Anthony Gose has hit better than expected in 2014, but he's doing it hitting from behind in the count.

Anthony Gose is not a good major league hitter.

Technically one should add a "yet" to the end of that sentence as Gose is certainly young enough to improve. However, it's also fair to say that Gose's trademark skill is unlikely to ever be his bat.

The .247/.362/.303 line and 93 wRC+ the 23-year-old rode into last night's action has to be considered a good result for him considering his dubious triple-A track record (a career .258/.338/.371 line with 259 strikeouts in 1058 plate appearances). After all, when a guy with elite speed has a .362 on base percentage it's hard to complain. Add in a dose of astounding defence and the Blue Jays are laughing.

While Gose's production at the plate may come down a notch (his .361 BABIP seems a bit much even for a guy with his wheels) he continues to be a solid option as a reserve and/or replacement outfielder and a nice piece to have around. He's not a player that the Jays should trade Colby Rasmus away to make room for—as some of the lunatic fringe of the Jays fan base were suggesting earlier this year—but he's undoubtedly a good guy to have.

That being said, if Gose is ever going for go from a nifty reserve to a guy worthy of starting regularly his bat will need to improve. That much is obvious. However, it's not entirely obvious how that would happen, and there is no indication that it will ever happen. The combination of very little power and a relative inability to make contact is a pretty poor foundation for building a productive hitter, and that's the foundation that Gose is building on.

If you are going to strike out a lot, and not hit the ball out much, you're going to need to work some walks in order to be offensively valuable. To Gose's credit he has done that. In his young MLB career he has a respectable walk rate (8.6%) and so far this year he has a robust BB% of 13.9%.

However, Gose's approach may not be conducive to maintaining his healthy walk rate. His rate of swinging at balls outside the zone is about average this season (29.4%) and for his career (28.6%), indicating his discipline may not be as strong as his BB% suggests. Additionally, Gose has a serious problem falling behind in the count. The following chart shows the players (with at least 100 PA) with the highest first strike percentage against in 2014:

While strike one might not be as important as we sometimes think, that is not a good leaderboard to be at the top of. It's also not a new issue. In his career so far Gose has a first strike percentage of 66.7%. What's worse is how poorly Gose has done when he falls behind 0-1:

Most hitters do poorly down 0-1, the league wRC+ through 0-1 is usually in the neighbourhood of 85, but Anthony Gose has been especially bad.

Some of this isn't under Gose's control. Clearly pitchers also play a role in whether the first pitch is a strike or not. Also, if the young outfielder is going to rely on walks to be valuable he'll need to take some pitches, even if they are strikes.

Even so, Gose is not completely powerless to prevent himself from going down 0-1. He has swung a fair amount at the first pitch in his career, probably too much for his own good.

For many hitters it is wise to swing at the first pitch. After all, Carlos Gomez seems to be doing pretty well with that strategy. For Gose it's probably wiser to lay off. He doesn't have the power to cause serious damage and isn't a good enough hitter to fight back effectively when down in the count.

At this very moment Anthony Gose is a useful player. If he wants to be a useful hitter he has a ways to go. One of the ways to get there might be to take a few more first pitches.

Some players can be effective almost regardless of what count they find themselves in. So far in Gose's young career he is not one of those guys. There is little to indicate that he has the hitting chops to be one of the guys.

If he wants to succeed at the plate he'll need to get in good hitter's counts consistently. That's not 100% within his control, sometimes good pitching is going to bury him in a bad count , and sometimes it has.

Other times Gose has done it to himself, and if he is going to be a passable hitter at this level he can't afford to let that happen.

A look at the Toronto farm system with an eye on who could be coming to Chicago for Jeff Samardzija or Jason Hammel.

Our first potential trade partner is baseball's lone Canadian team. The Blue Jays have long been mentioned as a possible trade partner for Jeff Samardzija for two obvious reasons: (1) they have the need for one more strong starting pitcher, and (2) even after a pair of massive trades, they have plenty of enticing young pieces to offer in a possible trade.

Entering the season, the Toronto farm was fronted by two big-time pitching prospects. The first, diminutive right-hander Marcus Stroman, has entrenched himself in the Blue Jays rotation over the past month as a rookie despite his 5-9 frame. The team's 2012 first-round pick, Stroman figures to be unavailable in trade talks.

The second, 6-4 righthander Aaron Sanchez, figures to be the centerpiece to any deal for Samardzija although it is difficult to imagine him coming to the Cubs in a Jason Hammel deal. Sanchez has an explosive fastball with tremendous two-plane action that works in the low-to-mid 90s. His command of the offering is intermittent as he sometimes paints the corners beautifully and other times cannot locate the offering within two feet of the zone. His power curveball in the low 80s is his marquee pitch despite a strong fastball. The curve features pounding 11-5 movement, and Sanchez commands it very well. The changeup has good movement, but the command of the offering is basically non-existent at this point. He turns 22 next week and was recently promoted to Triple-A after an up-and-down half-season at Double-A, so he finds himself solidly on the big prospect timeline despite serious problems with issuing walks. I can comfortably slap a 60 grade on Sanchez with a 60 fastball, 70 curveball, and a 40 changeup. His mechanics do cause some concern as he loses momentum, placing unnecessary strain on his shoulder to generate velocity. Nonetheless, if either the fastball or changeup command takes a jump, Sanchez has the ability to be a #2 starter for a contender.

Beyond the Stroman-Sanchez duo, the Blue Jays system features strong depth. The next most interesting prospect is left-hander Daniel Norris, a pitcher who stands a bit above the next bunch of prospects in my eyes. Norris has had an interesting professional career to date. After being a second-round-pick in 2011 out of a Tennessee high school, Norris was among the worst professional pitchers in 2012, allowing 58 hits in 42.2 innings en route to an 8.44 ERA despite pitching only in short-season leagues. However, professional baseball has since been much kinder to Norris, who pitched a strong 2013 year primarily in the Midwest League before overwhelming Florida State League batters through the first half of 2014 prior to a recent promotion to Double-A. At 6-2, 180, Norris has plenty of size to stick as a starting pitcher and the stuff is there. While some scouting reports suggest a little tail on his fastball, I don't see it. But Norris doesn't need it as, in the low-to-mid-90s, he has exceptional velocity for a lefty. His low-80s slider is probably an even better pitch, and while his changeup lags behind the top two offerings, it has all the makings of a useful major-league pitch. In spite of his horrendous 2012 showing, I'd also give Norris a 60 grade with a 60 fastball, 60 slider, and a 50 changeup. He lacks Sanchez's ceiling, but Norris has an arsenal that should play just fine at the top level with a strong record of strikeouts at every level and greatly improving command that helps the pitches to play up.

To me, once we move beyond Stroman, Sanchez, and Norris, the Toronto system gets a lot murkier with some interesting high-ceiling/low-floor prospects and a gaggle of projectable arms. We'll look at this section of their system in a series of quick hits followed by some trade proposals for Samardzija and Hammel:

SP Sean Nolin: A 2010 sixth-round-pick, Nolin is the type that should be in the conversation to headline a deal: 6-4, 230-pound lefties are a rare commodity and those with a legitimate four-pitch mix are even rarer. Unfortunately, Nolin gets knocked down a few pegs due to a very limited ceiling. His fastball works in the high 80s, neither his loopy curveball or biting slider project as plus pitches, and while his mechanics do not create unneeded stress, they also result is a clear sightline for the batter. It's very difficult to see Nolin as an impact player at the MLB level, especially given increased walks at Triple-A as the competition has stiffened, although he also seems likely for a rather lengthy MLB career.

SS Franklin Barreto: Barreto is tiny at 5-9, 174, but he packs a solid punch from this frame. He is extremely raw, an unsurprising status report for the 18-year-old who signed for $1.45 million in 2012. Barreto has a plus hit tool with the chance for average power and enough athleticism for shortstop or center field if the glove doesn't develop. He's got a long way to go, so he also won't be headlining any trades in the near future. Cubs scouts have likely gotten a look at him in the Northwest League over the past two weeks.

