Thoughts on First Half

[evilRyu]

Well through 95 games played, and a 47-48 record at the All-Star break, what are everyones opinions so far?

The Jays have made a late run in the final week of the break, winning 5 of their last 6 games, all against divisional opponents. I think most of us had fairly optimistic hopes entering the season, so it's no surprise that many of us are quite frustrated with the results, sitting 4th place, just leap-frogging the O's for last-place in the division...

Good:
- definitely the starting pitching.. even though we have some inconsistent starters with Burnett and (recently) McGowan, they've been keeping us in games for the most part..

Bad:
- atrocious hitting, not going to go into it, as we all know how bad it is.
- weak-ass farm system that is unable to replace injured players on our roster

I would like to elaborate more on the "Good" and "Bad", but I'm a bit occupied at the moment..

But as far as the 2nd half goes, I really don't see any life in this team.. we don't even have any young players in our farm system to look forward to that is almost ready to contribute..

[Relentless88]

It's pretty sad when the highest number of HRs by a player is only 9. That basically sums up the atrocious offense we've had. Pitching has been very good. I feel bad for Doc who works so hard and pitches so good but really for nothing.

[squeekysneakers]

The Good:
- Gibbons is fired and replaced by Cito making the powder blue retro jerseys that much more cool.
- Doc - solid pitcher who is throwing like a Cy Young winner
- Marcum - was looking (before injury) like a legit number 2 or 3 pitcher
- Scutaro - a very servicable player who has filled in admirably in all infield positions.
- Rolen (I may be blasted for this) but he has been a phenomenal 3rd baseman this year defensively and has managed somehow to avoid the injury bug.
- The bullpen - The emergence of Downs as bullpen stopper, the return of BJ, the introduction to Carlson...they had a great start to the season and have come back to Earth a bit but still look one of the better groups in the majors.
The Bad:
- hitting with runners is scoring position. (Overbay, Wells, Rios are all hitting like end of the lineup kind of guys.
- Frank Thomas being so bad that we had to release him
- watching Reed Johnson play amazing baseball for the cubs when he should be here.
- Burnett's inconsistency and his tipping of the cap to the crowd was a serious low point although he has looked better as of late
- our teams inability to win close games (until the last couple of series)
- Exstein- Has been a very disappointing signing thus far
- Injuries - Hill, McGowan, Marcum, Accardo, and most recently Wells have really created holes on our team that we haven't been able to handle.

I am still hopeful especially after the way we closed out the first half. I hope the second half is filled with returns of injured players, the emergence of Adam Lind, a new found offense, wins in the late innings and hopefully not a fire sale.

[JN]

JP Ricciardi - FAIL.... again.

While the farm system has finally provided some good pitching, it has completely lacked in providing any young position players in the organization... that increases salary costs.

The Frank Thomas release made him look like an absolute comple idiot.

Gibbons was a bad signing from the get go.

No depth for injuries... again. Thankfully, Inglett has played well.

[evilRyu]

JN, you made me forget to mention how brutal our managerial situation was.

Here are our last X managers:

John Gibbons (3.5 seasons)


Carlos Tosca (2 seasons)


Buck Martinez (1.5 seasons)


Jim Fregosi (2 seasons)


Tim Johnson (1 season)


And then before that, Cito Gaston......

Geez, I can't believe those were our managers in between Cito... so in 11 seasons, we had 5 managers, all did crap, and not managing anymore.....

[jalenrose#5]

The Good

-Doc's stellar pitching. He's 11-6, could easily be 15-2 if he had run support or a good break now and then.

-Shaun Marcum finding his groove. Absolutely the best pitcher in the MLB that no one knows

-Gibby/Dumbo Gone, Cito/Tenace back. Holding players accountable is always a good thing. Almost reached his goal of .500 by the ASG after finishing out the last two series 5-1.

-Marco Scutaro and Rod Barajas, JP's two best moves player wise in quite awhile. They've saved the Jays bacon this year.

-Joe Inglett proving he's MLB ready

-LHP from the BP, Scott Downs, Jesse Carlson, BJ Ryan and to some extent Brian Tallet, have been lights out this year. How many teams can boast 4 lefties in the pen, who just happen to be their best 4 bullpen pitchers :S
-Adam Lind now patroling LF in place of placesitters like Stew, Wilkerson, Mench and Stairs
-Rolen's defence

The Bad

-Rolen's inconsistant bat
-Injuries to Wells really have set the offence back.
-Matt Stairs has been pretty awful this year.
-Rios' power outage
-Lyle Overbay back to Lyle Overpay....I want Dave Bush, Gabe Gross and Zach Jackson back...well maybe not. Too many ground balls, not enough gappers.
-Aaron Hill's hot start, then cooled off and now injured, what to do with him when he gets back. I say play him at SS and platoon Scutaro and Inglett at 2B. Both are great Util players.
-Jesse Litsch really isn't as good as his record says
-David Eckstein really hasn't proven his worth here.

The Ugly

-Reed Johnson given away for peanuts. At least the Nuggets got a 2nd round pick for Camby.
-The Frank Thomas situation
-AJ Burnett's inconsistancy and his low ball tip of the hat to the crowd
-John McDonald's bat
-Brandon League looking like Wild Thing on the mound. Really needs to find his control soon.
-RISP
-GIDP
-HR Totals VERY LOW

The Jays are under .500 for the last 3 reasons IMO, just throwing it out there.

[evilRyu]

I can really see the pitching really start to tail off in the 2nd half..

If Marcum and McGowan are gonna be out due to injuries, and Litsch had a couple of shaky starts in his last few, we might be in trouble... add to the fact that Burnett is inconsistent as hell (and might not even be with the team soon).

[arrpy]

Same as every year, average...

[asif9t9]

Back in April, I wanted BArry Bonds because it was clear this team had no power threat. Not everyone was on board. Vernon Wells absolutely needs a power hitter to hit behind him.

Where we are today is dead on. Lyle Overbay has been a total disaster as a Jay. Completely useless in the lineup. Gregg Zaun has taken a roster spot on this team way too long. Obviously Reed Johnson for Shannon Stewart didn't work out.

No one can keep saying "there are xxx games left..." That's the old excuse, which even Mike Wilner can't use anymore.

Our number one need is a power hitting threat to hit behind Wells. That's it.

[Dr Octagon]

Same as every year, average...