Thoughts from Spring Training: Day 2 & 3

            Well that went to fast. After 2 nights, 3 days, and 3 games, my trip to Dunedin has come to an end.  It was filled with insane experiences, from the everyday mundane task of deciphering what John Gibbons is saying, to meeting most of the Jays team in their cafeteria and clubhouse all thanks to Adam Lind! On to the stuff you guys want to read, my thoughts on different player performances.

On Ricky Romero…
Romero was awful on Tuesday, and after his start, he told the media that he was throwing 90% sinkers because he wanted to get back to using that pitch like he did in 2011(Click here for article link). If this is true, it would explain his lack of velocity, which sat in the range of 86-87 all day, and only touched 90 a few times. Of course this is going by the Dunedin radar gun, which, might not be too accurate. But what is more of a problem than just his lack of velocity was his lack of control. My seats while I was in Dunedin were 4 rows up right behind home plate, and it was quite obvious that he had no idea where the ball was going. The sinker didn’t sink, and if Romero is going to try to get back to his pre-2012 self, he needs to make his sinker “sink”, and control his other pitches. Of course, he has a month to work on all of this before games actually count, so I wouldn’t worry too much.

On Steve Delabar…
Delabar stole the hearts of Blue Jays fans last summer after coming over from Seattle in the Eric Thames trade by using his dominating splitter as a crazy out pitch that had him rising to the top of the league in K/9. The splitter wasn’t 100% on Tuesday, but I totally expect him to start getting the feel back for that pitch in the coming weeks. He sat around 88 MPH on that. He did have good fastball command at around 94 MPH, so that was nice to see.

On Emilio Bonifacio…
All I can say about Boni is that he looked terrible at short on Tuesday making countless mistakes such as a bad DP flip, a high throw to Lind at first, a low throw to Lind, and a wide throw to Lind. As with all spring performances, don’t expect him to be this bad at shortstop during the regular season as he just needs to get some reps playing there, a position he hasn’t played in a regular game since 2011.

On Wednesday he looked good at second, and I love him at the plate as his speed brings so much to the game.I still don’t expect him to win the starting second basemen job from Maicer Izturis, but as a super utility guy playing 3-4 times a week, he could be great!

On Adam Lind…

I might be a little bias now when it comes to Lind because of what he did for me, but he has looked great the past few days. He launched a ball over 400 feet on Tuesday for a home run, and continued to look solid at the plate yesterday. Of course this was all against righties, but hopefully that is all he has to play against because of Mark DeRosa, who in a very small sample size of 5 at bats has been showing that he truly can hit lefties like he did before he broke his wrist and every other bone in his body like 64 times.

On Esmil Rogers…

Rogers really impressed me at the beginning of his performance on Tuesday, but he started to lose his command after the first couple of batters, which led to multiple balls out of the zone and balls left up to the batters. His fastball sat between 94-95, which is great to see this early in soring training, and his slider had great movement both horizontally and vertically, tailing out and down to righties, and in and down to lefties, while being thrown in the high 80’s.

On Michael Schwimer…

The newly acquired Schwimer has a great mound presence coming in at 6”8, and throws his fastball in the low 90s(well at least he did on Tuesday). He didn’t have good command of it at all, which is totally expected during spring training. He did have his off-speed pitches working well in the low to mid 80’s with some nice late movement. He’ll be a nice player for the fans down in Buffalo to watch this season.

On Justin Germano…

Germano was the lone bright spot on the pitching side of things for the Jays on Wednesday. His stuff was crazy good, and I couldn’t believe how much movement he had on his curve. It must have froze batters 5 or 6 times. Just crazy. He’ll be in the Bisons rotation somewhere and it looks like he was a good get on a minor league deal by Alex Anthopoulos.

As always, don’t read so much into spring training performances as players getting into the mix of things, and competition skew them. 34 days until opening day!!!

Our 30 Teams in 30 Day series starts tomorrow, so make sure to check BJP daily for our previews!

Pictures...

Brett Lawrie warming up, or dancing, either one.

Mark DeRosa continuing his torrid spring...

Jamie Campbell sitting down with Justin Morneau to ask him some questions...

