Jays Journal » Frank Francisco

Figuring out Frank Francisco

Jared Macdonald — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:37:45 +0000

When the Blue Jays received Frank Francisco in a January trade for newly-acquired catcher Mike Napoli, many were critical of the move at the time. After all, Napoli’s ability to play multiple positions, numbers against left-handed pitching, and power would have made him a nice addition to the Jays lineup. Francisco, though, had been as consistent and dependable as a reliever could be, ranking in the AL’s top 15 in FIP for the last three years, so it seemed as though he would still be a welcome addition to the Jays’ pen.

Then, after Francisco was injured during spring training, he endured a rough month of May while Napoli managed a .933 OPS in the first two months of the season. Needless to say, criticism of the trade increased exponentially.

But since the All-Star break, Francisco has rebounded nicely from his first half of the season and been one of the Jays’ best relievers. Could the club bring him back?

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Casey Janssen: Jays Best Reliever in 2011

Mon, 29 Aug 2011 20:56:02 +0000

Casey Janssen has been the Jays best relief pitcher this season, and the competition really isn’t even close. Here are Janssen’s 2011 numbers: G 42/ Inn 43.1/ ERA 2.08/ WHIP 1.13/ SO 43/ H 37/ BB 12/ HR 1/ ER 10 FIP 2.30/ xFIP 2.93/ WAR 1.0 K/9 8.93/ BB/9 2.49/ HR/9 0.21/ BABIP .308/ [...]

Casey Janssen: Jays Best Reliever in 2011 - Jays Journal - Jays Journal - A Toronto Blue Jays Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

The Future of the Jays Pen: Jonathan Papelbon and Ryan Madson?

Mat Germain — Sun, 07 Aug 2011 12:26:53 +0000

As questions about the bullpen and its makeup, particularly for next season, begin to build, I thought it was important to take a tour of the historical aspects of the Jays pen under their newest GM. If there’s one thing that has been constant in the ERA of Alex Anthopoulos, it has been the use of bullpen pitchers to get what he wants on the trade market, or in the draft. You don’t have to look any further than the evidence at hand, the transactions, to see what I mean. Here’s a rundown of significant pen events since he has taken over as the GM of the Jays:

Using Pen Pieces to Acquire Key Pieces (more…)

Jays Get Pronked, The Jays Pen Just Isn’t “Right”

Mat Germain — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:38:00 +0000

I went to bed after a long hard day believing that the Jays had this one in the bag. But, knowing that things happen quickly sometimes, I changed the channel on my TV, brought it back to the game (so it wouldn’t add 2 hours of baseball I had watched to the DVR) and set it to record the last inning. What I saw when I watched it this morning was about as horrible a game-ending as one could imagine. (more…)

Jays Win Despite Lack of Output From Key Players, New Strategy Working

Mat Germain — Sat, 30 Apr 2011 16:47:25 +0000

The Jays are not by any means beating up on the AL as they currently sit at .500, but to have achieved that level of performance despite all of the losses the key players they were missing is both impressive and possibly unexpected. To beat up on the Rangers as they did, winning 3 of 4, and to beat the Yankees in the opener of this series is impressive on its own. They have the chance to be 1.5 games back of the Yankees if they win today’s game as April ends, and could begin to improve on that in May as key players return to the fold and fresh blood from the minors begins to make its impact felt.

Why is it impressive and unexpected? (more…)

Asher Wojciechowski Shines in 2011 Debut

Mat Germain — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:31:04 +0000

Asher Wojciechowski is one of the Jays fans and evaluator favorites from the 2010 draft and displayed why in his first start of the 2011 season for the Dunedin Blue Jays. Possible spurred on by Deck McGuire’s excellent outing in a previous start, he was lights out on Sunday as he threw 5 innings of shutout ball, allowing a meager 2 hits, no walks, and strikout out 2. Even more encouraging was the fact that he enduced 8 groundouts and only 2 flyouts, indicating that he did a great job keeping the ball down. (more…)

Jays Minors Kick-Off 2011 and Other Minors Notes

Mat Germain — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:54:55 +0000

Finally, we get to see some game action from the most recent class of draft picks and best prospects the Jays have in the minors. Unfortunately, they really made use of the number 1 a lot, and not in a good way as all 3 teams only managed 1 run against their respective opponents. Here are those and other details.

LAS VEGAS 51s: Lost 10-1 to the Fresno Grizzlies (SF) (more…)

Jays Journal Series Preview: April 5-7 vs. Oakland Athletics.

Mat Germain — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:46:56 +0000

The Jays had a very good series against the Minnesota Twins to open the season, winning two games against the 2010 A.L. Central champs, and now they must face one of the teams favored by many to be a candidate to win the A.L. West in the Oakland A’s.

Joining me for the series preview is Joseph Lopez, Senior Editor over at FanSided’s great Oakland site, Swingin’ A’s. He will be handling everything from an Oakland perspective in the preview. Here’s everything you need to know:

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2011 Blue Jays: Bullpen

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:27:05 +0000

For all of the experience that the Jays rotation lacks, the bullpen has it in spades. This includes four pitchers with over 400 innings pitched in the Majors, and three with significant experience closing games. On paper, it looks to be stronger than the Jays pen’ in 2010. The loss of Scott Downs to free [...]

2011 Blue Jays: Bullpen - Jays Journal - Jays Journal - A Toronto Blue Jays Fan Site - News, Blogs, Opinion and More

Jays Affiliate Assigments Begin

Mat Germain — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 12:40:11 +0000

The following players have been asigned to some of the Jays affiliates over the last few days. It does not guarantee that these players will begin the 2011 season with these teams, but it’s an indication that it is the plan, for now. Since all of the recent assignments deal with AAA and AA rosters, those are the ones I will present below. Here are the additions that the Jays have made to those affiliates:

AAA Las Vegas

Assignments: (more…)