CF D.J. Davis: Davis is a favorite of mine, an all-tools/no-game prospect at this time. Despite horrendous production thus far in 2014 (.219/.277/.333 in the Midwest League), Davis has game-changing speed, a true 80 tool. He projects as a plus defensive centerfielder. With Davis, it's all about the bat. It's possible to see a slap-hitter in the mold of Juan Pierre or a sneaky smooth stroke with some power in the mold of Luis Castillo. Right now, he's a bad hitter in the low-minors. If the scouts can buy into the bat, he's a low-minors Billy Hamilton right now with a chance to plug a major hole atop the lineup for the Cubs in the future.

SP Deck McGuire: McGuire feels like the type of prospect that the Cubs like to grab. The 11th overall selection in the 2010 draft, McGuire reached Double-A in late 2011... then only reached Triple-A last month. The 6-6, 235-pound right-hander lacks strong athleticism -- he is very soft -- and none of his pitches truly excite. He has a low-90s two-seam fastball with solid two-plane movement, a low-80s slider with below-average bite, and a 12-6 curveball. He's just a lottery ticket.

SP Roberto Osuna: Osuna was loved by many prospect watchers, but Tommy John surgery in 2014 has spooked many of them. Like McGuire, he has lots of extra weight on his frame. Unlike McGuire, he is still a teenager who won't turn 20 until February 2015. At 6-2, 230, Osuna is certainly big enough to start, yet poor mechanics resulted in a violent delivery that led to the injury. Despite the chance for three plus pitches, an excellent command profile, and 10 Midwest League starts in 2013, Osuna has a very long way to go as his mechanics need to be reworked and he needs to improve his conditioning.

Trade Proposals
For this and every entry in the series, I will propose two deals for each Cubs starter. Obviously the return for Samardzija figures to be higher.

Proposal #1: Chicago Cubs trade SP Jeff Samardzija to Toronto for SP Aaron Sanchez, SP Daniel Norris, and SP Deck McGuire

Proposal #2: Chicago Cubs trade SP Jeff Samardzija to Toronto for SP Daniel Norris, SS Franklin Barreto, and SP Roberto Osuna

Proposal #3: Chicago Cubs trade SP Jason Hammel to Toronto for SP Daniel Norris and SP Deck McGuire

Proposal #4: Chicago Cubs trade SP Jason Hammel to Toronto for SP Sean Nolin, CF D.J. Davis, and SP Roberto Osuna

Timing is everything. Proposal #4 may have been the most attractive offer one year ago, but with Nolin's development stalled, Davis's bat anemic, and Osuna injured, it has become the extreme risk package. Proposal #2 is the most interesting to me as it features two mid-to-high-end arms with a projectable infield or center field bat.

What do you think? Does one of these packages strike you as too rich? Does one seem too poor? Would you actually complete any of these transactions?

On Tuesday night, the Toronto Blue Jays had a walkoff win over the New York Yankees on a Melky Cabrera sacrifice bunt attempt. Jose Reyes reached on a double to start the inning, and Cabrera dropped a bunt towards the third base line in hopes of advancing the runner; however, a moment of hesitation over who would field the ball between pitcher Adam Warren and third baseman Yangervis Solarte led to a rushed throw by Solarte that sailed past first base.

This was actually the second time Toronto had walked off on a bunt attempt this season. Less than a month ago, Anthony Gose bunted to Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Juan Carlos Oviedo, who fielded it and threw low to first. Kevin Pillar scored all the way from first base on the play.

Bunt walkoffs are a fun, but rare, breed of baseball plays^{[citation needed]}, so it is pretty incredible to have a team have two of them in one season and probably even rarer to have a team do so before the halfway mark of the season.

Baseball-Reference's Play Index allows subscribers to look for specific incidents like a walkoff bunt in their Event Finder tool. That search revealed that there have been 37 walkoff bunts since 2001 (the list may be incomplete as a "bunt" event relies on the proper description of a play, which is less reliable than counted events like a single or a home run).

Data from Baseball-Reference. Click to see original tables [2001-2007, 2008-2014].

As you can see, the two that the Blue Jays had this year were their first two in this century; while the Milwaukee Brewers seem to be the King of Walkoff Bunts, recording eight of them since 2001. The 2004 Brewers completed two of them in one season, but the latest team to do it before the Blue Jays were the 2005 Twins. Interestingly, in all three cases, one of the walkoffs were ruled a single and the other a reached on error, and the two walkoffs occurred within a month of each other.

Thanks goes to @simon_shargot for asking the question, although this doesn't really answer it.

Unrelated #1

Colby Rasmus is the best.

Now, in front of Rogers Centre, chicken hot dogs are gonna sell like hot cakes.

Unrelated #2

You know how first base coaches always signal "safe" when a close play happens no matter if their team's runner is safe or not? Blue Jays first base coach Tim Leiper certainly didn't get that memo:

Hey Tim Leiper, when it's your player running to first, you shouldn't signal "OUT". https://t.co/Zci01j8viC

— Minor Leaguer (@Minor_Leaguer) June 25, 2014

Unrelated 3

The @BlueJays, reenacting the van scene from Inception (thanks to a foul liner). http://t.co/FXQcojPobrhttp://t.co/hJ2KxnIUDa

— Cut4 (@Cut4) June 25, 2014

Remember when the Yankees swept the Blue Jays last week? Let's not let them return the favor.

Let's not even talk about last night's game.

6/24/14 Daily Prediction Answers

Long time listener, Selftitled85 and Blanky all tied with 1000 points, which means no winner today. Hat tip to LTL for correctly guessing that Jeter would hit a home run, though. It was a bold choice.

6/25/14 Daily Predictions & Fun Questions

Name a toy that you always wanted when you were a kid, but never got.

If you could ask your future self one question, what would it be?

What are your tricks for getting rid of the hiccups?

What is your all-time favorite town or city?

The Yankees will send Hiroki Kuroda to the mound tonight to try and avoid the sweep. Traditionally, Kuroda tends to suffer from a distinct lack of run support, so if the offense could show up that would be great.

Just win tonight.

The Blue Jays try to sweep away the Evil Empire tonight at 7:07 as Drew Hutchison takes the mound against right-hander Hiroki Kuroda. The Japanese veteran has been a little off this season and is heading for his first ERA north of 4.00 since he came to the MLB in 2008. He's been hurt by an unlucky 63.9 LOB%, so there's a chance this season could turn around for him, since the rest of his peripherals are pretty much in line with his career norms. The problem for the Yankees is that even in a down year for Kuroda, he's still the team's second-best starting pitcher behind fellow Japanese righty Masahiro Tanaka.

As is widely known across baseball, Kuroda relies heavily on a sinker, slider, splitter combination of pitches that leads to a bunch of weak contact from hitters. Right-handed hitters see all three pitches fairly equally, but lefties mainly just get the sinker and splitter. The split is without a doubt his put away pitch and has late arm-side action that is nearly impossible to hit solidly:

via gamereax.com

Hopeful Lineup

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera LF
3. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
4. Adam Lind DH
5. Colby Rasmus CF
6. Dioner Navarro C
7. Juan Francisco 3B
8. Kevin Pillar RF
9. Munenori Kawasaki 2B

Find The Link

Gut Feelings

Toronto is expected to pursue one-year rentals instead.

The Toronto Blue Jays have been rumored to be targeting Cubs' righty Jeff Samardzija, but CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports that there is "zero chance" the Jays part with the prospects Chicago is demanding. Heyman proposes one-year rentals such as Samardzija's teammate Jason Hammel, Indians righty Justin Masterson, and others.

As a unit, the Blue Jays rotation ranks 17th in baseball with a team ERA of 3.91. Advanced pitching metrics -- like FIP and xFIP -- suggest that the Jays have been even worse than that, despite the fact that they lead the notoriously competitive AL East.

Heyman notes that the Blue Jays would have a tough time extending Samardzija, who has a 2.53 ERA over 103 innings this year. He has already declined a reported 5-year, $85 million extension from the Cubs.

