26-year old lefty swinging DH/OF Adam Lind looked like a player on the rise after his 2009 season. In 2009, Lind played in 151 games for the Blue Jays and he was 179 of 587 (.305 avg, .932 OPS) with 93 runs scored, 35 homers and 114 RBIs. But this season Lind has looked helpless at the plate at times. Lind has played in 75 games for the Jays this year and he is 58 of 285 (.204 avg, .609 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 9 homers and 34 RBIs. He has also whiffed a stunning 77 times already this season. I’m beginning to think that the Blue Jays need to give him a few days off to work on things without the pressure of performing in games.

The Blue Jays have acquired 25-year old righty reliever/starter Clint Everts to complete the trade of Jorge Padilla to the Mets. Everts has pitched in 26 games (0 starts) this season in AA-ball and he is 3-1 with 2 saves, a 6.94 ERA and a 1.91 WHIP. He has now pitched 8 years in the minors appearing in 217 games (76 starts) and he is 35-40 with 15 saves, a 4.16 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP. Everts has never pitched in the majors so he will have to get a lot better before the Blue Jays give him a chance.

25-year old lefty starting pitcher Ricky Romero burst onto the scene for the Blue Jays last season. As a rookie he started 29 games for the Jays in 2009 in which he was 13-9 with a 4.30 ERA and a 1.52 WHIP. He gave up 192 hits last season while whiffing 141 batters in 178 innings. This season Romero has improved by leaps and bounds as he is attacking hitters instead of nibbling. Romero has started 15 games for the Blue Jays this season and he is 6-3 with a 2.85 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Romero has only given up 89 hits in 104 1/3 innings this season while whiffing 101 batters which shows huge improvement. Romero has the stuff to someday win 20 games in a season and he will no doubt be at the top of the Blue Jays’ rotation for quite some while as long as he can stay healthy.

The Blue Jays have traded 26-year old lefty swinging catcher Kyle Phillips to the Padres for a player to be named later. Phillips played in 19 games in AAA-ball this season and he was 17 of 66 (.258 avg, .643 OPS) with 9 runs scored and 8 RBIs. Phillips got his first taste of the majors last season with the Blue Jays appearing in 5 games in which he was 5 of 18 (.278 avg, .722 OPS) with 1 run scored and 2 RBIs. This won’t hurt the Blue Jays who like who they have in the majors and in AAA.

28-year old righty starting pitcher Dustin McGowan will miss the rest of the 2010 season. He had surgery yesterday to repair a significant tear to his right rotator cuff. McGowan last pitched in 2008 with the Blue Jays and he was injured trying to rehab. McGowan has pitched in 75 games (56 starts) in parts of four years with the Blue Jays and he is 20-22 with a 4.71 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP. This is a shame as McGowan was working hard to get back to Toronto.