Jays 2, Royals 6

The Jays could only manage 4 hits and 3 walks from KC starter Luke Hochevar, Farnsworth, and Soria. It seemed that every single time they hit the ball well, it was right to a defender. These things happen, not much they can do but try again today. Scott Richmond was cruising through to the 5th inning and was probably starting to think he might be able to get his 5th win of the season. But a rough 5th inning, where KC scored 5 of their 6 runs, hurt Scott and left the Jays to attempt another comeback.

The most frustrating part of the game for me, besides watching another loss, was that Jesse Carlson once again allowed an earned run in relief. Sure, it meant nothing in terms of the outcome of the game, but it was the 4th time in the last 7 games that Jesse has allowed at least 1 run. In fact, he's allowed 9 earned runs in his last 7 innings pitched and only struck out 3 while allowing 10 hits. I'm not sure what the reason is since his velocity is the same. There could be some issues there that will come to light soon, whether it's dead arm, mechanics, or something worse, but either way he could end up being sent down to AAA to work on things for a while before it gets worse.

In a very related story, Jeremy Accardo has been roughed up lately in AAA, with a 6.52 ERA over his last 10 games. Unlike Jesse, Jeremy has struck out plenty of guys - 12 in his last 9.2 IP - but he's also allowed 2 hits per inning within the same time frame and walked 3, not exactly stellar stuff. So, instead of Accardo, Jonah Bayliss looks like the next RP target for the Jays when they look to AAA for an arm. His stats over the last 10 games are 15.2 IP, 16 Ks, 9 HA, 7 BB, and a 2.87 ERA. His season ERA sits at a perfect 3.00 and he has been a very good acquisition for the Jays thus far, as he only cost them a PTNL. I do believe it's time for some of the pen guys to get rotated through. It's nice to have consistency, but in the Jays case I think that a little competition wouldn't hurt either.

Meet your DSL Blue Jays

Pos	Player	Age	Country	Height	Weight
2B	Leonardo Ferrini	20	Venezuela	6'0"	147 lbs
SS	Daniel Arcila	18	Venezuela	6'1"	152 lbs
SS	Gustavo Pierre	17	Dom. Rep.	6'2"	182 lbs
SS/3B	Fausto Natera	19	Dom. Rep.	6'1"	168 lbs
DH	Simon Vasquez	19	Venezuela	5'11"	201 lbs
RF	Sony Javier	18	Dom. Rep.	6'0"	180 lbs
C	Carlos Perez	18	Dom. Rep.	6'0"	181 lbs
C	Alexys Rodriguez	20	Venezuela	5'10"	175 lbs
1B	John Delgado	18	Venezuela	6'3"	210 lbs
OF	Carlos Ortega	20	Venezuela	6'1"	155 lbs
CF	Carlos Ramirez	18	Dom. Rep.	6'3"	172 lbs
OF	Miguel Monges	19	Venezuela	6'1"	184 lbs
SP	Deivy Estrada	16	Venezuela	5'11"	178 lbs
RP	Jose Vargas	18	Panama	6'0"	166 lbs
RP	Alex Ramirez	19	Dom. Rep.	6'2"	188 lbs
SP	Denny Valdez	18	Dom. Rep.	6'3"	188 lbs
SP	Misual Diaz	19	Dom. Rep.	6'2"	180 lbs
RP	Jose Avila	18	Venezuela	6'3"	190 lbs
SP	Milciades Santana	20	Dom. Rep.	?	?
SP	Steven Romero	18	Dom. Rep.	6'2"	180 lbs
RP	Kenllie Santana	19	Dom. Rep.	6'0"	181 lbs

I'll be updating their stats as the summer goes along, but these are the main players thus far. Deivy Estrada, the 16 year old pitcher, is the one huge piece to look at in terms of impact talent on this team. He has started the season extremely strong with 9 Ks in 9 IP and only 2 runs allowed, which is very good for his confidence going forward. Baseball America did a piece on Catcher Carlos Perez, who made their list of top DSL prospects to watch. Gustavo Pierre was paid a $700,000 signing bonus last year and his start is highly anticipated. Catcher Simon Vasquez is another player who's had a good start, starting out with a double, triple, and home run and 6 hits in 18 ABs. We'll see how they pan out, but hopefully there are a couple of gems in here.