If Toronto decides to pursue pitchers that will be free agents after the year, they could still end up negotiating with the Cubs in an effort to acquire Hammel -- who is pitching effectively as well (2.99 ERA) -- or Jake Arrieta. The latter has been as unexpectedly good as the former, if not more so. Arrieta is striking out more than 10 batters per nine innings, and has put up a 2.05 ERA in 57 innings.

Toronto is expected to pursue options to improve at second base as well. If thy engage in trade talks with Chicago, it might be prudent for them to inquire on Luis Valbuena. The 28-year-old infielder has played more than 1,600 innings at second in his career, and he's hitting .266/.359/.425 this season, though much of his success has been the result of a strict platoon assignment in which he rarely faces left-handed pitching. He could form a similar platoon with Steve Tolleson in Toronto. Tolleson has a career 127 wRC+ against lefties, and if he didn't pan out against southpaws, the Jays could pursue another part-time left masher.

Update: Apparently Kevin Pillar didn't take to well to being pinch hit for last night, I didn't see it but some folks mentioned he threw his bat and gloves after being taken out.

Gibbons on whether Pillar's reaction last night played a role in his demotion: "It didn't help him." #BlueJays

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) June 25, 2014

If you aren't hitting, you better be a good teammate.

Noah's GIF:

You can file this under "roster moves I don't understand the reasons why", but....

The Blue Jays have sent Kevin Pillar down to Buffalo and called up Brad Glenn. To make room on the 40-man, the Jays have designated Jonathan Diaz for assignment.

Glenn is a 27 year old outfielder who is having a good season for the Bisons. He is hitting .381/.421/.575 in 30 games, with 4 home runs and 2 stolen bases. He has mostly played right field but has played left and first base as well (I'm hoping this doesn't mean that they are figuring Edwin might need some rest). Glenn was the Jays 23rd round pick in 2009. In 591 minor league games, over 6 seasons, Brad has a .260/.325/.468 batting line. This is his first trip to the majors. With Edwin, likely, a little sore, even if he says he's not, and Adam Lind with sore legs and hobbling. another guy that can handle a first baseman glove.

Pillar, well, hasn't been good, hitting .225/.220/.300 but only had 3 at bats since being called up Monday for this latest stint with the Jays. He was hitting great in Buffalo too, before the call up.

Diaz had a few games with the Jays earlier this season, hitting .158/.256/.184 in 23 games. In Buffalo he's hitting .165/.340/.278.

Welcome Brad, I hope you have a good long stay. Bye Kevin, I'm sure we'll see you again before long.

In other news, Edwin is playing today, at DH. And Jose Bautista doesn't think he'll need the DH won't be playing for at least a couple more days.

With short season leagues now fully underway, on any given day there almost 200 Blue Jay prospects in uniform across seven North American leagues. Last night was no exception, headlined by pitching prospect Daniel Norris putting up another dominant performance. Rather than recapping the games, below I'll highlight some of the more significant action in greater depth. Since Bluebird Banter has a dedicated Buffalo correspondent, we'll start right in New Hampshire with the aforementioned Daniel Norris.

New Hampshire

Norris started the night well, striking out the leadoff batter swinging on a 1-2 fastball at 94 mph (right after a slow curve at 72 that was fouled off). Deven Marrero followed that with a line drive hit on a 1-2 pitch that caught too much of the plate, but was caught stealing on the first pitch on a great throw from catcher Derek Chung. Norris then fell behind Blake Swihart 2-0 but got him to fly out after chasing a fastball inside at 91.

In the second inning, Norris made most of his defensive teammates redundant as after a leadoff walk on four pitches he struck out the side. After getting ahead of his first victim 0-2, he tried to go up the ladder with a fastball but went too far, though then he came back with a nasty slider at 85 to induce a weak half-swing. The second strikeout came on a well-placed 1-2 fastball on the hands at 92 that was whiffed on, and the last also on a 1-2 fastball at 93 that froze up the batter.

After a leadoff flyout to CF in the third inning, Norris got ahead of the second batter 0-2 and induced a weak groundout to Kevin Nolan at third base on a soft curveball, changing speed by about 20 mph after a fastball at 93. He was denied a clean 1-2-3 inning after Nolan couldn't cleanly field a chopper, but came back with a three-pitch strikeout on a whiff at an 0-2 pitch in the dirt.

Norris dominated Swihart to start the 4th, starting him with a fastball at 90 for called strike, getting him way out in front of a curveball at 72 and then blowing a fastball by him. After a slow grounder through the SS-3B gap, Norris got a strikeout looking and then a weak tapper in front of the mound near the baseline that he lobbed over the batter and almost over the first baseman as well.

Norris got his first clean inning in the fifth, starting with a routine groundout to second. He got ahead of the second batter 0-2 and tried to climb the ladder with a fastball that was fouled off, but came back with a beautiful change-up that started on the outside corner and just faded away for a whiff. The last out came via ninth strikeout of the night, once again freezing the batter with a 1-2 fastball.

Norris's sixth and final inning started with a well-struck fly out to left field, followed by back-to-back five-pitch walks, putting him in his first real jam of the evening. He rebounded to strike out the next batter, which was a fitting way to end as he hit his pitch count.

Overall, Norris was once again dominant, allowing just three singles and a run (which scored after he left) while racking up 10 strikeouts against three walks.

Most impressively, he got 16 swings and misses on just 89 pitches. His fastball sat 90-93 and touched 94, though it was more 90-92 the last couple innings. He was able to both spot on the corners to get ahead of batters, and blow it by them. He was able to command all three of his secondaries, piling up the whiffs on generally well placed pitches. He had a number of hitters look foolish changing speeds between his curveball and fastball. If there's one nitpick, it's that his command was all little spotty at the beginning and end, letting some pitches catch too much plate and allowing reasonable contact. In between, he was absolute dynamite.

For his two Eastern League outings, Norris has struck out 19 in 11.1 innings, while allowing seven hits issuing four walks and famously, a hit-by-pitch. But the most eye-popping number is this: Norris has thrown 177 pitches, and induced 33 whiffs, for a ridiculous 18.6% swinging strike rate.

Dunedin

Matt Boyd started for Dunedin and turned in a so-so line, allowing three runs (two earned) in four innings pitched, with a line of 6 H, 2 BB, and 6 K. While he was able to generate a strong number of whiffs of his secondaries, he was not exceptionally sharp and the pitch count piled up on him. That said, he only gave up one extra base hit and all the hits were on the ground except for one weird popup that the wind blew around and which landed in shallow right field.

Boyd was followed by Chad Girodo, who had a really weird, up-and-down three innings of relief. Girodo is normally very difficult on lefties, but last night he issued three walks and gave up three  singles and a double to the 12 lefty batters he faced while only getting one strikeout. It was his second straight appearance he's struggled against lefties (in his previous outing he faced five lefties, with two strikeouts, two walks and a hit batter). This follows a 1/21 BB/K ratio against LHB coming into these last two outings, and may be related to him having longer 2-3 inning outings. Notwithstanding that, Girodo should have a major league floor as a LOOGY. If he can continue to contain righties as he moves up the ladder, the Jays could have another Aaron Loup-type pitcher.

Danny Barnes came in for the bottom of the eighth and was not sharp as he had been in his last few appearances. Albert Almora took him yard for what was the decisive run, and Barnes also walked one and went 3-0 to another batter.

Offensively, Dalton Pompey went 2-for-5 with a double and triple, and Dwight Smith also went 2-for-5 with a K. Gustavo Pierre went 3-for-4 with two doubles and a strikeout, and I mention him only to also mention that of all the players in the Jays' system, he is the longest tenured international FA having been signed six years ago less a week.

Lansing

Canadian Shane Dawson started for Lansing, which was fitting considering Mark Buerhle was on the mound for the Jays. Dawson might be the prospect in the system who most resembles Buerhle, a soft-tossing southpaw who relies on fastball command and changing speed. Dawson's fastball spent most of the night in the low-80s on the stadium gun (per the broadcast), with his curveball in the low-70s. At one point, he threw a very, very slow curveball, which registered 56 on the gun and drew a noticeable reaction from Frank Viola.

