Rangers’ “B” lineup still gives me the willies. That’s a really good team. I’m an idiot for picking the Angels.
— Tao of Stieb (@TaoofStieb) May 1, 2012
Did you know Edwin Encarnacion is very good. It’s the truth. There has never really been any doubting EE’s hitting bonafides except for all the times we doubted Edwin’s hitting bonafidas. Like the time he was DFA’d then sent to Oakland then brought back and then sucked for two months. Other than that, his talent shines through.
Right now, he is killing the ball. He doesn’t really do much else other than hit home runs but who cares? The home runs are plentiful and sure to continue, right?
Newsflash: Toronto baseball writers decide Encarnacion is Jays’ player of month for April. We don’t miss much.
— John Lott (@LottOnBaseball) May 1, 2012
Outside of Edwin, the offense is singles-hittin’ Eric Thames and not much else. Colby Rasmus is still living off the glory of the multi-homer game in Kansas City while the rest of the team just treads water. The offense is bad but it is only “middle of the pack” bad, not “never going to score again, if only we did the little things like the Twins” bad.
According to Fangraphs, the offense is worth -2.9 weighted runs below average, good for 18th in the league. Among the hitters, Edwin Encarnacion contributed 10 wRAA while Yunel Escobar and J.P. Arencibia are the biggest sinkholes. Jose Bautista, for all his struggles, is still (slightly) ahead of Adam Lind at just more than 2 runs below average.
That this is a middle of the pack offense shouldn’t really come as a surprise to anyone. When they’re bad, they’re bad. But they still hung nineteen runs on the Mariners over the weekend after putting 22 runs up in Kansas City over four games. Sure, those teams are bad. But the runs still count.
Against Neftali Feliz, they aren’t in as tough as last night when Yu Darvish made a weak offense look worse than feeble. He’s going to do that. Feliz throws a four seamer, a two-seam sinker and a cutter along with a a (nasty) slider and changeup. He’s good, too. The Rangers are, as they say, stacked. Good luck, Drew Hutchison. Kyle Drabek showed it could be done so…go out and do it?
And now the lineups, by way of the live box score at theScore.com. And for those of you who’ll be out and about, be sure to follow all the action on your phone with Score Mobile…
| Toronto Blue Jays | Texas Rangers | |
| 1. Yunel Escobar SS 2. Kelly Johnson 2B 3. Jose Bautista RF 4. Adam Lind 1B 5. Edwin Encarnacion DH 6. Eric Thames LF 7. Brett Lawrie 3B 8. Colby Rasmus CF 9. Jeff Mathis C Drew Hutchison, P |
1. Ian Kinsler 2B 2. Elvis Andrus SS 3. Michael Young DH 4. Nelson Cruz RF 5. David Murphy LF 6. Mike Napoli C 7. Mitch Moreland 1B 8. Alberto Gonzalez 3B 9. Craig Gentry CF Not Yu Darvish, P |
Lind is a joke of a mlb player
The best thing to keep players mind’s off stuff is having them to keep track when they have to hit in the order. It’s posted on the wall! FFS
fuck i can sit there and do nothing but collect a cheque
Oh, Lordy, Lordy!!!
Not sure if that was a base hit for Colby, but sweet anyway.
Corey Patterson had more value than Lind.
wow now we know cletus can bunt well. remember later in season when needed so i can put lind in there.fuck off farrell …way to go cletus im a takin a shine to you
other jobs farrell would be good at
double agent
traitor
drunk driver
runway model
old spice guy
pylon
guy holding slow sign in construction zone
At this point I’m thinking the best way to deal with Farrell’s usage of Lind is to trade him, a la Aaron Hill 2011. Maybe for an undervalued slumping 1B in the NL somewhere.
Lind has negative value. You’d need to package a prospect with him, especially if the Jays aren’t picking up any of his salary for the next 2 years. Would be better just to DFA him.
Who would take him? Bautista to 1B , bring back Snider to play RF
Thing is we used to think Hill had no value either.
Nice of the Rangers to take some pity on us and stop playing
Mathis = auto grand slam
how did omar get ejaculated from the game??
Nice hustle
We have to tie the game here.
Escobar dp coming right up!
say you are sorry. beauty call witha yunel dribbler
At least Escobar will be able to find work as a porn star when his baseball career is over, he’s highly experienced in the art of the DP!
how many people had mathis with more home runs than lind
now that was smart
YEAH!
Mathis was supposed to be an absolute zero on offense. It’d be nice to believe he’s made a real step up.
Murphy has a strangely positive effect on players new to the team. Look at what’s he done with guys like Buck and Scutaro in the past. Maybe Mathis realizes some of his prospect ceiling from ages ago.
wow farrell actually made the right move for once
At jays game!!! Great inning. Jays rock. Lind sux ass though!!
Why does Farrell understand the lefty, lefty matchup when it comes to pitching but he’s completely oblivious when he has to make that decision from a hitting perspective?
