Jays Rebound, Marcum Sets The Tone

Shaun Marcum knows exactly what he;s got and knows exactly how to use it. His devastating change up is so awesome that hitters are in a constant state of flux about when to swing. Early swings, pop ups, and ground outs are the direct result of this pitch and it worked for Shaun all day long – with 1 exception being a pitch Ryan Howard recognized enough to tattoo into the center-right field stands. The Jays needed this win to get back on track some and will now be able to concentrate on winning the rubber match.The fact that Marcum was effective set the tone for the Jays in this game and allowed the offense to get things going, slowly but surely.To score 5 runs and have 3 HRs in a game is becoming pretty standard for the Jays as it still seems to be their strategy to knock the snot out of the baseball, regardless of averages that result from this approach.

Brett Cecil has had plenty of time to prepare and watch the Phillies hit, so hopefully he took the right notes. I really do like how Cito set up the lineup yesterday, although I’m not sure it will last. Batting Lind and Hill lower in the lineup gives them more RBI opportunities and is definitely the change of pace both needed to get back on track and motivated.It’ll be interesting to see if he uses a similar lineup today.

I do think that the Jays are growing more and more tired of watching Lyle Overbay pop out to the OF and that this may lead to a trade in the very near future. It’s just not getting much better with Lyle and Brett Wallace could be the perfect 7 hole hitter that has the pop the Jays want throughout the lineup. Meanwhile, Fred Lewis has plugged up the inside of the plate by showing he can handle inside pitches now and is reaping the benefits with a 6 game hitting streak where Fred has been a pain in every pitcher’s behind – the perfect tool at the top of the lineup.

As for the transaction side of the Jays, they apparently acquired RP Clint Everts from the Mets in return for Jorge Padilla, whoch is not a bad deal when you took into account the fact that Padilla was never going to play a game in the Jays OF due to his competition. Here’s a run down of Clint Everts:

• He is 25 years old (will be 26 in August), 6’2″ 195 lbs, and from Houston Texas
• Was selected in the 1st rd of the ’02 draft by the Expos, made it as high as being rated the 58th best prospect in baseball by BA in ’04 – the same year, he had TJ surgery
• Every since TJ surgery, the problem has been accuracy for Everts. Either that, or he doesn’t trust his stuff anymore and doesn’t throw enough strikes as a result – it’s one of the other, because his walks ballooned after TJ surgery and have never gone back down since
• His ’10 stats are the worst of his career so far, a 6.94 ERA, 11.8 H/9 ratio, 21 walks in 35 IP, 37 Ks in 35 IP
• However, as you can see above, his K ratio has always been outstanding, averages 9 per 9 innings over his 8 seasons in the minors
• His best season was in 2004, when he was 19 and pitched 110 innings, had a 2.45 ERA, 1.033 whip, 31 walks to his 122 Ks – so, you know the talent is there, it just has to be unearthed
• His struggles as a starter in ’05 and ’06 caused the Nationals to try him out as a reliever in ’07-’08.
• He really seemed to settle into the role in ’09 by holding a 1.65 ERA over 3 leagues (HiA-AAA) but the ERA close to doubled to 3.38 in AAA – the whip was an even worst jump by going from 0.950 in HiA to 2.250 in AAA. It seems that as he progresses to the higher levels, his secondary stuff is so ineffective that he can’t fool the more professional hitters. That and they must be sitting on his fastball as a result.
• So, the Mets picked him up to see if they could rectify that part of his pitching, but the couldn’t. The Jays will give it a shot and who knows, sometimes a pitching coach will have a clearer view about what to do with him than another and Clint could become effective.
• He should join the arsenal the Jays have in AA and work on his stuff. He’ll have a little of everything to help him out there, including one hell of a team to play for when Tim Collins, Daniel Farquhar and Trystan Magnuson are your team mates!

Other Jays News:

• Chad Jenkins has been promoted to HiA Dunedin and joins Henderson Alvarez there as a pretty nice 1-2 punch.
• Ryan Tepera shouldn’t be far behind Chad as he won his 7th game of the year yesterday and brought his ERA down to 3.04 with his 7 shutout innings. He only allowed 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out 4 and now becomes the ace of the Lansing staff.
• Justin Jackson is playing some 3B in LoA Lansing. I guess that when you’ve had struggles like he’s had and you say the good it did for John Tolisano, it really is a “nothing to lose” proposition.
• Carlos Perez, one of the youngest players in Auburn, has kicked off the ’10 season with a .344 average, 2 triples, 1 HR, a .417 OBP and only 4 SO in his first 32 ABs. All of this while hitting in the 3-hole with College kids and much more experienced players all around him in the lineup. This 19 year old kid is going to rise and will do so quickly.
• Jacob Marisnick has been equally impressive in his GCL start, with a .364 average , 3 doubles, 1 HR, 3 SB (never caught) and a .444 OBP. It shouldn’t be long for this 5-tool outfielder to make his debut in Lansing.
• Brett Wallace earned himself 1st place honours in this week’s Hot Prospect sheet for Baseball America. They noted the fact that the extra defensive work at 1B Brett was doing may have actually hurt his offensive game. Well, I’ll tell you this, if a .297 average with 14 HRs and .358 OBP before the All-Star break is lackluster, I can’t wait to see how he does now that they’ve lightened his defensive work! He could be promoted at any point now, or as soon as the Jays figure out he’s much better for them than Lyle Overbay.
• Moises Sierra has been promoted to HiA Dunedin and hit his 1st HR of the season.
• Mike McCoy hit his 3rd HR since being demoted to AAA. Think he wants to get back to the majors? If Hoffpauir struggles for a lengthy period at the plate, Mike could get a shot at the 3rd base job.
• Luis Perez has struggled since he was promoted to AAA, allowing 13 ERs in 15.2 IP for a 7.42 ERA.
• Evan Crawford has also been promoted to HiA Dunedin, while LHP Egan Smith and RHP Scott Gracey have made the move from Auburn back to Lansing.
• Trystan Magnuson will be playing in the All-Star Futures Game for the World Team against the US Team on Sunday, July 11th. He was the only NH player selected for the event. Luis Perez played in the even last season and Aaron Hill took part in it in 2004, winning the MVP of the game award. You can catch the game live at 5:00pm on ESPN 2, ESPN 2 HD and MLB.TV.
• Finally, Jonathan Diaz was transferred from AAA Las Vegas to AA New Hampshire, while Luis Sanchez was placed on the DL for New Hampshire.