The grounds crew taking the tarp of the field in preparation of Tuesday's game...

Gibby waving to the crowd before the game...

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Remaining Platoon Options

There are not many holes on the Blue Jays roster. At the end of the day, if the Jays enter 2013 with the personnel that they have right now, they would still be considered favourites to win the pennant. In my opinion, there is only one thing that needs to be improved, and that is the DH spot. Many have turned on Adam Lind, the club's current DH because he hasn't been a productive hitter since his Silver Slugger winning 2009(-1.5 rWAR since 2010).What people fail to realize, is that Lind would be a very serviceable player , if he were to only face righties. This year, he had a 116 wRC+, and a .343 wOBA vs right handed pitchers, both of which are both well above average. Unfortunately, Lind is among the worst hitters in the MLB when it comes to facing lefties (48 wRC+, .245 wOBA). In order to utilize Lind the best way possible, you would have to get him a platoon partner, to start at DH when the Jays come up against a left handed starting pitcher. In this article, I will explore the options that the Jays have in terms of acquiring someone to platoon with Lind, whether it be via free agency, a trade, or a waiver claim.

Option 1 would be to take the internal route, and use someone who is already in the organization. This option actually wouldn't be too bad. The choices you'd have are: Rajai Davis and David Cooper. First, let's explore Davis. Davis, similarly to Lind, is accused of not being able to hit. When you look at his stat-line, the accusation is understandable. But the fact is, the only reason his stats look so bad is his inability to hit righties(and a breaking ball). Against lefties, Rajai has been great, boasting a 114 wRC+ in 2012, which is superb, to those not familiar with the stat. I would have no problem with Rajai being slotted into the DH spot vs LHP. 

The final option would be David Cooper. I really like Cooper. He is a pure hitter who has shown the ability to hit for gap power, and I feel that if Cooper is in the lineup, his bat could help you win day in and day out. With that being said, for this situation, I would rather use Davis, as he can use his legs to make things happen on the base paths. Cooper is the guy that I would use if Lind struggles vs RHP, or if Lind gets hurt. Sometimes it's impossible to put out the ideal lineup though, so Cooper will probably be used in this spot sometimes as well. (If he even makes the MLB team out of Spring Training.)

If the Jays do decide to go this way, I think it'll actually make a nice rotation. The 2 players' (Davis,Cooper) average career wOBA vs LHP is .334, which is actually quite above average.

The Jays could also sign a free agent for the role. The only free agent that really makes sense for the Jays is Scott Hairston. He is known for being able to crush lefties. His career wOBA vs LHP is .353, and sports a wRC+ of 119 as well!

The Jays are stuck with Lind because nobody wants him, and his salary is too big to just stick in the minors. By only using him against righties, the Jays can at least get some value out of him. Combining him with a player like Hairston would create the best possible scenario for a team in this situation. 

Potentially, the Jays could get their man via trade, and I am not saying it can't happen happen, but I have learned that trying to speculate about what trade will happen when AA is your team's GM is just too hard to do. 

If you guys think I missed anyone (FA, or internal), feel free to let me know in the comments. I am always welcoming feedback. I hope you enjoyed. Go Jays! 

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Blue Jays Mid-Season Grades: Part 5

Here is the 5th and final post from the Blue Jays Mid-Season report card. I had a blast writing it, and hope you guys enjoyed.

Drabek,center, shown leaving the game
 injured at the Rogers Centre on June 13th 

Kyle Drabek: D-

After a very disappointing 2011 season that saw Drabek sent down to AAA, Kyle started the 2012 season with a bang! In April it looked like he had solved all of his control issues, as he only walked 15 batters in 30 innings, while pitching to an outstanding ERA of 2.40. But when the calendar switched to May, Drabek reverted to his past ways, and his wheels fell off as he was walking almost 7 batters per 9IP until he was injured during his start on June 13^th. The base runners were a problem for Kyle as his ERA in that span was 6.31, and his total season ERA ballooned to 4.67. Kyle’s 2012 and likely 2013 seasons are finished as he had Tommy John Surgery last month. This is Kyle’s second TJ procedure, and it would not surprise me if Kyle’s career as a starter is over, although I can see him being a late inning reliever if he finds his control once again.

