Toronto Blue Jays Thread

[Paul29]

I'm pulling for Reyes today, if for nothing more than to quiet down the naysayer (myself included ).

[Marbur66]

Originally Posted by Travis007

Yep good call, Romero seems to be back on track. Very winnable series against the Twins. Hopefully with good support, Reyes can get his first win of the season today.

Reyes will be forgotten in no more than two years. He's a plug, like Tomo Ohka.

[Paul29]

The boys have quietly won 5 in a row now and Bautista has hit 16 balls that are still in orbit. This guy is a beast.

[Diesel_Power]

ALright, we're back at .500. The Jays are still competitive and still have a good shot at the playoffs if they keep this up.

2 glaring issues need to be corrected if we want to take this all the way.

1. Our starting pitchers need to step up. Seriously, if it wasn't for our amazing bullpen, we would be in a lot of trouble. Romero was our first pitcher this season to last till the 8th inning and that was last Saturday's game.

Jo Jo is a no no. Not because he has 25 consecutive losses, but everyone is saying his fastball is slowing down. Very bad sign.

2. Our team needs to protect Bautista. I'm glad he's getting homers, but most of them have been solo homers. The rest of the team needs to help Bautista and get on the bases. Hopefully Lind will be back soon.

[Jaybird]

My Tigers have a double date @ Comerica Park with your team coming up! Both riding winning streaks!

GO TIGERS!

[Marbur66]

Bautista has 16 taters already. At this point last year, he had only 7 and still ended up with 54. This will be fun to watch, especially if he approaches the tainted homer record of Bonds.

[HipHopCanada]

Take out the brooms, we're sweeping Detroit too.

[ladyscraper]

Bautista is crazy! wow! I wonder if pitchers will just start walking him intentionally at every at bat?

[Marbur66]

Originally Posted by ladyscraper

Bautista is crazy! wow! I wonder if pitchers will just start walking him intentionally at every at bat?

No kidding. His OB% is sickening, and it'll only go up if that happens. I love that guy about as much as I can love another man that I've never met.

[Skybean]

Old news article... but very interesting. This guy was a nobody and now he's the new Babe Ruth. It's almost impossible to believe.

From journeyman to home run leader

May 31, 2010

THE CANADIAN PRESS

TORONTO -- Dwayne Murphy could see it every time Jose Bautista swung the bat.

The Toronto Blue Jays outfielder was getting started too late in the batter's box, forcing him to use his shoulders rather than his hands when attacking the ball, making his swing long and wild. Rather than going through the ball, he was going around it, leaving him vulnerable on the plate's inner half.

Bautista had heard similar criticism from coaches before, but was never really sure what they meant, or what to do about it. So one day in the Rogers Centre weight room last July, Murphy pulled Bautista aside, gave him a bat and told him to swing in front of a mirror.

It was there the 29-year-old's slow transformation from journeyman bench player to unlikely big-league home run leader began.

"It's not easy to get across to guys," says Murphy, the Blue Jays hitting coach. "It sounds easy -- 'just get started earlier' -- but they've always started at a certain point. You're talking about a little fraction of a second.

"In the weight room, I said, 'Come here, I want to show you something,' and I showed him in the mirror the way his shoulders went and the way he was swinging."

For the first time in his career, what he was hearing from his coach made sense to Bautista. Countless hours in the video room with Murphy and manager Cito Gaston followed, and during games the skipper would call Bautista over and show him when successful hitters got started.

The flaws in his own swing quickly became evident.

"The way I used to hit before, the ball was on top of me so my swing looked out of control and reckless at times, just because I was trying to catch up to the baseball," says Bautista, who began play Monday with 16 home runs. "By getting ready earlier, it allows me to have my normal swing aggressive still, but not out of control.

"It never was explained to me in the way these guys did it. It didn't make sense in my head when they'd say you're getting ready too late, I didn't know how to fix it. They didn't pinpoint and explain it to me in a way that I would understand it the way Cito and Murph did."

Putting the changes into practice, however, was easier said than done.

