AL Feast Week 3 (07/04/2013)

April 4, 2012; Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsHere at Jays Journal we like to keep you up to date with breaking news, statistical analysis and opinion pieces on the players, staff and front office of the Toronto Blue Jays. But in the sports world the steps your opponents take on their team have an effect on your team, for better or for worse. That’s why we bring you a weekly feature where we look back on what took place among the other 4 AL East teams and deconstruct it to show you what it means for the Blue Jays. It’s the AL Feast: Week 3!

Baltimore Orioles

Chris Davis‘ home run streak has finally ended after blasting one over the fences in each of the Orioles’ first 4 games to open up the season. He tied a major league record that was set by Willie Mays and was also tied previously by Mark McGwire and Nelson Cruz according to Sports Illustrated. Alarming news for a ballclub that was second in team home runs last year, right behind the Yankees.
Brian Roberts is heading to the DL again, NBC Sports reports. He ruptured his knee tendon and will not require surgery, but it’s a heartbreaking loss for an Orioles club that threw out Robert Andino in the leadoff for the majority of last season.

Boston Red Sox

-Witnessed by many Blue Jays fans watching Saturday’s game, John Lackey left the game early due a visually-horific bicep injury. He’ll be undergoing an MRI later today, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports. Likely he won’t have another full season on the DL this time, but if an update is given later today I’ll post the results here.
-As one Red Sox player looks to start their injury recovery, two Red Sox players look to be close to finished. David Ortiz will face live pitching today and Stephen Drew is almost completely free of concussion-like symptoms, CBS Sports reports. Adding those two to the Red Sox lineup will prove costly against the Blue Jays, especially after they have won two of three games already in their 19-game season series.

New York Yankees

CC Sabathia‘s declining fastball is not of concern just yet, Alex Pugliese of Yanks Go Yard writes. It was just one game against the Red Sox that Alex had to work with, and looks like he was right, as CC had a great game against Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers today. Despite sitting around 89-91 and topping out at 92, he went 7 innings, gave up 4 hits and 3 walks with 4 strikeouts and no runs. Let’s see what happens after 10 starts.
David Phelps has taken over the swingman role for the Yankees to replace Cody Eppley, says Daniel Sirianni of Yankees 101. It’s a bullpen role familiar to Blue Jays fans of the last few years, as Carlos Villanueva filled that exact same swingman type for our club. It’s also a reliever role that the team desperately needs right now, as 8th bullpen guys Dave Bush and Jeremy Jeffress have not faired well as the last-ditch effort guys for the Blue Jays.

Tampa Bay Rays

-After losing the 5th starter position to Roberto Hernandez, the news gets worse for Jeff Niemann. He’s been placed on the DL retroactive to March 28, according to ESPN. Brandon Gomes is called up in his place. For a team that’s been giving up a lot of runs early, that’s less than excellent news. The Blue Jays don’t face the Rays until May 6, however.
-The Rays mascot has gotten himself into a heap of trouble after appearing in a recent game holding an inappropriate sign, as seen on Big League Stew over at Yahoo!. The title of the sign read “Rays To Do List”, and listed “1. Steve Irwin” with a line crossing it out and “2. World Series”. Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray back in 2006, and having an official ball club representative hold such a sign is a poor lapse in judgment.

Weekly AL East Standings (Overall Standings)

Boston 4-2 (4-2)

Baltimore 3-3 (3-3)

Tampa Bay 3-3 (3-3)

Toronto 2-4 (2-4)

NY Yankees 2-4 (2-4)

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