Friday, May 22, 2009

Ray knocked around in Boston; time for a demotion?

The Blue Jays were swept at Fenway park, losing the finale 5-1 as Robert Ray allowed 5 runs in 4.1 innings of work. The rookie has looked fairly decent in four starts in his big league career, but appeared shaky in Boston. Unfortunately, the Toronto bats could not support him, pushing his record to 1-2 on the campaign.

It's time to send Ray back down to AAA. He has been decent in four starts, particularly his last outing against the White Sox, where he didn't allow an earned run in 8 innings of work, but he doesn't have great "stuff." With so many young pitchers pushing to get back into the rotation, it would benefit the Jays to have a more major league ready pitcher in the starting five.

The two likely candidates are Casey Janssen and Rickey Romero. The lefty Romero was brilliant in his first 3 starts of his career, going 2-0 with a 1.71 ERA. However, since an oblique injury sent him to the disabled list, his results in the minor leagues since returning have been less than inspiring, with a 6.91 in three starts. Janssen, on the other hand, has an E.R.A. of 0.76 in 5 games between single A Dunedin and AA New Hampshire, including 4 starts. There's no way the organization can afford to let him rot in the minor leagues much longer. Janssen should be the guy replacing Ray in the starting rotation.

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