putting together a respectable season at high-A, pretty good for a 20-year old. Tolisano has been hot recently, so a big second half is a possibility.

Well, folks, that's all for now. We'll cover the next 10 at some future date.

In New York Freedom Looks Like Too Many Choices: 7/3 Game Preview and Thread, Jays at Yankees

hugo — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:13:12 -0000

Hi everyone and hope you Yankees (not that kind) are enjoying your holiday weekend. I'm up in NYC for the weekend, and looking forward to the 4-day-game series against New York's Richest (actually not even close, probably).

In a few moves, David Dellucci has been called up from AAA (and is batting 8th today), while Russ Adams has been sent down. Vernon Wells is back in the lineup and batting 6th today, while Scott Downs is going to throw a bullpen session and could return in a few days.

Brian Tallet goes for the Yankees today and looks to extend his improbable run as a starter, while old friend A.J. Burnett, coming off an exceptional start his last time out, throws for the Yankees. Nothing against A.J., but let's knock him around a bit, eh?

Lineup

Toronto Blue Jays @ New York Yankees

07/03/09 1:05 PM EDT

Toronto Blue Jays	New York Yankees
Marco Scutaro - SS	Derek Jeter - SS
Aaron Hill - 2B	Johnny Damon - LF
Adam Lind - DH	Mark Teixeira - 1B
Scott Rolen - 3B	Alex Rodriguez - 3B
Lyle Overbay - 1B	Robinson Cano - 2B
Vernon Wells - CF	Nick Swisher - RF
Alex Rios - RF	Hideki Matsui - DH
David Dellucci - LF	Francisco Cervelli - C
Raul Chavez - C	Brett Gardner - CF

It Is Time For You To Stop All Of Your Sobbing: 6/30 Game Preview and Thread, Rays at Jays

hugo — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:44:30 -0000

It is always tough to lose when Doc pitches, but hot and cold for the Jays' offense is nothing new. Today they look to get back on track with Scott Richmond pitching for the Jays and Matt Garza going for the Rays. Richmond certainly hasn't given the Jays anything to complain about but the Rays offense has been fantastic and Garza is an excellent pitcher too, so it should be a good one.

Some good news - Scott Downs threw off a mound for the first time since his injury today and it reportedly went well. There's still no return date, but sounds like progress.

Just to put it in perspective (thanks to the Pretenders for today's title), the Jays are 4 games over .500, 3 1/2 from the wild card. Yes it has been a drop off, due as much to excellent play by the other AL East teams as mediocre play by the Jays. This is a team that plenty of pundits picked to finish with as few as 70 wins. I think the Jays can play better than they've been playing recently, but every team has its ups and downs. And no, the Jays aren't losing because they "don't want to win as much as the other team" or "aren't as determined to win" as the other team. What, they wanted to win more than the other team in April but now they're tired of winning and want to try losing?

This is baseball. One week you sweep the champs, next week you look like you won't win another game for the rest of the year. It's a long season and there are plenty of surprises, good and bad, in store. Enjoy the games, it's been great baseball for the most part. I know I have.

I've Got Ways To Make You Come Back To Me: 6/29 Preview and Thread, Rays at Jays

hugo — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:25:58 -0000

Welcome back, Doc. Please don't ever leave us again.

That is all.

Far Away From Those Winter Streets / On a Cloudless Day / Your Memory Blows Away: 6/28 Game Preview and Thread, Phillies at Jays

hugo — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:19:29 -0000

Lineup

Philadelphia Phillies @ Toronto Blue Jays

06/28/09 1:07 PM EDT

Philadelphia Phillies	Toronto Blue Jays
Shane Victorino - CF	Marco Scutaro - SS
Jayson Werth - RF	Aaron Hill - 2B
Chase Utley - 2B	Vernon Wells - CF
Ryan Howard - 1B	Scott Rolen - 3B
John Mayberry Jr. - LF	Adam Lind - DH
Pedro Feliz - 3B	Alex Rios - RF
Chris Coste - DH	Lyle Overbay - 1B
Eric Bruntlett - SS	Jose Bautista - LF
Carlos Ruiz - C	Raul Chavez - C

The Jays are hoping that the ugly memory of yesterday's game blows away this afternoon as they try to take the Phillies series. Not much to say about a game like yesterday's -- in one game, Mills demonstrated both why he could be a good major league one day and why he's not quite ready for the majors yet. He's back in AAA now, with Doc ready to make his start tomorrow. Brian Tallet will look to follow up on an incredible 3-days rest start his last time out, while the ancient one pitches for the Quaker City.