Like Buerhle last night, Dawson was very good in the early going, shutting out West Michigan for four innings of one-hit ball with a walk and three strikeouts. Like Buehrle, he ran into trouble and his night was cut short in the fifth after allowing a two-run bomb and then allowing two more hits sandwiched around his fourth strikeout.

Vancouver

Alberto Tirado was the scheduled starter, but he's getting time off to deal with dead arm, so 2014 eighth rounder Justin Shafer got to make his first professional start, with a pitch count of about 65. He pitched 3.2 innings, getting five strikeouts and allowing only two singles. His fastball was clocked at 90 mph on the stadium gun, and he got a few swing and misses on his secondaries. While his command was not extremely sharp, he seems to have surprisingly good pitchability for a guy who was primarily an infielder until this year in college.

Three relievers followed Shafer, combining for a shutout of Hillsboro. The most impressive was 21-year-old Jose M. Fernandez--an under-the-radar older international signing in early 2012--who pitched the last two innings and struck out five (four looking). He's off to a decent start in Vancouver. Of note offensively, Franklin Barreto was 0-for-2 with two strikeouts, cooling off after a crazy hot start to the season.

Bluefield

Jesus Tinoco, who signed for $400,000 in 2011 as a 16-year-old, had a much better second start for Bluefield though he still allowed nine baserunners (seven hits, two walks) in just 4.2 innings with one strikeout. On the positive side, all the hits were singles and over half the balls in play were kept on the ground.

But the real pitching story in this game was Dusty Issacs, whom the Jays drafted in the 18th round out of Georgia Tech. Replacing Tinoco with two outs in the fifth, he got a swinging strikeout on a fastball to end the inning. He pitched another two innings, with six of the seven batters retired via strikeout. Now, he's an experienced collegian going up against mostly teenagers so a grain of salt is in order, but it was impressive nonetheless.

On the other side of the ball, Anthony Alford left midway through the game for unknown reasons. 2010 bonus baby Gabriel Cenas ($750,000 bonus) was 2-for-3 with two doubles.

GCL Jays

Evan Smith made his first start of the year and was fantastic, striking out seven in six innings while only allowing four hits with no walks. I can't add colour, but BP's Chris King was there:

Evan Smith pitched 6 strong innings today. FB 88-91 top 92. Threw inside to RH well. SL 76-78 and dropped it back foot a few times #BlueJays

— Chris King (@StatsKing) June 24, 2014

This year's fifth round draftee Lane Thomas went 2-for-5, and fourth rounder Matt Morgan hit a walkoff three-run bomb in addition to walking twice.

Yankees 5 Blue Jays 3

One bad inning cost us. So no sweep.

Drew Hutchison threw 5 good innings, unfortunately he was out there for 6 innings. His bad inning was the 4th. He gave up a walk to Kelly Johnson, then an RBI double to Francisco Cervelli, then got two quick outs. Unfortunately, before he was able to get the 3rd out there was an RBI single to Jacoby Ellsbury and a 2-run Mark Teixeira home run. 3 hits, a walk and 4 runs in the inning. In his other 5 innings he allowed just 4 hits, 1 walk and no runs. He had 6 strikeouts in all, including 3 in the 6th inning.

Rob Rasmussen started the 7th inning and was terrible, 2 walks and a hit batter later, Sergio Santos was in with the bases loaded and no outs. Sergio got out of it allowing just one run on a sac fly. Todd Redmond did a nice job pitching two scoreless innings.

We didn't score enough. We had 10 hits, 3 from Jose Reyes, including a home run on the first pitch of the game and a double. 2 each for Melky Cabrera (who drove in our other 2 runs) and Munenori Kawasaki.

Anthony Gose had a particularly lousy day. He was 0 for 4 with a strikeout. And allowed 2 catchable balls to hit the turf. One a fly ball to the fence that he (a) got too close to to play off the wall (it hit the wall and bounced past him), but (b) pulled up on just short of catching. He either should have caught it (preferable) or played it properly off the wall. Then, in the 8th, there was a popup, foul near the right field line, that he got to, then pulled up an let it fall at his feet. It was mystifying. The way he's hitting, he has to make the plays in the field.

There was an interesting moment in the bottom of the 8th, we had 2 on and Adam Lind due up. The Yankees brought in lefty Matt Thornton. We figured Gibby would pitch hit for Lind, but he didn't and Lind ground out. There might be an explanation:

Gibbons told us Tolleson has having vision problems. Been to the eye Dr a couple times this week. #bluejays

— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) June 26, 2014

Tolleson would have been the choice, but I'd have put in Brad Glenn.

Jays of the Day are Reyes (.166 WPA) and Cabrera (.100). And I'm giving an honorable mention to Santos.

Suckage goes to Gose (-.171, not counting the defensive lapses), Lind (-.184 on a 0 for 4), Rasmus (-.143), Navarro (-.109 on a 1 for 4), Rasmussen (-.160) and Hutchison (-.148).

Source: FanGraphs

We had another good GameThread, 1303 comments. Spor led again, good job.

A win's a win, right?

After a rough outing by Chase Whitley and an ugly ending to last night's game, the Yankees turned to Hiroki Kuroda to spare them from a three-game sweep at the hands of the division leading Toronto Blue Jays.  And with a little timely hitting (and, of course, some missed opportunities) the Yankees snapped their four-game skid and managed to steal one of three from the Blue Jays in Toronto.

The game did not get off to a good start.  In the top of the first, Brett Gardner led off with a double, only to find himself eventually stranded at third as the heart of the Yankee order failed to bring him home.  Then, on the first offering from Hiroki Kuroda, Jose Reyes took him out to right, immediately making it 1–0 Blue Jays.

In the third, the Yankees offense got going, as Francisco Cervelli doubled home Kelly Johnson, who had walked to open the inning.  After Gardner popped out and Derek Jeter struck out, Jacoby Ellsbury came through with some clutch hitting, spanking a liner up the middle for a two-out RBI single to give the Yankees the lead. Mark Teixeira then hit a deep fly ball that just got out of the park, and all of the sudden, Kuroda had a decent lead to work with: it was 4–1 Yankees.

The bottom of the fifth saw the Jays offense get something going.  Munenori Kawasaki worked a one-out walk, and after a three-pitch strikeout of Anthony Gose, Jose Reyes drove another ball deep to right for a ground-rule double to put runners on second and third with two outs. Melky Cabrera didn't miss his chance with runners in scoring position as he singled to left to score both Reyes and Kawasaki.  While Adam Lind flew out to end the inning, the Jays had trimmed the lead to one heading into the sixth.

The game stayed a one run affair until the seventh.  Jays starter Drew Hutchinson didn't return in the top of the inning, replaced instead by Rob Rasmussen, who immediately ran into trouble.  The Yankees got their first two men on in the inning, with Gardner working a walk and Jeter being plunked.  Rasmussen then delivered a wild pitch, and suddenly the Yankees had the bases loaded with no one out.  This knocked Rasmussen out of the game, but replacement Sergio Santos proved to be much better - he limited the Yankees to just one run, surrendered on a Teixeira sac fly that scored Gardner, keeping Toronto within striking distance and giving their offense a chance to earn a sweep after all.

Luckily for us, Kuroda was dealing, and the bullpen was on point tonight.  Kuroda made it into the seventh before being pulled with one out, and Shawn Kelley and Matt Thornton finished off the inning (although the Jays did get runners to second and third with two outs).  Adam Warren got one out in the night before surrendering a single, at which point Joe Girardi turned to Robertson for a five-out save.  Robertson, being a beast, obliged, striking out three and getting all five Blue Jays in order to preserve a little Yankee dignity and escape Toronto with a win.

The Yankees have an off day tomorrow before returning to New York for a three game set against the Red Sox this weekend.  Let's hope they can put this ugly trip to Toronto behind them and push Boston even farther down the AL East standings.

The first game of the Bisons four game set against the Clippers started yesterday and just finished after nearly four and a half hours of play. It was stopped in the bottom of fourth inning yesterday and finished in bottom of the 13thinning today at 5-4 with an Adron Chambers walk off single. Luckily for all of our hardcore Buffalo baseball fans there is another game coming soon.

