2007 Toronto Blue Jays season

The 2007 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 31st season of Major League Baseball. The Blue Jays tried to improve on their 87-win 2006 season, hoping to make the playoffs for the first time since 1993.

In the offseason, the Jays signed All Star outfielder Vernon Wells to one of the richest contracts in MLB history, giving him a seven-year contract worth $126 million.Jays sign Wells to $126 million, seven-year extension espn.com – accessed January 25, 2007 Toronto also extended the contract of first baseman Lyle Overbay,Overbay latest player to cash in with Jays, from espn.com January 14, 2007 and signed veteran designated hitter Frank Thomas. To offset the loss of starter Ted Lilly to the Chicago Cubs, Toronto signed Japanese pitcher Tomo Ohka and former Atlanta starter John Thomson to one-year contracts and inked former New York Mets hurler Víctor Zambrano to a minor-league deal. All three men, however, were eventually designated for assignment and released. The Jays also picked up infielder Jason Smith from the Rule 5 draft, but he too was released from his contract.

Regular season

Summary During the month of January, Toronto signed starting pitchers John Thomson and then Tomo Ohka to incentive-based one-year contracts in an effort to strengthen their 4th and 5th rotational slots. On January 30 Toronto also signed starting pitcher Víctor Zambrano to a minor league contract, and invited him to spring training. All three were eventually released. When Brandon League, who was being considered for the main setup role, arrived to Spring training with a strained lat muscle, Zambrano took the empty spot in the bullpen. Thomson injured himself in spring training, so the Blue Jays named Ohka and Towers as their fourth and fifth starters. After four mediocre starts, Josh Towers was sent to the bullpen and replaced by Dustin McGowan. Towers returned to the rotation later in the year replacing released pitcher Tomo Ohka. When Gustavo Chacín was injured, he was replaced in the rotation by Shaun Marcum, who had a breakout year.

The season was blighted by persistent injuries, with 12 Blue Jays landing on the DL. The most serious injury was that of B. J. Ryan, who was out for the entire season having had Tommy John Surgery. However, due to the emergence of young pitchers like Dustin McGowan, Casey Janssen and Jeremy Accardo, the Jays finished 4 games above .500.

One of the most memorable games this season for the Jays was on Tuesday, June 5, 2007, when they rallied from being down 11–6 in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Tampa Bay Devil Rays to win 12–11 on an RBI walk-off base on balls by Aaron Hill, a victory that moved them to within 1 game under .500

Another memorable moment of this season was Dustin McGowan's complete game one-hitter on Sunday, June 24 against the Colorado Rockies at the Rogers Centre. McGowan carried a no-hitter into the ninth inning when outfielder Jeff Baker hit a single with no out to break it up. This was the first Jays' one-hitter since September 27, 1998, in which Roy Halladay threw against the Detroit Tigers. The Jays won 5–0 and moved themselves up to .500 for the first time since May 1 of the season. The game was also notable for Frank Thomas hitting the 499th home run of his career. The day after McGowan's gem, the Jays defeated the Minnesota Twins 8–5 to climb over the .500 mark for the first time since April and get their first four-game winning streak of the season.

On June 28, Frank Thomas became the 21st Major Leaguer to hit 500 career home runs. The pitcher who surrendered the homer was Minnesota Twins' starter Carlos Silva. Despite jumping out to an early lead the Jays couldn't hold on and ended up losing 8–5. In addition, Thomas was ejected from the game in the ninth inning by home plate umpire Mark Wegner for arguing balls and strikes.

On July 6, Reed Johnson returned to the lineup after spending three months on the DL. Johnson had been suffering back problems early in the season and received surgery, which forced him onto the 60-Day DL. This situation left Adam Lind the odd-man out in the lineup and he was optioned down to Triple-A. In his first game back Johnson went 1–3 at the plate, and made a game-saving catch in the ninth which prevented two runs (only one run scored on a sac-fly) from scoring and a runner on second (possibly third) and a one-run lead with only one out. The Jays won the game 8–6 against the Cleveland Indians.

On September 16, Aaron Hill broke the Blue Jays club record for most doubles by a second baseman in one season, set by Roberto Alomar in 1991 with 41 doubles that season. Hill recorded his 42nd double of the season against the Baltimore Orioles.

On September 17, Frank Thomas hit three home runs in a game for only the second time in his career, both times against the Boston Red Sox.

