In Retrospect (2.0)

If you’re a fan of roller coasters, then the current edition of the Blue Jays might be perfectly suited to your tastes. But, if you’re easily afflicted by motion sickness, then perhaps a few Gravols may be in order. We recommend consulting your physician first.

Such was the case this week after the Jays completed a sweep of the Royals on Monday and then followed it up with 4 straight losses, including a sweep from the Baltimore Orioles. So that’s 5 competitive teams in the AL East.

Last week, the Red Sox were in shambles and falling apart. This week they have reeled off 6 consecutive wins and all things seem peachy in Boston. Except for the accents, those are still terrible. New York is finding wins, and Tampa has played well against the Rangers, handing them their 5^th loss (only) of the year.

In years past it would be easy to write off Baltimore’s hot start as just that, and then there would be no surprises when the inevitable occurs. This year feels different however. They are buoyed by consistent starting pitching, except for Matusz, and a decent lineup anchored by young, athletic hitters, not to mention the fact that Mark Reynolds – typically and second half performer – hasn’t done anything for them yet.

So what went wrong in Baltimore? The offense. With the exception of JPA, there was very little, if any offensive production. Last weeks lame duck – Eric Thames, did manage to get his name etched in Baltimore lore, by hitting a 410 ft bomb onto Eutaw street. Only the 58^th person to do so.

Thames is batting .310 (somehow) and coupled with the injury to Travis Snider in Las Vegas, fans should temper their restlessness regarding his demotion.

In the media this week, ESPN reported that the Jays were actively looking for a middle of the order bat and top of the rotation starter. By the end of the week Shi Davidi of Sportnet reported that AA hasn’t had any discussions with GMs regarding acquiring players and MLB.com reports that the trade market will remain quiet until after the June draft. So, that’s that then.

Following, the struggles to Baltimore, Jays fans were rewarded by a rejuvenated effort against the Mariners. But then again, we should temper our enthusiasm because its the Mariners. The same team that Phil Humber pitched a perfect game against. That’s right, Phil Humber (no offense).

The Jays managed to take 2-of-3 from the M’s on the bat of Edwin Encarnacion. Man, Edwin is mashing right now. He’s hitting .250 with 3R/3 doubles/2 HR/.838 OPS over the last 7 days. But he’s the only one producing at this rate.

Joey Bats continues to struggle at the plate. And fans are getting tired of listening to Tabby and Buck refer to his struggles as just a matter of getting that front foot down a little sooner. Seems to be a bigger issue than that. I vote for a clean shave look – that worked last year, didn’t it?

If there’s anything reassuring regarding his struggles thus far its this:

Player A: .187 AVG/.670 OPS

Player B: .226 AVG/.588 OPS

Any guesses? Well, Player A is JB and Player B is Albert Pujols (pron. Poooo-holes).  I’m confident JB will get things in order.

Can’t have a week without mentioning Buck. Truth be told, he didn’t do anything to really grind my gears this week. He did arrange a lunch with JPA, Lawrie and George Brett. How thoughtful. However, he did refer to Jason Vargas as Justin Vargas on a number of occasions. Par for the course I suppose.

In “Phils and Spills” this week. Brandon Phillips put together a nice week hitting .353/1.097/4 RBI, while Delmon Young got arrested for harassment charges in New York after police say he attacked a group of men and yelled anti-Semitic epithets. He’s also automatically enrolled in the deuche bag of the year category.

That is all, Go Jays!