Report Card Week 1.

Day off for the Jays and a great opportunity for Week 1. Report card.

Jays started off slowly but finished the week with a flurry of wins and signs of wakening bats. The surge coincided with return of Travis Snider who had missed early part of season with his golf injury. At the end of the week however, Hill was still on the DL and not slated to return until the end of this week. He has been watching young Jonathan Diaz put on a defensive show at second and also with his bat and speed. Jays management must be very pleased with such a prospect in the wings. Johnny Mc. and Mike McCoy have also been playing second but it is Diaz who has shone.

Problem areas for the Jays remain in right with Rivera not showing defensive range although his bat is worth it. Encarnacion playing first and third and DH has been huge disappointment and right now Rivera would be better DH. If young Brett Lawrie continues his strong showing then he could be the answer to third base and relieve Bautista for right field which would then enable Rivera to DH. The problem is that he is a non roster player, but he is playing very hard for a role. Eric Thames another non-roster player has shown all-round potential with great bat and better defense than Rivera.

Anthony Gose the new young phenom has really demonstrated his potential, put on a clinic of base stealing this week in Lakeland and timed at 3.25 seconds, which as one scout said is Ricky Henderson territory, one stolen base he had in Dunedin gave no chance for the catcher. Great speed and hustle in the outfield, and hitting the ball hard but with not much to show for it. Look forward to seeing him in Toronto in 2012/13.

The biggest disappointments have undoubtedly been Arencibia, Encarnacion and Dotel. Arencibia is the one who must give the greatest concern for management. He has been unable to hit period, and appears totally indecisive at the plate, his mental state must be weighing heavily. Worse still there appears to be no one waiting to takeover. Molina has been competent but obviously not a first choice behind the plate, Jeroloman, Budde are definitely not ready. d'Arnaud may think he is, and may be talented but hardly a first choice for the big leagues yet.

Hechaverria has appeared in several games this week at short and has shown great defensive talent and will be pushing Escobar in 2012. Meantime Escobar has started off very strongly with bat and glove.

Outfield: Rajai Davis has shown enough to me at least, that we will not be missing Vernon much this season. Rajai has great speed and hustle defensively, and his bat has been hot enough. I think he could be a great leadoff. It looks like Snider in left, Davis in centre and maybe Bautista in right.

One black mark against Jays early was the number of defensive errors, one game five errors and an other three but by the end of the week they had tightened up. It was good to see Brian Butterfield return on Saturday for first time and we should start to see his impact on Lind at first who is still definitely not a Lyle Overbay.

Hitters:
Grade A: Thames, Bautista, Lawrie, Davis, Gose, Jonathan Diaz, Escobar.

Grade B: Snider, (but only because of his lack of games, he has been good in the few he has played) McDonald, but Johnny Mc. has lost nothing of his hustle, diving into first base to beat out throws.
Grade C: Lind, still not consistent, Cooper, McCoy, McDade.
Grade D: Budde (defensively)
Unmentionable: Encarnacion. Arencibia

Pitching: This has been one great delight all week. All except Dotel who in his last two appearances has given up major runs and just does not appear to have anything left. Cut your losses Alex.
Grade A: Litsch,(really making a very strong play for the rotation) Drabek, Romero, Cecil, Morrow, Zach Stewart (another non-roster player but has pitched very well). Jo Jo Reyes.
Grade B: Rzepczynski.

Relievers: Almost universally excellent.
Grade A: Janssen, Fraser, Rauch, Camp, Mills.
Villanueva has been a great, pleasant surprise.
Maybe a B: Francisco, Scott Richmond.
Grade C: all alone Octavia Dotel.

This team has so much young potential, problem is can they put it together? The other problem right now is getting some of the senior players such as Lind to produce.
Still waiting to see Hill and Scott Podsednik (injured) and any potential impact he could have on this mix.