May is a new month...

And THANK the baseball gods for it. April sure brought showers...showers of crapiness.

I think this is the first time I might be able to slightly understand why Leaf fans get so frustrated the years their team has the talent to win. To watch the Jays as much as I do and to see them not win the way they have...it really is heartbreaking. At least last year you could explain the lack of production on the injuries and playing time to those who might not have been the best to help up the teams offensive numbers. Scott Carson says it much better than I here. I will say that I agree about the Mickey Brantley move. Not that I dislike Denbo, but hey...dude...if you're M.O. isn't working, try something else. I do have a sort of funny experience with the new job, Denbo and some of the Jays...I might get to it later in this post, but I'll share it eventually.

I will say that I've been happy with the Jays playing more small ball this season so far. True, this might be because they have to try and get something going more to score runs, but hey...I'm just hoping that if somehow they do start hitting for more extra bases and/or power, they don't forget how to use their speed. With Rios now hitting at the top of the order, there's more speed up top to be used. I've been liking Hill in the 2 hole, but it does seem like he starts to press when he's in that slot for too long. I think changing him out of the 2 for lower in the order, and putting Eck up in the 2 could be a nice (small) tweak to the lineup to keep everyone on their toes. At this point, I don't think anyone's done enough offensively (except maybe Rolen) to be guaranteed a certain spot in the lineup.

Rock ons...

• to the return of Mactasticness in the top of the 5th inning tonight. On Johnny...how I've missed your pretty skills;
• Shaun Marcum for 4 out of 5 quality starts this season, which I think it being 5 of 6 after tonight's game;
• Shaun Marcum for being a strikeout pitcher (2 outings with 8 strikeouts this year, tonight's with 9); and,
• Roy Hallaway for having 32 complete games in the last few years. More so that some whole pitching staffs in the MLB.

As much as Eckstein can be entertaining to watch and all...anyone else see an argument being made for Mactastic to get more playing/starting time? Considering all the low and close scoring games the Jays have played so far, you can't really take the defensive hit at short for the offensive boost (HAHA!) in the lineup. Yeah, really...what offensive boost. Both guys that were brought in to lead off...one's hardly seeing any action except from the bench and the other's been demoted in the lineup for someone the Jays already had. Anyone else missing Reed?...At least the Cubbies have kept up the tradition of being nice to ex-Jays.

The one thing I've been really happy with since my last post is the return of Lindy (Hop). Yeah, yeah...stupid nickname for Adam, but deal with it. I always figured that he would come up in September, and would take over LF from Stairs next season and Stairs would move (pretty much) into full-time DH mode once Thomas left. Stewart's only here a year, so he wouldn't be in the mix. I'm proud to say...it seems like the Jays have just moved up the plan I forsaw them following. I've always liked Lind. His defense was lacking when he first came up in Sept. a few seasons ago, but he's worked on it and he's gotten a lot better. Sure...he might never be as good as Toronto's favourite billy goat, but still...he has a really nice,natural swing, and is another left handed bat in a pretty right-handed heavy 25 man roster.

This just thought...maybe Reed Johnson will be the goat that brings the Cubs to the Series, instead of keeping them from it. Here's hopin' for them...

I think that's about all for me tonight. I'm at a retreat and I want to get back to actually watching the game. I'm going to be working the whole Tampa series so it should be interesting.

Mactasticness AGAIN tonight as Johnny grabs the ball deflected by Rollie's glove and gets the out in the top of the 8th. Dude...you're Mactastic. No other word covers it.

Enjoy the rest of the series against the Sox. I'm not sure how much I'll actually get to watch, but it should be good.

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Jesse Listch goes tomorrow against John Danks. Good luck Pinky...getting your 4th win. Keep the score down, let your d go to work like we know it can...and you just might get it.

Stay dry this weekend, and keep hoping the Jays can win as much in May as they lost in April. So far...so good, I guess?

JaysGirl5

P.S. I'll tell the Denbo story next chance I get.