Going over slot for top Canadian talent? Taking two straight—convincingly—in Texas? Who are these people and what have they done with my Toronto Blue Jays?
On the Pitching
Who knew? It's been great. Casey Janssen made me look quite the fool with his 6 strike outs and damage moderation. He wasn't stupendous, what with all the lines drives, but he was there. Oh those line drives will come back to haunt young Casey one day soon. He's sitting around 30% for the year, a slightly scary number. Just keep it in play Casey.
Brian Tallet is, however, a bat missin' machine. Lots of fly balls yesterday but only one line drive. I like it! The quality of his body of work can't be overstated. No matter how hard the Tao tries, he's still underselling Tallet's unexpected contributions.
Scott Rolen Gives me a Boner and Hit f/x Cometh
Indeed he does. Because, like so many of his Blue Jays friends and teammates, Scott Rolen is a damn line drive machine! 6 hits over the last two nights plus the unreal double play he started Monday night certainly silenced the doubters and engorged my manbits. Those that enjoy the line-driven arts will be excited to hear the Nerd Herd is releasing the first batch of Hit f/x data. The results will shock and/or titillate you. The Hardball Times shows that hitting the ball hard (speed off the bat) is good for business. Shocking. How about the Jays and their average speed of balls off the bat? League average for a non-pitcher is 75.1 mph. courtesy of The Hardball Times
| Hitter | Initial Speed (mph) |
| Aaron Hill | 80.1 |
| Adam Lind | 78.2 |
| Rod Barajas | 77.7 |
| Alex Rios | 77.6 |
| Jose Bautista | 76.7 |
| Travis Snider | 76.5 |
| Scott Rolen | 76.4 |
| Lyle Overbay | 75.3 |
| Kevin Millar | 74.6 |
| Marco Scutaro | 74.4 |
| Vernon Wells | 72.2 |
So there you go. Aaron Hill is the ropiest of them all. Not surprising to see most Jays above league average. Equally unsurprising to see old 'rollover groundout/infield pop fly' Vernon bringing up the rear. He'll come around...
On the Draft
As I said during the Furious Five Podcast, I don't pretend to care too much about the draft. Professor Griff nailed my feelings over the forced nature of last night's broadcast (webcast in Canada, fuck you very much.) The evil air of signability hung over the entire proceedings with only passing mention to its control. The Jays drafted a kid from Newmarket, which is pretty fucking awesome. I hope the uniforms at Sacred Heart fuels as much of his deviant behaviour as it did mine. And I didn't even go there! PS. Keep Bud off my TV.
Unfortunate Circumstances
Times that aren't as good: our friend Roberto Suzuki aka /a aka his real name has boarded up his corner of the Jays blogosphere. It's really a shame, I quite enjoyed his intelligent take on all things Blue Jay at Bottom of the Order. He and the Tao are proof you don't have to be a stats-geek to rise above mundane rah rahing and predictable flag waving. Fair thee well, fake named blogging friend. We're worse off without you.
Respect, sir.
ReplyDeleteMany thanks for your ongoing support, Lloyd aka Drew. It's been a sincere pleasure commenting and being commented upon by you. I'll continue to be a devoted reader of your work.
Of course, when the time is right, and when I have milked this 'retirement' for all the attention I can, I'll come back swinging, just like my hero and mentor, Jay Z, aka Hova.
Go Jays.
If Fallon can pull off this Saved By the Bell reunion, I won't be surprised that he'll tout it as the greatest accomplishment of his career.
ReplyDeleteShocking that V-Dub is at the bottom of that list.
ReplyDeleteLong live the Nerd Herd.
This just adds to my suspicion that Vernon is hurt.
ReplyDeleteCould be, or his approach could be the injured one. Rolling over soft stuff away isn't a recipe for hot shots.
ReplyDelete