Just think Jays fans, Coco time is still ahead lol
Mojo!
Frank, it is especially true since we have the extra hitter on the team this year. Why is Ben Francisco on this team?
So many questions, and Lind strikes out. Full stop.
Looks like Farell wants to win this game by not leaving all the pitchers in. Frasor up to close?
Note to Farrell:
Just keep the righty in to face Moreland.
I bet if he gave up a HR you would complain. Is there no winning when a manager makes a good move?
buckwheat called the most brilliant play i have seen this year. maybe the last few yrs. sometimes he is awake on the bench. i thought this game was a lost cause and went out for a store run even.its the most entertaining of the year so far.texas looks like old texas. no pitching and lots of bats. and to top it jose smokes one.may you never see a 3 game slump again jose.
Here we go Lindy! Lets seee you do something!!!
Maybe not……
A strikeout is something.
/Wilnerism
Nice try, Boydeeo.
Lind is due for his annual pulled muscle (that puts him on the DL for a month), so he might not be in there very much longer.
Well all I can tell you is that I’m not volunteering to pull his muscle…anyone else?
mathis supposedly changed his swing like EE 2 fister all the way thru makin it shorter.whatever its workin sweet
Yeah he should rest, hes been working pretty hard this past month…..actually defensively he hasn’t been too bad, but thats not what we pay him for!
Me thinks Adam Lind sux ass!!
Let’s hope no one is on when Coco inevitably gives up a tater
Frank—we’re working on positiveness now, or didn’t you get the message?
Sorry, I was trying to reverse jinx it, but it didn’t work.
Why the fuck is Cordero coming in? Did Farrell suffer from amnesia?
As an organization that embraces diversity, Rogers directs all its units to give all employees a chance to fail. Especially fat fucks.
Not the time for snark, Meatball.
Oh, I’m cheering for him, Little Carb. If he can increase his trade value, maybe we can trade him to the Yanks. For Colón’s stem cells, say.
Well he’s proving me wrong. I need to express annoyance more often. It worked with Beardtista.
I’m surprised Lawrie just didn’t have hand the ball to Lind on that play. Fuck, he was moving across the infield like he stole something!
Maybe fans will be able to get the LSE 10:13 tonight for a change
or not
I made that adjustment too to the two handed follow thru. My hitting has definitely felt an improvement to be able to power “through” the ball. Adjustments take time and that is what the MLB players don’t have much of. They play almost every day and little things are coming unwound as your fixing something else.
As for throwing arms, damn, Davis, you need to do some long toss with the pitchers. Thames, you too.
boner to the blonde shot
Here we go. The real Cordero just stood up.
cmon shut it down man
bad feeling about this
…………..
Who else has their sphincter pinched tight right now?
i wont be able to kaka for a week now
lol coco beware the return of the WWE to MLB!
Jesus
When is Farrell going to fucking learn?
FOR FUCKS SAKE.
Why does Farrel keep bringing him in??
not again especially tonite
Oh so classic. Me love u long time coco!
Santos, all is forgiven, come back soon when your wing is healed.
K, how about Jansen for closer?
Fuck no. Jannsen should be in single A Dunedin. Maybe Frasor as painful as it is to watch him pitch.
You say that why exactly? Jansen was great last year
How about a REAL FUCKING CLOSER?!!!!! When are we going to realize that big money closers get big money for having the psychological capacity and physical ability to CONSISTENTLY. SHUT. THE. FUCKING .DOOR.
Like Heath Bell? LOL.
“You got to pay your dues if you want to sing the blues, and you know it don’t come easy.”
exactly right, NOW we have something to complain about
Over, and over, and over and over.
Seriously, would it have killed Rogers/Bell to pay a bit more for a real closer?
We have a real closer on the DL
Then we haven’t got a real closer. Pissing away games because ONE person is hurt is evidence of the team being too thin.
It goes from ‘injured closer’ to ‘cannot close games at all without 7 run leads’ in the blink of an eye.
They should have signed one of those high priced proven guys. Like Heath Bell…worth every penny.
+1-Lest we forget.
what the fuck does Bell have to do with this…theyre not the fucking MLSE
DFA Cordero.
We were so close to a clean 9th.
At this rate, Cordero’s going to have as much experience with blown saves as converted by season’s end.
Okay I think its fair to call this fat fuck an absolute CHOKER! How can he be so dominant over 2 batters then just hand over hits to the next 3????? What the FUCK!!!
why is nobody in that stadium starting a DFA chant?
I was pretty sure that was going to be a 3-run HR by Cruz.
I’ve maintained since LAST YEAR – why the fuck is Janssen not the closer? Jesus Christ.
See this is why Farrell leaves his starters in. Because he needs his bullpen to pitch extra innings once Coco blows the save.
Hahahaha.
+2
Cordero has no fucking business pitching as a “closer”. Anyone know what Kevin Gregg’s doing these days?
