So the big news over the weekend is that yet another Blue Jay is headed for the DL.
Lyle Overbay will be making his first ever stint on the DL after taking a pitch off the right hand, that broke a bone. I've gotta say...broken bones in the hand always kinda freak me out when it comes to ball players. I always remember Eric Hinske never really recovering from the broken bone in his hand in 2003. Although considering both Overbay and Zaun got their hands checked out much sooner than Hinske...I'm not as concerned. At least Jason Phillips didn't break something when he took a foul tip off his hand yesterday.
Props to Adam Lind for making up for leaving 2nd base early. Gotta love 3rd base coach/infield instructor Brian Butterfield being right that Lind was going to win the game for the Jays.
With the day off today, I'm going to tackle some "vs." that I've been thinking about lately.
Halladay vs. Burnett
Halladay is just nasty. I think he is the epitome of what a #1 should be. You hear what players on other teams say about him, and you know it's true. He goes about his business, he never really makes a fuss. I have never heard one bad thing about him. He chose to stay in Toronto. Even with his 2 ugly starts this year, every time he's on the mound you expect the Jays to win.
Allan James Burnett is a little bit of a different story. Everyone has heard how his stuff is good enough for him to win every time out. But his 64-63 career record shows otherwise. Props to him for coming to Toronto (although he was given 55 million reasons), and for having the same first and middle initials as me. When Doc went down, he stepped up because he had to, and now that pressure just needs to be maintained so that he can finally meet his *gasp* potential.
In the end, I don't really think you can compare the two. They have different styles. Doc is...reserved, where Burnett is still a little wild and always kinda will be. As AJ continues to mature, he'll only get better, but he'll always be a little wild because of his incredible right arm. Burnett is more exciting to watch because his stuff is electric. You never really know what's going to happen. The energy is entirely different when watching Burnett and Doc pitch. Doc is by comparison...quiet. He never gets too ruffled. He gets the ball, he throws it. From what I can tell, their pitching styles somewhat match their personalities.
I'll take them as my 1-2 punch anyday.
Fasano vs. Phillips
This is a little bit of a moot point now that Overbay is on the DL, but I'm going to put this out there anyway.
I am totally a Sal's Pal. Got a look at him in Spring Training, and although he didn't hit much he seemed cool. I've also met Jason Phillips, and although he's a nice guy I've gotta say Sal wins this battle for me.
In the past week, Fasano has shown a defensive prowess that for me sometimes rivals Gregg Zaun. He's prevented at least 4 runs from scoring in the last week, and thrown out a couple more potential ones. Not to mention he started off the Jays yesterday with a bunt single. Come on...you gotta give it to a big guy who bunts his way on to start a rally. Plus, he helped Doc with his cutter, making Roy nastier.
Phillips on the other hand hasn't been as exciting to watch. There have been a couple balls I thought he maybe should have caught, but otherwise he hasn't really been that memorable for me in the last little while.
Comparing the numbers (as baseball fans are want to do), Phillips is hitting .245 to Sal's .167. In the stolen base category, Sal is throwing out 27% (3 for 11) of base stealers to Phillips' 12% ( 4 for 34).
On a team when there's already quite a bit of offensive potential, I think you can take the hit offensively to beef up the defense. Especially the way the games have been going lately with a lot of low scoring decisions and really good pitching, I think beefing up the defense would be ideal. Like I said, it is kinda a moot point since Overbay went down.
My Prediction:
When Zaun comes back this weekend, it's possible to keep Phillips and Fasano at the major league level. Both Matt Stairs and Howie Clark can play first, but by playing Stairs there you take away a member of the bench and your backup outfielder, but keep the lefty bat in the lineup. When Reed Johnson comes back, it might be a little different if there's some overlap between his return and Overbay's DL stint. At that point they could send either Phillips or Fasano down, and Adam Lind could become the backup outfielder. That way you wouldn't be losing a left handed bat off the bench if Stairs is playing first a lot, and Adam can still get some major league ABs.
This is all speculation, but it also depends on how much consistent playing time the Jays want Lind to get. 'Cause you gotta believe when Reed gets back, it's going to be Johnson-Wells-Rios in the outfield everyday, except for the occasional off day. I do like the looks of Adam Lind, and his defense has greatly improved since coming up in September last year. But at this point, he's too young and going to be too good to be a backup outfielder, and how can you not want to have Johnson-Wells-Rios trollin' the outfield as much as you possibly can. It'll be interesting to see what the Jays do with the guy responsible for yesterday's win.
The minors have to be considered as well, and who the Jays could call up. Right now, they don't have a straight 1st baseman on the 40 man roster. Kevin Barker is in Syracuse and Chip Cannon is in New Hampshire. That's not to say they couldn't bring them up. It's not also to say that the Jays couldn't call up another outfielder to take Matt's place on the bench if they have him playing 1st. But since Johnson, Rios, Wells and Lind are the outfielders on the 40 man, that would also mean having to make some changes to the roster and possibly exposing someone to waivers if they outright someone to the minors. Who do you remove from the 40 man in that case? A pitcher; Russ Adams, who has been playing better in Syracuse; or Sergio Santos who's still in Double A.
I'm partial to thinking the Jays might just fill the Overbay void from within right now, without dipping into the minors. I could be completely wrong, but with Johnson supposedly coming back around the home series vs. the Dodgers at the end of the month, it's not a huge amount of time to keep the 25 man roster pretty much the same. Plus, the team's already proven they can step up in the face of the injury bug.
Until next time...
JaysGirl5
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