Ricky Romero: Slumpbuster

For those of you who don't know the actual meaning of the word "slumpbuster," the above image should probably at least narrow it down.  You see, the photoshopped Ricky Romero makes this clever, since all he does is goes out and pitches well and wins ballgames, when other pitchers proceed to lose them.  Though I suppose Wade Davis could get his face on there as well.

But what if it was Brian Tallet that did all this?  The Jays have yet to lose since Brian Tallet has been activated and placed on the active roster.  Has your mind been blown?  I know mine has (note: n't).  But seriously, I'm still holding out hope that Tallet doesn't throw a single pitch for the Jays this year.  There are two days left until roster (potentially) expand, and I'm really hoping that a bullpen arm or two can come up.  It's not like this is anything that actually matters; I'm just a bitter little boy who has a lot of rude things to say about people I don't know from behind a computer screen.

Speaking of guys I'd like to never see again in my life, DeWayne Wise played CF again last night, doing absolutely nothing of value.  Don't get me wrong, Mike Mccoy isn't all that good either, but I'm not sure this one is even close.  I guess it doesn't really matter too much though... it's not like both Colby Rasmus and Rajai Davis are going to be simultaneously injured for the rest of eternity.

JP Arencibia gets his first Zaunhead in fucking forever.  He had 3 hits, including a really funny triple that Matt Joyce misplayed in right field.  I think he raised his batting average to the Aaron Hill zone.

Before anyone thinks I'm serious about that statement, let's not forget that JP is a rookie who has 20 homeruns this year, and has the highest ISO among catchers in baseball, let alone rookies, and has a .253 babip, as opposed to Aaron Hill who peaked in his 2nd full season.  JP is also a catcher, so any offense that he contributes is complete gravy.

Alex Anthopoulos Alert!  The Jays have just announced that they have signed seven international free agents, though a couple of these probably happened a little while ago and are only being announced now, such as Roberto Osuna, the nephew of former Major League fireballing reliever Antonio Osuna.  I'm pretty sure I linked to a spanish newspaper article like a month ago, breaking this one, so I dunno, maybe there's some contractual reason that this couldn't be announced/made official until now.

This series of signings shows that the Jays are, in fact, willing to spend money, and is a testament to AA's dedication to scouting and international free agency.  The Jays signed Dawel Lugo for $1.3MM earlier this year, but people smarter than myself speculate that both Osuna and Wuilmer Becerra both signed for more than that.  Tyler Beede could not be reached for comment.

I feel so...

Seriously, what was that?  I mean they get 3 HR's off Morrow on pitches that were outside the strikezone, and we get like 40 swinging strikes.

Then Wil Ledezma goes ahead and DFA's himself late in the game.  Honestly, I turned the game off after the Jays half of the 8th inning, when it was an already unreasonable 6-0, but still.  That's demoralizing.

But really (fuck you, this is my blog, I can start a paragraph with "but"), Wil Ledezma actually got himself DFA'ed after the game.  Acting Manager Don Wakamatsu said after the game "No one wants to have to go through that, but we talked about three starts in a row not getting into the sixth and the bullpen being overworked. Once we fell behind 6-0 we tried to piece it together and get through that ballgame."

Translation: Ledezma was getting DFA'ed after this one anyway, may as well let him throw an inning even though he can't get anybody out so we can save everyone else's arm.  As far as I can tell, the Jays haven't made a corresponding move yet, but I assume it will be a pitcher.  Perhaps Kyle Drabek?  I'm wondering if they opt to stick him in the bullpen for a while.  I suppose it's more likely to be PJ Walters, the not-yet-released-but-also-not-still-injured other piece in the Colby Rasmus trade, or maybe Alan Farina, a 25-year old reliever making his second ride in AA New Hampshire.  I could be wrong about this, though I certainly don't care to look it up, but I think AA leagues are starting their playoffs this week or possibly next, which could make that Farina call up less likely, though I suppose they let Hechavarria go to Las Vegas.  Maybe that's why they're taking so long to make a corresponding move though.

I was actually hoping that either Carlos Villanueva or Dustin Mcgowan would be the corresponding move, but it looks like Villy just made his first of three (?) rehab appearances yesterday, and I think Mcgowan is supposed to make another start or two in the minors before getting his shot.

Rajai Davis has started jogging and taking BP.  He fucked up his hamstring real good, sicking Mike Mccoy and DeWayne Wise on us when Colby Rasmus got hurt.  Thanks Raj.  He hopes to be back before the end of the season.

I guess Jon Rauch threw a bullpen session recently, which means that he should be back soon.  That makes me feel sad.

Former Blue Jay AJ Burnett sucks now, and Lucas from Fangraphs suggests due to his declining fastball velocity, that it's time to turn him in to a reliever.

TomTango, via Joe Poznanski, explains WPA (Win Probability Added).  I don't use WPA here, but I do watch the in-game scoreboards on Fangraphs, and they're plenty useful for single-game samples (i.e. Zaunheads*) and storytelling about games.

*-- As if anybody is getting a Zaunhead for yesterday's game.  Fuck.  Who?  Mike Mccoy, the one guy who managed to not strike out four fucking times?  Piss off.