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Offence lets Blue Jays down again

JEFF BLAIR

Globe and Mail Update

Latest comment posted at 3:06 PM EDT 27/04/08

Toronto went 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position Saturday night en route to a 2-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals ...Read the full article

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  1. P Martin from St. John's, Canada writes: Horrible RISP, absolutely abysmal. I can not remember the last time I have seen a team so useless in getting people to cross the plate.
  2. BB Freak from Canada writes: this team looks beat before they take the field...pathetic...no spark...Lind looks like a hitter but he's a butcher in the field..like eckstein.. I see 4th place if they are lucky this year, despite their good pitching
  3. Fred Stubbs from Canada writes: These guys have no fire in their belly so why should they be rewarded for a crummy performance. I for one don't intend to pay to see them play.
  4. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: It's too bad the bloated annual multi-million dollar contracts don't have an incentive like "pay for performance"! If they did we might see the likes of Vernon Wells spending more time practicing in the batting cage. As the highest paid hitter for the Jays he leads the way at being the WORST with RISP, disgraceful!
  5. Lorne Carmichael from Canada writes: The team is in a bad funk for sure . I am so surprised that no one is calling out Wells . He is classic rally killer who will build some meaningless stats when games are already won or lost . Some of his rbi's are so pathetic ( previous night , grounder to short with infield back , think what a ringing double in the gap does to a game in that situation ) . You can not have someone like him batting fourth , trying to pull every pitch and jumping out the batter's box at curve balls . I say this team hitting slump would end if we had a real stud batting 4 and then the rest of the squad could take heart and get it going . Yes all you stat guys I am sure if we are up 5 in the eighth Vernon will hit a 3 run homer . Great numbers , useless hitter .
  6. Graham Magus from Toronto, Canada writes: i tend to agree that Wells is a failure batting clean-up........I would rather the batting order read something like this

    Eckstein
    Wells
    Hill
    Rios
    Rolen
    Stairs
    Overbay
    Zaun
    McDonald

    I just think that Rios isn't seeing the best pitches with pop-out-boy Wells batting in front of him. If Wells becomes consistent he can be put down to 3rd in the batting line-up, until then I think the 2-hole is the best spot for him. Maybe he can become a rally-builder instead of an easy out with risp. It would be nice to have stairs and overbay a little closer to the bottom of the order for some balance as well, because Scutaro just shouldn't bat ever and McDonald in an everyday role will provide some base-hits and hustle even if he only bats .240
  7. Cole H. from Toronto, Canada writes: This losing slide has been incredibly ugly. No doubt about that. It's been tough to watch but the hitting will come around. These guys are solid hitters and I'm confident their career numbers will bear out.
  8. D G from Canada writes: So JPR thinks this is the best team he's had. It goes to show how out of touch with reality this guy is. He has got to go. Getting Eicstein ugh. As one baseball writer said, the pitchers will not be happy once they see all the ground balls bouncing past this guy for hits.

    Maybe JFJ would like to replace JPR. He couldn't do any worse than 5th in the division. Even JFJ wouldn't be paying Frank Thomas $10 M while he is playing for the A's for $300,000. No wonder beer prices and tickets are so high in the Sky Dome. Godfrey has to wake up and read a baseball book or two and get rid of JPR! Billy Beane he ain't!
  9. The Mick from Toronto, Canada writes: On the bright side the OBP is almost the best in the AL. This is better than previous years and a needed change from previous years.

    Can anyone say "we need Bonds"? He may never agree to Canada but sure would be a great DH. He would be an upgrade to anything in the DH spot and is still an OBP and power threat. Especially in the Rogers "SkyDome" Center.

    Or, can we say "fire Gibbons?" Not that he has been terrible but maybe a shake-up can pull them out of the funk.

    Graham above presented a batting order. I see something different:

    Hill
    Rios
    Wells
    Rolen
    Stairs (Bonds???)
    Overbay (back to back lefties but Rolen is the only one to come up with a decent RISP in the last week)
    Barajas/Zaun
    Lind
    Eckstein

    On paper this team looks great. On the field they completely stink at the moment. Eckstein's blunder on Fri vs Royals was weak and symptomatic of a team pushing too hard in response to the bad performance.
  10. THE LAKEMAN from N.S., Canada writes: Hitting with players in a scoring position is so terrible that I have begun to think that it may be occuring on purpose. I wonder if some if not all the players, maybe on a rotation basis, are protesting the way that Ernie Whitt was handed along with the treatment of Johnson and the Big Hurt. I watched last nights game and said to myself this has to be a protest by tyhe players against the present management. Everyone, or almost everyone can't go sour at the same time. Rolen's return was a good night for him but maybe just because it was his return and now that he is back he too will have to take his turn at looking silly on certain nights. In other words, some of the high paid players, especially with new long contracts, are trying to run the team. Is it a struggle to see who the bosses are, management or the players. Are the players punishing Gibby and J.P. for their heartless decisions. I wonder if any other observers have thought of the same thing?
  11. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: It came down to choosing between Stewart and Johnson for left field, Stewart got the job and now Reed is doing great things for Chicago and Stewart is backup DH. What a bone-headed move that was!
  12. SY GIL from TO, Canada writes: JP has made a lot of bone head moves. Letting Thomas walk for nothing was overly generous.
  13. Scenic Sask! from Canada writes: The shake-up with the batting order seems to have helped today......2 runs inthe first. Though Wells in the fifth spot grounded out meekly to shortstop.
  14. Zach Fitzgerald from Canada writes: I think its clear this is a morale issue. The firing of both J.P. and Gibbons needs to happen swiftly so we can still salvage this season. This team needs a Cito Gaston type manager who can look after the egos of all that high priced talent.

    J.P. is an idiot, pure and simple. Gibbons is a horrible manager who frustrates tempermental players with his antics.

    Giving Thomas 8m dollars and a plane ticket is inexcusable. Losing Reed Johnson was a travesty. Its time for J.P. to hit the bricks. Have a nice trip!!!
  15. SY GIL from TO, Canada writes: Loading the team with a bunch of high priced but underachieving players surely is enough reason to fire JP but the question is who hired him. The JP hiring bears eerily a great deal of resemblance to the JFJ hiring by the Leafs.

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