Toronto's New Pitch Men: Surprise! It's Still a Race.

Well here we are, almost half way through the 2009-2010 season and what an interesting story the Toronto Blue Jays have have unfolded for us thus far.  Now there are many fans out there that are way more hardcore Blue Jays fans than I might claim to be, but I keep up pretty well.  For instance, going into this season I knew a couple of things about Canada's team.  One, The Blue Jays had one of the weaker rotations in the Al going into this season - especially without AJ in the line-up, and Two, the Jays would need hitting from their powerful three & four hitters in Wells and Rios in order to maintain any sort of fantasy we Blue Jays fans might hold about the Jays not ending up in last place in their division.  Well, if I were in the Jays line-up, I would have been o for 2, but I'd probably still hitting ahead of Rios and Wells.

Ok, the Jays pitching staff might not be lighting it up, but let's consider how good they have been considering who's been on the mound so far this season.  For a team that has not only survived on young inexperienced AAA pitchers and a relief pitcher turned starter due to a massive injury bug feasting on it's pitchers, (even the Doctor (Roy Halladay) needed a doctor and had to miss a couple of starts), the Jays have proven very resilient on the mound and are about middle of the pack when it comes to runs against in the AL.  Before the season started I thought the they would be close to last in the AL when it came to runs against, even if their opening day pitching staff stayed intact.  So for me, considering all the injuries, I'd have to say that the Jays rotation has been pretty respectable.  Not an A plus, but better than a C.

Now the good news that has been a long time coming - the Jays can hit!  Imagine though, at the start of the season if somebody told us that the Jays would have the most hits, the most doubles, have the second most total bases and second best batting average in all of baseball and Wells and Rios would be hitting .257 and .264 respectively at the half way point of the season!  Nope, nobody would have believed it - but I guess the proof is in the punch as they say.  I would have been the first to preach from the rooftops that the Jays would go nowhere without big numbers from the 3 and 4 hitters, but baseball can be a fickle mistress when it comes to the numbers.  I can't say enough about the true grit professional batters the Blue Jays have sent up to the plate so far this year.  Not only has the team more than made up for the absence of Wells and Rios, but four guys especially have jumped into the public eye like never before. Who would have thought that Marco Scutaro, a perennial utility player, would even be mentioned as a possible long shot All Star at shortstop?  Who wouldn't have thought it far fetched that Aaron Hill would be taking second base at the mid season classic after missing almost all of last year?  Nobody knew that Scot Rolen would be on a 23 game hit streak and have a batting average hovering around .330 at the halfway mark.  And finally, if anybody tells me that they knew at the onset of this season that Adam Lind would be hitting over .300 and have a chance at the final spot on the AL all star team at the halfway point of the season, I'd have to tell them that not only are their pants on fire but they should be dangling precariously from a telephone wire.  We can only imagine how much better the Jays would have been with Wells and Rios putting up better than terrible numbers this year.  I'd have to give the Jays an A so far this year when it comes to hitting.  Actually, quite a nice surprise.

So there you have it.  The Jays pitching kind of stinks, but not in a bad way like we thought it would, but in a good way considering who has been on the mound.  And the Jays batting is coming up roses even though their supposed best batters are stinking it up.  As a Jays fan I'm fairly content with a season full of nice surprises and feel good stories, but I guess I sort of have to be, after all, they are the Jays and they do play in the AL East, so I have to take what I can get.