Tribute to Carlson

I was gonna write something about how the Jays offense has been sucking. But I'm tired of reading & writing about why Wilkerson shouldn't lead off (cause he sucks); or why Lind isn't playing LF in the majors (cause the Jays like hitting a collective 226/307/294 as LF's and Lind might actually do better than that...). So instead, I'm going to write a tribute to, arguably, the MVP of the bullpen.

I'll be honest - if you mentioned Carlson's name to me before the 08 season had started, I'd probably stare blankly at you and say we have enough lefties with Downs, Tallet & Ryan. But you know what, ever since his first appearance, back on April 10th against Oakland, with the bases loaded, I've been a huge fan of the guy.

He comes in with the bases loaded, and I'm just thinking "please god, just don't let him give up a grand slam...". I didn't have much faith in him until I started seeing that ridiculous breaking pitch, and that mid 80's fastball. For his first major league game, he was pretty damn calm and controlled. And before you know it, he's got his first major league strikeout. In his first major league appearance, with the bases loaded, he gets out of the jam and keeps the Jays in the game. That made a hell of an impression on me.

Not even a week later, the Jays were playing the Rangers. All the relievers had been used, and Gibbons went to his last Southpaw. Carlson dominated for three innings, allowing 1 hit, 2 walks, and 4 strikeouts while keeping the Jays in the game, giving them every chance to win. Sure, AJ messed up in relief, but I'll always remember how Carlson dominated for 3 innings. Some of the hitters got to face him a second time, which usually means trouble for relievers. But Carlson adjusted to the hitters, and still got them out.

Whenever he comes into the game now, I'm just expecting him to get out of it without a problem. He's become a huge part of the bullpen, and he's definetly earned his spot. His stats are unbelievable - 1-0 record, with one save to his credit. He's got a 1.77 ERA, 22:6 K:BB, and a 0.93 WHIP. He's pretty damn effective against both lefty & righty hitters.

Honestly, I don't know where the Jays would be without him. I'm positive he's singlehandedly saved 2-3 games for the Jays. And I'm confident in the fact that once the league has seen him, and they know what to expect, Carlson will still find a way to adjust, surprise them and get them out.

So here's a salute to Jesse Carlson, the Southpaw who defied the odds to become one of the best arms in arguably the top bullpens in the game.

Twitchy.

Wow

The title really says it all about Carlson. I know Johnny touched on him last night, but damn. That was extremely impressive what he did getting out of that bases loaded jam. Isn't that the second, or third time he's gotten out of a bases loaded situation without giving up a run? I know it's a small sample size and all, and he could implode and prove why he's been a minor leaguer for so long, but I'm very intrigued by Carlson's peformance to date. If he can keep this up, it can pretty much negate the injury to Janssen.

The biggest thing to me that validates Carlson's performance was getting guys out in the 13th, after they'd seen him already once in the game. They knew what to expect, and he still got guys out. To me, that seems to imply that he could be for real, and could be somewhere between Tallet & Downs long term. Or he'll prove why I shouldn't blog about minor leaguers after a ridiculously impressive outting against a poor hitting team. Either way...

Should I be worried about Scott Downs? 5 BB in 7 innings, giving him a 1:1 K:BB rate. I'm a huge supporter of Downs, and I know it's a small sample size. But I'm worried that if he doesn't get his control at least back to 07 levels, the set-up situation will go from terrific to bad in a hurry. Sure doesn't help that Accardo's doing horrible either. Good thing we got Carlson here pretending to be BJ Ryan of 06...

Eckstein is performing around career levels, and so far I have to say I'm unimpressed. His lack of ability to get the ball out of the infield is really pissing me off. That being said - could part of his problem be due to the fact he isn't used to seeing these pitchers? He's been in the NL for a while, so it's possible the reason he hasn't been very successful is the fact he isn't used to seeing these AL pitchers. Even I think Eck's slugging should be higher than it is, which leads me to believe that when he sees these pitchers a second time around he should be more like the leadoff guy we expected. Right now, he just seems to get on base by taking pitches or getting hit by them.

Switching Gears

Rotowire has some very cool news about how some of the Jays did in the minors the last few days:

Low Single-A Lansing's Justin Jackson went 4-for-5 with a triple and a double on Wednesday.

The 19-year-old Jackson is batting .311/.446/.511 with five steals in six tries. This after the 2007 supplemental first-round hit just .187 in Rookie ball last year. A toolsy shortstop, he went into the season as one of the Jays' most intriguing prospects anyway.

This is great news considering the revolving door the Jays have had at SS for what seems like forever. I loved the Jackson pick, thought it was an absolute steal. He's supposedly a stud defensively and the question's always been his bat. I think he can be an above average SS, and it's nice to see he's successful in stealing (5/6 successful SB). The batting line is impressive, but what I like the most is the 130 point difference between OBP and BA. Not only does it suggest he's got good bat speed, and makes good contact, but he has a good eye and can work a walk.

