Gose Time: Fast Guy First

I was a little miffed a few minutes ago, but then I thought about it and now it's more of a depression.

Melky Cabrera gets the day off today, and Anthony Gose takes his place.  Seems reasonable.  Mark Buehrle seems like the kind of guy that would profit from having some quality defense available behind him, as a guy who gets guys to put the ball in play a lot.  Anthony Gose appears to be rather good at defense, while Melky Cabrera isn't exactly so, especially with those pesky old hammies acting up on him.

What I don't understand is the use of Gose in the leadoff position as well.  It's not like there are endless possibilities out there as far as leadoff-type guys, what with Reyes hurt, Cabrera sitting, and all remaining offense coming from the bats of Edwin, Jose Bautista, and Adam Lind.  That still feels weird to say.

Other options include Brett Lawrie, Colby Rasmus, JPA Arencibia, Maicer Izturis, and Munenori Kawasaki (aside from slotting Derosa or Boni in there) so it's not like we're facing anything other than an unconventional guy in the 1-hole.  JPA is probably the worst option, but Lawrie is currently rocking the sub-.300 OBP, and Rasmus just kind of hovering there as well.  Maicer Izturis hasn't been good by any stretch, and he might actually be just as bad as JPA as far as leadoff options go.

I'd personally stick Muni up there..237/.351/.303 isn't anything to go panic about, but it's certainly better than whatever the major-league equivalent of .227/.343/.325.  I suppose you could make the case that Colby Rasmus works there in a pinch vs. a righty (.254/.321/.451 career), but all those strikeouts make me want to punch someone.

Ultimately, there aren't any good options without Jose Reyes and Melky Cabrera in the lineup.  Cabrera needs to take a seat and let everything heal, regardless of how well he's hitting lately.  Giving him the day off today is probably the most reasonable scenario, given Buehrle's tendency to have lots of contact.  Melky covers little ground when healthy-- we don't need singles turning in to doubles.

Stuff
Fangraphs has a Q+A with Marcus Stroman.

Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News reports on Ricky Romero's start last night for the Bisons.  Harrington uses the power of hindsight to say that he'd have removed Romero after five innings and 76 pitches so that Romero could "feel good about the start."  Should have listened Skip, because Romero lost the zone in the 6th inning, walking four straight  Also within that piece, Dustin McGowan was supposed to throw two innings, but only recorded a single out, allowing three runs to score.

Finally, I'd like to point out that James Loney is currently sitting at a .377 babip for the season.

Early start today, by the way.

Lineups
Jays
Gose
Bautista
Edwin
Lind
JPA
Lawrie
Rasmus
Izturis
Muni

Buehrle

Rays
Jennings
Roberts
Zobrist
Longoria
Loney
Rodriguez
Johnson
Molina
Escobar

Hellickson