Scotty gets a day
TORONTO — Back at the ballyard after a lovely day off, though part of me wishes I was on hand for that gem by Shaun Marcum that lasted only 2 hours and 10 minutes. That kind of outing is a sportswriter’s dream.
Not much going on here today. A scheduled day off for Third Base Jesus: Scott Rolen (little shout out to the boys of Tao there). Jays skipper John Gibbons discussed such a day off for TBJ a few days ago, so it’s no surprise.
Gibbons said he hasn’t been surprised by Rolen’s hot start at the plate, but the third baseman has impressed the manager with his strong play in the field. Specifically, Rolen has impressed with his throwing, considering he’s coming back from that gruesome right middle finger injury.
“It’s still hanging there,” quipped Gibbons, joking about Rolen’s once-mangled digit.
STAT OF THE DAY: Since May 13, 2007, Shaun Marcum ranks second in the American League with a .230 opponents’ batting average. Since joining the Jays’ rotation last year, Marcum has gone 14-6 with a 3.65 ERA. That’s good enough for a .700 winning percentage, the third-best mark in the AL in that time period.
Today’s lineups:
CHICAGO (14-13) at TORONTO (13-17)
at 1:07 p.m. ET at Rogers Centre
WHITE SOX
Nick Swisher, CF
Orlando Cabrera, SS
Jim Thome, DH
Paul Konerko, 1B
Jermaine Dye, RF
A.J. Pierzynski, C
Carlos Quentin, LF
Joe Crede, 3B
Pablo Ozuna, 2B
PITCHING: RHP John Danks
BLUE JAYS
Alex Rios, RF
David Eckstein, SS
Aaron Hill, 2B
Vernon Wells, CF
Matt Stairs, DH
Shannon Stewart, LF
Lyle Overbay, 1B
Rod Barajas, C
Marco Scutaro, 3B
PITCHING: RHP Jesse Litsch
Major League Bastian 
gsumner
Marcum was great he will be an ace no dought.
Given Rolen the day off this early is just plain dumb he just got back for crying out loud we need his bat in the lineup Abner is an idiot.
I think Marcum could be a legitimate CY Young contender this year, if he gets run support. I agree on Rolen. Not a bad start for Da Kid, 20 pitches-2 innings, no hits, 1 k.
Hey, great for Scutaro
gsumner
Abner is one of those managers that likes lefty lefty righty righty matchups so why Stairs Why not Rolen as DH it would be like a day off for him and you get the right matchup.
If da kid keeps it up he will be a contender for the CY Young maybe????.
hey 4 innings, 39 pitches-only 8 balls if you can believe it, no hits, no walks, no runs, only faced 12 hitters, Da Kid is cruising.
Again man on second and man on third one out no runs how long is this going to keep up.
If the starting pitchers don’t throw close to a no hitter every game we don’t stand a chance.
Scutt. is playing like Rolen today.
That was no accident orders from Ozie.
I think da kids day is done a long fly bll and a home run????.
Rios was awesome am I glad we never traded him.
Three is a row grrreeeaaattttttttt.
I don’t think Marcum will be a CY Young Contender…He is just not that big of a name…lets hope he gets choosen for the all-star game, then we would be able to say if he is a CY Young contender or not…but then again Marcum HAS to keep this up to get to the all-stars…
Hopefully Halladay’s 3-complete game loosses will be accounted for and everyone won’t be looking at his winning record only (lucky fans aren’t voting for pitching)
harry
If da kid keeps this up he will be an allstar.
Garry,
Rios has been great but I still would have done that deal. Have you seen what Lincicum’s been doing? Terrific numbers thus far.
Marcum at this point is the best fourth starter in the league and Litsch today was good and on some occasions lucky. Shannon Stewart seems like he’s picking up his game a little bit lately and Vernon came through today nicely. Since Rolen isn’t exactly feeling 100% yet I didn’t mind the move to sit him today (day game after a night game) He and Mcdonald should be in the line-up tomorrow though in my opinion.
Nice game! Now I just hope that Halladay gets this next win. After pitching 4 complete games in a row and saving the bullpen countless times, he deserves more than one win out of that.
enigma
The way Scutaro played today it did not matter that Rolen sat out.
