Our weekly look at one item tying together each of the Red Sox' AL East opponents looks at the Toronto Blue Jays, who have impressed early under new manager John Farrell.
Real: One issue for the Blue Jays last season was the extreme decline in the production of Adam Lind. In 2009, when he won the Silver Slugger Award for designated hitters, he looked like a guy who would command the middle of the lineup for years. But he completely stopped hitting lefties in 2010 and saw massive reductions last year in batting average (-68 points), home runs (-12) and RBIs (-42). Although it is only a week, Lind looks much more like the slugger upon which Toronto is depending, especially with Vernon Wells and Lyle Overbay no longer in the mix. He entered Saturday's play hitting .345, including .417 vs. left-handers. Lind, 27, also had just two strikeouts in 29 at-bats after totaling 144 Ks last year.
Fake: Toronto made plenty of moves in the offseason to improve an average (at best) bullpen. So far, despite the fact that Frank Francisco is on the disabled list, it has been a lights-out unit. Entering the weekend, six different Blue Jays relievers had combined for 15 2/3 innings. The only two who had given up any runs were closer Jon Rauch, who had a 2.45 ERA, and veteran Jason Frasor, who had a win and six strikeouts in his 3 1/3 innings of work. Now, this is an improved unit. But nobody will keep up this pace. The 1.19 ERA for the bullpen won't last.
