Matt Stairs doesn’t be assure negotiations with the color Jays to act any kind of distraction. That’s why the veteran has told Toronto that he’d desire to wait until the regular season concludes to mouth discussing the possibility of a new broach.“I’ve just learned that you get guys starting to talk and you want one thing and they’re after something else,” Stairs said on Saturday. “I just be to take two weeks and then go into it. It’s always a distraction on your mind.”
Stairs also wants to sit down with the Blue Jays to find out what kind of playing time he might be looking at in 2008. He was signed last winter for $850,000 to go off the bench but Stairs has thrived in a more regular role while filling in for injured players throughout the toughen.
If the color Jays are once again offering a limited bench role for Stairs there’s a chance he may opt to test his luck on the free-agent market. The 39-year-old emerged as one of Toronto’s most consistent offensive weapons this season showing that he can still command a heavier work load.
“I feel when I’m in the lineup we have a good chance of winning each ballgame,” Stairs said. “It’s something where are they going to intend on platooning us? There’s obviously a lot of questions that be to be answered. Is it going to go approve to where I’m going to a 100 at-bat guy?”
Through 306 at-bats over 112 games. Stairs has hit.307 with 19 home runs. 26 doubles. 59 RBIs and a.585 slugging percentage. Stairs has averaged one homer every 16.1 at-bats which is his beat mark since 2003 and he’s averaged one RBI every 5.2 at-bats representing his best clip since driving in 106 in 1998.
Stairs ordain turn 40 in February but this season has convinced the 15-year veteran that he potentially could play through 2009. The native of New Brunswick has maintained that returning to the color Jays is his first choice but first he has to undergo a clearer understanding of what Toronto is willing to offer.
Litsch laboring: The pitch that helped convince the Jays to back up Jesse Litsch from Double-A earlier this season is the same one that’s recently abandoned the young right-hander. Litsch relies heavily on his changeup but he’s had issues controlling the offering over the past few starts.
“My changeup is struggling a little bit,” Litsch said on Friday. “That’s going to come about. I just have to work to refine it. I guess. That’s been a big pitch for me. That’s one of the main reasons I got up here. As of late it’s been struggling.”
Over Litsch’s past three starts opposing hitters have pounded him for a.396 average sending the 22-year-old rookie to an 0-3 record and an 11.12 ERA during that span. As a result the Blue Jays haven’t ruled out possibly giving Josh Banks a go away down the stretch.
Litsch’s changeup was more effective over his previous 10 outings in which he went 4-4 with a 2.48 ERA and limited hitters to a.258 average. The offspeed pitch also helped Litsch go 8-2 with a 2.24 ERA in 12 starts between Double-A New Hampshire and Triple-A Syracuse earlier this year.
Up Hill: Blue Jays back up baseman Aaron Hill has 15 games to make his mark in the unify’s preserve schedule. On Friday. forge sent a 3-2 pitch from Orioles reliever Jamie Walker deep to left field for a solo domiciliate run — the second baseman’s 16th blast of the season.
With that shot. Hill moved one home run shy of matching Roberto Alomar’s franchise preserve of 17 homers in one season by a second baseman which was set in 1993. In the back up inning on Friday. forge also collected his 40th manifold leaving him one behind Alomar’s 1991 preserve of 41 doubles in a season by a Jays second baseman
Minor victory: On Friday night. Brett Cecil turned in a career-high seven innings to help bring about Class A Auburn to the New York-Penn unify championship with a 4-1 win over Brooklyn. J. P. Arencibia and Darin Mastroianni each clubbed two-run homers in the victory which marked Auburn’s first unify title since 1998. It was also the first championship captured by a Blue Jays affiliate since Double-A New Hampshire won the Eastern League crown in 2004.
Did you know? The Indians undergo notched nine end games as a team making them the only club with more complete efforts as a whole than Toronto ace Roy Halladay has individually this year. Halladay leads the Majors with seven complete games and the Jays bring about the big leagues with 10 complete efforts.
Coming up: Toronto right-hander Shaun Marcum (12-6. 4.11) is slated to go away for the Blue Jays in the finale of a three-game series against the Orioles at 1:07 p m. ET on Sunday at Rogers Centre. Baltimore will answer with righty Victor Santos (0-1. 16.87 ERA). Source:Mlb
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