Draft Info

Missouri RHP Kyle Gibson, who was a top-ten candidate, has a stress fracture in his throwing arm and will likely fall in the draft as a result of the injury. Something similar happened to Tanner Scheppers last year and he fell to 43rd overall. So this situation begs the question: if Gibson falls to the Jays at #20, should they take him? I say that it must depend on the medical information they can gather. I have no idea how often an injury like this can reoccur or what effect it has on the pitcher's state of mind, but if the Jays can get a top 10 talent at #20, they are obligated to at least consider taking him.

I keep looking through the many draft scenarios available out there and find myself divided on whether the Jays will take a bat or an arm with their #20 pick. They do have a sandwich pick, the 37th overall, where they could conceivably get one hell of an arm. Since this draft is so shallow in top-quality bats, I would expect that the Jays may decide to sign one of the few bats available with the #20, followed by an arm at #37....unless Gibson ends up being that #20 pick.

I personally predict that if SS Grant Green or SS Jiovanni Mier are available the Jays will take them first.Then, if LHP Rex Brothers or LHP Mike Minor are available, the Jays will select them in order. Other prime candidates are OF Tim Wheeler or Reymond Fuentes. I'd be surprised if it was someone else, but it would probably end up being an arm.

Pre-Draft Top 20 Prospects

Before we get to watch our the Jays add some prospects through the MLB Draft, held June 9th at 6pm ET, I wanted to list the top 20 prospects the Jays have waiting in the wings.

1. Bret Cecil, LHP: Got the call to the bigs and impressed everyone who saw him pitch.
2. Marc Rzepczynski,LHP: Striking out more than 1 per inning in AA while working out mechanics. Has great stuff.
3. JP Arencibia, C: Still learning how to hit more consistently, but has done a great job adjusting after a rough April.
4. Henderson Alvarez, RHP: Getting little glory down in Lansing. Not a SO pitcher, but extremely effective for his age (19) in LoA.
5. Daniel Farquhar, RP: Relievers rarely get real credit as prospects, but Daniel is looking more and more like a closer of the future.
6. Johermyn Chavez, OF: Another lonely Lansing star who is performing extremely well for his age.
7. Brad Emaus, 2B: Mr.Extra base hits is getting it done consistently in AA and has the versatility to make it to the Jays as a bench player.
8. Justin Jackson, SS: Although the power has been non-existent, Jackson has gotten hot at the plate recently and should improve.
9. Tim Collins, RP: Yet another great reliever in the minors for the Jays, Tim gets the job done extremely efficiently.
10. Luis Perez, LHP: The Jays are just full of lefties in the minors and Perez has proven to be one of the more consistent of the bunch.
11. Fabio Castro, LHP: Yes, another lefty, he's older but has been the absolute best SP in the minors for the Jays this season. Has a 2.15 ERA in AAA in 8 starts.
12. Brad Mills, LHP: Not sure what's happened with Brad, but he's not effective thus far in AAA. Although the Ks have been there, he's getting hit way too easily.
13. Gustavo Pierre, SS: Has been assigned to the DSL, yet to play in 2009.
14. John Tolisano, 2B: Started out ice cold, but has shown more power as he improved in May.
15. Moises Sierra, OF: The comeback story of HiA Dunedin has been a nice surprise at a position where the Jays need to find depth.
16. Balbino Fuenmayor, 3B: Starting to hit, albeit slowly and with a lack of power.
17. Charles Huggins, LHP: the 6th LHP on this list, Chuck made the move up from LoA to HiA. At 23, he's right on pace and could be a nice find since he was drafted in the 23rd round of the 2008 draft.
18. Matthew Daley, RP: The Lansing closer is ready for a promotion and should be tested very soon.
19. Tyler Pastornicky, SS: Justin Jackson should be looking over his shoulder. This guy rarely strikes out and knows how to get on base. Showing better now after a rough start to the season.
20. Michael McDade, 1B: The best start of all minor league first basemen for the Jays as a 19 year old.