Jannssenn has been hit pretty hard this season. I am not against trying him out but I wouldn’t be overly optimistic.
Maple-boner!!!
LAWRIEGASM!
Hard to believe he has all those saves in his career after watching the past month
Worst $4 million AA’s ever spent when you had Beck and Carreno in the minors.
YEAH!!
HOLY MAPLE BONERS!
I just ceramed my pants!
Hope that didn’t hurt.
UP and UP, and there she…MAPLE BONER!!!!!
Perfect time for Lawrie to homer!
Well, I guess that works, too, Lawrie.
last time lind had a walk off was in high school
He’s a sociopath, but he’s our sociopath.
Lmao! Love it.
Perfectly said. Its like having a kid that nuts………fuck he’s yours, love him!!!
I would like to personally thank cordero for that blown save so we could enjoy the theatrics in the bottom of the 9th. well played coco…well played.
Coco’s a deep thinker, he knows how to play the crowd. Am I right?
For a white guy, Lawrie sure got hops. Must be that athleticism and range.
I’m surprised Lawrie can get so far off the ground considering he should be anchored by that fat, veiny meat snake of his.
The shot of mojo finally broke that ridiculous W-L pattern bullshit!
Thank the fuck for that!
I seriously think we should bring the japanese dude up from Vegas to close these games out. he’s been lights out and is apparently throwing high 90′s gas
Fuck yes.
WTF could it hurt?
God help us all if Lawrie ever hits a walkoff to win a playoff game, or a world series game. If he hit a world series winning homerun I would fear for the safety of every person within 1000 miles of that stadium.
and lawrie spanks it too. holy fuck thats the biggest smile on cletus i ever saw. i thought he was going to yank lawries maple boner at home plate
Gotta admit I’ve been getting a little perturbed about the team and especially its offense. This was a very reassuring game. Seeing Bautista crush one was particularly reassuring. Ditto Lawrie. Seeing the team come back was soothing.
But a DJF poster’s gotta accentuate the negative sometimes. Lind … please AA get something for Lind like you did with Hill-for-KJ. It doesn’t have to be much. And then there’s Darvish. I was among the skeptics about Nipponese pitchers in MLB but he looks real. Truly unfortunate he’s not wearing a Blue Jay uniform.
Phht maple bonkers are for 6th inning jacks, walkoffs result in maple sploosh coating every surface.
PS: Still. Fuck Coco.
Haha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You know what was the best thing about that walkoff by Lattimer!!?
It was the fact that NO-ONE wanted to fuck around with celebrating with the muthafukah because he would have broke their ribs with a “Night At The Roxbury” chestslam.
And, that was the fastest transition from hitting a walkoff to doing an interview in the history of Major League Baseball.
Only part I don’t like about this is Cordero getting the vulture win. Fuck you, Coco.
Say what you want about Lawrie’s all out, balls to the wall, theatrics (me, I fucking love it), but when he does something like this it is so exciting. And its pretty obvious the whole team feeds off that energy.
Free Igarashi!
What a great ball game! Great to watch Texas laugh it up and smiling all game before shitting the bed in the last third of the game.
Cordero owes Lawrie a big, sloppy blowjob.
Is Mathis going to be the new starting catcher? Just saying.
Just saying..
Let’s give him some more games than he’s been getting. If he keeps playing the same way, then …
Mathis has been extremely impressive. No one in baseball (apart from AA) gave him any chance to shine. AA has found another 2%. They all add up.
Jays tied for the lead in blown saves. Alex must be losing his mind over this bullpen. “Fuck, I get rid of Gregg and bring in Rauch and 2Frank. Fuck, I bring in Santos and Cordero. Fuck offffffffffffffffffffff, relievers.
Fairlygoodservice. Were messin with Texas Y’all. 161-1
fuck I hate wilner
The real loser here is Omar Vizquel. He got sent off so he wasn’t able to join in the Brett Lawrie celebration at home plate.
what the fuck does wilner talking about twitter jail
It’s nice they broke the streak and all. Would have been nice to have this kind of win on ESPN yesterday.
Let’s keep it a secret for now, shall we? It couldn’t hurt.
Oh, and fuck off Cordero. Seriously. You’re done. Retire.
Maybe the send Crawford back down because they’ve got Oliver and Perez and bring up Beck as an 8th/9th inning guy or Carreno who was great out of the pen last year. Just know that Coco time = shit your pants time for Jays fans.
Brett, you’ve got it going on…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtfQg4KkR88
Man, scanning from the top here, I don’t know how you guys keep that shit up all night. No offense but, holy fuck, a lot of you guys are whiney little pussies! Unfuckingbelievable.
We appreciate your contribution. Tomorrow, try posting in real time, you know, when someone would give a flying fuck what you thought. Cheers.
Everyone is entitled to their opinion. Except you. You’re a twat.
To be fair most of that shite is coming from a handful of people.
Also to be fair, he’s completely correct.
Stop complaining, you sound like a fucking pussy.