Jays top prospect Brett Lawrie has done more than enough to earn a promotion to the big-league club.
With the Blue Jays having won nine of their last 12 games, the American League East is turning into quite the log jam with the five teams in the division separated by a mere 3 1/2 games. I realize that there is still a lot baseball to be played this summer, but if this division was to stay this tight, it could be a whole bunch of fun.
As the Jays were having their way with the Yankees, making them 13-4 in the first game of a series this season, their top prospect was continuing his assault on Pacific Coast League pitching. Brett Lawrie, who opened a lot of eyes -- including Jays rookie manager John Farrell -- during his impressive first spring with his new club following an off-season trade with the Brewers, slammed his 12th home run in 44 games while going 2-for-4 on Monday night as his Las Vegas 51s defeated the Iowa Cubs 10-5.
As Sportsnet baseball producer Doug Walton passionately pointed out in his post-game missive, Lawrie is now batting .500 (15-30) with 14 runs, 13 RBIs and 4 HRs over his past seven games. Over that same time span, the multitude of players that have been manning the hot corner with the Jays -- Edwin Encarnacion, Jayson Nix, John McDonald and Mike McCoy -- have combined to go a big, fat 0 for 24 with eight strikeouts over their past seven games.
Included in those numbers was Encarnacion going bagel for three -- all strikeouts -- at the plate while booting the only ground ball hit his way in the field on Monday night at Yankee Stadium II. That was EE's 11th error of the season (his 8th in 17 games at 3B). So I have two questions, and they both start with 'why':
Why is Brett Lawrie not with the big club?
And why is Edwin Encarnacion still allowed to wear leather on his left hand?
I really don't care what the rationale is anymore. Lawrie went down to the minors to play every day at 3B after playing his first two minor-league seasons at 2B. Sure he made a bunch of errors early on, and has made 11 to date, but he has settled down where his fielding is no longer an issue.
Encarnacion, on the other hand, has lost whatever confidence in the field he had after making two errors last Wednesday while playing first base against the Rays (he should have been charged with three more if not for some very questionable scoring) and then other on Monday night. His 11 total errors are the most in the majors and have come on just 95 total chances -- or one every 8.6 times that the ball is hit his way.
And then factor in that EE has zero -- zip, nada, nothing -- home runs this season in his first 140 plate appearances, while striking out once every seven times he digs in at the dish, and ask again: why is Lawrie not a Blue Jay? Better hitter, better fielder, better foot speed ... it's a no-brainer.
And let's not forget that Lawrie is also Canadian which, I would hazard a guess, would sell tickets for a team whose nightly attendance is rolling back into the tens of thousands again. After years of getting home-grown players on the downside of their careers, Lawrie is on the verge of embarking on what could be a long and productive run in a Jays' uniform.
But he's got to get here first.
FARM REPORT
Continuing with news from Las Vegas, some other performances of note from Monday night. Brett Cecil -- remember him? -- made his 6th start for the 51s and while he won for the fifth time in six decisions, his performance likely won't have the Jays rushing him back to Toronto. Cecil gave up three first-inning runs (on two home runs) and five runs total over his seven innings of work. Cecil's ERA now sits at 5.84 and he has already given up a whopping 11 home runs.
Travis Snider had a nondescript 1-for-4 evening and has hit just one HR in his 23 AAA games with more strikeouts (19) than RBIs (17). And Adam Loewen continues his transformation from pitcher to right fielder and hit four doubles to raise his average to .289 with 28 RBIs. Don't be shocked if Loewen and his left-handed bat find their way to Toronto at some point this summer.
STUMBLE IN THE BRONX
The soap opera that is Jorge Posada doesn't appear to be going away any time soon. While things have reportedly cooled between the veteran DH and his manager, Posada no longer resembles anything close to an effective hitter -- he's now batting .176 -- and he's limiting Joe Girardi's options late in games.
Case in point from Monday night's game 7-3 loss to the Jays: With the Yankees threatening in the bottom of the eighth and Toronto rookie left-hander Luis Perez on the mound, all signs pointed to Girardi lifting Posada for a right-handed pinch hitter, likely Andruw Jones, especially with Jorge hitting an embarrassing 0 for 25 against lefties this season. No substitution was made, Posada weakly grounded into a fielder's choice and the Yankees went on to lose for the 12th time in their last 20 games.
GOING DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS
I'm sure the rest of the American League sat up and took notice last night in Texas where slugging outfielders Josh Hamilton and Nelson Cruz returned from the disabled list and both homered to help Alexi Ogando improve to 5-0. The Rangers appear poised to run away and hide in the weak AL West.
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
In the span of 11 days, four MLB hitters have slammed three HRs in a game. Milwaukee's Corey Hart hit his first three home runs of the season on Monday night to join Carlos Beltran (NYM), Jose Bautista (TOR) and Jason Giambi (COL) in this season's "Hat Trick of Homers" club.
I'M NOT A MACHINE, I'M ALBERT
Cardinals' superstar slugger -- and soon-to-be free agent -- Albert Pujols ended the longest HR drought of his career (106 at-bats) with a bomb out of the cavernous Petco Field in San Diego on Monday night. That gives Pujols 20 HRs and 63 RBIs in 69 career games against the Padres. Perhaps San Diego is where Pujols might want to locate to when the frenzy for his services begins next November.
