Short hops, quick pops and backhand stops:

• Roy Halladay is long gone, but the Toronto Blue Jays are not forgotten. Though they just slipped back into fourth place in the AL East on Wednesday, V ranks seventh in the American League with a 2.82 ERA and Jose Bautista leads the majors with 15 homers.

After 49 games with Halladay last season, the Blue Jays were 27-22. After 49 this year? 27-22. So much for getting kicked back into the Dark Ages. Though last years record had them third in the AL East, 1½ games back, Tampa Bays quick start has left the Jays fourth, six games back.

In less than 50 games, Vernon Wells has 11 homers, only four less than all of 09. (AP) They are the comeback kids, from Marcum post-Tommy John ligament transf sixth organization. But maybe the most gratifying return of all is being staged by Wells, who took a lot of abuse in Toronto last season while trying to play through a wrist injury that sabotaged his swing and dropped him to a .260 batting average, 15 homers and 66 RBI. New Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos told me this spring that Wells “cares as much as any player Ive ever been around.”

How much does Wells care? Enough to keep the wrist injury to himself last year and still play in 158 games (cortisone shots and anti-inflammatories kept him on the field). Most Wells just shrugged and told Toronto reporters that they were calling him by his new nickname. “We didnt even know he was hurt,” Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston says. “He never said a word.”

The difference this year is that Wells, after undergoing wrist surgery last Nov. 11, not only has his bat speed back, but he can swing away in the batting cages at will when he needs a tune-up. “I have the ability to go out and take more swings,” Wells says. “And being more consistent with my timing is the big thing. In spring training, I got to swing the bat a lot, and that allowed me to get to where I needed to get to.” Hes hitting .299 with 11 homers (through just seven weeks, nearly matching last years season total) and 33 RBI (already half as much as last year). “Its always good to have confidence,” Wells says. “To get in the box knowing you have a chance to hit the ball hard every at-bat.”

Specifically, because hes working with two good wrists, Wells again can wait the extra tick before swinging. Thats “allowed me to slow down the fastball, and see the off-speed pitches better. The one bad habit I fell into last year was my timing was off … and I went into a downward spiral and couldnt catch up.”

• Marcum has never made more than 25 starts or worked more than 160 innings in a season, yet his 67 innings pitched rank seventh in the AL and, so far, hes given the post-Halladay rotation the stability its needed. “When I first got here in June two years ago, Doc Halladay told me, Cito, youre going to love to see this kid pitch,” Gaston says. “Coming from Doc, thats saying a lot. But I didnt get to see him pitch because but he locates and hes emerged as one of the team leaders. “Not only has he pitched well, hes taken responsibility and maybe things I dont see, he steps in and says something to one of the kids,” Gaston says.

Marcum isnt surprised that Wells preferred to take a hit on his statistical line last year while attempting to play through the wrist injury rather than sit out and protect his numbers. “He doesnt want to come out of the lineup, ever,” Marcum says. “A lot of guys in here dont say anything if theyre hurt. They want to be on the field. Thats why I like this team so much. Nobody complains about things.”

• As for Bautistas power surge, it actually started last September, when he walloped eight home runs. It was the highest monthly total of his career and i so, Bautista leading the majors in homers this year, while unexpected, maybe didnt come completely out of the blue. The seeds were planted around July of last year, when Jays hitting coach Dwayne Murphy helped Bautista overhaul his swing. “He figured out I was getting ready late,” Bautista says. “So he had me start getting ready earlier.” Translation: Murphy had Bautista start his swing earlier. “Before, I would get ready [to swing] when the pitcher was coming forward,” Bautista says. “Now, I get ready when the pitcher is [winding up].”

It took two months for Bautista to get the hang of what Murphy was teaching him. Last July, he cracked only one homer and batted .220 over 58 plate appearances. August was even worse: .167 and no homers over 66 plate appearances. “At the beginning, I didnt feel too good,” Bautista says. “I had to trust that it would work. Then, it finally started clicking.” In September and October, over 125 plate appearances, he cracked 10 homers and hit .257.

Bautista also has compiled the highest on-base percentage of his career (.361), though thats simply a byproduct of his hot start. He doesnt have what you would call the classic mindset of a high-on-base-percentage guy: “I dont go up there trying to see 17 pitches,” he says. “If I see a pitch I can hit, I go after it. Theres no sense trying to work the count and take pitches. Theres no reason to do that when theyre going to throw strikes anyway.”

• In Washington, first-round pick Stephen Strasburgs debut is close, but the frenzy may drag on a few extra days: His Nationals debut, once thought to or sometime during the June 8-10 Pirates series in D.C. The Nationals have yet to target a date in the midst of the speculation, but a person close to Strasburg indicated the debut could come closer to mid-June. June 8-10 might be close enough.

• Where did Albert Pujols power go? Through midweek, the St. Louis slugger had just one home run in 106 plate appearances during the month of May. The buzz on the field is that Pujols has a sore right knee, possibly from compensating for a bad back this spring. Whatever, Pujols is denying it. He told me this week he feels fine. He also told everybody last summer he was fine, then he had elbow surgery after the season. In the box, he looks like hes hitting off of his front foot and not getting much drive from his back foot.

• Regarding that Phillies-Rockies dustup over Philadelphias alleged sign-stealing a couple of weeks back: Dont look for Rockies manager Jim Tracy to serve as one of Charlie Manuels coaches on the National League All-Star staff in Anaheim in July.

• The most surprising team in baseball remains first-place San Diego, thanks to the Padres remarkable pitching. Among the rising stars, set-up man Luke Gregerson (1.82 ERA) is one of only three pitchers in the majors to have 25 or more strikeouts and two or fewer walks allowed, joining Seattles Cliff Lee and Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton. The Padres acquired Gregerson two springs ago as the player to be named later for shortstop Khalil Greene. “They had a list of guys to pick from,” Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says. “We were hoping they didnt choose him.”

• La Russa was none too happy about a 3:35 p.m. local start in San Diego in Thursdays series finale with a 1:20 p.m. start in Wrigley Field on Friday. The Cardinals werent due to land in Chicago until 2 or 3 a.m. La Russa said he told Padres chief operating officer Jeff Moorad he didnt like it the other day. Moorads reaction? “Thats tough,” La Russa said, smiling. “Hang with em.” La Russa says major league “ought to step in” and order clubs to have early afternoon start times on getaway days when the travel is especially difficult.

• Ozzie Guillen Tweet of the Week (May 26): “Today is five years since my good friend chico carrasquel passed away. I miss his advice. Great player and great man.”

Posted on May 29th, 2010 by admin
Filed under: MLB baseball news