Rolen finally hits one out

I'd originally posted this on http://mvn.com/mlb-bluejays/
What do the friends on OA (House, Rick, Cliff, the fish) think about this Rolen bashing? Discuss. And what do you think about Shulman? I personally disagree with a lot of the stuff he says, by the way, including his contention that the steroid issue in baseball > the alleged game-fixing situation in basketball.

Scott Rolen finally hit one out. Good riddance.

The Blue Jays third baseman ended 32-game homerless streak with a solo blast in the third inning, as Toronto edged the visiting Chicago Cubs 3-2.

Rolen’s blast came right after Matt Stairs had given the Jays a 2-0 lead with a clout of his own, a two-run job.

It was the first time Toronto had connected for back-to-back dingers this season, and the first time that the Blue Birds have had two homers in the same inning.

Though A.J. Burnett was shaky in his five-plus innings, he was much better compared to his last start versus Baltimore (8 R, 4.1 IP), and picked up his sixth win to even his record at 6-6. Even B.J. Ryan got the job done on this night, notching save No. 14.

But how about that Rolen-for-Troy Glaus swap now?

I don’t care what anyone says; despite the fact Rolen had been hitting .300 for much of the season before seeing it dip under in the last couple days, the Jays’ new third sacker and No. 3 hitter has been a bust.

Say what you want about his defense, but this ballclub needs someone who can hit the long balls and drive in big runs. The Jays have been struggling all year long in one-run ballgames and with driving runners across. And they can’t just rely on Vernon Wells alone.

Meanwhile, over in St. Louis, Glaus has been healthy all year long, missing only one game this season while being productive in the fifth spot in the Cardinals’ lineup.

Heading into Friday’s action, Glaus was hitting .262 with 8 homers and 40 RBIs in 229 at-bats for the Red Birds.

Rolen? After fracturing his right middle finger during spring training, Rolen missed the first few weeks before returning in late April. Yes, Rolen made a huge splash with his first home run in his third game. For good measure, he even added another over a week later.

But then no home runs for over a month–until Friday night. Rolen’s numbers going in: .293 with 2 home runs and only 16 RBIs in 157 ABs.

Unacceptable.

The Cards have gotten the better of the deal so far.

And what about Frank Thomas? Released by the Jays early in the season, Thomas rebounded and hit .319 with 4 homers in a month’s worth of action for the A’s before landing on the DL at the end of May.

Thomas’ success out in Oakland coincided with the Jays’ winning ways in May, but if Big Frank hadn’t been injured and had continued hitting for the A’s in June, once again the release would have looked real bad for Toronto.

Reed Johnson? Deemed expendable following the signing of Shannon Stewart, Johnson was released before the season began. While Johnson (.267, 2 HR), now with the Cubs, didn’t make an impact in this Chicago-Toronto tilt on Friday (he was sent in to pinch-hit in the ninth), he is at least active.

Stewart is now on the DL, and is expected to be gone at least a month, and was hitting just .240 with a homer before his ankle injury. Oddly enough, the timing of Stewart’s injury came just as Wells was coming off the disabled list.

Interestingly, former Blue Jays broadcaster Dan Shulman was quoted as saying the release of Thomas was the right thing to do given his attitude and the fact the DH was no longer an everyday player.

I could not disagree more.

The reality is the Jays need at least another bat in the lineup to protect Wells.

Rolen isn’t getting the job done with the long ball. Stairs is getting up there in age, and the Jays can’t expect him to do much more than what he’s been giving them so far.

Without those dumb moves in the Rolen deal or releases, this Jays team should be contending for the wild card, especially given the fact they boast the majors’ third-best ERA (3.49) and have the best rotation in baseball.

The Barry Bonds thing isn’t going to happen, so I don’t understand what direction this team is heading in. The Jays are way better than their 35-34, 6 1/2-game back, record indicates.

And I’m going to blame Rolen for this.

Is his next homer going to come in another month?