Kyle Ginley fanned 10 in 6 2/3 scoreless innings Tuesday for low Single-A Lansing.

Ginley wasn't quite as impressive as hoped at Lansing in his first full season last year, but with a 1.53 ERA and a 21/3 K/BB in 17 2/3 innings so far this year, he's off to a great start as a repeater. The Jays could push him up to high-A ball within a month or two. He might have a future as a fourth or fifth starter.

I don't know much about Ginley, but that's a pretty dominant performance. Add in a 21:3 K:BB ratio and I'm sold.

Twitchy.

Heroism

It's the bottom of the 13th with Rios on first, V-Dub up and two outs in a tie game no one wants to win.

Regardless of the outcome of this game, I'm writing the Governor General to recommend that Jesse Carlson be decorated with the Victoria Cross for striking out the side with the bases loaded and no one out in the 11th then chucking two more shutout innings for good measure.

He's carried 8 wounded men off the battlefield three times and counting. That's valour.

-- Johnny Was

The Roundup

Yesterday's loss was a closed-fist punch right square in the gut and a mockery of all of us who've been trumpeting up our stellar pitching when coupled with the one from the night before. But lest we forget that there will be massive highs and crushing lows over the course of this 162-game season. We didn't deserve to win yesterday and we didn't. The stars were aligned.

If you're not of the level-headed philosophical nature and want to be a total douchbag about how things played out last night, you could blame JP for bringing in Scutaro, who is now dead weight because he made his first error of the season, and for the Beej's injury.

Despite the sweep of the Red Sox, this game isn't as easy as it looks when you have more than $23 million (U.S.) for two guys tied up on the disabled list.

Words to live by. Words. To. Live. By.

(For the record, I begrudgingly give it to the A's. They just look right as a team. Did you know any of their current position players aside from Ellis and Crosby 18 months ago? I didn't.)

I'm naturally curious by nature and I've got to wondering whether Jeremy Accardo is in fact a top-stepper. For those of you unfamiliar with the term, it's used for those closers who repeatedly flirt with danger, forcing everyone in the park to the edge of their seats and prompting all the players on their team to move up to the top step of the dugout.

Mitch Williams was a top-stepper with great stuff. Todd Jones and Joe Borowski are top-steppers with crappy stuff.

It's been a bad week for young Mr. Accardo. Despite locking down 3 saves to date, he's yet to do it cleanly once. Here's a summary:

Apr. 2 @ NYY: 1 IP, 2H (nailed 'er down)
Apr. 4 vs. BOS: 1 IP, 1H (got it done relatively cleanly)
Apr. 6 vs. BOS: 1 IP 2H, (got the save)
Apr. 8 vs. OAK: 1 IP, 1 ER (took the loss)
Apr. 9 vs. OAK: .1 IP, 1 H, 1 BB (blown save)

I would also note that his first three outwardly successfull outings were all relatively low-pressure 3-run save situations. The last two, he came in to a tie game and another with a one run lead.

Last night on JaysTalk Wilner said he's going to ask Accardo today why he's abandoned the splitter than served him so well for much of last year and report back to us tonight. If Accardo's lost confidence in the pitch, he's certainly not going to try and regain mastery of it in the sort of high-leverage late game situation closers routinely face. I don't think Accardo is a bum; he's quite the opposite. But something's clearly needs to be done because the status quo ain't workin'.

We need the steadying hand and presence of the Beej now more than ever.

The decision to DFA Randy Wells and call up Jesse Carlson is a semi-curious one. Carlson is a 27-year-old lefty who will presumably be up until the Beej is ready to rejoin the club in a week's time or so (knock on wood). He's had great to impressive peripherals throughout his career in the minors but has yet to really translate them into better than average ERAs. He's been great at Syracuse so far this year. But seriously, though: a pen with 4 lefties? That's insane!

I really don't give a flying crap about Randy Wells (though it's too bad he left before collecting his Fazooli's gift certificate from Wilner) given the bullpen depth we seem to have, so don't expect me to eulogize him here. Keep in mind that if we do bring Armando Benitez up (he now has his VISA and has to join the Jays before May 15 if we want to keep him) and he performs, he'll likely have trade value at the deadline.

Pick 'em up for nothing, trade 'em for something: it's a can't lose strategy.

Ironically, Blair notes that Benitez has been touching 94 with his fastball and showing a good splitter, the secret weapon that eludes Jeremy Accardo. He and the Beej are moving on up to Syracuse.

ELSEWHERE:

* But down your hash pipes, you dirty B.C. hippies. Rich Harden is more seriously injured than the A's let on. Zut Alors! Quelle surprise!

* Over in the Bronx, Jeets (Daryl Strawberry's nickname for Derek Jeter between jail stints) and Posada are still ailing, but neither is expected to hit the DL.

* If you didn't pick up Zach Greinke in your fantasy pool and slot him into your bullpen, you really missed the boat, Hoss.

-- Johnny Was