There’s a New HR Leader in Town
August 22, 2008 by Graeme Nichols
Filed under Jays, Major League Baseball
…And his name is “Joey Bats”. I know what most of you are thinking, aside from a filthy soul-patch, where does Jose Bautista fit in with the Jays? With an infield already congested with the likes of Joe Inglett, Johnny Mac, Marco Scutaro and David Eckstein, how’s Bautista going to help the Jays when he couldn’t stick on the Pirates Major League roster - remember this is a guy who’s been in AAA since August 10th. Well, despite toiling in the minors for the past week or two, it’s a huge reflection on the Jays’ lineup when the newly acquired Bautista is now the team’s current leader in home runs in their lineup with 12.
The acquisition of Joey Bats probably signals the fact that the Jays will now be able to rest MacDonald and Scutaro on a more consistent basis. Regardless, I don’t think the acquisition of Bautista has Jim Mora saying, “Playoffs” but man was last night’s game against the Yankees fun to watch. While Bautista won’t be in the lineup until Friday at the earliest, a Yankees cheap acquisition was busy committing arson on the hill. Last night Sidney Ponson threw two solid innings for the Yanks giving up 8 hits, 7 runs (all earned) while walking one. Apparently the coaching staff forgot to tell Ponson to keep it close last night since he was matched up against the man, the icon, the legend : Doc Halladay. No worries Yanks fans, at least you have Pavano taking the hill on Saturday!
After scattering 5 hits and 2 walks through 7 innings, Halladay turned the ball over to the bullpen after throwing only 94 pitches. Seriously though, irregardless of the score last night, who can remember the last start Halladay had wherein he didn’t register more than 100 pitches?
With last night’s victory, the Jays have taken 4 of 5 games from Boston and the Yankees and now remain 7 games back of the Wild Card with only 3 teams ahead of them in the Wild Card race (Boston, Minnesota and NY). With Boston and Tampa next on the dockett, it’s entertaining for the team to be playing meaningful baseball this late in August. Tonight, Shawn Marcum takes the ball against Paul Byrd who’s throwing against the Jays for the third time in 15 days.
Who’s ready for some entertaining, playoff-teasing baseball?
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August 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
That’s just terrible.
Texas and Toronto match up for a trade so well it isn’t even funny.
August 22nd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Josh, check out this article:
http://www.newbergreport.com/article.asp
August 22nd, 2008 at 4:11 pm
Yeah I’ve seen that. I’ve subscribed to the Newberg Report for a while.
August 22nd, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Its too bad the Jays had such a bad stretch early in the season, but again it all boils down to the fact that JP never should have had Gibbons start the year as manager.
But it is nice to see the Jays play some meaningful ball in late August! Halladay and Burnett are a terrific 1-2 punch and its sad that Burnett finally is starting to play to his potential now that he is healthy only to see him probably opt of his contract at the end of the season. Why on earth would JP put that clause in his contract? JP equals mega idiot!
August 24th, 2008 at 8:02 am
Josh,
what are your thoughts on the Halladay article then?
August 24th, 2008 at 9:26 am
Kev,
If I didn’t know better, I’d think you hated JP? He probably put that clause in because he knew he had to overpay/overcompensate to bring players into a non-winning culture (especially when you compete with the likes of Boston and New York in the AL East).
Unfortunately, I don’t JPs candor and openness about players do the Jays any favors in the marketplace. It will be interesting to see what he’s going to do.
7 back of the Wild Card, WHOO!