Brett Lawrie Hysterics In Full Force

As you probably already know, Brett Lawrie has been rumoured to be earning the call this Friday (via signs from both team employees and armchair conspiracy theorists alike) for the Blue Jays first game against the Baltimore Orioles.

The only doubt at this point is whether or not his recent hand-mashing against Tucson will push back his Major League debut a few days. Incidentally, in the game, fellow 51s took the blow to Lawrie as seriously as most diehard fans such as myself, as Lawrie's top prosect counterpart Anthony Rizzo was blasted by a heater during his very next plate appearance and left the game as well. 

Let's hope this chain of events will lead Major League Baseball to assign San Diego as the Blue Jays interleague 'rival', instead of the perennial powerhouse Phillies, starting in 2012.

Nonethless, what could Brett Lawrie do for Toronto this year? Will he have a Ryan Braun-like impact or take a few years to adjust to Major League breaking balls? Rookie of the Year or Bust of the 2008 Draft (interestingly enough, only Kyle Skipworth and Ethan Martin are among players drafted ahead of Lawrie's 16 that can be assigned as likely busts).

There's certainly no stead-fast way to tell; This instance of seeing how minor leaguers adjust to the majors can't definitively be predicted statistically. With his fast-improving approach and smart baserunning skills, I think he has the tools to make adjustments as necessary. But we'll just have to wait and see.