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July 1st 2007
June turned out to be a fantastic month for the Toronto Blue Jays. Not only did we manage to resign 2 of out top young stars to long term contract extensions but we finally seemed to put everything together and started winning we finished the month with a record of 21-7.
We started off the month winning 2 of 3 from the Devil Rays in Florida and then moven on the Baltimore where we swept the Orioles in 4 games. After Baltimore we headed to Detroit where we lost 2 of 3 to the Tigers. After playing in Detroit we came home for a short 4 game homestand against the Baltimore Orioles before we headed out for the last swing of Interleague Play. We ended up splitting the 4 games against Baltimore and we off to sunny Florida to take on the Marlins. We swept the Marlins in 3 games and took off for Atlanta where we once again swept the Braves winning our 6th consecutive game. From Atlanta we headed to New York to play the Mets and we won another series taking 2 of 3 from New York. After a long road trip we headed home for 6 games against the Washington Nationals and Philedelphia Phillies. We swept all 3 from Washington and took 2 of 3 from the Phillies to close out the month of June and Interleague play.
General Manager's Thoughts
We finally strung together good pitching and hitting. SP Tenshin Imai got his 10th win of the season this month and is tied for 2nd in the American League in wins. My two young pitchers Bill Arkell and Christian Jacobs have been on fire this month and have improved their records to 7-5 and 8-5 respectively. They have outpitched both Francisco Romero and Robinson Martinez to the point where I moved them up to the 2nd and 3rd spots in my rotation behind Tenshin Imai. This gives me a very formitiable 1-2-3 punch in my starting rotation.
Interms of offence Raul Pagan has been on fire winning his second consecutive American League Rookie of the Month Award. This month he hit .296 with 11 HR and 26 RBI's. He currently leads the team in Homeruns with 20 and RBI's with 62. To cap off Raul Pagan's great month he hit for the cycle agains the Washington Nationals June 27. Pagan hit a single in the 2nd a triple in the 5th an two-run homerun in the 6th and a double in the 9th in a 7-4 win over the Nationals. All of this production is amazing coming from a 21 year old player. SS Richard Evans has also picked up his play batting .302 in June and C Jose Estrada hit 4 more homeruns to bring his total to 9.
Down on the Farm
This months players are as follows. I chose one from each level to give you an ide of the talent in the system:
Syracuse (AAA)
3B Brandon Webb
.431 3 HR 13 RBI in 17 G
Webb was a waiver claim on June 6th from the Chicago Cubs and all he has done since he joined the Blue Jays is hit. His stock is rising quickly with this performance and at 20 years old still has a lot of time.
New Hampshire (AA)
CL Jose Clement
5-1 17 SV 0.46 ERA 8 BB 31 K in 29 Games
A 23 year old closer who is having a terriffic season for New Hampshire. He has only blown 1 save in 18 tries. He doesn't throw as hard as most closers only 90-92 but relies on good command and location.
Dunedin (A)
1B Felipe Ramos
.309 4 HR 13 RBI in 61 games
A 23 year old first baseman who is having a good year for a very bad Dunedin team. There really aren't a lot of good players on this team as most are only rated as * or **. Ramos is ** but at 23 a little on the old side to be playing in Dunedin.
Lansing (A)
RF Jeff McDowell
.322 11 HR 37 RBI in 78 games
A 21 year old outfielder who is better known for his glove but is doing good things with the bat for Lansing. He is only rated as ** but if he keeps on putting uo these numbers he could advance quickly.
Auburn (SA)
SP Antonio Perez
3-0 0.38 ERA 9 BB 8 K in 4 Starts
My 3rd round pick this seaon has started out on fire for Auburn winning 3 of his first 4 starts and allowing only 2 earned runs. I didn't expect him to get off to such a hot start. I will definately be watching him closely.
Pulaski (R)
C Lloyd Matthews
.349 2 HR 8 RBI in 11 games
My 2nd round pick this past season has also gotten off to a hot start and has already hit as many homeruns in 2 games in Pulaski as he did in the entire season in college. He may be a little old for Rookie Ball but if he continues to put up these numbers he won't be there long.
Up Next: July Update and Trade Deadline Day
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