Lansing Lugnuts - Pitching Update

Player	Age	W	L	ERA	G	GS	SV	IP	H	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	SO/9	SO/BB
Henderson Alvarez	19	4	4	3.00	10	10	0	57.0	56	0	7	35	1.105	5.5	5.0
John Anderson	20	1	3	4.98	10	10	0	47.0	68	3	14	37	1.745	7.1	2.6
Dustin Antolin	19	0	1	3.48	6	0	1	10.1	8	0	4	8	1.161	7.0	2.0
Michael Barbara	24	0	4	10.20	12	0	1	15.0	33	3	9	14	2.800	8.4	1.6
Chad Beck	24	0	1	4.91	3	3	0	11.0	15	1	3	12	1.636	9.8	4.0
Jonas Cuotto	22	1	3	6.00	14	2	0	33.0	45	1	10	29	1.667	7.9	2.9
Matthew Daly	22	1	3	2.05	21	0	9	22.0	11	0	12	18	1.045	7.4	1.5
Frank Gailey	23	1	1	1.80	18	0	0	25.0	21	1	12	24	1.320	8.6	2.0
Charles Huggins	--	1	1	1.59	7	7	0	34.0	24	1	11	40	1.029	10.6	3.6
Ryan Koch	--	1	4	9.44	10	6	0	41.0	70	2	11	16	1.976	3.5	1.5
Chase Lirette	24	1	0	1.33	4	4	0	20.1	14	0	6	15	0.984	6.6	2.5
Yorman Mayora	22	3	2	6.66	17	0	1	24.1	27	3	13	30	1.644	11.1	2.3
Matthew Moody	23	0	0	2.81	15	0	1	16.0	13	1	10	19	1.438	10.7	1.9
Jared Potts	23	2	0	3.46	17	0	0	26.0	28	0	12	28	1.538	9.7	2.3
Josh Wells	22	3	5	7.50	9	9	0	42.0	56	6	17	29	1.738	6.2	1.7

The Lugnuts pitching is a lot better than its hitting, but is still slightly younger than the league average (21.7 year old average for Lansing to 21.8 league average). The star of the pitching staff is Henderson Alvarez, who could in all likelihood skip HiA altogether and join AA at some point this season. He is a very good reason to get excited about the Jays future, as you can tell by his stats while being one of the youngest starters in the league. He walks very few, 1.1 every 9 innings, but still has to hone down the number of hits he allows, 8.8 per 9 innings. It's not that he allows too many now, but how it will translate to higher levels that is a bit worrisome. Chuck Higgins is another star that was pitching for Lansing, but has since been promoted to HiA Dunedin. John Anderson and Ryan Koch have had a rough start to their season as the other starters, but Chase Lirette has surprised a ton when given the opportunity to start but is already too old for the LoA level. He'd need to be this effective at the AA level to make some real noise and could get an opportunity in HiA soon. The most impressive reliever in Lansing is Matt Daley, who has 9 saves and a nice 7.4 SO/9IP ratio. He is on par age wise and could get a nice jump to HiA if opportunities arise.

Lansing Lugnuts - Hitters Update

Pos	Player	Age	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS
OF	Markus Brisker	18	105	7	12	1	0	0	2	12	4	10	35	0.114	0.19	0.124	0.313
OF	Yohermyn Chavez	20	179	32	51	7	5	8	31	2	2	13	43	0.285	0.333	0.514	0.847
SS	Jonathan DelCampo	21	118	12	25	4	2	0	8	0	0	4	16	0.212	0.238	0.28	0.517
OF	Christopher Emanuele	25	25	3	6	1	0	1	2	1	1	1	5	0.24	0.296	0.4	0.696
2B	Luis Fernandez	21	13	3	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	0.154	0.313	0.154	0.466
3B	Balbino Fuenmayor	19	131	9	33	3	0	3	11	0	1	2	37	0.252	0.263	0.344	0.607
C	Antonio Jimenez	--	89	8	20	5	1	0	7	3	1	1	20	0.225	0.231	0.303	0.534
1B	Justin McClanahan	23	110	16	30	10	0	4	19	4	5	4	33	0.273	0.319	0.473	0.792
1B	Michael McDade	20	160	16	40	10	0	6	21	0	0	11	38	0.25	0.302	0.425	0.727
SS	Tyler Pastornicky	19	186	29	46	4	3	0	12	19	9	17	29	0.247	0.317	0.301	0.618
2B/3B	Robert Sobolewski	22	129	17	36	10	0	2	17	5	0	14	24	0.279	0.35	0.403	0.753
C	Jonathan Talley	20	76	4	19	4	1	0	11	0	0	12	25	0.25	0.348	0.329	0.677
OF	Brian Van Kirk	23	142	17	42	8	1	8	26	0	0	12	34	0.296	0.365	0.535	0.9
OF	Kenneth Wilson	19	137	21	30	3	1	3	12	14	8	14	40	0.219	0.299	0.321	0.621