Liam Hendriks started the game yesterday looking sharp as ever. He surrendered just two hits while striking out four through his first four innings of work. This short outing did serve as a nice opportunity for him to bounce back from his rough spot start in Cincinnati.

The action picked up in the eighth inning as Steve Delabar went out for his second inning of work. He did not look strong throughout his time as he was consistently falling behind batters. He managed to work a scoreless seventh but things did not go so well in the eighth. A walk and a double plated the third Clippers run before Bobby Korecky came in to allow another double to tie the game.

The Bisons followed up this mishap by getting the go ahead run across with a clutch sacrifice fly from Ryan Schimpf. This gave Korecky another opportunity to preserve a lead. Unfortunately the struggles continued for the closer as he again squandered the lead. Korecky even was able to benefit from a controversial call by home plate umpire Carlos Torres. With the tying run on second Indians prospect Carlos Moncrief hit a weak grounder back to Korecky, who hit Moncrief with his throw to first. Torres called interference on the play which retired Moncrief and forced the runner from second to return to his base after he had scored on the play. A single from Tim Fedroff two batters later made all this a moot point.

Pitching dominated extras up until the 13th inning. The Clippers had a great opportunity to score with a man on second, but thanks to an outstanding play from Ryan Goins they could not cash in. Goins leaped high into air knocking down a hard line drive off the bat of Ryan Rohlinger, but he could not initially corral the ball. Had it fallen the go ahead run would have scored, but with the ball floating in mid-air Goins snatched it to end the inning.

The Bisons took full advantage of this opportunity as the table setter Darin Mastroianni did his job perfectly. He drew a walk in a battle of an at bat before stealing second. He then scored on a bang bang play at the plate after a line drive single from Chambers.

It should be noted that Mike Zagurski gave the team three perfect innings striking out four batters. This effort combined with a scoreless inning from Luis Ayala kept the team in the game. Jays' top prospect Aaron Sanchez will take the mound against Indians prospect Danny Salazar in game two tonight.

And pretty soon, the games will, too. While we look to that future, some players are making the future "now," others are looking for a way out of town in the name of the next generation, picks are signed, a debut is coming, Kris Bryant is the talk of the clubhouse, and we have a playful sea lion.

Let's go, Team U.S.A.

From Comcast SportsNet

• The future is now for Jake Arrieta.
• Anthony Rizzo is making his All-Star case.
• Some NBC actors invaded Wrigley for "Heroes Night" on Tuesday.
• Jeff Samardzijacan't wait to pitch in big games. But he "wants to stay", right?
• Arismendy Alcantara is making a name for himself, even while surrounded by some higher profile prospects.
• The team has officially signed their third-round draft choice, catcher Mark Zagunis.

From Cubs Den

• The St. Louis Cardinals could help break a trade log jam the Cubs reportedly have with the Toronto Blue Jays. See if you follow that.
• Cubs Den forecasts some big league promotions.
• The club also signed their 9th- and 10th-round draft choices for far under slot value. A couple more "big names" could end up signing with that savings.

• Jake Arrieta is bracing for turnover in the rotation, as everyone expects the club will trade one or more starting pitchers.
• (Video) Anthony Rizzo talked about nerves while Arrieta flirted with perfection.
• (Video) Rizzo also talked about the growth he's seen from Starlin Castro.
• (Video) Rick Renteria talked about how much the pitchers like working with Chris Bosio.
• I don't link much to renovation articles, because I find the whole topic frustrating. So does Tom Ricketts, who is "looking forward to moving forward" with the renovations.

• The Cubs are inching toward a time when wins and losses will "actually matter."
• Kris Bryant is the story everyone is reading about. Even some of his future teammates.
• Joey Votto is raving about Anthony Rizzo. The two worked out together in the offseason.
• Gordo says the matter of whether Jeff Samardzija stays and signs an extension or is traded is really about Shark's loyalty to the players' union. You'll have to excuse me if I doubt this is the driving factor.  This topic has the chance to get real political. Let's try not to go there. My doubt about this being his primary motivation comes from the mixed messaging. Shark has been quoted in various places about how much he wants to stay here. And how much he wants to pitch in big games. And how he's worried about when the Cubs will be a contender. I do believe you can weave all those interests together. But it's a tough sell. Shark wants to get paid like an ace. I don't really fault him for that - I'd love to be paid at the top levels of my profession, too. But let's not pretend like Shark's contract is a landmark for all future players.

From the Daily Herald

• In the big picture, Shark is getting the job done.

Today's food for thought

• A sea lion played with a little girl. Watch what happened when the little girl fell down.
• Emmy Noether is the most important mathematician you've (probably) never heard of.

The Bisons won their fifth straight game in part two of a double header last night. It was another hard fought battle with Columbus that took late game heroics from Andy LaRoche. LaRoche scored the third and final run of the game in the sixth inning to give The Herd the dramatic 3-2 victory.

Aaron Sanchez was on the hill against Indians young talent Danny Salazar for the seven inning night cap. Both starters threw well showing off some of their best and nastiest stuff. Sanchez came out strong early with great fastball command that he combined with a filthy low 90's changeup and his go to curveball. This unfair mix of pitches worked to strikeout seven Clippers in juts 4.1 innings for Sanchez. He only came out that early because the strikeouts forced his pitch count up to 87 with roughly a 90 pitch limit.

There were some struggles for Sanchez as the game went on, but manager Gary Allenson did not seem concerned. The young righty lost control in the second and fourth innings walking a pair in each, but he was able to limit the Clippers to just one run. Raul Valdes did a great job in relief of Sanchez giving up just a solo home run in 2.2 strong innings of work.

For Salazar things were going great through four innings. Despite being just a one run game the Bisons really seemed out of it with the way he was pitching. Salazar used his electric stuff to strikeout five in the first four innings and it looked as if though he was on his way to another dominant inning in the fifth, but a two out single from Darin Mastroianni kept the Bisons alive. The next batter was Adron Chambers who ripped the game tying home run over the right center field wall. At this point Buffalo seemed destined to win.

It took rare base running heroics from Andy LaRoche to do it, but win they did. LaRoche got on board in the sixth beating the shift for a single. He then advanced to third on a single from Ryan Schimpf. It was a dangerously close play at third and a better throw may have got him, but that does not matter. LaRoche scored shortly after on another close play as a slow grounder from Eric Kratz was enough to plate the winning run.

The Bisons will look to build on their winning streak tonight with the third game against Columbus. Deck McGuire will be on the mound for the early 1 p.m. start.

Jordan Lyles and Eddie Butler are working back toward health and look to bolster a struggling Rockies rotation.

Butler raring to go as he recovers from shoulder injury - MLB.com
Rockies righty Eddie Butler talks to Thomas Harding about how anxious he is to return to the field as his shoulder continues to recover.

Righty Lyles working back from broken left hand - MLB.com
Harding also spoke with Jordan Lyles, who is working to recover from a broken non-throwing hand, but is still in a splint.

Rockies encourage fans to write in Dickerson - MLB.com
The Rockies are now urging fans to write in outfielder Corey Dickerson as a National League All-Star. The lefty is hitting .356 with 10 home runs and 31 runs batted in.

Series Recap: Revitalizing Opponent Offenses since 1993 - Rockies Zingers
Adam Peterson takes a look back at the power surge from Cardinals during their trip to Coors Field this week.

Around MLB

Andy Burns shows defensive versatility in Double-A - The Denver Post
Terry Frei takes a look at former Colorado Prep Player of the Year Andy Burns, who is succeeding with Double-A New Hampshire in the Blue Jays organization.

Lincecum still has it, at least against Padres - ESPN.com
ESPN's David Schoenfield takes a look at Tim Lincecum's no-hitter against the Padres, his second no-no against San Diego in as many years.

Through their first 75 games the Bisons are a respectable 38-37. When you consider the team has already had 54 different players make an appearance they really have done quite well. That sort of instability on a roster can derail a team, yet they stand in third place with plenty of opportunities to climb up the IL north. There is never one reason for a team's success, but with the turmoil this year's Bisons have dealt with, a leader like Dan Johnson becomes truly invaluable.

