The Roundup

The Jays appeared to have channeled a bit Tony Fernandez last night, the 1990 Tony Fernandez who decided that he would never stop at second base on any ball hit to one of the outfield gaps. It didn't really pan out with a pair of men thrown out at second trying to stretch singles into doubles (and a botched hit and run later), but a win is a win is a win even if it featured reckless rather than aggressive baserunning. Scott Rolen and Brad Wilkerson, you know what you did, though I reckon they were only following orders from above.

Things that were double plus good: AJ Burnett (solid start) and Lyle Overbay (homer and double, his OPS creeps up towards .800). Honourable mention to Joe Inglett, the starting DH!, for a run-scoring triple.

The Oracle says this: STFU about Lyle Overbay not having any power, if Stairs is out for any length of time with a sore neck Adam Lind might be on a Greyhound back to TO, Brad Wilkersuck is awful, and Ernie Whitt for manager? Seriously?

Ok, Jays you're wooing me. I'm listening to your pitch. Reel me back in. The Royals are coming to town, yeah, the Royals, the only team with more difficulty scoring runs than the Jays. I don't care how good Zach Greinke is, it's time to start...

Has anyone else noticed that the Rogers Centre has sounded about as raucus as a funeral parlour through this homestand?

I really don't see how you can have limited instant replay in baseball. Home run calls but not plays at the plate? Why not all late inning close calls in tight games? And then why not balls and strikes? I'm not opposed to instant replay in our games, but god forbid the introduction of any new rule changes that might allow Bosox and Yankees games to draw out any longer than they already do.

This seems like a good place to bury the following: Frank Thomas is hitting .282/.394/.462 for an OPS+ of 143 as an Oakland A. Fuck me.

Nobody as of yet has tried to engage us in a debate over whether Marco Scutaro should grab the lion's share of the PT at short even after all hands are healthy. MLBastian throws some numbers at you: Since taking over at short for Davohn EckDonald, Marco Scutaro has hit .333 with a .414 on-base percentage in 15 games. So, what say you?

Also courtesy of Bastian, the Jays have the best bullpen ERA in the AL despite losing last year's closer Jeremy Accardo and handing innings to castoffs like Shawn Camp and Armando Benitez. I was wondering last night if Jesse Carlson might Hideki Okajima his way into some rookie of the year consideration...

Since JP likes old crappy players who used to be on his radar, could Brian Giles be a trade target? I seriously hope not, but he'd be much, much cheaper than other options.

ELSEWHERE:

* The Yankee organization is run by a scoundrel, so don't be surprised that LaTroy Hawkins was the second NYY reliever to be suspended for head-hunting. The fish rots from the head down, as the old Moldovan proverb goes.

-- Johnny Was