Well, we are just over a third of the way through the Jays season this year.
This certainly isn't the team that we had visions of on April 4th. We have lost many of our key components to various injuries ranging from disabled list stints of 15 days to an entire lost season. We have suffered though a 9 game losing streak. We have turned into a team where we have good, if not great, pitching from a team that was suppose to be a hitting powerhouse. These powerful hitters we have are yet to really get hot. And just when one of them was heating up, he found himself on the DL with a fracture in his hand.
Despite all our woes this year, we find ourselves only 5 games out of the wild card spot (although, I really dislike talking about the WC in the first week in June). We are 10.5 games back from the AL East, but Boston has remained pretty much injury free all year so they are due for some injuries - the baseball gods will even things out over the season. They also will not continue to play .700 ball for the rest of the year. We usually play them hard so even if we can maintain where we are in regards to them, we will likely bridge the gap when we play against each other.
We have also seen one of the best games in recent memory on May 31. Roy Halladay was making his 200th start, the first since his emergency appendectomy on May 11) and pitched a 1 hour and 50 minute gem for his 100th win of his career. The opposing pitcher was Mark Buehrle who was also working on his 100th win.
On a personal level, I have been enjoying my season tickets. Brian Tallet was called up fairly early in the season and he is the better than ever Brian - as we speak his ERA sits at 2.01!! And just last week my first baseball crush, Howie Clark, was called up and back on the team just in time for photo day this past Sunday. The day he was called up he played his 100th major league game and was a topic of controversy for days to come (in fact, they are still talking about the play). Pretty memorable 100th game for him!
I have yet to be invited to a season ticket autograph session and I am wondering when these will begin happening. We have had a few problems with our seats, but for the most part games have been enjoyable. It is nice knowing that only our behinds sit in those seats!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I also think it is too early to be talking about wild cards and even playoffs for that matter. History has shown teams are never out of the hunt until the season is over, or as someone once said: it ain't over 'til it's over. The Jays have recovered nicely from their slow start and once the bats heat up, it will be a fun season.
These injuries to key players, although disheartening, are also a plus for the team. They give the younger kids a chance to rack up some playing time and get some much needed experience under their belts.
Post a Comment