Francisco Cordero: D-

Getting booed at home takes a lot of skill, or lack thereof. Francisco Cordero hasn’t pitched all that bad this season. He has allowed plenty of ground balls, yet for some reason, whenever Coco pitches, he gives up runs, and loses the game for the Jays.  His BABIP is a ridiculously unsustainable .376, which is why I believe he still has a job. AA has to believe that eventually his numbers will drop, because that BABIP is just so outrageously high. I gave him a D- instead of a F because of that BABIP, and I do expect him to start getting outs, like he did from May 12^th to June 29^th, when he pitched to a 1.74 ERA in 20.2 innings.

Adam Lind: D-

Adam Lind looks very good right now! Since returning to the majors on June 25^th, Lind has an OBP of .317(not good, but not so bad), but has hit 4 home runs in 38 at bats. But that isn’t even the most impressive thing about Lind since his return. He is hitting the ball the other way effortlessly, something that tells you Lind is on his game. We know the power is going to be there for Lind, but what the Jays need from him is to get on base more than 30% of the time, something he struggled with the past couple of seasons. If he can hit at a mark of about .265, and walk another 6% of the time, the team will be very happy with him, and so will I.  I could see his grade improving to a C- if he keeps up what he has been doing since coming back!

#FreeMathis

JP Arencibia: F

JP Arencibia has 13 home runs. He is so good! No. He isn’t. The guy has a .261 OBP. You should not be allowed on a major league roster with an OBP that low. He has a WAR of 0.2… In 265 plate appearances. His defense has been dreadful. His offense, aside from his power, has been even worse. Jeff Mathis has a 0.4 WAR in 75 PA. His defense is so much better than JPA’s, and his offense as actually been better. If I was John Farrell I would bench JPA for a few games, and have him work on taking pitches more. By taking pitches he will see more pitches, have better at bats, and actually be a serviceable catcher.

Eric Thames: F

Thames was sent down for a reason. He had a JPA like OBP of .288, and had a slugging percentage of .365(Ouch). His WAR was -0.8, a factor of both his atrocious defense, and his lackluster offense. I have nothing really left to say about him. He was really bad while in Toronto at all aspects of the game (except for his base running, which was amazing, but because his offence was so bad, it was hardly ever used), and he deserves to be in AAA. His numbers look good in AAA, but you never know if he has actually performed well because of the “PCL Factor”. Rajai Davis has been very good as his replacement, so I see no reason to rush him up here, and I believe Travis Snider has passed him on the depth chart once again!

Feel free to comment with grades of your own, tips and criticisms, and anything else you feel like saying on the comment section below.

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Blue Jays vs. Yankees recap – May 16 & 17 2012

Yan Gomes receives game ball from JP Arencibia

Picture via - Yahoo Sports

Blue Jays vs. Yankees recap – May 16 & 17

                

May 16^th – Pitching Battle – Kyle Drabek (2-4) VS Hiroki Kuroda (3-4)

Before the game on May 16^th, there were some questions that needed to be answered in my mind for the Blue Jays. 

1. How would Brett Lawrie rebound after his incident on from just 24 hours ago?  He had two utterly ridiculous calls go against him at the plate during the bottom of the 9^th by the home umpire.  All because he is 21 and apparently showed up the umpire by beginning to trot to 1^st on a pitch that was in the left handed batter’s box and he perceived as ball four.  To begin the game, the same umpire – Bill Miller, who was at home plate last night, was the 3^rd base umpire.  There were no incidents between them, so it looks like they spoke earlier.
2. Could Kyle Drabek turn things around after losing his previous 4 starts? And How would he do in his 4^th start against the Yankees – he is 3-1 heading into this game against them

There is an interesting thing to note before the game - the batting order: Eric Thames is batting 2^nd, Brett Lawrie (who is appealing his suspension) is batting 5^th, Edwin Encarnacion is playing 1^st, Adam Lind at DH and Omar Viquel starts at SS.

