Thursday, April 30, 2009

Smoke and Mirrors for the Blue Jays?

Heath of Dempsey's Army recently pointed out in the Roar from 34 comments section that although the O's upcoming opponent, the Toronto Blue Jays, have surged out of the gate, much of that success can be attributed to a soft early schedule. In a Thursday posting on SI.com, Jonah Keri offers a similar assessment (emphasis added).
Marco Scutaro has hit four homers with a .415 on-base percentage so far this season (he has never hit double-digit homers in a season and owns a career OBP of .328); Aaron Hill's hitting .371 (career average: .288); Adam Lind's hitting .314 (.277); Lyle Overbay's slugging 89 points better than his career average; journeymen Jose Bautista and Kevin Millar have gone nuts in 69 part-time at-bats. Only Alex Rios (.237/.298/.355) is hitting substantially below expectations. It's theoretically possible that a team of established veterans, mixed with a couple of promising kids, suddenly hits like the '95 Indians for a full season. Just don't bet on it. The Blue Jays have gotten fat on a soft schedule; in fact they've yet to play a single game against an AL East foe.

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