Lansing has had a rough time getting wins this season with a 19-32 record thus far, and hitting has been a major reason for their losses. 20 year old Johermyn Chavez and 23 year old Brian Van Kirk provide the only real pop on this club with 8 home runs a piece and decent averages. Chavez should get the call to HiA or AA very soon since the OFers there are not exactly top-notch prospect guys, while Chavez seems to be lacking support in Lansing to show his full potential. The peskiest guy on Lansing's squad is Tyler Pastornicky, a 19 year old SS with 19 SBs and a 17/29 BB to K ratio that is very nice for someone his age. If Justin Jackson isn't careful, he could get a real challenge for at SS from this kid. The only other impact bat for Lansing is the same guy that was reported here earlier in June, 3B Balbino Fuenmayor. His stats were horrific in April, but he has managed to improve trumendously since then and seems to be finding his way through the mud. The Jays can be patient with him since he is also only 19 years old and had to adjust to living in the U.S. full time.

Some striking facts that can account for why Lansing has had a hard time hitting include the fact that the average age of their hitters is lowest in the league by quite a margin. The average age of Lansing hitters is 20.4 years old, while all other teams are over 21.1 years old and the league average is 21.7 years old. So I would expect the hitting to get batter as they gain experience this season. Another reason is the lack of runs they've been able to produce, which again is directly linked to inexperience of the players in hitting with runners in scoring position. It's hard for Lansing hitters to get on a streak if they keep getting hits with nobody on base either, so hopefully the majority of them can get their averages up and mimic the big club by cycling through the lineup more often to drive in runs.

Jays 9, Royals 3

There are both good and bad news about last night's game. The good news is that the Jays took their bats and beat the crap out of the best pitcher in the AL this season. Maybe they got together before the game and said "let's do it for Doc guys", since it seems the Cy (thus far) may be going to one or the other. The Jays got to Zach early with a run in each of the first 2 innings, but really got to him most in the 3rd inning when they scored 4 runs against him. Some of the runs the Jays got in were due to inning extensions caused by errors (2 total). Overbay and Lind each homered off of Zach and Scutaro was his usual pesky self again with 3 doubles (all off of Greinke) and a walk. Romero, on the other hand, was able to finally show why he was kept with the Jays after spring training. His 3 earned runs came in the 7th when he labored a little and already had a 7-0 lead. He allowed 5 hits and had 5 Ks, and handed it over to Jason Frasor and Scott Downs who shut the door.

The bad is that it proves my theory about the previous night's game that Frasor or Downs should have been the 9th inning guy, and also that only slightly over 15,000 fans saw this game in Toronto: on a Friday night of all days. Come on Toronto, I know it's KC but the Jays need much bigger crowds if they're going to convince ownership to loosen the purse strings. If these tiny crowds continue and the Jays don't break out a winning streak of sorts, I guarantee that JP will trade Roy Halladay for 6-7 prospects because they can't afford not to. If crowd support isn't going to pay for Doc's extension, what will? If TO is going to win another championship sometime soon, it needs Doc as an anchor and hey, maybe he'll be the next guy to win 300 if he can last long enough. Wouldn't it be special if he won all 300 as a Jay?

Strange Jays Notes: The Rios Situation

- Drunk Jays Fan has a bang on post about the Rios video

- Tao of Stieb seconds the motion here

- Robert MacLeod chimes in here, but is dead freakin wrong (that's why bloggers are better than columnists). He says Rios should have known better, right. All he did was wear his heart on his sleeve. He wanted the win so badly that the outcome was still on his mind during the event and he was angry at himself for missing out on opportunities - THANK YOU ALEX FOR CARING!!! I call that a winner. Someone who gets seriously peaved when they lose because they hate the hell out of it. I just wish he'd show this kind of emotion on the field, but hey, at least now I know how he truly takes the outcomes seriously. Get over yourself Rob, you're no Saint either.

- I would like to chime in as well. Posting videos of guys refusing to sign autographs is just self-righteous. If you're so perfect maybe you don't deserve to be a fan and should set yourself up in your own little world so that nobody could insult your entitlement issues. It's a scribble of ink on paper for crying out loud!! It has value to kids, sure, but remember that the athlete or star has daily issues he has to deal with. Sometimes they get cranky, just like the rest of us. And hey, if one athlete never wants to sign autographs, it's his business. Just don't buy his jersey and refuse to stoop to getting as low as to post a video of him, because then YOU become the jerk and will be remembered as a whinny bitch.

