29-year old righty reliever Casey Janssen has worked himself into contention for the closer’s job with Jon Rauch on the D.L. and Frank Francisco’s right should barking. He has pitched in 7 games so far in August and he is 1-0 with 1 save, a 0.00 ERA and a 0.43 WHIP. He has only given up 2 hits and walked 2 batters in 9 1/3 innings this August while whiffing 14 batters as he has been outstanding this month. Janssen has now pitched in 40 games (0 starts) so far this year for the Blue Jays and he is 4-0 with 2 saves, a 2.20 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP.

21-year old righty swinging 3B Brett Lawrie is on fire with the bat since coming up with the Blue Jays. Lawrie has played in 10 games for the Blue Jays so far this year and he is 12 for 35 (.343 avg, 1.121 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 3 homers, 8 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Lawrie has also shown off a pretty slick glove at 3B defensively. The Blue Jays gave up Shaun Marcum in a deal over the winter to get Lawrie, so he didn’t come cheap. But he is showing off an impressive upside so far in Canada.

24-year old lefty starting pitcher Brett Cecil appears to have gotten himself back on track in July and August. In July and August, Cecil has started 6 games in which he is 3-1 with a 2.51 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Cecil appears to be back in the good graces of Blue Jays’ manager John Farrell. Cecil has pitched in 11 games (all starts) for the Blue Jays so far this year and he is 4-4 with a 4.35 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. The Blue Jays hope that Cecil stays focused and motivated the rest of the season.

The Blue Jays built a very nice bullpen last winter bringing in a lot of veteran arms. 37-year old righty Octavio Dotel was one of the pitchers the Blue Jays signed over the winter. He has pitched in 33 games (0 starts) for the Blue Jays so far this year and he is 2-1 with 1 save, a 3.33 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. Dotel has only given up 18 hits while whiffing 29 batters in his first 27 innings this year, which is pretty darn impressive. Teams are going to be calling the Blue Jays about their relievers in the next week and a half leading up to the trade deadline with Dotel likely to be one of the pitchers moving to a new city. The Jays should be able to get a decent prospect for Dotel who is still pitching pretty well.

26-year old lefty starting pitcher Ricky Romero was picked to replace Felix Hernandez (he started yesterday) on the A.L. All-Star team. Romero has pitched in 18 games (all starts) for the Blue Jays so far this year and he is 7-8 with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.23 WHIP. Romero has only given up 106 hits in his first 122 1/3 innings so far this year and he has whiffed 101 batters while walking 45 batters. Romero might have made the All-Star team anyway if the rest of the Jays helped him out a little more this year. There is no way he should be 7-8 on the season.