Ghostrunner on First

This

2011-09-22T23:21:00.000-04:00

This is a GO Train, Ontario's regional commuter train. I spend in excess of three hours per day traveling by GO Train. This kid lives at my house. This is a picture of her eating a hot dog in front of the Rogers Centre. She is now old enough to attend baseball games and tell elaborate lies and take ballet classes and ask interesting questions during walks in the woods. She has a younger

Love, Actually.

2011-09-22T23:19:00.001-04:00

Surely it can't be gone already. The last home game of the season always feels like getting dumped by a girl who was out of my league. Yeah, I knew it was coming, but I had so many things left planned to do. We were supposed to go to a museum, pack a picnic by the lake, or maybe have dinner with my Dad. Now I'm just left with some old pictures and dozens of words that were entirely contextual

Depth

2011-09-16T17:53:00.000-04:00

I've been away for far too long to pretend I'm an authority on the Jays so this post is a much more interactive one. Albert or Prince? Move Reyes to 2nd! TRADE FOR VOTTO!! Blue Jays fans love them some big name acquisitions. And hey, sometimes I do too. But when Rasmus went down with a wrist injury and AA had to (chose to?) re-acquire DeWayne Wise my mind wandered from ballplayers with a WAR of

McGowan Analysis

2011-09-07T12:05:00.000-04:00

As per a request in the previous post's comment section, allow me to schill for my corporate masters/day job and direct your attention to the pitch f/x post I wrote today on Dustin McGowan. With a little Stephen Strasburg thrown in for good measure, you can get all your nerdiness in one sweet place. Please to enjoy my Getting Blanked post from this morning. Don't be afraid to post comments

Nope

2011-09-06T12:29:00.001-04:00

The 2011 Blue Jays season hasn't been bad. Not by a long shot. The cursory 80-odd wins and fourth place finish are seemingly in place and I don't harbor much ill will over it. There is, however, only so much a man can take. The disappointment seethes below the surface, generally spewing out in the direction of the American League Central or the poor Baltimore Orioles. Not often do I lash out

Yup

2011-09-06T00:12:00.000-04:00

From the tremendous Red Sox authority that is Over the Monster comes this:Bad things happen when Brett Lawrie is at the plate.This is very, very true. Awesomely true, in fact. The OTM post mentioned alludes not only to Brett Lawrie winning the game and sending paroxysms of Canadiana coursing throughout the Great White North but his proximity to Josh Beckett's injury. While any suffering

Pardon My Swooning

2011-08-30T10:50:00.006-04:00

First from Baseball Prospectus on Jake Marisnick ($): In April, or even June, Marisnick was a good story as the ultra-toolsy player who was finally translating his athletic ability to on-field ability. Now he's not just some work in progress—he's been the best position prospect in the Midwest League this year, batting .323/.396/.500 after a seven-hit weekend that included three doubles and a

The Brett Lawrie Post

2011-08-25T11:31:00.007-04:00

He's ridiculous. He isn't just ridiculous in the way people of a certain vintage use "ridiculous" to indicate excellence or excitement, though that is obviously true. He is also ridiculous in that he is a mass of twitchy muscle fibers that just can't still, a cartoon character version of an ADHD kid. He makes me laugh - and not always with him. He is a walking spectacle, the living embodiment

The Frank Francisco Flu

2011-08-22T11:08:00.007-04:00

Shoulder soreness my eye. I know "flu-like symptoms" when I see them. I felt pretty much the exact same way at that exact moment on Sunday (and on to today. Old age FTL.) As per Gregor:Janssen was expected to give way to Frank Francisco in the ninth inning. Toronto's closer started warming up late in the game but was forced to shut it down after experiencing soreness in his right shoulder.The

Your New Favorite Player

2011-08-17T23:29:00.005-04:00

Linking to an article in which Brandon Morrow refers to preferring "nerd stats" is pretty much a Pavlovian response at this point. The paper reports it, I liberally blockquote from it and we all go about our business. The piece in question is more of a notes article with, what, 200 words on Morrow? It alludes to Morrow's appreciation of advanced stats (though it ignores FIP, which LOVES him)

Something Ain't Right in Toronto

2011-08-12T10:09:00.002-04:00

Something weird is going on when hitters get to Toronto. I don't know that it gives any credence to the Man in White conspiracy but it makes me uneasy all the same. An alarming pattern and something I'm not altogether okay with. Why do hitters stop walking when the come to Toronto? Colby Rasmus drew 5 walks in his final 7 games as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals. He has drawn a grand

A Growing Menace

2011-08-10T22:44:00.005-04:00

Menace. When Brett Lawrie stands at the plate, waving his bat with exteme prejudice, I can only think about the word menace. He is a menacing figure, with his cartoon traps and barely-simmering intensity. I fear for pitchers, standing but 60 feet away from a quaking mass of broed up energy. He is also a menace because that level of energy — when wholly expelled after an orgiastic grand slam —

On The Future

2011-08-10T22:31:00.000-04:00

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Awesome.

