Litsch to DL; Murphy called up

As expected, Jesse Litsch is heading to the 15 day disabled list with forearm tightness. At least we now know why he's been poor in his first two starts (not to mention he didn't face many major league hitters in spring training.)

To replace Litsch, the HUGE news is that the Jays have called up lefty Bill Murphy. This guy is incredible, quite possibly the second coming of Doc Halladay. He has carved up batters in the minor leagues in record pace after being selected in the 3rd round of the 2002 draft by the Oakland Athletics. He is destined to be a fixture of the Blue Jays rotation for years to come...

Or for 2 of 3 starts, if he is lucky. Murphy is awful. In AAA Syracuse last season, he went 8-10 with an ERA of 5.32. In his brief appearance in the majors with the Diamondbacks in 2007, he surrendered 4 runs in 6.1 innings of work, giving him a rather pedestrian 5.68 ERA. Simply put, Murphy is nothing more than a stopgap...

It's rather curious Toronto did not call up on of its top prospects in Brad Mills (15-5 in 2 seasons in the Jays system), or 1st round pick in 2007, Brett Cecil. They'll likely get the call after some seasoning with AAA Las Vegas when their season gets underway...