Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum are proving that last season was not a fluke. While baseball writers keep blabbing about Ian Kennedy, Phil Hughes, Caly Buchholz and John Lester all McGowan and Marcum keep doing is win baseball games. Both of them have great stuff and they will earn respect very soon. McGowan has started 4 games this season and he is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP. He also has whiffed 17 batters in 24 innings. Shaun Marcum has started 3 games for the Jays this season and he is 2-0 with a 2.61 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Marcum has already whiffed 20 batters in 20.2 innings. With the starting rotation the Blue Jays have they will likely compete for the American League East Crown. They are currently in third place in the A.L. East with a 10-9 record, 2.5 games behind the Red Sox.

2B Aaron Hill is rewarding the Blue Jays faith in him as he is off to an outstanding start to the 2008 season. The Jays locked him up in the off-season to a pretty nice long term contract. Hill has played in 19 games this season and he is 24 for 74 (.324 avg, .864 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 2 homers, 13 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The Blue Jays have moved Hill up to the #2 spot in the order and he will be perfect for the job.

The Blue Jays have acquired reserve outfielder Buck Coats from the Reds for either a player to be named later or cash. Last season for the Reds, Coats played in 20 games and he was 7 for 34 (.206 avg, .587 OPS) with 2 runs scored and 2 RBIs. Coats has now played in 38 games in his major league career and he is 10 for 52 (.192 avg, .578 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs. Coats will likely be nothing more than a backup for the Blue Jays this season.

Lyle Overbay’s season really started to go downhill when his hand was broken with a pitch. But, that’s no excuse for the awful 2nd half of the season that he is putting up. He has played in 56 games since the All-Star Break and he is 46 for 202 (.228 avg, .636 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 2 homers and 16 RBIs. Overbay is only hitting .242 (.717 OPS) with 49 runs scored, 10 homers and 43 RBIs this season. He has started to lose some playing time to the hot hitting Matt Stairs so he needs to get his act together.

The Blue Jays have not gotten much offense from their catchers or their starting shortstop and that will need to change in the 2nd half of the season. Gregg Zaun, Jason Phillips and Royce Clayton have all been hitting like pitchers so far this season. Zaun missed a lot of the first half of the season with a broken hand so he should be able to pick it up with the bat when he shakes the rust off. He is hitting .240 with 17 runs scored, 3 homers and 20 RBIs in only 125 atbats. Jason Phillips took over for Zaun when he was injured and he didn’t hit too well. Phillips only hit .212 in the first half with 11 runs scored, 1 homer and 12 RBIs in 137 atbats this season. Royce Clayton could wind up losing playing time to John McDonald if he doesn’t start hitting better soon. Clayton is only hitting .236 with 22 runs scored, 1 homer and 11 RBIs in 137 atbats this season.