Iknow that Lincicum is pitchen great but this team needs Rios.
Litsch and Marcum are pitchen verry well actually all of our starters are and BJ gets another save thats 4 for 4 and yes Stewart and Wells bats are working great.
Lets hope they can keep this up and go on a run of at least 10 and 2.
freedom
I think Doc’s four complete games in a row is what inspired the other pitchers to pitch the way they are 4 complete game 4 losses no whining that is what makes him great.I can’t wait for tomorow’s game.
As it turns out, sitting Rolen wasn’t that big a deal. If any of you guys paid attention, you would notice that Gibbons generally won’t sit anybody for more than about 3 days. That way he keeps his bench players sharp and happy, and they will be sharp and happy when he needs them.
His big problem right now is finding enough work for his bullpen. Nice problem to have.
Always nice.
Jordan/ Anybody that saw him
How did Mats Sundin look in the batting cage ?
Gnorm, to that point I wonder if the Jays would be better served to send either Tallet or Frasor down and bring up Buck Coats. It’s an extra pinch runner/ defensive replacement if needed as opposed to a guy doing nothing lately but watch in the ‘pen.
Hi Enigma:
Somehow, I don’t think Gibby’s problem will last for the next 131 games. It wasn’t too long ago that we had to use Burnett out of the pen, and we promoted Carlson to give us a fresh arm. Sooner or later, we will need them, and then we will need them big time.
Always nice.
I agree with gnorman. As great as our starters have been for the last 5-6 games, we cannot expect that quality of start each time through the rotation. The pen will be needed.
However, I do have an issue with yesterday’s game and that is why wasn’t MacDonald in there in the 7th inning. We had a 5 run lead and 3 innings to go. The ball hit by Konerko in the 9th would have been caught and played by JMac because of his superior range. Now fact is we still won, and the Konerko hit didn’t mean anything, BUT when we’re ahead in the late innings like this, JMac should be in. It should be an automatic transition to a defensive alignment like a number of other teams.
Listening to JP on the Wilner post game interview, it seems like he’s the one ( not Abner) who doesn’t want to play JMac. If we don’t want to play him, why did we sign him for 2 years? Come on JP, we should be putting our best guys out there to win. JMac is the best defensive ss in baseball, he should be the automatic go to guy in that circumstance.
I love Marcum and the way he pitches, but talking about Cy Young already is getting a bit ahead of ourselfs, its only April and alot of ball to be played yet. But saying that Marcum could probably be one of the most underrated pitchers in all of baseball. Not only does he pitch well, but keeps baserunners in check and can field just as well as anyone, the little things that dont always show up in a boxscore.
As for the Rios deal, the Jays definatly need Rios at this point more than they need Lincecum. Rios is such a big part of their offence. He can do a little bit (a lot) of everything and puts pressure on the other teams pitching and defence.
I should rephrase my first senctance, its May now, but still only a little over a month has been played
Gsumner, i completely agree with your point on John Mcdonald. He’s the best defensive shortstop in all of baseball and should be brought in late in the game with a lead. It’s the managers job to put his team in the best possible position to win and if J.p. isn’t giving Gibbons the responsibility of doing that by allowing him to play Mcdonald, then it’s a real shame.
MLB team era stats
Oakland: 3.26
Arizona: 3.40
Toronto: 3.45
Tampa Bay: 4.04
Boston: 4.17
Baltimore: 4.19
NY Yankees: 4.44
A complete listing can be found at: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/stats/byteam?cat=Overall&sort=837
tothdenny.
What makes it great to be a baseball fan is you can talk about your favorite players and say things like this guy might win the Cy Young or this guy might win a gold glove or Wells might be most valuable player now maybe none of our picks will come true but we can all hope,I guess what I’m trying to say is we can all dream and the amount of games played does not matter.
gsumner I’m sure we are all on your side about the JM isue,Do you think JMac said something that JP didn’t like or is it the fact that JPs stupid EGO won’t let him play JMac because he is paying Eckstein 4.5 mil. witch is way to much money for a player who is slowing down and does not have the range that JMac does.
garry
I really do not know what the issue is with JMac. All I know is JP trashed him in an interview last Wednesday night on the Mike WIlner show. I have no idea why he did.