The now 34 year-old Johnson has been the rock in the middle of the order for The Herd day in and day out. He truly has been the only constant for the team as no other player has started more than 52 games while he has started all 75 batting cleanup each time. With all of the young players that have streamed through Buffalo this year a strong example like this can be hugely beneficial.

"I have been through this before...I know what to expect," said Johnson. "You got to prepare yourself every day. I have learned from guys in the past, so hopefully guys can take from what I am doing and learn from it," he continued.

One thing the young players can really take away from Johnson is his approach at the plate. For a power hitter he has been able to show the discipline to not only limit his strikeouts, but also draw walks at an incredible rate. This is a part of the game that he has always excelled in, keeping a level head even through struggles.

As valuable as Johnson's veteran presence has been for the team, it is still his offense that has played the biggest role. Just over the half-way point of the season Johnson finds himself in the league's top 5 in On-base percentage, RBI's, extra base hits, total bases, and runs scored. On top of that he leads the league in home runs with 16 and walks with 60, which is 10 more than the next closest guy. With that said Johnson still does not fell like he has been hot yet this season.

"I really haven't gotten hot this season...I got into a nice homer streak and then I ran into some tough ballparks," said Johnson.

Despite hitting the ball hard throughout the season there have been rough stretches for the big lefty. He is not the kind of guy to make excuses, but baseball can be a wickedly unfair game at times. He has not been able to catch any breaks to this point, but the fact that he has been able to stick with his approach throughout the year even at this stage of his career is impressive.

He is still waiting to put together a dynamic stretch of games, but it could be coming soon. The team only has three games left on this current home stand before playing 15 of their next 25 contests on the road. Perhaps this could be a good opportunity for Johnson to take advantage of some more hitter friendly parks. Coca-Cola field is not the biggest of parks, but the wind often will knock down fly balls in right field. For a pull hitter such as Johnson this can of course be problematic. There still have been several times throughout my short time watching the team that I have seen him muscle balls right into the wind and out of the park.

Johnson is not currently on the 40 man roster but there is still some speculation over the possibility of a September call-up. This sort of speculation can be difficult for players to handle from a mental stand point, but Johnson has been here before.

"I need to be ready at all times. Whenever the situation calls for it I need to be ready to go up and produce," he said. "Get on base, drives runners in, whatever the situation may be that's what I need to do. I need to be prepared defensively and offensively at all times."

It is unclear what the future will bring for both the Blue Jays and Dan Johnson, but just the past few days have shown that anything can happen. Injuries are always a part of the game and I think the Jays are lucky to have a guy like Johnson to turn to.

A look ahead at our second avian opponent of the week

Offense:Jose Reyes - SS, Melky Cabrera - LF, Jose Bautista - RF, Edwin Encarnacion - 1B, Adam Lind - DH, Dioner Navarro - C, Juan Francisco - 3B, Colby Rasmus - CF, Munenori Kawasaki - 2B

Jose Reyes is an All-Star caliber player if and only if he hits for a high average.  Hitting lots of pop-ups makes it hard to hit for a high average. Jose Reyes is hitting lots of pop-ups.  Follow the syllogism?  Good.  Reyes is still able to add value on the basepaths, where he's been remarkably efficient in swiping bags this season.  He's also still a pretty capable shortstop and he isn't as punchless in the power department as most speed-first players. This means Reyes isn't a liability when he's hitting .247, but he's also not a reason that Toronto is leading the tough AL East.

As of this writing, and including 2014, Melky Cabrera's strikeout rate has been 12.6 percent for four of the past five seasons.  That is a crazy statistical oddity and a testament to the consistent contact skills that Cabrera brings to the table.  The Melk Man is once again working with a batting average over .300 with some power.  He's not a good outfielder, but what he does at the plate more than compensates.

I distinctly remember attending a White Sox game in 2008 against Toronto in which I sat very close to first base and repeatedly yelled at Blue Jays first baseman Jose Bautista about his complete and utter pointlessness as a major league player. Joke's on me, I guess.  Joey Bats randomly broke out in 2010 and is one of the top hitters in the game today.  While he's fallen off a bit from his best seasons in 2010 and 2011, he's a power bat who currently leads the major leagues in walks.  Quite a feat considering who's been hitting behind him.  Bautista has just one home run in June, but he's plenty dangerous at the plate.

The Blue Jays cultivated both pieces of one of the most fearsome one-two punches in baseball out of another team's trash.  Edwin Encarnacion broke out in 2012 and like Bautista, is now one of the game's top hitters.  He currently leads the major leagues in home runs, thanks primarily to the 16 bombs he hit in May.  The player formally known as "E5" for his awful defense at third is now known as "E3" after a shift across the diamond, but given Encarnacion's skills at the plate, nobody cares.

Adam Lind's BABIP is .383.  That's pretty much the only reason that his 2014 looks notably better than his average 2013.  Lind has plenty of power and on-base ability and is a pretty good hitter independent of whether the luck is on his side.  He's very limited defensively, however.  How limited?  He's the primary DH on a team that plays Edwin Encarnacion every day.

Dioner Navarro has rotated between awful, passable, and good since he became a part-time player in 2009. He's received the majority of the playing time at catcher for Toronto in 2014, and predictably, he's floundered with extended exposure.  The power he flashed in 2013 has disappeared, the walks were never there to begin with, and he's a miserable defensive catcher.  In addition to being a rough pitch framer, Navarro doesn't do much to control the running game.  Robin Ventura would be wise to run like wild on him.

Juan Francisco swings really hard.  Sometimes, he hits the ball a long way.  More often, he builds on a strikeout rate that would make Adam Dunn blush.  Francisco's all-or-nothing approach is exciting and has served him well thus far this season. 12 home runs in 188 plate appearances is no laughing matter, after all. He's a bit rough with the glove, but he's contributed plenty to a Blue Jays offense that leads the majors in home runs by a wide margin.

Colby Rasmus has been a less extreme form of Francisco at the plate this season.  Rasmus looked like he had himself a breakout season in 2013 when he hit .276 with good power, but it turned out to be a BABIP-based mirage; Rasmus strikes out far too often to maintain a batting average that high.  At his core, his power makes him an above-average hitter at a premium position.  Historically he's been regarded as a good defensive center fielder but defensive metrics have mostly panned his performance in 2014.

Brett Lawrie is on the disabled list, so Munenori Kawasaki is filling in.  To get a feel for what we can expect out of Kawasaki, we reached out to Tom Dakers of Bluebird Banter to get his thoughts.

You can expect the most entertaining .220 hitter that you will ever see. Munenori is fun. He's a great reminder that baseball is meant to be fun, a kid's game played by adults. Kawasaki, on the other hand, doesn't act anything like an adult. He dances in the dugouts, bows to his outfielders after making plays, runs on the spot to fake catchers into thinking he's going to steal and is Japaneseeeeeese:

I mean, I'd rather have a second baseman that can, you know, hit the ball out of the infield, but if we have to have a replacement player in the middle of the infield, he might as well be fun to watch.

Bench: Josh Thole - C, Steve Tolleson - INF, Brad Glenn - OF, Anthony Gose - OF

Pitching:Starting Rotation:R.A. Dickey - RHP, Mark Buehrle - LHP, Drew Hutchison - RHP, J.A. Happ - LHP, Marcus Stroman - RHP; Closer - Casey Janssen - RHP

My favorite fact about R.A. Dickey pertains to an extreme oddity with his anatomy.  The ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is the ligament in the elbow that is reconstructed when a pitcher undergoes Tommy John surgery.  Dickey doesn't have that ligament in his throwing arm.  It's sort of a miracle that the 39 year-old knuckleballer is able to pitch at all. It's even more of a miracle that someone in his position was pretty much a swingman and a roster yo-yo until age 35, then won a Cy Young award at age 37.  Dickey hasn't been the player the Blue Jays hoped they were acquiring since he landed in Toronto, but he's still a useful, average starting pitcher that ranks among baseball's most fascinating players.