Season standings

Detailed record Team Home Away Total Gms Left AL East Baltimore Orioles 6-3 4-5 10-8 - Boston Red Sox 4-5 5-4 9-9 - New York Yankees 4-5 4-5 8-10 - Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 4-5 9-9 - 19-17 17-19 36-36 - AL Central Chicago White Sox 3-1 1-2 4-3 - Cleveland Indians 2-1 0-3 2-4 - Detroit Tigers 2-2 1-2 3-4 - Kansas City Royals 2-1 2-2 4-3 - Minnesota Twins 3-0 3-4 6-4 - 12-5 7-13 19-18 - AL West Los Angeles Angels 2-1 2-2 4-3 - Oakland Athletics 0-3 4-2 4-5 - Seattle Mariners 5-1 0-3 5-4 - Texas Rangers 5-2 0-3 5-5 - 12-7 6-10 18-17 - National League Colorado Rockies 3-0 N/A 3-0 - Los Angeles Dodgers 1-2 2-1 3-3 - Philadelphia Phillies N/A 1-2 1-2 - San Francisco Giants N/A 1-2 1-2 - Washington Nationals 2-1 N/A 2-1 - 6-3 4-5 10-8 -MonthGamesWonLost April 25 13 12 May 28 12 16 June 27 14 13 July 26 14 12 August 28 15 13 September 28 15 13 162 83 79

Record vs. opponents

2007 draft picks Source

The 2007 MLB draft was held on June 7–8. The Blue Jays had two first round picks, along with five compensation picks. Round Pick Player Position College/School Nationality Signed 1 16* Kevin Ahrens 3B Memorial High School (TX) 2007–06–15 1 21 J. P. Arencibia C Tennessee 2007–06–15 C-A 38* Brett Cecil LHP Maryland 2007–06–15 C-A 45* Justin Jackson SS Roberson High School (NC) 2007–07–07 C-A 56* Trystan Magnuson RHP Louisville 2007–07–07 2 85 John Tolisano 2B Estero High School (FL) 2007–06–15 2 88* Eric Eiland OF Lamar High School (TX) 2007–06–15 3 115 Alan Farina RHP Clemson 2007–07–07 4 145 Brad Mills LHP Arizona 2007–06–15 5 175 Marc Rzepczynski LHP Cal-Riverside 2007–06–15 6 205 Mike McDade 1B Silverado High School (NV) 2007–06–12 7 235 Randy Boone RHP Texas – 8 265 Scott Leffler RHP Tampa 2007–07–07 9 295 Marcus Walden RHP Fresno City College 2007–06–12 10 325 Joel Collins C South Alabama 2007–06–15 * The Blue Jays received the 16th pick from the Texas Rangers as compensation for signing of free agent Frank Catalanotto * The Blue Jays received the 38th pick as compensation for loss of free agent Justin Speier * The Blue Jays received the 45th pick as compensation for loss of free agent Frank Catalanotto * The Blue Jays received the 56th pick as compensation for loss of free agent Ted Lilly * The Blue Jays received the 88th pick from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim as compensation for signing of free agent Justin Speier

