The Body Count

As this season rolls into it's official second half, for the Blue Jays, and for other teams, the body count continues to oile up.  Toronto in the past week, has seen Luis Perez go down and news that Sergio Santos is now done for the season arrived. The incomparable Chad Beck returns again, and there are guys in the bullpen that were pumping gas in Fresno, California.

Loup ? Who is this guy ? The only ones getting fat this season are the programme hawkers, because you cannot tell one from another.  I am sure Adam Lind took one look after his return from purgatory and said, like Butch Cassidy " Hey Kid, Who are those guys ? ".

Are the Jays alone ? No, many teams have patch work line ups, Triple AAA bullpen, and mounting infirmaries, 15, 30 and 60 day DL lists. 

It is, said he, a war of attrition, and the guy who said the baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint, is posing for a statue.  I have never, in 45 years watching this game, seen anything like this. Never.

There will be no less than 6 contenders for the extra wild card game in the AL, unless Oakland , Cleveland and the blue Jays graciously bow out. But injuries, and parody are keeping this summer box office booming.
The A's have won 8 of 10, the Tigers are winning again. The Jays seem to stat 2 and half games back of anyone holding a wild cardspot. How ?

Well, if they get pitching from Carlos Villaneuva they will. If a Ben Sheets can come back from obscurity, the Braves will. If the sellers hold their assets until late July, the others will sit and hope.

And here is a problem brewing, the Washingto Nationals plan to shut down Stephen Strasbourg when he hits a pre dsignated amount of innings. I guess they fear his arm falling off.

Matt Moore in Tampa , Chris Sale in Chicago, and Jose Quintana are all pitchers who are set for record innings by years end. The White Sox have 2, the Tigers have Drew Smyley. Both teams are vying for the AL Central. The Pale Hose did not figure to be here, having re structured their pitching staff, and planning for their future.
Turns out their future was a soon as this year.  With Ozzie gone, the club house became fun again, and they started winning. They find themselves in unfamiliar territory atop the heap.


Also, we have not even reached the trade deadline yet, and while the phones ring in a dozen cities, no one has made any moves. As I get set to leave for 2 weeks vacation, the last few days in July will be quite interesting, because the body count keeps rising, and teams that thought they would be out of it by mid July are in a positiong to deliever post season play.

Sellers can become buyers, and vice versa, and next week is a whole 7 games away.