It was a great day in Blue Jay Land as the Jays won their first game of the season, lighting up the Rogers Centre with fireworks!
It was also a great day because the minor league season got rolling and we can now start to find out how the Jays farmhands are going to play this year!
And away we go!
Buffalo Bisons 12, Rochester Red Wings 7
With a score that you'd expect to see in Las Vegas, the Bisons' first game as a Blue Jays affiliate culminates in victory!
The offense was just on fire all game, but particularly against starter and former Blue Jay P.J. Walters.
Batting:
Jim Negrych - 3/5, run, rbi
Anthony Gose - 3/4, 3r, rbi, HBP
Moises Sierra - 1/5, run, k, OF assist
Luis Jimenez - 2/4, 2r, 3rbi, HR, BB
Andy LaRoche - 2/4, 2rbi, BB, K
Josh Thole - 2/3, 2r, 2BB, 2B
Ryan Langerhans - 1/4, 3rbi, BB, 3B, K, OF assist
Eugenio Velez - 1/5, 2r, SB
Ryan Goins - 2/4, 1r, 2rbi, K, 2B, SB
Pitching:
Starter Justin Germano had a rough start - W, 5 2/3 IP, 10H, 5R (all earned), 1BB, 3K.
Alex Burnett - 1 1/3 IP, 1H
Brad Lincoln - 1 IP, 1H, 1R (Earned), 1BB, 1K
Juan Perez - 1 IP, 1H, 1R (Earned), 1BB, 1K
New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9, Reading Fightin Phils 0
A well pitched game by new Blue Jay Austin Bibens-Dirkx and the Fisher Cats' bullpen gave the Jays' AA squad their first victory of the year. Some power in the lineup gave the home squad their 9 runs. This is a veteran minor league team that should have a really good year (although some of the biggest name prospects are starting the year on the DL). Bibens-Dirkx is 27, the second pitcher, Clint Everts is 28, and third pitcher of the night, Canadian Trystan Magnuson is 27.
The Fisher Cats got great performances up and down the lineup with Kenny Wilson (sleeper prospect alert) having a nice game, and formerly highly regarded IF prospect John Tolisano going deep (this is Tolisano's 3rd year in New Hampshire).
Batting:
Kenny Wilson - 3/5, 1r, 1rbi, 2B, SB
Kevin Pillar - 0/5
Ryan Schimpf - 1/5, r, 2rbi, HR
Clint Robinson - 1/2, 2r, 3BB, SB
Ricardo Nanita - 1/3, 1r
Kevin Nolan - 1/3, r, rbi, BB, K
Brad Glenn - 2/3, 2r, rbi, BB, 2B
Sean Ochinko - 1/3, 2rbi, 2B
John Tolisano - 1/3, r, 2rbi, HR
Pitching:
Austin Bibens-Dirkx - W, 6 IP, 0R, 3H, 2BB, 6K
Clint Evets - 2 IP, 0H, 0R, 1BB, 2K
Trystan Magnuson - 1 IP, 0H, 0BB, 2K
Dunedin Blue Jays 4, Clearwater Threshers 2
Another very well pitched game for the Blue Jays affiliates as 24 year old Jesse Hernandez has a strong outing against the neighbouring Threshers (it's only about 5 miles between ballparks). In the offensively tame Florida State League, the Blue Jays got a HR from 23 year old 2B Jon Berti - only his 4th career home run in over 600 at bats going back to 2011.
