Human, All Too Human

Okay, let’s add one more to that list of truths we hold self-evident: keep the fraggin’ ball in the damn park.

I suppose it was inevitable that Johan Santana would eventually run into a little patch like this, but what’s been sort of disturbing is how hard he’s getting hit. The Blue Jays had four doubles and two home runs tonight, and though you’ll read and hear all sorts of quotes about command and location tomorrow, take that stuff with a grain of salt. Those are just the standard lines after a lousy game.

Granted, Santana was obviously getting his fastball up in the first inning, but in the past he’s consistently shown he can get away with that as long as he has his other pitches (particularly that change-up) in his back pocket and can keep the hitters guessing. They’re obviously doing a pretty good job of guessing of late, and I think this may be a little case of over-confidence on Santana’s part. When you’re essentially bulletproof for as long as he was, it’s easy to think you can get away with aggressive pitching. He’s a smart guy, though, and just as long as he’s not dealing with a tired arm or something more bothersome, I’ve no doubt he’ll make the necessary adjustments and figure out what opposing hitters have figured out about him, which is really, of course, what pitching boils down to.

Though only a couple particularly meddlesome and odious characters have been brazen (or cruel) enough to call it to my attention, don’t think for a minute I’m not well aware of what has happened to Jacque Jones –for the second year in a row, I might add– since I came to the conclusion –for the second year in a row, I might add– that he had finally turned the corner.

You can scroll down to the April 27th entry and see for yourself. On that date Jones was batting .393, with all sorts of unexpected peripheral production. In the seventeen games since I once again crawled out on a limb and handed Jones a saw, he has gone 11-for-55 and his average has dropped to .295.

I swear some of these guys like nothing better than to make me look like a complete fool. And, believe me, I’m fully aware that I don’t much need their help.