The Blue Jays acquired Bautista from the Pirates in August 2008 when Alex Anthopoulos, then an assistant to former GM J.P. Ricciardi, saw his name come up on the revocable waiver wire. After getting Ricciardi's blessing, Anthopoulos put in a claim for Bautista and worked out a deal that would send minor-league catcher Robinzon Diaz to Pittsburgh.

They were intrigued by Bautista's power and above-average defence at several positions, but didn't expect he'd be much more than an effective bench player. But Gaston felt the Blue Jays had something more there if his swing could be fixed, and when Bautista committed himself to making the adjustments, the manager made sure to give him extra playing time.

That allowed Bautista to experiment in games without worrying whether or not a bad night would cost him future playing time. And when Alex Rios was given away to the Chicago White Sox on waivers, Bautista found himself with regular playing time for the final month of the 2009 season.

Since Sept. 1, he leads all major-leaguers with 26 home runs.

"I remember sitting there in the video room looking at the film, comparing it to other people, and wording it the way they did, it just made total sense," says Bautista. "But it's one thing for it to make sense in your head, another to go out and do it. Even in the cage, you have an issue of trust at the beginning, because you want to adjust your swing to the theories you have because it doesn't feel right. You've been doing the same thing over and over for so long, that it just feels weird and awkward but you have to trust in it."

And not get caught up in his current success.

As quickly as the home runs have come for Bautista, they can dry up in a similarly sudden fashion, and there are no shortage of skeptics who are waiting for reality to strike. Either way, all the six-foot, 195-pound Dominican, who will make US$2.4 million this season, can do is stick to his approach and hope his timing remains right.

"It was a pretty long process," he says of his transformation. "That being said, I feel good and I know what I have to do to be ready but I have to remain consistent.

"I always thought I was able to be an everyday player and be productive, but you never know. When you trust your abilities and you know how good you can be, you try not to be greedy, or cocky to think I can hit 35 home runs or do this or do that.

"You try to get that chance and try to make the best of it and then go from the results."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2010/05/31/going_deep/

[Paul29]

Sweet, thanks for the article.

[Paul29]

Just saw the highlights from yesterday's game. After a 2 game slump, "Johnny Bats" as he jokingly calls himself, hit 2 to make up for it.

I'm not sure Bonds or McGuire were this hot in their record years.

Although I just checked and found this chart Bonds hit 17 in May of 2001. He had 28 through May 31st.

But we all know he had some help with that and he's 'splaining to the judge in California as we speak.

It's a good thing there are articles like the one posted by Skybean so there's a record of his swing changes rather than the "transformations" realized by Bonds, McGuire and Sosa. Sosa also had an "especial" bat to boot.
Bautista also didn't transform his body either, he's still the same 6' 200lbs he always was. The wonder triplets can't claim that.

FWIW, I was a huge McGuire fan until the fateful day he showed up with the other accused big leaguers and all he had to say was, "no comment". Guilty or innocent I truly didn't care but he looked like an absolute idiot going hand in hand with his brothers to plead their case and he kept his mouth shut on the advice of his lawyer. But those who remember know that Rafael Palmeiro more than made up for those who didn't want to speak.

[crooked soul]

I was at that game yesterday- May 21st..
it was AWESOME!!!!!!!..
Jose Bautista rocked it hardcore!!!!!..
Jays won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

oh!.. and also got 2 C my fave singer sing the US National Anthem.. \
Jon Foreman

[Skybean]

Marc Rzep SUCKS! He blew 2 games for us already. This guy can't pitch to right-handed batters at all.

Shaun Marcum is 6-1 with a 2.37 ERA. He almost has 1 K per inning on average. BAD trade by Alex Anthopolous. What the hell? Trade our ace for a minor leaguer?

Drabek is not ready for the major leagues (too emotional), Reyes is not ready for the major leagues (he sucks), Jesse Litsch is not ready for the major leagues (he sucks).

[Marbur66]

Originally Posted by Skybean

Shaun Marcum is 6-1 with a 2.37 ERA. He almost has 1 K per inning on average. BAD trade by Alex Anthopolous. What the hell? Trade our ace for a minor leaguer?