At least the Jays are fielding a major-league lineup today, so that's good to see (although Mac produced almost half of the Jays' total offense yesterday). Barajas continues to sit, but Jose Bautista gets the start in left while Lyle Overbay plays first base, Scott Rolen returns to the lineup, and Adam Lind takes DH duties.

Today's title comes from the same song as yesterday's, "Walt Whitman Bridge" by Marah. It's a great song so hopefully it'll bring us more luck today than yesterday. Let's go Jays!

I've Been Hearing You Say Some Things That You Don't Mean: 6/27 Game Preview and Thread, Phillies at Jays

hugo — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 15:58:09 -0000

The Jays look to continue their excellence when playing the Philadelphia Phillies this afternoon after a big win yesterday behind some nice hitting and great pitching by Ricky Romero.

Jordan Bastian is now reporting that Rod Barajas was not placed on the DL yesterday (meaning, I guess, that Kyle Phillips hasn't been called up). Rod apparently felt better today and is now day-to-day. So that's good news, I guess. I hope the Jays don't do anything that could reaggravate the injury - you know how hammies are.

Unfortunately, it's a good news-bad (though not unexpected) news from Bastian today:

Cito, asked if Downs will be ready when eligible to come off DL: "I hope he is but I really dont know. I have no confidence in that at all."

The Jays have another lefty going today in Brad Mills. Mills really struggled in his first ever mlb start so let's hope that he can settle down and throw strikes this time. The Phillies aren't generally a forgiving offense (though as a lefty Mills certainly has the advantage. The Phills counter with a lefty of their own in J.A. Happ. The Jays put out possibly their worst possible offensive lineup today, featuring Kevin Millar batting cleanup and hitting 4th, Jose Bautista in leftfield, Raul Chavez behind the plate, and Sir John MacDonald at the hot corner.

Today's title is in honour of Rod and comes from the great Ted Leo and the Pharmacists song "La Costa Brava." I'm a huge Ted Leo fan. The little one and I had an enjoyable morning - we went for a nice long hike before it got too hot (wow, is she ever getting heavy) and now I'm sitting back and ready for some baseball. Let's go Jays!

Lineup

Philadelphia Phillies @ Toronto Blue Jays

06/27/09 1:07 PM EDT

Philadelphia Phillies	Toronto Blue Jays
Shane Victorino - CF	Marco Scutaro - SS
Jayson Werth - RF	Aaron Hill - 2B
Chase Utley - 2B	Vernon Wells - CF
Ryan Howard - 1B	Kevin Millar - 1B
John Mayberry Jr. - LF	Adam Lind - DH
Pedro Feliz - 3B	Alex Rios - RF
Chris Coste - DH	Jose Bautista - LF
Eric Bruntlett - SS	Raul Chavez - C
Carlos Ruiz - C	John McDonald - 3B

Got Two Shoelaces on Two Shoes / I Should Toss 'Em on A Telephone Line as a Monument to My Blues: 6/26 Game Preview and Thread, Phillies at Jays

hugo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:39:32 -0000

Lineup

Philadelphia Phillies @ Toronto Blue Jays

06/26/09 7:07 PM EDT

Philadelphia Phillies	Toronto Blue Jays
Shane Victorino - CF	Marco Scutaro - SS
Chase Utley - 2B	Aaron Hill - 2B
Jayson Werth - RF	Vernon Wells - CF
Ryan Howard - 1B	Scott Rolen - 3B
John Mayberry Jr. - LF	Adam Lind - DH
Pedro Feliz - 3B	Kevin Millar - 1B
Chris Coste - DH	Alex Rios - RF
Eric Bruntlett - SS	Rod Barajas - C
Carlos Ruiz - C	Jose Bautista - LF

Hi everyone. It's been a rollercoaster of a day - our nanny flaked and Mrs. Hugo, God bless her, is off in Colorado partying so I had to stay home from work at the last minute. Of course, work never takes an emergency FMLA (that's Family and Medical Leave) day, so I ended up spending the day running around crazily with the little one trying to juggle intense 8-figure settlement negotiations and an afternoon at the playground, which is never really a great plan.

Enough about me. The day is winding down now and the Jays are getting ready to take on the Phillies on Flashback Friday in the Skydome (as I persistently call it, since, hey, I've got a song named after that place).

