Land of the Leaf

After taking a double dose of DL-deliciousness, the Blue Jays were looking at a Kevin Millwood that has been fairly successful early-on this season.  Millwood was good, but Scott Richmond was better.  OK, I’ll have a sip of the Richmond Kool-Aid now.

That’s five straight series victories for our birds.  Of course, now we face a pair of injuries from polar opposites, at least performance-wise, left-handers.  Ricky Romero’s “sex-strain” will be fine, he’ll pitch in a couple of weeks.  B.J. Ryan will get his head checked and come back like a big sweaty bull.  If this scrappy season is to have a stretch where the Blue Jays can ‘afford’ injuries to key players, it’s right now.  The Jays, yet to have faced an AL East opponent are due to face a slew of mediocre clubs in the White Sox, Royals, Baltimore, Cleveland and the injury depleted pitching staff of Anaheim over the next 14 days.

If the bats keep maaashing, and that they did tonight, and Halladay and the bullpen keep inducing groundballs and strikeouts (a tall order, I know) then we’ll be fine.  Alex Rios finally slammed something prior to 2:45AM, and we all know it only takes one to get your mojo going.  I’m still believer in Rios.

These guys can play, and as coach Lou Brown once said: “There’s two or three potential All-Stars here”.

B.J. Ryan stunk today.  The line on him: 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, and 3 BB.  Ryan entered the game in the ninth with a 4-run lead on the Indians before allowing a two out base hit and then walking two and surrendering a three-run double to Mark DeRosa to make it 5-4 for the Jays.

The last time we saw B.J. Ryan struggle this much with his command was in the first weeks of 2007 when J.P. Ricciardi let us know he was experiencing trouble with his back.  It turned out that those back issues need Tommy John surgery on their elbow and the Beej missed the rest of the season.

Jason Frasor relieved Ryan and struck-out Victor Martinez to finish off Cleveland.  Halladay improved to 2-0, and Cliff Lee is now 0-2 (he lost only three times last season).  The Jays are off to vicious start, better than anyone could have expected, but Ryan’s struggles are cause for concern.

Garner Leaves The Score?
According to The Toronto Star’s Chris Zelkovich, Drive This!’s other watchable personality and Producer, Richard Garner is leaving the show and ticker-laden sports network. He left a message to staff cryptically outlining plans to: “provide programming that focuses on the many similarities that all human beings share instead of the few differences.” Garner appeared on the program today. I don’t know what’s happening… anyone?

Steve Simmons Opts For Drive-Thru Over Journalism
Read this if you must, but beware; Steve Simmons says Wilson has done a remarkable job with the lousy Leafs roster. He also explains how Wilson could make himself more likable to the media and the fans, as though Wilson should give a fuck.

Bastian Reports That B.J. Ryan’s Velocity Is A Concern To Jays
Oh man, I don’t think this is good. Cito Gaston and Brad Arnsberg let their concerns be known about Ryan’s loss of velocity, his fastball is topping out at 86 mph. We might get to see what Brandon League can do in the 9th, I’m trying to be optimistic.

Weighing Potential Draft Options For The Raps, phdsteve Likes Shooting Guards
Steve the doctor at Raptors Republic discusses the possibilities of the Raptors pursuing a SG with their first-round pick. It makes sense, Anthony Parker is a free agent at season’s end and the crop of 2’s is pretty deep.

PPP’s Leaf of the Day, Luke Schenn He is Not
Poor Drake Berehowsky, his rookie card probably never fetched more than a dollar. If it did, it was surely before he ever actually played a game in the NHL.