The Big Stretch

We reached the halfway mark in the season in Jay Land and the current record says we are 40 and 41, a game under the .500 mark, and with what has transpired so far, I'd say we are fortunate.

Cecil demoted early, Drabek demoted, Litsch DL'ed, Dotel, Rauch and Franky coughing games faster than Kevin Gregg, yikes.  Camp shaky, Jo JO went almost 2 months before a win, and Morrow's ERA is finally under 5. Ok, I am sure it gets better somehow. Carlos Villanueva a starter ?  Okay, enough bad news, please. Wait , Rickey has the lowest run support on the team, how about the AL East, how about the American League. Stop already.

Now onto the hitters, Adam Lind spent a month on the DL, Hill has 3 home runs, hitting .240, Arrencibia hitting .226, Rajah Davis lost his lead off assignment, and his batting stroke. Oh, did I mention we have not seen Travis Snider since, what Easter, maybe that is a stretch. Jose is still Jose, thank God, and Escobar has produced a better offense than expected, and Lind returned from back woes with a vengeance, but the offense has also been spotty.

Defense, check the errors at 3rd base, ooooooo that is almost more than I can handle, so the hell are we 40-41 ?

Wish I could tell you, but the game has twists and turns, lucky breaks, and unexpected help. Corey Patterson made an impact batting in the 2 hole, and young Eric Thames has recently injected some run tonic, but there are better time ahead.

Are we catching some breaks in the second half, maybe, in another month, we should see Brett Lawrie, maybe Adam Loewen, and if Travis regains his stroke, the top 6 hitters give the Jays a reason to be optimistic.

Entering July, it forecasts as a brutal month, as we start with the Phillies, the Red Sox, the Yanks and Texas, with the Trible, and re-surgent Mariners, so we are in pretty tough, so the next 25 games decide much of the season. In August , we get the lesser lights, so July must be a hold on tight month, win 13 , lose 12, and we are back at .500.  The trouble with that theory is that Boston , NY and perhaps Tampa will run away and hide as they are collectively 137 - 101 now, and the Sox & Yanks will be buyers at the deadline, so only getting deeper, better, more lethal.

What will the good folks at Rogers do ?

Refill the bird feeders !

15,632 attended another mid week affair, but big crowds will watch Halladay's ( interrupted ) return to Toronto, but attendance is not great, so dealing off a Rivera, a Camp, a Jason Frasor, a Jose Molina, maybe an Encarnacion is all we can expect.

It is a big stretch to say we are still in the hunt, but if we manage to gain 5 games on New York and Boston in July, and enter August with a head of steam then it could be interesting.

It's a pretty big stretch, but I had predicted 83 wins, so c'mon guys, gotta make me look good here.