Speaking of fascinating players, Mark Buehrle is 35 years old with an 84 mph fastball and an ERA in the mid-twos.  Nothing I can say about Buehrle in this player comment can really do him justice, particularly with White Sox fans as the target audience.  He's the exception to pretty much everything advanced metrics have taught us about pitching, and the fact that he's twirled a no-hitter and a perfect game in his career while fanning so few hitters is simply astounding.  There hasn't been a ton of buzz surrounding Buehrle's Hall of Fame chances, but there are plenty of pitchers in the Hall of Fame with notably lower career bWAR than what Buehrle's already accrued.  He's the kind of player who's been so good for so long that the counting stats combined with a lack of overwhelming dominance are going to put voters in an extremely difficult spot.

Drew Hutchison has been average, but very up-and-down in 2014.  Here's Tom Dakers again with some insight into his consistency issues.

The short answer is that [Hutchison] sometimes has troubles with fastball command. That he occasionally will slightly lose his delivery, rushes it a bit and will miss high. He had an inning like that in Wednesday's game against the Yankees. He pitched 6 innings, 5 were good to very good, one was bad. He gave up 3 hits, a walk and 4 runs in his bad inning. He can throw mid-90's, so when he is hitting his spots, he's pretty great.

...

The downside is that (a) [Hutchison] is just 23 and (b) since June 15th 2012, he'd pitched only a handful of minor league innings. So, it does make sense that he might have some troubles with consistency. I think that by the end of the season, we might consider him our Ace, but there is the complication that the Jays will be looking to try to watch his innings pitched. Going from 59 major league innings in 2012, to 0 in 2013 to, well, 92 so far this season, might be tough on a surgically repaired elbow.

Despite Hutchison's occasional disaster outings, J.A. Happ is the most likely pitcher on the Blue Jays staff to take the ball and implode on the mound.  He's never had good control and he's allowed a home run roughly once every six innings this season.  Much of his struggles can be attributed to the ineffectiveness of his offspeed pitches in 2014.  Happ replaced the injured Brandon Morrow in the rotation and he's typically a decent swingman to have around, but it'll be tough to blame the White Sox for kicking him while he's down.

Marcus Stroman is one of the Jays' best prospects.  Once again, Tom Dakers weighs in:

I think Marcus is going to be a good starter, a good number 3 type. He has a curve, slider and changeup, all that can be good pitches, but he'll live and die with the command of his mid-90's fastball.  He is just 23 and he is in his rookie season, so expecting him to be great every start is overly hopeful (of course, as a Blue Jays fan, overly hopeful is my middle name). When he has troubles with his command, he is going to have bad nights. His last start was the best of his young career, he went 8 innings, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run, with 7 strikeouts, against the Yankees. That's what he can do when he's hitting his spots.

The worry is that he isn't big, he's fairly generously listed at 5'9"  and some wonder if he can stay in the rotation or if he might be better suited for the bullpen. I'm not a sizeist, and I think he likes showing that you don't have to be 6'4" to be a starter in the majors.

Casey Janssen is living proof that an effective closer doesn't necessarily have to be an extreme power pitcher.  Janssen averages about 89 mph on his fastball and his strikeout rate is very pedestrian for a reliever. There have been two primary keys to his success.  First, he's only issued one walk in 16 innings pitched. Second, he's yet to allow a home run.  The latter is somewhat fluky considering that Janssen doesn't keep the ball on the ground as often as he used to, but Janssen has been reliable as the Blue Jays' closer since May of 2012.  He's not among the game's toughest closers, but he's only blown seven saves in a little over two years since he took over the job.

Outlook & Prediction: The Blue Jays are the American League's most surprising team as they currently sit atop the AL East when most prognosticators didn't give them much of a shot before the season.  They have their flaws, sure, but every team in the AL East had significant issues exposed so far in 2014.  At this point, I think the Blue Jays will be able to hang on.  Predicted record and finish: 88-74, first place, AL East.

Last night, in the 7th inning, The Jays had the tying run on base, with two outs, with Adam Lind scheduled to bat. Yankees manager Joe Girardi, not being a complete idiot, brought in lefty reliever Matt Thornton.

Buck and Pat quickly inform us that Adam is 1 for 11 (with 8 strikeouts) against Thornton.

The camera pans to the Jays dugout, in anticipation of John Gibbons counter move. Gibbons sits.

We wait, we see Brad Glenn with a bat in his hand. Cool. Tough spot for a guy getting his first MLB at bat, but that's why we called him up. If not Glenn, then Steven Tolleson would bat. Right? Right?

Well, no, Lind bats. Pretty hard to believe.

After the game, we are told that Tolleson is dealing with some vision problems. He's had dry eyes and blurring vision for the past few days, so maybe not the best choice to pinch hit. The immediate question in my mind is why hasn't he been put on the DL? I mean, he might not need 14 days but, he's Steve Tolleson, we can survive without him for a few days. But, ok, he wasn't available.

That doesn't explain why Brad Glenn wasn't brought in. I mean we sent out Kevin Pillar because he wasn't happy that he was pinch hit for the night before. Not that he made a huge display of his anger. I didn't see it during the game. But, of course, the Blue Jays have never seen a player show a temper before (subtle sarcasm, did you notice it), so we had to make an example of him.

Actually, we've have guys throwing much larger temper tantrums on a daily bases. But this one, we can't abide, because......well because Pillar is the 25th man and if you are going to prove you run the team, it's easiest to use the 25th man as your example.

I'm really not one to complain when someone shows a bit of a temper, I figure I would have wanted to bat there, and it isn't like he showed up Gibby in front of all the fans. It wasn't shown on TV and I'd bet less than 50 people in the stands noticed it. But, ok we send him out. And up comes Glenn.

I figured that a contributing factor for calling up Glenn was that he has played some first base in the minors and with Edwin Encarnacion being run over the day before and Lind still limping, someone else that owned a first baseman's glove might me a good thing to have.

Apparently I was wrong.

Shi Davidi asked Gibby about the lack of a pinch hitter for Lind and:

"(Glenn) is not a first baseman. I guess he could play over there, I guess I could, too," said Gibbons. "It might have been a chance for Tolleson, we could have put Tolleson over there, but the last couple of days, something has happened to his eyes, he's having trouble seeing. He's been going to the eye doctor trying to figure it out, he can't play, we found that out (Wednesday), it kind of hamstrung us a little bit. If Lindy's in the game, the way the team is set up right now, unless he's DHing he's going to have to hit against some lefties."

Yes, frig, anyone can play first. But, Gibbons doesn't trust Glenn to catch balls thrown to him by the other infielders, for 2 innings.

Even if Glenn couldn't play first. Josh Thole was sitting on the bench, we've used him at first before. Glenn could have hit and Thole could have played first.

A day later and it still pisses me off.

EE told teammate Jose Bautista he "doesn't want to do it." Also, a note on Yu Darvish, who might not play in the All-Star Game if he's selected ... again.

Toronto Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion likely won't participate in the 2014 Home Run Derby, according to Sportsnet.ca's Shi Davidi.

Encarnacion told teammate Jose Bautista, who is the captain of the AL Derby squad, that he "doesn't want to do it." Part of Encarnacion's reasoning for declining apparently has to do with his position in the All-Star voting. The 31-year-old first baseman/designated hitter is currently in fourth place among AL DHs in fan balloting.

"I'm surprised still that the fans haven't come out and supported him better," Bautista told Davidi. "But you can't control that as much as you can control a manager picking a player."

"[It] would be an extreme mistake on part of the manager (John Farrell) if he doesn't pick him," Bautista added. "How could you not pick the guy who is leading the league in home runs and RBIs?"

The hand-wringing by Bautista is probably premature, but he has a point. Encarnacion has 24 home runs, which was tied for the MLB lead entering Thursday, and is hitting .278/.363/.595. It's hard to imagine him not winding up on the team, especially since he's on pace to put up better numbers the first half of this year than he did before the break in 2013 -- a year in which Encarnacion earned his first All-Star selection.

Regardless of whether Encarnacion makes the All-Star team, not participating in the Home Run Derby might not be the worst thing for him. Pull hitters are the most likely candidates to be affected by a post-derby swoon, according to Beyond the Box Score's Ryan P. Morrison, and Encarnacion certainly qualifies, if his spray charts are any indication.