The Jays got some good news today, as Craig already broke in the fanshots. Doc Halladay threw 54 pitches in his bullpen session today and promptly pronounced himself ready to pitch on Monday against the Tampa Bay Rays. I'm not getting a good feeling about Downs' return, though. In other good news, Jeremy Accardo is also ready for action today after a minor bout with groin issues. The Jays could really use another reliable bullpen arm, so Accardo's return is welcome.

Two young lefties go at it today, both former first-rounders -- Cole Hamels hurls for the City of Brotherly Love, while Ricky Romero goes for Hogtown. Kevin Millar gets back into the lineup batting 6th (sarcastic cheer!) while Jose Bautista gets the start in left. I hope Cito doesn't hesitate to use Lyle off the bench and then at first defensively.

Today's title comes from the incredible song "Walt Whitman Bridge" by the great Philadelphia band Marah. The Walt Whitman Bride connects Philly with southern New Jersey, where Whitman spent the last few years of his life (he was born on Long Island and lived most of his life in Brooklyn, one reason he's sort of a personal favourite).

For more on the opposition, Dakers dug up the dirt here, while Jesse looked at their pitching here.

Let's go Jays!

Good June; Bad June: A Look at Individual Jays' Performance So Far This Month

hugo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 10:18:17 -0000

More photos » by NATHAN DENETTE - AP

Bad June, Lexi (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

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In an idea shamelessly stolen from the Animaniacs "Good Idea; Bad Idea," I thought it'd be worth it to take a look at who is performing well (and who is not) this month, since season stats start to obscure monthly trends at about this point in the season. The month isn't over, of course, so things are subject to change.

Good June: Scott Rolen is batting .389/.429/.542 this month with 2 home runs, 10 RBI, and spectacular defensive play UZR just can't figure out (they have him at just a tick over average). He has been making highlight-reel plays on a daily basis and has been great at the plate.

Bad June: Rod Barajas has been cold. The Cap'n is hitting just .210/.258/.419 this month. Ouch, but not that far off his career numbers, really.

Good June: Adam Lind is torching the ball this month, with a .354/.436/.695 line and more walks than strikeouts. If he keeps up this pace, he'll finish with over 30 home runs and close to 50 doubles.

Bad June: Aaron Hill has had a tough month, batting just .236/.289/.438. With his power (5 HR this month), it's not awful production for a second baseman of his defensive aptitude, but that OBP is ugly and he can do better. BABIP is of course playing a role, but Hill's approach, as good a hitter as he is, isn't without its flaws.

Mediocre June: Marco Scutaro returned to his career averages this month (or, at least, last year's numbers) with a .267/.354/.372 line. He has still walked almost as much as he's struck out (12 to 13, respectively). And with his stellar SS defense, it's still valuable play to the Jays, just not to the stratospheric levels of play he was achieving in April and May.

Good June: Lyle Overbay has had another very nice month in what is shaping up to be a very nice season - hitting .288/.449/.559. He's slugged over .500 each month this year, so his power is back, and you have to love that eye at the plate. Great stuff.

Bad June: After a good May, Alex Rios has derailed a bit, batting just .244/.293/.407 this month. That's 3 regulars with a sub-.300 OBP this month.

Bad June: Vernon Wells has picked it a lot recently, hitting in his last 9 games, but he started the month so terribly that the overall numbers are still ugly: .226/.283/.393. Still, there's some room for optimism here, as he is crushing the ball recently - .342/.390/.605 over his last 8 games.

Brutal June: Kevin Millar was horrific this month, "hitting" .205/.300/.318 and actually making fans glad to see Russ Adams at designated hitter.

Good June: Scott Richmond has been steady as she goes, with a 0.95 Whip, 4.07 ERA, and 20 Ks to 7 walks over his 24 1/3 innings in 3 June starts and 2 June relief appearances.

Good June: Ricky Romero recovered from a couple of shaky starts after first returning from an oblique strain with an excellent month thusfar - 2.96 ERA, a 1.21 Whip, near a K an inning, and a touch below a 3/1 K/BB ratio.

Mediocre June: Two poor starts spoiled Brian Tallet's month a bit - but he still ended up with a 4.61 ERA and 1.32 Whip. He's been consistently a touch below 2 Ks for every walk which isn't great, but not awful.

Bad June: Brandon League had a great May but has had a really rough time of it in June, giving up 12 runs in 10 2/3 innings. That said, he has a 6:1 K/BB ratio this month so he's been more unlucky than anything. If you want proof, his FIP is actually below 4 this season. Doing this post convinced me that he'll come around.

