Dirk Hayhurst's Blog

Pardon me for not bubbling over with glee at what seems to be Dustin McGowan’s imminent big league return. I know I probably should be, especially if I’m the Blue Jays. Dustin McGowan has made nearly $3 million over the last four years, logging only 21 innings during that stretch. That’s a hell of a lot of money for such a small body of work. If I’m the Jays, I need to see him in the big leagues in order to justify all the time and money spent to get him fixed. Or maybe I don’t. Maybe the...

They say part of being a professional player means you don’t wish ill on your fellow teammates. I think that’s a load of BS. This game is as much about luck and opportunity as it is good play. Hell, I’d even venture to say it’s more luck and opportunity than good play. Case in point, if you’re Jim Negrych, you’re praying that Melky Cabrera’s MRI shows something. Nothing career ending, just a little something that warrants shutting the Melk Man down for a week or two  (or 60 days), enough to...

How To Kill an All-Star. Last year I said Ricky Romero should not have been in the big leagues to finish the year. He should have been sent down to recover from whatever mental issues were ailing him. The process should have started then, in 2012, when time was on his side. If you look back at his numbers, without the benefit of eyes on his individual performances last year, you may be inclined to build the sterile narrative that it was a lack of run support that really broke him. But the...

If Clay Buchholz was caught applying a foreign substance to his hands tonight, he could (and should) be ejected on the spot — according to the rules of baseball under 8.02. But it’s highly unlikely he’ll be caught. “Because he’s not doing anything wrong!” screams his legion of faithful supporters. Yeah, sure he isn’t. More likely it’s because all the rules on ball doctoring are subject to the umpire’s interpretation and discretion, which, in turn, is subject to the present atmosphere...

Why is it so hard to just accept the fact that the Jays are playing bad baseball? Why does it have to be Gibby’s fault?  Is it impossible that ultra hyped players can’t play up to par? Does the manager, a guy all the players like, really have some super power to hamstring all of them at the same time, without their notice? I was there for every game in spring training. At the start of it, everyone one knew the stakes felt the intenisty of the expectation. They all wanted to win....

It’s time to hit the panic button. I know what you’re going to say. I’m a downer. It’s early. It’s a small sample size. It’s only April. This team has the ability to get hot at any time. Maybe. Then again, maybe not. Consider that the Jays are, as of writing this, 8.5 games behind the red hot Red Sox. And those Red Sox are playing the Huston Astros, a bona fide Triple A club that exists purely so other teams can say, “well, at least we aren’t...

Gregg Zaun and I like to argue, and that’s a good thing. It makes for bold television, better informed viewers, and, best of all, I’m always right. We were talking about JP Arenciba’s approach to the plate. Zaun was of the mind that JPA, who is presently worst among all qualified major league catchers in strike out percentage at 35.9%, can strikeout as much as he wants because he’s going to hit 30 homers this year. Also, so sayeth the Zaun, JPA’s free swinging mentality keeps him fro...

Wow, a true Cathedral of Baseball, as they say…. Although, those top level cheap seats do require a sherpa to get to. Fortunately sherpa carries your Barbecue for you… Mmm… sherpa.    

Carlos Quentin said the reason he charged Zack Greinke after getting plunked in Thursday’s Dodgers/Padres game is because the pair had history. Bad history. Quentin said it goes back to an alleged bean ball he received from Greinke in 2009, one that, apparently, left a wound onQuentin much deeper than a mere bruise. However, said Quentin, he would have let it all go—past and present—if Greinke didn’t say something provocative immediately after hitting him Thursday night. Yeah,...

Dear unborn child. Today I sat at a bar and watched a lady slowly get obliterated on four dollar Bud Light draughts. Pretty sad. Not that she got obliterated. You’ll probably experience that for yourself at some point, but that she got obliterated on Bud Light. She probably thought she was getting a deal, but she wasn’t. There are no deals to be had with Bud Light, It’s swill, and she had so many that the “Light” portion hardly mattered anymore. She could have...