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...
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Jays winning despite lack of production from big guns
It's a good sign that the Toronto Blue Jays are winning ball games (6 in their first 8), despite the fact that arguably their two best hitters haven't even hit their stride offensively...
Consider this. Alex Rios has hit just .24o, with zero home runs and 6 RBI, four of which came in one contest. Cleanup hitter Vernon Wells has hit for a good average but has a paltry 1 dinger and 3 RBI. It's a wonder how Adam Lind is tied for first in baseball with 12 RBI without the support of the "big guns" in front of him in the batting order...
Eventually Rios and Wells will start swinging a hot stick, so the best offense in MLB (wow!) should become even more potent. 8 games into the '09 season, isn't that a shocking proposition...
Consider this. Alex Rios has hit just .24o, with zero home runs and 6 RBI, four of which came in one contest. Cleanup hitter Vernon Wells has hit for a good average but has a paltry 1 dinger and 3 RBI. It's a wonder how Adam Lind is tied for first in baseball with 12 RBI without the support of the "big guns" in front of him in the batting order...
Eventually Rios and Wells will start swinging a hot stick, so the best offense in MLB (wow!) should become even more potent. 8 games into the '09 season, isn't that a shocking proposition...
Jays need to continue rolling Ryan out in the 9th
B.J. Ryan had his best outing of the season, throwing 11 of his 12 pitches for strikes and picking up his first save against Minnesota. After his first two outings of the year, however, Ryan didn't made himself very popular in Toronto. A blown save against Detroit, and a woeful outing versus Cleveland raised questions about his status with the club. Having said that, Toronto needs to keep rolling him out in the 9th inning of tight games...
There is absolutely no reason for Manager Cito Gaston to make a change, at least not yet. The team has made a sizable investment in Ryan ($10 million each for the next 2 years) suggesting he's going to be around for a while. See if he can work through his struggles instead of delegating his role so early. What good would that do anyways? Handing his role over to someone like Scott Downs or Brandon League would only illustrate to other players they don't have much job security. That can't help production or morale within the clubhouse. Would the Yankees jettison Mariano Rivera if he had two bad outings?
If Blow Jay Ryan puts together a string of awful outings, don't be surprised to see Downs step in to shut down contests...
There is absolutely no reason for Manager Cito Gaston to make a change, at least not yet. The team has made a sizable investment in Ryan ($10 million each for the next 2 years) suggesting he's going to be around for a while. See if he can work through his struggles instead of delegating his role so early. What good would that do anyways? Handing his role over to someone like Scott Downs or Brandon League would only illustrate to other players they don't have much job security. That can't help production or morale within the clubhouse. Would the Yankees jettison Mariano Rivera if he had two bad outings?
If Blow Jay Ryan puts together a string of awful outings, don't be surprised to see Downs step in to shut down contests...
Litsch hurt; Jays rally to win again
The Blue Jays dug themselves a hole once again, but in what has become customary the first week into the season, they rallied for the victory. The win, which lifted Toronto to a formidable 6-2 record, came with good news and bad news...
The bad news is that Jesse Litsch left the game after tightness in his forearm. He'll be evaluated tomorrow, but this can't be a good sign for a pitching staff that is missing 2 starters from last season (3 if you include Casey Janssen, a presumed member of the rotation heading into '09.) Litsch hasn't looked good in both starts against Detroit and Minnesota, giving up 9 earned runs in 9 innings, and this could explain why. A trip to the disabled list is very likely...
The good news, however, is that they pounded out a season high 19 hits (19 hits!!) erasing an early 3-1 deficit to defeat the Twins for the 10th consecutive time. Leading the charge was 21 year old rookie Travis Snider. He hit two massive bombs, the latter supplying the winning runs. Additionally, First Baseman Lyle Overbay finally started to get going with the bat, driving in three (including his 1st dinger of the campaign.)
In what was the Jays 4th come from behind victory in their first 8 games, it's another sign that each game someone else is stepping up to lead the charge offensively. Every win like this is vital for a ball club that tempered expectations coming into the season...
The bad news is that Jesse Litsch left the game after tightness in his forearm. He'll be evaluated tomorrow, but this can't be a good sign for a pitching staff that is missing 2 starters from last season (3 if you include Casey Janssen, a presumed member of the rotation heading into '09.) Litsch hasn't looked good in both starts against Detroit and Minnesota, giving up 9 earned runs in 9 innings, and this could explain why. A trip to the disabled list is very likely...
The good news, however, is that they pounded out a season high 19 hits (19 hits!!) erasing an early 3-1 deficit to defeat the Twins for the 10th consecutive time. Leading the charge was 21 year old rookie Travis Snider. He hit two massive bombs, the latter supplying the winning runs. Additionally, First Baseman Lyle Overbay finally started to get going with the bat, driving in three (including his 1st dinger of the campaign.)
In what was the Jays 4th come from behind victory in their first 8 games, it's another sign that each game someone else is stepping up to lead the charge offensively. Every win like this is vital for a ball club that tempered expectations coming into the season...
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