Good June: Shawn Camp has had an impressive month, racking up 16 (mostly low leverage) innings of 2.81 ERA ball and 13 Ks to 5 walks. Interestingly, he hasn't had the trouble with lefties he had last year.

Good June: Jason Frasor has had a very fine month, pitching to a 1.29 ERA and 1.14 Whip over 7 innings, with 5 Ks and 2 walks. He has 1 save.

Bad June: Jesse Carlson continued to struggle, giving up 8 runs (6 earned) in 9 innings and allowing a devastating .390 opposing batting average. The 11/4 K/BB ratio over the 9 innings actually suggest he hasn't been that bad, so maybe he's just getting unlucky. I haven't felt like that watching him though.

Good June: Everyone's favourite (ok, my favourite) bridge pitcher (it sounds better than garbage-time-guy), Dirk appeared in 7 games in June, compiling a 1.00 ERA, 1.33 Whip, and 2/1 K/BB ratio. He had 5 good appearances and 2 bad ones (in one of which he was lucky not to surrender a run).

Injured June: Roy Halladay was spinning a great month before a groin strain sidelined him, striking out 20 and walking 1 over 21 innings, with just a 0.95 Whip and 2.14 ERA. That's right, a 20/1 K/BB ratio. Doc's walk to win count: 12 walks, 10 wins. That's kind of like Joe Dimaggio almost having more career HRs than Ks (361 to 369), only even more ridiculous.

Injured June: Scott Downs only made four June appearances before hurting his toe that fateful day, but they were gems - 1 hit and 2 walks over 4 1/3 innings, no runs, and 5 Ks.

B.J. June: I don't know how else to describe a month in which BJ Ryan has managed to walk 5 and strike out 3 6 2/3 innings, yet somehow finish with a respectable 1.35 Whip and not give up any runs. The .174 opposing batting average probably explains it, but one can't expect that to continue.

Three Car Jam: 6/25 Preview and Thread, Reds at Jays

hugo — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 22:40:51 -0000

Hope everyone is having a great day. The Jays go for the sweep tonight and the offense has been clicking, so let's just hope it keeps doing its job.

It's an interesting pitchers' duel today, with Brett Cecil on the mound for the Jays and Johnny Cueto toeing the rubber for Cincy. Cecil is looking to build on an excellent start against the Nationals last time out, while Cueto is looking to rebound from a disastrous start but he has been very good this season. Two great young pitchers, a pretty Thursday evening, a cold one and my workday is done - what else could we possibly ask from this evening? A Jays win, of course.

Doc Halladay will take the mound tomorrow, his last test before his scheduled start on Monday. That is, assuming he's not traded to the Colorado Rockies for Garrett Atkins, he of the 62 OPS+. No news on Downs, which isn't very encouraging at this point.

Russ Adams continues to play - he's in the DH spot tonight, and Cito sounded impressed with his hitting after yesterday's game. If Adams can get on base with any consistency, he is going to score a lot of runs ahead of the top of the Jays' order.

Lineup

Cincinnati Reds @ Toronto Blue Jays

06/25/09 7:07 PM EDT

Cincinnati Reds	Toronto Blue Jays
Willy Taveras - CF	Marco Scutaro - SS
Jerry Hairston Jr. - 3B	Aaron Hill - 2B
Brandon Phillips - 2B	Vernon Wells - CF
Joey Votto - 1B	Scott Rolen - 3B
Jonny Gomes - DH	Adam Lind - LF
Ramon Hernandez - C	Alex Rios - RF
Jay Bruce - RF	Lyle Overbay - 1B
Paul Janish - SS	Rod Barajas - C
Chris Dickerson - LF	Russ Adams - DH

Thanks to the Minutemen

Richard Griffin, Comedian

hugo — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 21:00:43 -0000

So, if you make it a point to read Richard Griffin's mailbag (and really, why wouldn't you?) every week when it comes out, you've already seen this, but:

The big news of the week turned out to be that Brad Pitt’s movie version of Moneyball was cancelled pretty much on the eve of production. What a shock. There is no truth to the rumour that the major issue was in finding someone to play then-A’s vice-president J.P. Ricciardi and that John Turturro and Pinocchio both turned down the role.

Hahahahaha! He totally called you Pinocchio, dude! You know, because you have a big nose! Burn!

Though John Turturro would make a good Ricciardi (an idea Griffin clearly pilfered from All Your Base Are Belong to Rios).