Jays 5, Angels 6

Sometimes you just have to blame the manager. Cito is very responsible for yesterday's loss for different reasons. He is responsible because instead of bringing in Jason Frasor or Scott Downs in the 9th inning, he asked Brandon League to stay in there for another inning. I also question what went right in the pen, since Cito used Dick Hayhurst in a very critical situation during the 7th inning. Dick was just called up and thrown right into the fire in an intense game that was tied at the time. I'm all for pushing the guys to be ready to go at any time, but when you're in a pennant race and trying to play every game like it matters, throwing a rookie in a veteran situation may not have been necessary or the best option.

Look, Downs, Frasor, and League had not thrown since the weekend and so they were all very fresh. Roy threw a gem complete game Tuesday, Carlson - Camp - Ryan were used Wednesday, so why the hell didn't Cito pass the ball to Downs? Was he expecting extra innings? And who does that? To assume makes an.....you know the rest.

In the positive category Lind was absolutely awesome yesterday with 3 doubles and a 5 for 5 day. Overbay and Chavez both had 2 hits a piece, while the top of the lineup was dormant for the second straight day.

We need things to turn around fast here and Cito has got to re-learn how to use his pen. If the pitching coach is the one making the calls, then let Cito slap him around a little to wake him the hell up. We can't afford pen losses when the Yanks and Sox are ahead in the standings. I will admit the winning run was sneaky, but if Downs had been in the game I doubt the runners would have been there in the first place.

Hot Prospect: Justin Jackson, SS Dunedin

Nobody is happier about Justin Jackson's hot streak this season than any Jays fan who has faint memories of El numero uno, Tony Fernandez. Since then, the Jays have filled the SS positions with some willing and able people, but never with guys who have the ability to make an impact on the outcome of the game. This does exclude Marco Scutaro's run thus far since he has been instrumental to the Jays. Nobody would have predicted that would happen, but he'll be able to hold the fort until JJ gets enough experience to make the bigs.

Jackson's 2009 stats don't look very impressive when looked at altogether
.246 avg, 134 AB, 33, hits, 6 doubles, 1 triple, no homers, 10 SBs, 22 walks and a scary 51 Ks (38%)

However, if you take April out of the equation the story is entirely different
May stats:
.367 avg, 49 AB, 18 hits, 4 doubles, 1 triple, 3 SBs, 9 walks, 15 Ks (30%)

Although the reduction in Ks is not monumental, it is an improvement. The fact that a good portion of his hits started to become extra base hits after April is very encouraging even if the homerless part is worrisome.

If we break down JJ's issues, it becomes evident that he has serious problems hitting right-handed pitching. His average vs lefties is .389, while it is .224 against righties. He also seems to have issues playing in Dunedin, where he is hitting .224 in comparison to .269 while away where he has 5 of his 7 extra base hits.

Overall the increased number of hits is very nice and JJ seems likely to become a top of the order or bottom of the order player with very little power. At 6'1" 186 lbs you would think that he'd be able to put a hurt on once in a while, but I guess they can't all be Pedroia types, can they. He did have 7 HRs last year, which leads me to believe that if he squares up the ball enough he'll get his 5-10 HRs per season. I hope he keeps up the hot streak and does enough to get a trial in AA some time this season.

TOR 1 LAA 8

Jered Weaver only allowed 3 hits while striking out 10 Jays hitters last night in an Angels 8-1 win over the Jays. Maybe it was revenge for the embarrassment that Doc caused when he struck out 14 Angel hitters, but in any case it was a dominant performance. The Angels pen closed the door nicely thereafter. On the Jays end Casey Janssen only stayed in for 69 pitches, which is a little worrisome, but more worrisome was his ineffectiveness. I think we need to allow him to get back into a groove before we over-criticize each of his performances, but it may be something that would have been done a little more easily in AAA. Jesse Carlson has simply been horrible in his last couple of outings. What used to be an "in your face" style of aggressive pitching coming from Jesse is now a whimper that says "please don't...". I don't know when or why it happened, but he needs to figure it out quick because we need him. His ERA now sits at 5.00 on the season, coupled with BJ Ryan's 8.03 the pen is starting to look...uhhummm....shabby?

Let's hope they can turn it around tonight when Tallet goes for win #4 against John Lackey, who recently returned from injury.

