Bothered by Buchholz and Defending Bautista
Slowly but surely, Clay Buchholz is getting under my skin.
Clay Buchholz ran his streak to 21 consecutive innings against the Blue Jays without surrendering an earned run. He’s now a perfect 3-0 in three starts versus the Blue Jays this year with a glimmering ERA of 1.00.
Shaun Marcum pitched well enough to win, but received absolutely no help whatsoever from his teammates. The tale of the tape says it all: Toronto was 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and they stranded 10 men on base.
ADVERTISEMENT
The entire nine innings, the Blue Jays only made it to third base once.
Gotta At Least Get Your Facts Straight
I just wanted to give my two cents on an article that was put out there yesterday insinuating that Jose Bautista may be juicing. I mean, you know it’s ridiculous when even Ken Rosenthal agrees that it’s wrong to make those kinds of accusations.
For a couple of great takes on the issue, check out Parkes’ version on Drunk Jays Fans and Drew’s on Ghostrunner on First.
When a player that hasn’t hit more than 16 dingers in a single season suddenly propels himself to 38 home runs, there are going to be questions. Unfortunately, “the question” is something that no player in this modern era is immune to.
While I don’t necessarily have a problem with “the question”, it was the manner in which it was asked and who it stemmed from. It’s easy for this writer to make accusations because he won’t have to face Jose Bautista in the clubhouse the next day to get an interview.
The article came from an appointed hockey columnist. I repeat, HOCKEY COLUMNIST. Nothing against the talented writers who cover this fine sport, but the last article he posted on his blog that even remotely mentions the Toronto Blue Jays dates back to December 11th, 2009.
That’s the equivalent of me writing a blog post claiming Steven Stamkos must be using performance enhancing drugs because his goal total doubled from 23 to 51 in the span of one year.
For someone from the outside looking in who covers hockey for a living, it’s easy to make a snap judgment like that in hopes of selling more newspapers and increasing page views rather than getting all the facts straight beforehand.
ADVERTISEMENT
Bautista on PED's? Seriously, there's zero chance of that. He's exactly the same size he's always been and his ability to grow a full beard within a nine inning game speaks of naturally very high testosterone levels…
Now I feel bad. I'm frankly puzzled by J-Bau's power surge, and I did a bit of speculating myself, a few weeks back.
It may not be PEDs. I hope it's not PEDs. But, jeez… Bautista's slugging percentage is up almost 200 points over his career average. HR/FB ratio almost double his career ratio. Those numbers are eye-popping.
And then again, the whole team has been hitting home runs, so Bautista's numbers may be a product of the team being coached differently, and in particular, due to a revised approach versus righthanders that I've heard talk of.
Who really knows?
The thing that pissed me off about Cox's post is that it didn't even ATTEMPT to investigate or explain Bautista's performance, or look at it in any depth – it was just speculation, apparently for its own sake.
Mattt, great point – it's not like Bautista suddenly bulked up in the offseason or anything. I'm sure we would've noticed. I think his incredible beard-growing ability just comes naturally.
Roberto, no … Cox didn't do any research whatsoever, so he didn't investigate how Cito/Murphy retooled Bautista's swing, how he's getting started earlier, and just the fact Jose's getting regular playing time. It was all speculation. Glad to see Rich Griffin put him in his place.
Now, the thing to remember about Clay's wife is that she's a different woman than his previous girlfriend, who was the Penthouse Pet of the Year. Baseball players just roll around in, what doctors would call, "poontang." (It's a medical term.)
Steve, if that's the case, Buchholz should really get that checked out. I heard it's contagious!