In the 1^st inning, Kyle Drabek opened the game by striking out Curtis Granderson, then walked Cano but got Arod to ground out.  He is off to a great start.  In the bottom of the inning, Jose Bautista fouled off a pitch that almost went into the 500 level, but ended up striking out on a breaking ball, perhaps he is getting his swing back.  In the 2^nd inning,  with Derek Jeter off for the day, and Brett Lawrie at bat, Robinson Cano dropped the ball that was tossed to him by Jason Nix, Edwin (the runner) was out, but Lawrie was safe.  Colby Rasmus strikes out but with Lawrie on J.P. Arencibia hits a 2-run homer.  2-0 Blue Jays

In the 3^rd inning, Eric Thames hit a 2 out double, Jose Bautista walks and Edwin hit a HR to CF - 5-0 Jays.  In the 4^th Inning, the Blue Jays collect some hits and score some more.  JP Arencibia doubles with 1 out, Omae Vizquel drew a walk with 2 outs, which drew a mound visit from Yankees pitching coach.  Kelly Johnson hit a single between 3^rd and SS, the throw from Ibanez was on time, but Arencibia had a perfect slide into home n-  6-0 Jays

So far through 5 innings, Drabek has shutout the Yankees, allowing just 1 hit.  He has been in command and has shown great pace throughout the game.  He has looked great so far.  Drabek gets some more run support after the Blue Jays 3^rd home run by Jose Bautista HR to LF – 7-0 Blue Jays.

There is a cool moment in the 6^th Inning, by the Yankees.  Robinson Cano hits his 300^th career double to right, then Mark Teixeira hits his 1500^th hit and Cano scores.  The ball took a wicked bounce off the astro turf and Encarnacion was unable to come up with it and the ball squirted into RF.  7-1 Blue Jays.  Drabek has now given up 1 run on 3 hits, 2 walks and 3 K’s.  In the bottom of that inning, JP Arencibia is at bat, Kuroda pitches his 100^th pitch, and JP hits a single and is now a triple away from the cycle.  He also knocks Kuroda out of the game.  Clay Rapada in to face Adam Lind (lefty vs lefty).  He gets a strikeout and a double play to end the inning.

Kyle Drabek begins the 7^th with his 4^th strikeout, then walks the next batter – still looks like he is in control, but top of order his heading up and is at 99 pitches now.  He falls behind 3-0 to the 9^th hitter and has now thrown 7 straight balls.  Luis Perez begins to warm up in the bullpen.   With one out, Omar Vizquel takes the ground ball hit by Curtis Granderson, under arms his throw to Kelly Johnson who trails the runner, but the runner is called out.  Blue Jays catch a break, but now have 2 outs.  Drabek strikes out Nick Swisher to end the inning; Yankees strand runners at 1^st and 3^rd. 

Kelly Johnson begins the Blue Jays 7^th with a solo HR, his 100^th of his career - 8-1 Blue Jays

Luis Perez begins the inning by walking two batters, then gets Andruw Jones to fly out to LF.  The Blue Jays look to be in command of this one.  The only question now is will JP hit for the cycle?

With Jays fans watching JP Arencibia’s at bat, with him needing a triple for the cycle, he hits a foul ball that looked like a triple when it left his bat.  He strikes out.  Adam Lind hits a single down the first base line, which might be a sign he is turning things around.  Cano makes up for his error in the 7^th, by making a great double play to end the Jays 8^th.  Fransico Cordero in to pitch the 9^th - uh oh, not another blown save, wait, this isn’t a save opportunity, ok maybe we might be alright.

Cordero pitches a perfect 9^th for only the 2^nd time all season.  Russell Martin lined out to Center, D. Wise popped out and Curtis Granderson strikes out to end the game.  Blue Jays win 8-1.  Perhaps using Cordero in the 8^th instead would be better.  

Final pitching lines - 

-          Drabek – 7 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 4 walks, 5 K’s

-          Kuroda – 5.0 IP, 8 hits, 7 ER, 2 walks, 6 K’s

May 17^th – Pitching Battle – Drew Hutchison (3-1) VS Phil Hughes (3-5)

Again there is news to report before the game.  It appears Adam Lind has not turned things around quick enough for the Jays GM, and he has been demoted to triple-A.  Yan Gomes has been called up.  He will play 3^rd base, and Brett Lawrie and the Blue Jays have dropped his appeal on his suspension. 

