Getting Healthy Better Late Than Never

Jun 26, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays left fielder Melky Cabrera (53) at bat against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY SportsAwwwww man business has just picked up.

Melky Cabrera is back. Brett Lawrie is back. Jose Reyes is back.

And they all played in a game together for the first time this season yesterday.

For the first time since July 16, 2012 the Blue Jays have a FULLY healthy lineup!

Sure it’s too little too late with the Jays season being done but from a pure entertainment standpoint ALLELUIA!

Melky came back yesterday without a warning for a 1 pm game so I didn’t have time to write about a healthy lineup. So you might be wondering if this post is late but Arencibia was out of the lineup with Dickey pitching so I get off a technicality.

Since it was a such a long time ago you probably need a reminder of what a healthy lineup looked like back then.

It went Lawrie/Rasmus/Bautista/Encarnacion/Lind/Escobar/KellyJohnson/RajaiDavis/Arencibia.

The Toronto Blue Jays were leading the major leagues in runs scored at the time.

The Jays are 8th in the majors in runs scored right now without having their whole lineup playing a game together yet.

A better offense should be a big boost to a team that’s struggled to get decent starting pitching all season.

It’s not a given that the Jays will start putting some crooked numbers on the board more consistently now because there still are some question marks.

Will Melky start hitting consistently? Will Lawrie? Will Lind start hitting again or even be on the team after the trade deadline? Are the Jays going to have a real catcher or 2nd basemen after the trade deadline?

If even 1 or 2 of those questions are answered positively I wouldn’t feel like a delusional fan saying the Jays could be top 5 in the majors in runs scored by season’s end. But that’s also assuming they stay healthy. That’s been a big if this last year.

And even if those questions aren’t answered positively there a lot more fun to ask then can Kawasaki, Rajai Davis, and Mark Derosa be decent fill ins.

Now the Jays just need Morrow and Happ back and to see if they can get better at the trade deadline and it should be fun watching them play spoiler in the 2nd half.

When the season started that’s not where Jays fans expected the Jays to be in late July.

But now that the lineup is completely healthy for a first time in a year the rest of the season should at least be fun to watch.

And hey a healthy Blue Jays team should be better than a Yankees team filled with injuries. The Jays are only 6.5 games back of them so that’s something. I would consider the Jays being able to put the Yankees in last place for the first time in an eternity an accomplishment worth pursuing.