Scott Rolen will not be looking back fondly at his first season in Toronto. He, probably, won't even look back at all.
When all is said and done this season, with the Jays likely on the outside looking in yet again, third baseman Scott Rolen will not be looking back fondly at his first season in Toronto. He, probably, won't even look back at all.
His arrival at Spring Training, way back in February, was regarded as a new start for the 7-time Gold Glover. Having been chased out of St. Louis by Tony LaRussa, for reasons only Rolen and the legendary manager understand, Rolen and Troy Glaus changed teams and positions, with the move seen as a new start for both players with health issues.
Glaus' second and final season with the Jays was basically a write-off. Limited to 115 games due to bone spurs in his left foot that finally required surgery, Glaus' feet and legs took a pounding on the Rogers Centre artificial surface. Although he still hit 20 home runs despite his limited mobility, his move to the natural grass field in St. Louis was looked at as a way to salvage a career clearly on the other side of the mountain. And salvage he has. So far, Glaus has blasted 21 home runs to go with 79 RBI and his .856 OPS (on-base plus slugging, one of the New Age stats created to show a hitter's actual production) is third on the Cardinals behind sluggers Albert Pujols and Rick Ankiel.
Rolen's 2008 season has been a study in frustration. The black clouds starting forming late in Spring Training when during routine fielding drills on a back diamond, a groundball took a bad hop, breaking the tip of his right middle finger. It would keep Rolen on the sideline until the final week of April when he drove in five runs in his first six games. Nice debut for the 33-yea old, but his power started to diminish as the days rolled by. He failed to hit a home run between May 7th and June 13th, with the majority of his hits being opposite field singles. Though it was kept quiet, his left shoulder, operated on three times over his career, started to act up again and was keeping him from getting his bat into the hitting zone. All one hasd to see was nightly swings where the ball was fouled over the first base dugout to see to something was amiss. The decision was made to start giving Rolen a couple days off a week in hopes that the rest and treatment would help get his swing back.
But it didn't and, on Sunday with the Jays sleepwalking through another loss where they couldn't buy a hit, Rolen was finally shut down for at least 15 days. Marco Scutaro will take his place in the interim.
When historians look back at this disappointing season, where the Jays pitched with the best and hit with the worst, the inability of Rolen to provide any offence will be one of the reasons that the team failed to make the playoffs for the 15th straight season. But he shouldn't shoulder (no pun intended) most of the blame. Despite his deteriorating health, Rolen did provide some of the best defence at the hot corner that we've ever seen in these parts. Hopefully some extended treatment will get him back to the All-Star status of previous years, which will include a bat that once hit 34 home runs and drove in 124 runs. On an offensively-challenged team like the Jays, that will be paramount if they ever hope to be a contender.
AROUND THE HORN
As every start goes by, where he pitched his butt off but gets no support, Jays' ace Roy Halladay is starting to look more and more frustrated. His 13-9 record will likely keep him from winning his second career Cy Young Award, especially with Cliff Lee now with 16 wins. Halladay pitched well enough to easily win 20 games this season, but the 14 runs of support in his nine losses and two no-decisions ultimately derailed his season...
Too bad the schedule maker only has the Jays play a solitary series in Detroit, who were once their hated rival. As disappointed as Jays fans are with their team, it will be interesting to gauge how Tigers fans feel about a sub-.500 team that began the season with such promise. After an off-season deal brought Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to the Motor City, much was expected. But a faulty bullpen, due to injury and ineffectiveness, did them in, and the towel was officially thrown in at the trade deadline when All-Star catcher Ivan 'Pudge' Rodriguez was sent to the Yankees...
Bad weekend for a couple of ex-Jays. The 'O-Dog', Orlando Hudson underwent surgery on Saturday to repair a dislocated bone and his left wrist, meaning that he'll be lost to the Diamondbacks, as they try and hold off the Dodgers, for the balance of the season. And Chris Carpenter, trying to come all the way back from 'Tommy John surgery', had to come out of his Sunday start with a strained right triceps...
For those who you who continue to believe that the Tampa Bay Rays are going to wither and go away, they seem to have come out of their seven-game losing streak to end the first half unscathed, and have won 16 of 23 after the break. The loss of Carl Crawford, likely for the season, will be their latest test. His place will be taken by Rocco Baldelli, remember him, who returned to active duty for the first time since the middle of May 2007...
