Toronto Blue Jays Thoughts, May 2nd Edition: Ricky Romero Beaten Up, But Remains Unbeaten
Before the month started, I can’t say that I had expected the Toronto Blue Jays to take 2 out of 3 from the Texas Rangers; but they did just that today, capping the home series with a big 11-5 win over the big bats from the south. Sure, they didn’t have Josh Hamilton or Adrian Beltre over the last couple of days, but I think anytime you score 11 runs off a team like that, things are generally going right, regardless of who you’re playing.
- Just what the hell is up with Edwin Encarnacion? Taking over at first base for Adam Lind against lefty Matt Harrison (not sure how long the team will continue to roll with a 1B with a .609 OPS,but I’d expect to see this more often in the future), Encarnacion homered yet again in today’s game, this one a 3 run shot in the 6th inning that extended the Blue Jays lead from 3 to 6. He’s quickly creeping up the MLB home run leaderboards, and the hot streak is giving me opportunities to do crazy things like mention “Encarnacion”, “Hamilton” and “Kemp” in the same sentence. Doesn’t matter how crazy it sounds, Edwin Encarnacion is among the hottest hitters in the big leagues right now.
- Jose Bautista could probably use some of whatever Encarnacion is having. The slugger is still in a hell of a slump (despite last night’s home run), and was one of only 2 Blue Jays who were held hitless this afternoon (dropping his avg down to .180 on the year). 11 runs, and only 1 RBI from J-Bau from a sac fly – who would’ve figured? Looking at Bau’s perhiperals, we see a spike in his infield fly rate (20.6%, up from 15.2%), but for the most part, his contact profile looks on par. He’s striking out less, but hitting for much less power these days – perhaps it s timing issue? Given his body of work over the last two years, I’d say the home run binge is still to come, but another 100 PAs of this, and I think the alarms will start going off.
- Even when staked to a 8-1 lead, the Rangers still don’t make it easy for anyone, even without two of their top hitters. Ricky Romero found that out the hard way, walking 3 straight batters (including the 8th and 9th hitter) to start the 5th, eventually allowing all of them to score on 2 hits in a 4-run inning. A switch then went off in the Blue Jays ace, who did not give up a hit or a walk over his final 3 innings, with just a sole baserunner getting on due to an error. A mental lapse, perhaps? Romero’s final line (8 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K) would have looked a lot more dominant without that one inning, that’s for sure. Either way, Romero did impress with his composure despite the damage done, and moved to 4-0 for the season thanks to a good day from the bats, who backed him up today and then some.
- After sitting on the bench for Jeff Mathis last night, JP Arencibia came back with a strong outing of his own, going 2-for-4, including a key 2-run double that kickstarted a big 6-run 4th inning. Two weeks ago, Arencibia was hitting just .068; since then, he’s gone 12-for-36, bringing that average up to .206. The power that he’s known for hasn’t quite emerged yet, but Arencibia is swinging the bat well these days.
With a series win against the best team in the AL West, the Blue Jays will now head westbound to face the slumping LA Angels, who have pulled off two wins in a row themselves, and showing signs of life despite being dead last in the division. Let’s hope the Blue Jays keep them there, though.
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