Bloggin’ Blue: Blue Jays Links 5/17/13

May 14, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Brett Lawrie (13) doubles against the San Francisco Giants in the eighth inning at the Rogers Centre. Toronto defeated San Francisco 10-6. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY SportsWell, yesterday was an off-day for the Blue Jays, as the team prepares to start a big series with the Yankees in Toronto on Friday night. Still, while the team was taking a well-deserved time-out, the blogosphere churns on.

As they say, there’s no rest for the wicked.

We’ll get started by pimping one of our own. Staff Writer Travis Bateman made his PodCast debut last night, joining Ricky Keeler of Yanks Go Yard for a series preview of this weekend’s match-up with the Yankees.

Next we’ll slide over to SI.com’s Extra Mustard, where Brett Smiley discusses 16 Reasons to Treasure Blue Jays shortstop Munenori Kawasaki. Judging by the SEO title, it was once going to be 18 reasons, but we can forgive Smiley for missing a pair. In the post, he’s got some excellent videos and GIFs that showcase the eccentricity of our favorite fill-in.

Token Quote:

"“The WAR-mongers has not developed a number for it but it is obvious that no one is more suited to twirling bats, talk to his helmet, do a Lo Viste-Bow, or mount a teammate, than Munenori Kawasaki.”"

Over at Bluebird Banter, Woodman663 takes a look at Jays’ prospects Ryan Schimpf and Christian Lopes and the art of walking.

Token Quote:

"Lopes’ five walks to twenty-seven strikeouts are not pretty, but there’s still the question whether it’s a product of bad plate discipline or bad pitch recognition."

From a future third baseman to a current one, we swing on to John Lott at the National Post, who examines how Brett Lawrie‘s process of trying to right his swing by examining his hands. As Lott notes, the changes are starting to show, as Lawrie is starting to hit the ball hard again. Now, if he could just solve that pesky BABIP issue…

Token Quote:

"Over the past week, however, Lawrie has begun to find his groove, the result, at least in part, of a lot of early work with hitting coach Chad Mottola. Even before the hits started falling in, he was hitting balls hard into outs."

To wrap things up, we finish over at at the Globe and Mail, where Jeff Blair figures that the Blue Jays have just 22 games to rescue the season. Given their start, that sounds about right, in at least the sense that they cannot continue to drag their feet over the next 22 games. They’ll have to play consistently throughout the remainder of the year if they have any hope of the postseason though.

Token Quote:

"Even if you leave aside the fun-sucking websites that reveal your team’s chances of making the playoffs as just this side of impossible, the early burial means the Blue Jays effectively do not have their destiny in their own hands."