McLouth Trade to Atlanta for 3 Prospects

Nate McLouth was traded to Atlanta tonight, in return for SP Charlie Morton, OF Gorkys Hernandez, and SP Jeff Locke. I know this isn't a Jays story, but I think it deserves to be looked at to wage the trade market. First of all, why is it that some teams just tend to trade well between one another? The Braves and Pirates tend to make trades each year with one another, so do the GMs just get along that well, or is Pittsburgh just another of Atlanta's affiliates?

Trade Evaluation

To the Braves: OF Nate McLouth
The 28 year old's stats are pretty mediocre this season in comparison to his 2008 season. So far he has 9 HRs in 168 ABs for a .256 average, a 0.348 OBP, and a .407 SLG percentage. He also has 7 stolen bases. I guess that when you compare it to the output from other Atlanta outfielders, he looks like a rock star. Either way he should do much better in Atlanta where he'll get more opportunities to shine and may get a shot of motivation that was non-existent in Pittsburgh. McLouth bats from the left side, joining McCann, Johnson, Kotchman, and Anderson on the left side which balances the lineup fairly well.

To the Pirates

RHP Charlie Morton - 26 years old, pitches in AAA
2009 AAA Stats: 7-2, 10 GS, 64.2 IP, 55 Ks, 52 HA, 16 BB, 2.51 ERA
Morton should fit nicely into a #3 or #4 role with the Pirates some time this season. He is the most likely of the 3 prospects to have an immediate impact for the Pirates.

LHP Jeff Locke - 21 years old, pitches in HiA
2009 HiA Stats: 1-4, 10 GS, 45.2 IP, 43 Ks, 47 HA, 26 BB, 5.52 ERA
Locke was ranked the 7th best prospect in Atlanta by Baseball America this year and is highly touted. He was a second round draft pick in 2006 and although expectations are high, results have been mixed. BA projected him to become a middle of the rotation guy and that seems about right, with a time line of making the Pirates some time in 2011.

OF Gorkys Hernandez - 21 years old, playing in AA
2009 AA Stats: 212 ABs, 67 hits, 11 doubles, 2 triples, no homers, 10 stolen bases, caught stealing 8 times, .316 average.
BA had ranked Gorkys as the 4th best Atlanta prospect this season and noted his lack of power. He has no homers so far this season but has struck out much less often than he has in the past. I'm not sure how he'll fit in someone's starting lineup as an outfielder if all he does is hit for average. I've never been a fan of Gorkys. He has trouble stealing bases in AA, getting thrown out almost half of the time and doesn't hit enough extra base hits. I guess the Pirates were looking for a nice 4th outfielder and putting much of the value in the trade into Morton and Locke, even if Gorkys is "highly thought of" by many.

Overall I feel that it is a strange deal on both sides. While the braves didn't sell the farm to get McLouth, they're not getting any guarantees and have to endure his contract if he doesn't return to 2008 form. On the Pirates end it better work out because they just gave up the most talented guy in their lineup for 3 maybes. I'm sure Morton will do well enough to warrant part of the trade, but I'm not sure Locke will get the other half soon enough to make the deal worthwhile for them. Gorkys is just another piece thrown in the more I think of it, so I give the Braves the thumbs up here and the Pirates a big fat C. I know they could have gotten more elsewhere if they had waited long enough. The Pirates will need a new strategy to be successful, one that doesn't involve trading with the Braves.

Jays Recall RP Dick Hayhurst

The Jays recalled RHP Dick Hayhurst from AAA Las Vegas today and simultaneously sent the hapless Brian Wolfe down to AAA in his place. Comparison of stats thus far in 2009:


Hayhurst: 2-4, 15 GP, 5 GS, 5.11 ERA, 37 IP, 29 Ks, 51 HA, 10 BB. Era over last 10 games has lowered to 3.65.
Wolfe: 7 GP, 8.1 IP, 8 Ks, 13 HA, 2 BB.

Although Wolfe was rarely used, he was definitely not dependable in the least. I'm not sure that Hayhurst was the best choice, but he has done much better as a relief pitcher thus far in 2009 than he has as a starter. The disconcerting part of his call up is that both righties and lefties are hitting over .300 against him, leading me to ask: what will his specialty be? I'm guessing that he'll be used in either substantial lead or substantial losing situations at first and may only get rare opportunities until he proves himself. I have to ask though, why not call up Jeremy Accardo who is very effective against lefties, has more experience in the bigs, and can feasibly fill-in for save opportunities if the pen needs the help? We all know that BJ can't be relied upon to help Downs out, so Accardo would make a whole lot of sense.