A minor leaguer who's raking it in AAA. Lawrie has huge potential, and I can't wait for him to be called up some time this season. Marcum is a good pitcher, but I guess Antopoulous thought he had reached his ceiling. Hard to judge this trade at this point, but it will become more clear in about 3 years so so......unless Lawrie shows that he's a star before that.

[Marbur66]

Originally Posted by Skybean

Marc Rzep SUCKS! He blew 2 games for us already. This guy can't pitch to right-handed batters at all.

Drabek is not ready for the major leagues (too emotional), Reyes is not ready for the major leagues (he sucks), Jesse Litsch is not ready for the major leagues (he sucks).

Rzepczynski doesn't suck. He's lights-out against lefties, and has been solid this season. I agree that Reyes and Litsch are both sub-par starting pitchers in the big leagues. Drabek might be flirting with a demotion to AAA if he struggles a couple more times and shows immaturity on the mound like he has so far this season. I also think that Frank Francisco is a sorry excuse for a closer......but I'm not sure who's a suitable replacement right now. I'd love to see if Dustin McGowan could close, but we'll see if he ever gets back at all.

[Paul29]

Originally Posted by Marbur66

I'd love to see if Dustin McGowan could close, but we'll see if he ever gets back at all.

That's a good thought. He hasn't seen live big league hitters in 3 years, so becoming a good starter is less and less likely everyday.

Drabek's in a tough spot having been deemed the great starter of the future. That's a lot for a young guy to shoulder, especially a guy who seems to either have a short fuse or a guy who puts too much pressure on himself. I hope this kid doesn't self destruct.

[Marbur66]

Aaron Hill is really pissing me off. The guy keeps trying to get the monkey off his back and hit his first homer of the season, but he just ends up hitting a useless, Vernon Wells-esque pop-up every time. Awful.

[Skybean]

Danks to Bautista: Stop acting like a clown
By Arden Zwelling / MLB.com | 05/29/11 5:05 PM ET

TORONTO -- White Sox starter John Danks took exception to Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista on Sunday, calling the Major League leader in home runs a "clown."

Danks made the comments in response to an incident in the fourth inning of Toronto's 13-4 victory when Bautista popped up a 3-2 pitch from Danks for the second out of the inning.

Bautista tossed his bat and appeared frustrated with himself as he jogged toward first base before the ball was caught.

The two players had words with each other as Bautista headed back to the dugout.

"I just told him to run the bases. He was out there acting like a clown," Danks said after the game. "He's had a great year and a half -- no doubt. He's one of the best players in the league. But he's out there acting like he's Babe Ruth or something."

"Just the way he was acting. He ran halfway down the line and stopped and spiked his bat. I get it. He's upset at himself," Danks continued. "He's a good hitter, he's had a great couple years. But he isn't that good to be acting like he needs to hit every ball out of the ballpark."

After the game, Bautista said he was simply frustrated with himself and not trying to show up Danks.

"That should not be his concern," Bautista said of Danks' reaction to the popup. "I was upset at myself with missing a pitch. If he took it the wrong way, I'm sorry. I'm not here to make him feel good."

Bautista did not elabourate on what he said in response to Danks as he jogged back to the dugout and said he wasn't concerned with the incident.

"It really doesn't matter to me what he thought. What I'm not going to allow when I'm running by him is him yelling at me, so I yelled back at him," Bautista said.

Bautista leads the Majors with 20 home runs and has more home runs than any other Major Leaguer since the beginning of 2010 with 74 in his last 205 games.

Danks called Bautista a "good player" but still felt he stepped over a line during the incident.

"I'm not going to let him sit out there and show me up like that," Danks said. "I just told him to run the bases and quit acting like a clown."

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news...s_tor&c_id=tor

From my perspective, Jose should act like he needs to hit every ball out of the ball park.

[Marbur66]

Danks is acting like a little bitch. I'd be getting pissed at people for no reason too if I were 0-8 like he is.