Man in White Makes First Public Comment

2011-08-10T14:00:00.001-04:00

I really, really hope the Jays are cheating at every turn. Not because I care about a competitive advantage, merely because there is nothing I like more than watching (or reading) sanctimonious jackass scream about cheating makes it easy to track the kind of people to avoid at all costs. Besides: if ever there was a trustworthy and otherwise focused group of individuals, it's one of the

Does Brandon Morrow hit the wall or does the wall hit Brandon Morrow?

2011-08-09T15:45:00.006-04:00

.nobr br { display: none }Brandon Morrow exceeds at throwing baseballs. He is really good at it. I know this despite results that, on the long view, are merely mixed. He strikes out lots of people while walking only a few, compared to his copious strikeouts. On days like Saturday, when Brandon Morrow is cruising along and everything seems to be going swimmingly, it seems the he cannot be

@Encadwin

2011-08-07T22:32:00.008-04:00

Sometimes you don't need Twitter to verify shit to know an account is real. Give everyone's favourite Type B Free Agent hopeful a follow. You know, if you're into following someone just because they're a Blue Jay.If you're not and you've been holding off on following some Blue Jay players may I recommend Brandon Morrow? I recently nominated @2Morrow23 for the Toronto Blue Jays Twitter Level of

Not a Bad Problem to Have

2011-08-03T17:13:00.004-04:00

Name the Toronto Blue Jays starter by his stats over the last 30 days (slash line is ERA/FIP/SIERA because we fancy): 37 IP, 3.23 K/BB, .303 BABIP, 66.0 % strand rate, 4.62/3.26/2.97 22 IP, 3.00 K/BB, .341 BABIP, 72.3 % strand rate, 4.76/3.61/4.2337 IP, 3.00 K/BB, .259 BABIP, 88.5 % strand rate, 2.19/3.83/3.8333 IP, 2.00 K/BB, .265 BABIP, 72.9 % strang rate, 3.82/3.84/3.54Who's your ace? Who's

Saint Anthopoulos' School for Wicked Boys

2011-07-28T01:00:00.002-04:00

We all know you have to give to get. It is never easy to give, no matter the return. Except today. What We LostThe biggest piece the Jays parted with is Marc Rzepczynski. Whacked out of their gourds as the Cardinals might be, I remain confident they'll do the right thing and return Rzep to the rotation; where he will quickly turn himself into Jaime Garcia's Polish Brother. Ghostrunner on First is

He Sends One of Yours to the Hospital, You Send One of His to the Morgue

2011-07-27T09:42:00.003-04:00

Nope.

Rosterbation: Engage

2011-07-25T15:10:00.004-04:00

The Corey Patterson Outfield Experiment of Hilarity may just have hit its nadir on Saturday night. After Patterson replaced Thames in right field for "defense", he spun and twirled and turned a possible inning-ending fly ball into a walkoff hit. It was ugly and Jays fans (myself included) took to Twitter with our knives out. There isn't a lot of love for Patterson among the Jays fans, most of

This is Going Swimmingly

2011-07-22T12:00:00.010-04:00

There isn't a better description of the "Travis Snider to Centerfield" experiment better than the way Stoeten of Drunk Jays Fans presents it - if a commenter or Jays Talk caller suggested it, I would trip over myself trying to shoot it down. What? Snider in center??? THAT'S CRAZY TALK!Yet here we are. The husky kid some worried might only be DH down the road started two of the last three games in

Cameron on Bautista

2011-07-18T22:00:00.001-04:00

From Dave Cameron's top 50 trade value series, in which the Head Nerd in Charge ranks Jose Bautista the second-most valuable trade commodity in baseball, behind only Evan "Paid in Foodstamps and a Lifetime Supply of Orange Juice" Longoria. (emphasis mine): At just $14 million per year for each of the next four years, he’s producing at a best-player-in-baseball level while getting paid a little

Where are we on Eric Thames?

2011-07-18T16:45:00.004-04:00

As part of my heartfelt desire to remain open-minded, I'm forcing myself to be confused with Eric Thames. What kind of a hitter is he? Can he stick at the big league level? He is the smileyest player since Torii Hunter? Eric Thames numbers look pretty good, so far. A .948 OPS since his recall with 8 doubles and 4 home runs. The BABIP is still high .375 and the walks are still low with only two

DFAja Vu

2011-07-15T14:48:00.004-04:00

Dana Eveland, 2010: 44.2 innings pitched, 4.23 K/9, 5.25 FIP, 0.1 WAR. Jo-Jo Reyes, 2011: 105.2 innings pitched, 5.20 K/9, 4.54 FIP, 0.7 WAR. I think it's important to realize Jo-Jo Reyes isn't the worst pitcher in the world. He's simply a bad pitcher. Lots of teams employ bad pitchers on a regular basis. Luckily, our Toronto Blue Jays have zero need to continue employing a bad pitcher of this

Tracking Aaron Cibia

2011-07-13T13:00:00.006-04:00

J.P. Arencibia is tough to figure out. I've come to quite like him this year, his power is as legit as advertised. I was weirdly down on Aaron Cibia this spring but he's doing a fine job as a rookie catcher - playing every day for the first time at the big league level. Looking at his tendencies a few weeks ago I found he has trouble with right-handed pitching. This obvious deficiency still