Blue Jays Game Day Preview: July 17th 2009

Friday July 17th 2009

Boston Red Sox (54-34), 1st in AL East

@

Toronto Blue Jays (44-46), 4th in AL East

Probable Pitching Matchup

Clay Buchholz (0-0, 0.00ERA)

vs

Ricky Romero (7-3, 3.00ERA)

Blue Jays Machine Expects:

The attention to be on Roy Halladay:

Toronto returns to action this Friday @ the Rogers Centre (Skydome) to do battle with the AL East leading Red Sox.

Normally a heated rivalry for Toronto baseball fans as our fair city boasts the likes of a abnormally high number of Red Sox fans.

The attention will be on Roy Halladay and the recent trade speculation more than the game itself in this writer's opinion.

The July 31st trade deadline is slowly approaching and the media surrounding the just completed All-Star game basically added fuel to the Halladay trade specualtion fire.

See my article "The Halladay Controversy Continues" for some possible Halladay trade destinations and possibilities for what the Jays could get in return for their ace pitcher.

A great pitching matchup to open the series:

We all know how well Ricky Romero has been pitching for the Jays this season, if he keeps this up during the second half you have yourself a top contender for the AL Rookie of the Year.

But don't forget about Clay Buchholz.

Remember him?

The lanky right handed pitcher who threw a no hitter in his second career major league start on September 1st 2007.

Well after a rough 2008 season and a demotion to Triple A Pawtucket for most of the 2009 season Buchholz will make his season debut for the Red Sox this Friday. Buchholz boasted stellar numbers at Triple A this season (7-2, 2.36ERA, 99IP, 67H, 30BB,89K) and should make a formidable competitor for the Jays offense.