Roster 2007 Toronto Blue Jays Roster Pitchers Catchers

Infielders Outfielders

Other battersManager

Coaches

Game log

|- style="background:#bbffbb" | 1 || April 2 || @ Tigers || 5–3 || Frasor (1–0) || Rodney (0–1) || Ryan (1) || 44,297 || 1–0 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 2 || April 4 || @ Tigers || 10–9 || Robertson (1–0) || Burnett (0–1) || Jones (1) || 24,881 || 1–1 |- style="background:#bbbbbb" | -- || April 5 || @ Tigers || colspan=6|Postponed (cold weather) |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 3 || April 6 || @ Devil Rays || 6–5 || Ryu (1–0) || Ryan (0–1) || || 38,437 || 1–2 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 4 || April 7 || @ Devil Rays || 8–5 || Marcum (1–0) || Fossum (0–1) || Ryan (2) || 18,495 || 2–2 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 5 || April 8 || @ Devil Rays || 6–3 || Halladay (1–0) || Kazmir (0–1) || Janssen (1) || 12,436 || 3–2 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 6 || April 9 || Royals || 9–1 || Burnett (1–1) || Pérez (0–2) || || 50,125 || 4–2 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 7 || April 10 || Royals || 6–3 || Greinke (1–1) || Towers (0–1) || Soria (1) || 22,106 || 4–3 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 8 || April 11 || Royals || 7–4 || Chacín (1–0) || de la Rosa (1–1) || Ryan (3) || 15,218 || 5–3 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 9 || April 12 || Tigers || 5–4 || Maroth (2–0) || Ohka (0–1) || Zumaya (1) || 20,416 || 5–4 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 10 || April 13 || Tigers || 2–1 || Halladay (2–0) || Rodney (1–2) || || 26,268|| 6–4 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 11 || April 14 || Tigers || 10–7 || Ledezma (2–0) || Ryan (0–2) || Jones (6) || 28,203 || 6–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 12 || April 15 || Tigers || 2–1 || Towers (1–1) || Robertson (2–1) || Marcum (1) || 25,983 || 7–5 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 13 || April 17 || Red Sox || 2–1 || Chacín (2–0) || Matsuzaka (1–2) || Frasor (1) || 42,162 || 8–5 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 14 || April 18 || Red Sox || 4–1 || Wakefield (2–1) || Ohka (0–2) || Papelbon (3) || 20,188 || 8–6 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 15 || April 19 || Red Sox || 5–3 || Timlin (1–0) || Marcum (1–1) || Papelbon (4) || 33,297 || 8–7 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 16 || April 20 || @ Orioles || 5–4 || Ray (2–1) || Zambrano (0–1) || || 25,025 || 8–8 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 17 || April 21 || @ Orioles || 5–2 || Loewen (2–0) || Towers (1–2) || Ray (6) || 25,898 || 8–9 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 18 || April 22 || @ Orioles || 7–3 || Trachsel (1–1) || Chacín (2–1) || || 27,285 || 8–10 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 19 || April 23 || @ Red Sox || 7–3 || Ohka (1–2) || Wakefield (2–2) || Frasor (2) || 36,669 || 9–10 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 20 || April 24 || @ Red Sox || 10–3 || Halladay (3–0) || Tavárez (0–2) || || 37,161 || 10–10 |- style="background:#bbbbbb" | -- || April 25 || @ Yankees || colspan=6|Postponed (rain) |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 21 || April 26 || @ Yankees || 6–0 || Burnett (2–0) || Hughes (0–1) || || 45,118 || 11–10 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 22 || April 27 || Rangers || 5–3 || Tejeda (3–1) || Towers (1–3) || Otsuka (3) || 24,795 || 11–11 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 23 || April 28 || Rangers || 9–8 || Otsuka (1–0) || Tallet (0–1) || Benoit (1) || 24,119 || 11–12 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 24 || April 29 || Rangers || 7–3 || Ohka (2–2) || McCarthy (1–4) || || 27,516 || 12–12 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 25 || April 30 || Rangers || 6–1 || Halladay (4–0) || Padilla (0–4) || || 19,041 || 13–12

|- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 26 || May 1 || @ Indians || 12–4 || Sabathia (4–0)|| Burnett (2–2) || || 13,389 || 13–13 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 27 || May 2 || @ Indians || 7–6 || Mastny (2–0)|| Marcum (1–2) || || 14,163 || 13–14 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 28 || May 3 || @ Indians || 6–5 || Fultz (3–0) || Frasor (1–1) || Borowski (10) || 16,284 || 13–15 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 29 || May 4 || @ Rangers || 7–1 || McCarthy (2–4) || Ohka (2–3) || Eyre (1) || 24,342 || 13–16 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 30 || May 5 || @ Rangers || 11–4 || Padilla (1–4) || Halladay (4–1)|| || 27,421 || 13–17 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 31 || May 6 || @ Rangers || 3–2 || Benoit (1–1) || Burnett (2–3) || Otsuka (4) || 19,103 || 13–18 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 32 || May 8 || Red Sox || 9–2 || Beckett (7–0) || Zambrano (0–2) || || 41,203 || 13–19 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 33 || May 9 || Red Sox || 9–3 || Matsuzaka (4–2) || Ohka (2–4) || || 21,784 || 13–20 |- style="background:#ffbbbb" | 34 || May 10 || Red Sox || 8–0 || Wakefield (4–3) || Halladay (4–2) || || 22,290 || 13–21 |- style="background:#bbffbb" | 35 || May 11 || Devil Rays || 5–1 || Burnett (3–3) || Kazmir (2–2) || || 20,542 || 14–21 |- style="background:#bbffbb"