First Impressions

The Leafs started 4-0.

The Argos were a surprising 5-2 out of the gate.

Even the Raptors were 1-1 after two games. That was the high water mark.

So we know all about good starts.

So how to assess a local baseball club that sits with a winning record, 21-20, with a quarter of the season having elapsed?

Different, I'd say.

It's hard to say how this will play out over the next 121. But it's the way in which the Blue Jays have navigated the season to this point that matters.

They've had all kinds of injuries. Everyone does, but the teams that battle through them and manage to keep their heads above waters are teams worth watching.

They are, as Sportsnet analyst Greg Zaun noted before Monday's triumph in Detroit, starting to consistently "hit to win." In other words, players doing things at the plate that may not help their personal stats but help the team win. Three sac flies Monday night were evidence of that. Juan Rivera delivered one of them, and there's a guy who desperately would like his own numbers to look shinier but did what was necessary for the team.

As well, this was a team five games under .500 just a short while ago that could easily have been 10 under in a heartbeat, with lots of excuses available. Instead, the ship was righted.

Finally, management decisions are paying off, which breathes confidence throughout an organization. Jose Bautista's contract, for starters, is looking like a very good deal, and if anything, he's looking even more like a leader now than he did last year. Watching him confer in the dugout in such an animated way with outfielder Rajai Davis after Davis had made an out is not necessarily something you see great players doing all the time.

Meanwhile, while Roy Halladay is Roy Halladay, so often when big names get dealt the team losing the star gets nothing of particular value in return. It's usually futures for now, and the futures often never pan out.

But in Kyle Drabek, there's a definite benefit from the Halladay deal walking out to the mound every five days. He's a work in progress, but also a young guy with all the possibilities in the world who was intriguing to watch on the mound Monday night while tossing seven innings of three hit ball.

Those are all smaller stories that are part of the bigger story. Like the Leafs and Argos and Raps, this ballclub may not finish with a winning record. But very good things are happening, and in the right way.

 

 

Comments

[Chad]

the teams aggressiveness on the bases is great to watch as well. while last year they simply slugged their way to victory, this year there is a clear plan to try and put our runners in scoring position as often as possible. when anyone of Davis, Patterson, Escobar, and heck even Bautista, are on 1st base, there is a good chance they will try and steal 2nd. OR the bench will call a hit-and-run. great to see that kind of strategy.

[Ostrich_Lover]

Second place and we have played maybe 3 games with our A line-up. Snider is potentially an allstar and MVP and he isnt even on the team yet. Laurie and Hill will give us two guys with win at all cost hockey attitudes. Arencibia is an allstar. This team will win the World Series within 2 or 3 years.

[Glenburnie]

Although the Jays have some young talent waiting in the wings, the current Jays' roster, with the exception of starting litchers, is far from young. For position players, only Cooper, Anencibia and Escobar are young, up-and- comers. The rest - Davis, Patterson, Rivera, Lind, Hill, Molina, McDonald, McCoy, Encarnacion, and Bautista are either at or beyond their prime, as are most of the bullpen. So the Jays, unlike the Leafs and Raptors, are not yet in a 'youth' movement.

[Denny]

If the Jays are not in a "youth" movement how do you explain them walking away from every type A or B free agent to acquire draft picks. Dumping their opening day starter two years in a row. In baseball terms anyone under 30 is still considered "young" because its a different type of game than hockey, players can preform into their late 30's at a high level. Hill and Lind are established but they still both have 6 years of being at their peak level. By the way Hill and Escobar are the same age. Bautista is a little older but with a good work ethic could continue to produce at a high level until at least 35. The level of high end prospects a few years away is astounding.

[Cliff Rines]

The sooner we get a National Hockey League the better. It never has been and never will be a National Hockey league. From it's inception some 50 plus years ago it has been an international hockey league. National means one country.