A Report card for the Jays through the first 1/3 of the season

A Report card for the Jays through the first 1/3 of the season

The Jays in the first 1/3 of the season the Jays are 28 and 26 in 54 games

Games @ home - (D+) The Jays are not getting the job done at home with a 15-12 record and the Jays need to get better at home to be in the playoff race or be competitive.

Games on the road - (B-) - The Jays have been competitive on the road and a 13-14 record this were U would want the Jays to be and the Jays have been in more games then they have been blown out.

The infield - (C) - with Edwin Encarnacion on the field the defense goes in the toilet and then from time to time the defense collapses which throws off the pitchers and the games just snowballs into a complete mess but with Encarnacion not allowed on the field the defense is going to get better. Juan Rivera is a solid first baseman, Arron Hill and Yunel Escobar in the middle are very good defensively and Jayson Nix/Johnny Mac are very good at third base while J.P. Arencibia is grown into a catcher and will get better at and Jose Molina is a weak not so caring defensive catcher.

The Outfielder - (B) - Cory Patterson was not comfortable in center field so having him in Left field is better and Travis Snider will be solid in left field while Rajai Davis in center is a good fit and he plays the position hard while Jose Bautista has a good arm and he has been a good right fielder and does not make huge mistakes.

The batting order - (B+) - The batting order is strong with Escobar and Patterson is getting on base in front of Bautista in the last 10 to 15 games while Bautista is a MVP candidate right now. Then the clean up hitters have been lacking with Hill not getting the job done and Rivera just recently with Lind on the DL is getting some much needed production and the Jays have been needing Adam Lind in the clean up spot and hopefully will be back soon. While the bottom of the order of J.P. who has been hot and cold and getting the production done when hot and being ice cold at times but he is still learning. The DH position has been weak with Rivera just horrible in that spot while Encarnacion can not do anything right and will be gone ASAP and then Eric Thames has a good eye at the plate and is a balanced hitter other than that recently he has been in a slump but like J.P. is still learn on the job. Rajai Davis at the bottom of the order needs to get on a little bit more so he can use his speed on the bases but he will need to be more selective when to run as he is being a little to easily which most likely needs to come from the bench and finally the third base spot can not hit so it is a spot for defensive reasons and maybe at sometime Brett Lawrie is better the production at some point this season.

Starting Rotation (B-) - The rotation for the most part keeps the Jays in the games but defensive blunders have been known to destroy pitchers like Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow who otherwise have been the back bone of the rotation with Romero having 4 ace performances in a row after a game where a balk unraveled him to the point where he was not able to get out of the inning against the Tigers. Morrow has been effective and not totally relying on his strike outs to get the job done and that takes us to Kyle Drabek who is not hittable which is a good thing usually but when U can only find the strike zone just over half the time and lead the league in walks allowed that does play a factory but is young and learning on the job. The bottom of the rotation with Jesse Litsch having his problems not allowing hits and runs and being put on the farm for a bit and on the DL for a bit is tough but he does have 4 wins and then Brett Cecil the Jays 15 game winner has 1 win and is still working things out on the farm. Carlos Villanueva not a strong starter so he is a stop gab and so is Jo Jo Reyes who holds a share of the record for most starts without a win (28) but he has had some no decisions in some very winnable games where he deserved the win.

The Bullpen - (C) - The closer role is a tough situation with both Frank Francisco and Jon Rauch not able to get the job done and get the win for the starter while Marc Rzepczynski is been on more than he has been off when he is not on his game the sparks fly and so do the runs for the opposition. Octavio Dotel has been not used as much after his stint on the DL and it maybe because he is not getting the job done while both Shawn Camp and Jason Frasor are both 1 innings guys and are getting the job done on most nights. Then the long relievers of Carlos Villanueva and Luis Perez have been innings eaters which has made it possible to not have to use too many pitchers if a starter is out of the game in the first three innings.

John Farrell - (B) - It has been a tough job trying to find the best lineup and having Encarnacion glued to the bench has made his life easier but the injuries and lack of performance from the guys U expected to be main stays in the lineup and the rotation has been hard to do. While the guys he brings out of the bullpen have done the job he needed from them more often than not so he is pressing the right buttons except the closers have been head starching situation for him as he does not know who will be the right fit as they just are not pure closers.

So far so good

Tom Mehegan