So Long Jo-Jo

by gondeee on Jul 23, 2011 1:49 PM EDT

The Blue Jays have cut ties with former Braves star hopeful Jo-Jo Reyes, designating him for assignment. Poor Jo-Jo was part of last year's Yunel Escobar - Alex Gonzalez trade, and pretty much seemed to be just a throw-in by the Braves, mainly to get him off their roster.

It still amazes me that Jo-Jo got as many chances as he did to try and prove he was Major League worthy. This is a guy teams stuck with while he went 28 consecutive starts without getting a win -- going 0-13 with a 6.59 ERA during that span.

Losses don't always equal bad pitchers, but in Reyes' case they probably do. For all the promise he had in the minor leagues, he never lived up to any of it. Remember when a lot of Braves fans thought the future of Atlanta's rotation was Reyes, Kyle Davies, and Matt Harrison? Yeah, me too. Though, I've maintained for years that the Braves should have kept Harrison and given the Rangers Reyes.

Here's the real question: Will Jo-Jo and his career 6.04 ERA get another chance to start in the Majors? My guess is yes. For some reason completely unknown to fans of that team, some GM will give Jo-Jo a chance to start.

In the strange world of ex-Brave lefthanders, Will Ledezma was the pitcher who replaced Jo-Jo on the Jays roster.

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Royals?

"Baseball is the only place in life where a sacrifice is really appreciated."

by Grantdawg on Jul 23, 2011 1:54 PM EDT reply actions

crap....

this means i have to drop him from my Fantasy Team…. (Yes i had him so…!)

the exponent in the equation is a matter of preference and "fit" it can vary depending on what the user believes to yield the curve that best predicts a team’s ability to win games.

by Ivan the Great on May 20, 2011 12:31 PM VET

by Bizarros on Jul 23, 2011 2:15 PM EDT reply actions

oh?

You shouldn’t sip liquor.
-justincredubil02

no, Jack Daniel is whiskey.
-ChopMaster

"Welcome to the show, Brandon Beachy. I think you’re going to stay a while."

by abraves257 on Jul 24, 2011 1:01 AM EDT up reply actions

But everyone says wins don't matter!!!

I though Kawakami was good enough to be a #4 or #5 on any other MLB team! That’s what everyone keeps telling me! Wins don’t matter!!!

"I wasn’t thinking about it. That’s the worst celebration of all time. I didn’t know what to do. I got lost in the moment." - Brian McCann

by HansonManCrush on Jul 23, 2011 2:18 PM EDT via mobile reply actions

The ironic thing is that prior to last night, Reyes had won his last two starts. (Although he didn’t pitch all that well in either of them… the Yankees lit him up last week, but that was the game where Colon didn’t make it out of the first inning and the Jays scored 16 runs.) But yeah, a 1.59 WHIP and 14 HRs in 110 innings doesn’t get the job done at the ML level, and especially not in the AL East. I just looked at his game log and it was brutal. His last worthwhile start was against Cleveland on May 30, where he pitched a 1-run complete game. It’s been downhill since then.

But someone will give him a shot. He might wind up going to Houston and being a placeholder for the next two years.

"Some people give their bodies to science. I gave mine to baseball." -- Ron Hunt

by Cornutt on Jul 23, 2011 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Wins matter to a team, sure

But not as a tool for evaluating pitchers. Who’s better, Madison Bumgarner or Josh Tomlin?

by Resentment on Jul 23, 2011 3:12 PM EDT up reply actions

JoJo produced more WAR in Toronto than McLouth here

by Resentment on Jul 23, 2011 3:10 PM EDT reply actions

Jo-Jo Reyes will always have a job somewhere. He’s left-handed.

by AnEternalEnigma on Jul 23, 2011 3:31 PM EDT reply actions

But will he have scissors??

-C

It’s rough to sit through these games and not have someone that can’t hit a Ball?

by cthabeerman on Jul 23, 2011 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions

JoJo had no mojo & his fast ball was slo mo. So its so long JoJo.

"People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring." Rogers Hornsby

by adc62 on Jul 23, 2011 5:28 PM EDT reply actions

interesting story

My pitching coach (guy hansen) was the pitching coach for the AAA richmond braves and worked with Jo-Jo a lot. He said that he had Jo-Jo pitching very well from the left side of the rubber which created a lot of deception in his delivery because the ball was coming at hitters from an angle and made his breaking ball much better. McDowell moved Jo-Jo to right side of the rubber and made several changes to his delivery. Guy Hansen argued that McDowell ruined Jo-Jo. I don’t know if Guy is right but so far he has proved to be an excelent pitching coach

OBP Slut

by JHey1212 on Jul 23, 2011 6:14 PM EDT via mobile reply actions