Some numbers:

BB: 5.8%

K: 28.8%

League average on top, Thames on bottom.

Yes, he has hit a bunch of line drives, and it is a small sample size, but i think these numbers are somewhat worrying.

We measure player luck with BABIP, why not measure the luck of a team?

How? Perhaps take a look at pitcher matchups (i.e. facing the 1-2 -3 of a pitching staff more often), how hot/cold opposing players are coming into the game/series, injured players on the opposing team etc.

Don't know if this is really feasable, but it could be interesting.

I have to write a few more words. Hello. How bout 'dem Blue Jays? Yeah!

link

Brandon Morrow has obviously impressed us all, and i think he does have to potential to be a great pitcher... maybe even Verlander-esque.

The thing is that, whilst he is a great pitcher with incredible stuff, in order to be a true ace you have to eat innings too. Morrow can't throw almost 140 pitches every start, and it seems like most games hes out in the 6th or the 7th, even when hes on his game, simply because he strikes so many guys out.

It would be interesting to see if Morrow works on his changeup more and tries to cut/sink his fastball a bit more so that he can be more efficient. Its nice to have a guy who can strike everyone out... but usually that means throwing 15-20+ pitches an inning. In an ace, you want someone who can finish games or at least throw into the 8th so you dont have to worry about your bullpen holding onto leads all the time.

Of course, i wont be complaining if Morrow has more starts like his last one, but its just something to think about in the future. Especially as he ages and loses some of his stuff.

f course its great to see Snider have a good game last night, with a homer and a double... but you have to worry about stats like these:

http://mopupduty.com/index.php/travis-snider-cant-hit-high-heat-is-it-time-to-send-him-down/

Theres not much i can say here without repeating what has already been said in the article, so what do you guys think?

Snider obviously has power and can hit when a pitcher throws a mistake pitch to him down and in (where most lefties seem to like it), but he obviously has to do something about his swing to at least be able to do a decent job of hitting pitches up in the zone. It seems like his swing is just too long to catch up to those high fastballs.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/baseball/mlb/12/01/farm.systems/index.html

"28. Blue Jays: Toronto would be No. 30 if not for last summer's Scott Rolen trade, which brought needed pitching talent from the Reds. Toronto's top hitters, such as infielders Justin Jackson and Kevin Ahrens and catcher J.P. Arencibia, had poor seasons in 2009, and the Jays also failed to sign three of their first four draft picks this year."

So, I figured I'd make a more positive fanpost here and try and not think about how we manage to lose all these close games and whatnot, not to mention the whole Halladay saga.

Whos your favorite Jay and why? Roy Halladay is a given so he doesnt need to be on the list, neither do guys like Joe Carter etc.

My list, in no particular order:

Gustavo Chacin: Weird delivery, cool name, and he had his own cologne. What more can you want?

Brandon League: Always reminded me a bit of Ricky Vaughn out of Major League. Throws hard and has amazing stuff but a bit wild at times.

Johnny Mac: Amazing D, plus hes come up with big hits a few times when nobody has expected anything from him.

Matt Stairs: Drinks beer and hits homeruns.

Dustin McGowan: Not sure why I've just always liked him the most out of our pitchers (behind Roy).

Jays picked him 20th overall just now... Anyone know anything about him? They said he has a power sinker/slider, but isnt that overpowering... RHP out of college, had good numbers but pitched in an easy division apparently.

He looks like a big guy and a potential innings eater. Looks like a pretty good pick... although I hope the Jays grab some more hitting later on.

(Im not sure if theres going to be a proper post about this or not so i guess ill just make this for now)

So... Seeing that little graphic about nicknames in tonight's game made me think.... does every Jay have an official nickname???

Lets try and get a complete lineup done. (Variations on names dont really count, but will have to do for some)

Scutaro - Scoots

Hill - ???

Rios - ???

Wells -V-Dub

Lind - ???

Rolen - ???

Overbay - OOOOOOO-verbay

Barajas - Inanimate Carbon Rod

Inglett - ???

Batista- ???

Snider - Moonraker

Halladay - Doc, The Doctor

Tallet - Wolverine

Romero - ???

Richmond - ???

Jannsen - ???

Litch - ???

Marcum - ???

McGowan - ???

Downs - Snakeface

Ryan - ???

League - ???

Frasor - ???

Carlson - ???

Camp - ???

I could probably think of some more if i put my mind to it... but I'm curious as to what nicknames you guys have for everyone?

I've decided to take my mind of how much I hate Cito Gaston and Brian Wolfe right now and focus on something else...

I think the Jays really need to find some help at the corner infield positions. We have some okay SS/2B prospects, but we really only have 1 or 2 legit prospects at 1B or 3B, and they're not too near making the majors if i recall correctly.

Overbay and Rolen both shouldnt be around for next year. Rolen has no power anymore and Overbay just isnt that good unless he's in a platoon. I think the Jays could really use a solid basestealer (obviously not playing 1B or 3B now that i think about it, but its still a need) and someone with more pop than Overbay or Rolen...

Anyways, i havent really put that much thought into it, but i thought i could give everyone on here something else to think about during the current nightmare we're going through.

So, anyone got any ideas about our current situation at the corner infield spots??

I thought shuffling the lineup didnt work?

(oh, wait... lind just got a hit and an RBI...)

Whilst i like cito as a manager and what hes done with the team, i think he needs to stop being so stubborn in his ways and consider being a bit more proactive more often. Its clear the team needs shaking up from time to time... you cant always just wait things out and hope for the best, especially considering the division that we're in.

We've lost 4 games in a row. lets trade roy halladay for whatever we can get... maybe a 35 year old backup catcher or something...

and trade lind and hill for some better hitting because they havent hit a home run in a while...

also wells sucks and so does rios... we should just cut them and get rid of their contracts.

fire cito too hes doing a terible job.

lets rebuild for 2015 now.

Is there a hitter currently in the game today who pops up on first pitch faseballs with RISP more than Vernon Wells?

This is absolutely ridiculous. For the past few seasons, whenever Vernon has come to the plate with RISP I dont assume anything other than a popup to center...

Although I'll give him credit, recently he's been mixing in the inning ending double play a lot more.

Are there any solutions to this problem? I know we can never trade Vernon, but do you think Cito will ever realize that Vernon just sucks at hitting with RISP? Hes never been able to hit a high fastball either... Sure he can hit a few bombs on mistake pitches, but so can everyone else in the league. Hes been a detriment to the team... and I dont think its just a downturn. He just sucks.