1. So, how would Yan Gomes do in his call up, against the Yankees?  How is Adam Lind going to handle being demoted?  Adam Lind was the only Blue Jay to hit a home run off of Hughes going into this game, but they Jays hit 4 the day before, how will they do today?
2. How will Hutchison handle the Yankees? 

In today’s batting order – Yunel Escobar is back batting 2^nd again, Edwin is batting 4^th, then Arencibia is 5^th.  Ben Fransico gets the start at DH batting 6^th, with Gomes batting 8^th and Rajai Davis getting the start in Left. 

In the 1^st inning, Robinson Cano doubles to left and scores Granderson.  Yankees 1-0.  Two innings later, the Blue Jays, get on the board.  Jose Bautists hits his 10^th home run, and drives in Yunel.  Blue Jays 2-1.    There is no scoring for another 5 innings when JP Arencibia hits his 5^th home run and drives in Bautista.  Blue Jays up 4-1.

I was wondering how Hutchison would do and he ends up holding the Yankees to only 5 hits.  He made Derek Jeter look silly (not easy to do at all) on a few pitches.  The Yankees have not looked good at the plate over these two games.  Derek Jeter made a throwing error as well.

Final pitching lines -

-          Hughes – 5.1 IP, 7 hits, 2 ER, 2 walks, 5 K’s

-          Hutchison – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 1 ER, 4 walks, 3 K’s

Yan Gomes was the other question mark.  Other than his weird looking batting stance, and his baby face, he did not look like a guy who just flew in from Las Vegas.  He collects 2 hits, in his debut against the New York Yankees.  Its also nice to see Bautista home runs in consecutive game.  He is not swinging at balls in the dirt or in the other batter’s box anymore.  Another thing to note is seeing Eric Thames not starting.  I saw on twitter that Vladimir Guerreo crushed a ball in batting practice.  I think he will be up before Travis Snider or Adam Lind.  Then Vladdy will DH full time while Edwin plays first.  Then I think that if Thames does not get it together, Lind will be called back up to play left field or traded once he finds his swing.

A series sweep of the New York Yankees, I'll take that any day, even if it's just two games.  The Blue Jays go against the New York Mets in inter-league play for the weekend.  Hands up if you love inter-league plays - ya that's what I thought.

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For its 1,2,3 Bautista Bombs at the Old Ball Game!!!!

After hitting home runs in the past two games, Jose Bautista was 1 ahead of Curtis Granderson for the MLB lead coming into Sunday's game. But poor Bautista didn't feel comfortable with just a 1 home run lead, so he decided to join Roy Halladay in the non-human club. He went up to bat 3 straight times on Sunday, and all three times hit home runs. Bautista is now on pace to hit 64.8 if he plays every single game until the end of the regular season. With Jose's help The Jays wrapped up the sweep of the ailing Twins by giving them a nice thumping by a score of 11-3. Aaron Hill looked as he finally found his swing after a year and a half of just waving at the ball. Hill went 2-5 with 2 rbi's, and Jose Molina went 3-4 but did a lot of running. Molina scored from first on a double by Yunel Escobar, and also tagged up from second to third on a pop up to center field again off of the bat of Yunel Escobar. Brandon Morrow looked good when he was good, but looked awful when he was bad. Morrow walked in a run in the 4th, but also struck out 8 in just 5 innings of work. Morrow just couldn't find the strike zone most of the time, and that was the reason behind his high pitch count, which tallied 106 when Shawn Camp came into the game to work the 6th inning. The Jays are now back to .500 for the first time since April 30th, and are 4-3 when Alan Ashby calls the game on Sportsnet.

After Winning the game for the Jays on Tuesday night, David Cooper thought he would stay in Toronto for a while, presuming they would go back to a 7 man bullpen when Jayson Nix is ready to return from the disabled list. That prediction was wrong as Cooper was sent back down to the Las Vegas 51's today to make room for the healthy Nix. Cooper was batting .121 for the Jays, but also drew 5 walks.

Tomorrow's game in Detroit is scheduled for 7:05 PM, and Adam Lind is scheduled to be back in the line up for the first time since last Saturday.