The Future Is Now

It was quite a weekend for Blue Jays fans down at the SkyDome. First was the debut of catching prospect JP Arencibia on Saturday and then Sunday was the best pitching performance of the season - by any pitcher in a sweep of the AL wild card leaders Tampa Bay Rays.

We will start the weekend with Arencibia debut, and it was a game to remember for the youngster. On the first pitch he saw in the big leagues, he swung and connected and the ball went bye bye. Home run. He was the first Jays player to do this since Junior Felix in 1987. Not your everyday occurrence. Arencibia was off to a great start. On his next at-bat a double, then a single, and then ANOTHER home run. JP was now 4-4 and the first player in the modern era (since 1900) to have a first game like he did. Unfortunately, in his last at-bat the Rays pitching staff found a hole in his bat and retired him, ending his day - 4-5, batting .800 and tieing Jose Bautista for the most home runs in baseball this season.

Arencibia isn't just another Jays prospect that they needed because of an injury. For the past two seasons JP has been the "catcher of the future" only to have Jays management get one year stop gap solutions. Every fan knows his name because he is the prospect that we want to see succeed. Now that he has made the transition to the big league team and done well it will hopefully be difficult to get him out of the line-up, except when Brandon Morrow is pitching.

The second part of the weekend was the excellent pitching performance by Brendan Morrow. Morrow has been a pleasant surprise this season for the Jays. He had not been given the proper opportunity to be a starter and the Jays promised him that opportunity. He confirmed the organizations faith with his start on Sunday afternoon. Morrow went into the 9th inning with a no-hitter. One out, then the second out and then the clock struck midnight. Morrow gave up his only base it to break up the no hitter and his shot at joining the class 2010 pitching performances. Even though he didn't get the no hitter, he did finish with 17 strike-outs and a great stepping stone for the Jays.

So is the future now for the Jays? They took two out of three from Yankees and then sweep the Rays. The Red Sox are having major injury concerns, so do we want to think about the Jays making the playoffs or do fans think that 2011 could be a playoff year? With Arencibia stepping into the starting catcher role, the pitching staff of Morrow, Romero, Marcum, and Brett Cecil, a solid bullpen and then young position players in Lind, Hill, Snider and the veteran leadership of Wells it could be a very good season(s).