Darvish could miss third consecutive All-Star Game

Rangers ace Yu Darvish does not have very good All-Star Game luck.

After being selected to the last two Midsummer Classics but not being able to pitch in the actual games, Darvish is scheduled to pitch the Sunday before the 2014 installment of the contest, which would render him unable to participate for the third consecutive season if he ends up being selected to the team.

"I think I'm going to go sight-seeing," Darvish told Gerry Fraley of the Dallas Morning News through an interpreter.

Darvish owns a 2.62 ERA with 118 strikeouts and 36 walks 96⅓ innings spanning 14 starts.

J.A. Happ leads shutout effort as Sox drop to 1-7 on 11-game slog

The White Sox really should've called it a night after Adam Eaton pulled up lame with cramps after running out a groundout.

Sure, there were still 53 outs to go at that point, but it really didn't matter. The Sox fell behind early, and they fell behind hard. They fell behind early and hard.

Scott Carroll gave up five runs over five innings in his return to the rotation, but he didn't get much help, either from his offense or his defense. And on one play, he was included in the defense.

The Jays scored all the runs they needed before Carroll recorded his first out. Jose Reyes reached on a "single" (a hard turf bouncer that Gordon Beckham probably should've had). Melky Cabrera followed with a swinging bunt single that Carroll decided not to play, even though it had no chance of rolling foul. And to cap it off, Adam Lind doubled home one run to right field, and Moises Sierra allowed the second run to score when his cannon arm fired to nobody, and the first-base dugout screen blocked it.

Carroll created his own problems over the other four innings, allowing three more runs, and all with two outs. Reyes hit a triple off the very top of the wall for one run in the second, and then Carroll allowed four straight Jays to reach after retiring the first two batters in the fourth -- including a line-drive single off his leg -- resulting in two more runs.

By the time it got to the fifth, both teams looked like they had set up a keg at second base. Dioner Navarro started the inning with a deep fly to left, which clanked off Dayan Viciedo's glove for a "double." Leury Garcia came up firing to try to get the plodding Toronto catcher at second, but his throw went well wide and into four territory in shallow right field. Navarro headed to third, and, to his chagrin, he received the green light home.

Jose Abreu tracked down the ball, wheeled around and fired a strike to Adrian Nieto as an out-of-gas Navarro tried running around the tag. After a double and a throwing error, Navarro was out at home, and the Blue Jays laughed it up in the dugout.

The inning ended when Viciedo and Garcia collided in left center on a flyball. Garcia somehow made the catch.

Meanwhile, J.A. Happ made the Sox offense look hapless. He struck out eight over 7⅔ innings, allowing just four hits and two walks -- and his second walk came on his 124th and final pitch of the night. That's not to say he shut the Sox down completely. They started three different innings with a runner on second -- Beckham doubled, Conor Gillaspie reached on an error, and Sierra doubled -- but the Sox couldn't turn any of those baserunners into runs.

Even though the Sox offense is improved, that's still par for the course. They entered the game hitting a league worst .125/.160/.146 with a runner on second and nobody out this season.

One newsworthy item during a lost evening -- Eric Surkamp made his debut, throwing a nine-pitch, 1-2-3 sixth inning to start his White Sox career.

Of course, then he walked the leadoff guy in the seventh, and he came around to score on Andre Rienzo's watch. The potentially official start of Rienzo's relief career was an inauspicious one, as he allowed the inherited runner to score in the seventh, then allowed another run in the eighth on two hits and a walk. But he could've had a leadoff infield single added to his tab. Somehow, Steve Tolleson's 5-3 groundout was upheld after a lengthy review, even though video evidence suggested he was safe.

And somehow, Viciedo saved Rienzo two more runs when he made a leaping catch against the wall to take extra bases away from Adam Lind.

Bullet points:

*Eaton's hitting streak came to an end at 12 games, but Abreu extended his to 11 with a single.

*Viciedo went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts during a night he'd rather forget. Had he been charged for an error on the warning-track drop, all three outfielders would've committed one.

Record: 36-44 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights

American League captain Jose Bautista will try to recruit White Sox slugger's services during Toronto series

Jose Bautista isn't exactly known for a delicate approach around the baseball field. He grips and rips to the pull field with no remorse and spectacular results (you may remember Hawk Harrelson implying Bautista used corked bats in 2011), and he can be rather demonstrative when things don't go his way (you may remember John Dankscalling him a "f---ing clown" for slamming his bat after popping up a pitch during the same series).

This being the case, Bautista showed a surprising amount of tact when discussing Jose Abreu's reluctance to participate in the Home Run Derby. Bautista is the captain of the AL's squad, and takes the task of choosing a team seriously. That means he has serious interest in Abreu (""It’s hard to not notice what he’s doing"), but Abreu doesn't share similar enthusiasm for the event, saying it doesn't mesh with his approach to hitting.

Nevertheless, Bautista is going to test the waters himself, and diplomatically:

"I don’t want to pick guys that don’t want to do it and I don’t want to force guys into doing it if they don’t feel like it or they’re uncomfortable or they have health issues," Bautista said. "I want to win this so I’m not going to pick anybody that’s going to be reserved in any way when they go out and pick up the bat." [...]

Even though his swing and approach have never been bothered by participation in a Derby, Bautista knows not everyone is the same. He just wants to extend the AL’s newest slugger the courtesy of an in-person invitation to gauge where he really stands.

"Of course I’d understand (if he doesn’t want to) but I want to hear it from him," Bautista said. "I don’t want to use sources for that type of decision because I don’t want to not invite him and he’s upset or disappointed if I didn’t talk to him first.

I'm not going to pretend I know what's best for Abreu, but I know what's best for me, and that's a Home Run Derby with Abreu in it.

I've had fluctuating interest in the Derby, mostly because it's an event that demands a spectacle, and the participants aren't always up to the task. But the captain format comes really close to getting optimal lineups. Last year, Robinson Cano picked Prince Fielder, Chris Davis, and, most importantly, Yoenis Cespedes. Cespedes was the only Derby participant who wasn't an All-Star, but he ended up winning the whole thing, beating Bryce Harper (who was just as great) -- his 32nd homer and final of the night went 455 feet.

I can't say I watched the whole thing start to finish, because I don't really need to see Cano or Michael Cuddyer or David Wright hitting professional 390-foot homers. But the strong guys like Fielder, Pedro Alvarez command attention, and the Cespedes-Harper final lived up to the billing.

Cespedes is up for doing it again.  So is Yasiel Puig, who hit the farthest homer I've ever witnessed in person.

Giancarlo Stantonwould serve if asked, and Troy Tulowitzki would be an idiot not to ask him. Lump in Abreu with those three guys, and that's a Home Run Derby that requires three extra pairs of pants.

That just requires Abreu to summon some enthusiasm about the event. We'll see how well he weathers the peer pressure, because Bautista isn't the only guy who is intrigued by the power. Paul Konerko wants to see how small Abreu can make Target Field appear, and maybe he can wield some last-wish guilt on him:

Abreu has said he would participate in the event if he has to. Konerko can understand his teammate’s reservations but thinks Abreu would enjoy getting the opportunity to play in front of 40,000 spectators. And, Konerko said, you never know if you’ll get another opportunity.

"But it’s really a personal thing," Konerko said. "It would be fun to see. He has a lot of power, and the balls tend to jump a little more in those events. I’d like to see where he can hit some of them in that stadium."

I like the way Grant Brisbee went about selling it in creating his dream Derby lineups:

National League
Giancarlo Stanton
Giancarlo Stanton with a wig
Giancarlo Stanton in a funny hat
Giancarlo Stanton with glasses and fake mustache

American League
Giancarlo Stanton wearing a Red Sox hat (to troll Twitter)
Giancarlo Stanton with a fake beard
Giancarlo Stanton with a Mission Impossible mask that makes him look like Chris Sale
Jose Abreu

More from South Side Sox

Follow @SouthSideSoxFollow @SBNationMLB

• Blue Jays 7, White Sox 0: Doomed from the start
• The Dark Horse Emerges: A Toronto Blue Jays preview
• White Sox DFA Scott Downs, recall Eric Surkamp