Batting:
Jon Berti - 1/4, r, rbi, HR, K
Peter Mooney - 1/3, r, BB
Andy Burns - 1/3, BB, CS
Gabe Jacobo, 2/4, 2r, K
Marcus Knecht - 3/4, 1K, CS
Kevin Patterson - 3/4, 2rbi, 2B, K
Michael Crouse - 2/4, rbi, 2B, K
Aaron Munoz - 0/4
Jonathan Jones - 0/3, BB
Pitching
Jesse Hernandez - W, 6 IP, 2H, 1R (earned), 2BB, 6K
Marco Grifantini - 1 IP, 1H, 1R (earned), 0BB, 1K
Tony Davis - 1 IP, 2K
Blake McFarland - S, 1 IP, 2H, 1K
Lake County Captains 5, Lansing Lugnuts 4
I listened to a lot of this one on streaming radio while I was streaming the Blue Jays with the sound off. It's nice to hear the game because you get some nice colour that you just can't get by looking at box scores. Announcer Jesse Goldberg-Strassler did a great job and gave us the some fascinating tidbits. Did you know that Santiago Nessy's parents are both doctors? And that if baseball hadn't worked out for him, he would also be studying to be a doctor? GOLD!
The Lugnuts got a fantastic start from Javier Avendano, who, except for one inning, seemed to outclass the Captains. The pitching ran into trouble when highly rated prospect Daniel Norris came into the game in the 6th and gave up two runs on a single, a triple and a groundout. He then gave up another single and walked Erik Gonzalez before ending the inning by catching Robel Garcia looking on strike three. He came back out for the 7th and walked the only batter he saw who came in to score (hence the 3 runs he allowed in 1 plus innings).
First, I was a little surprised to see Norris in on the Lugnuts staff for 2013. However, seeing him come out of the bullpen and not work in a "piggyback" format that the Jays used with Sanchez, Nicolino and Syndergaard (and DeSclafani) last year makes me wonder if they're planning to do with him what they did with Javier Avendano last year. Avendano started the season working in the Lugnuts bullpen and was demoted to Vancouver to work as a starter once the short-season leagues started up in June. This allows the pitcher to get some innings and experience at a higher level in game action before moving down to work out of the rotation against lesser opposition. That's just a hunch that I'm working on, and we may see it happen, especially if Norris continues to struggle in A ball. Remember that he's not even 20 years old and hasn't pitched above Short-Season A.
There were also three defensive errors in this game resulting in 2 of the runs being unearned. Santiago Nessy threw away a pickoff, Emilio Guerrero booted a ball at short, and Chris Hawkins made a throwing error.
Batting:
Dalton Pompey - 1/5, K
Gustavo Pierre (pronounced Pee-air-ay by the announcer) - 0/4, K
Christian Lopes - 1/4, r, 2B
Balbino Fuenmayor - 2/3, 2r, rbi, HR, BB, K
Chris Hawkins - 0/4, K
Santiago Nessy - 1/4, 2rbi, 2B, 2K
Kellen Sweeney - 1/4, K
Emilio Guerrero - 2/4, r, 2B, K
Ronald Melendez - 2/4 rbi, K, SB
Pitching:
Javier Avendano - 5 IP, 2H, 1R (unearned), 2BB, 6K
Daniel Norris - 1 IP (plus one batter), 3H, 3R (all earned), 2BB, 1K
WIl Browning - BS, L, 2 IP, 2 H, 1 R (unearned), 2 BB, 1K
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Friday, April 5, 2013
Thursday, April 4, 2013
2013 Minor League Rosters
Today, to mark the opening of the minor league season, I'll present you with the minor league rosters of the Jays' four full-season minor league
teams. If you want to read a little bit more about each player, go back to some of my earlier posts from the off-season where I recapped the prospects from the Blue Jays' minor league system. To find the more notable prospects, I'm linking them to my earlier posts, so just click on that players name and you'll be taken to the article where I discuss him.
I'll be doing daily minor league recaps of our teams and weekly prospect summaries throughout the season. I'm also hoping to get down to Buffalo and Lansing (for sure) and even to Manchester, NH to see some of these guy again in person.
I've cobbled together these rosters from a couple of different sources. The Buffalo and NH rosters I got from the teams' websites, but I've gotten some help from Bluebird Banters' posts for Dunedin and Lansing rosters because their sites appear to be incomplete.
As you know, in AAA, the Jays reached an agreement with the
Buffalo Bisons in the offseason and have returned to Western New York and the
International League.
Buffalo Bisons
Pitchers
Buddy Carlyle
Alex Burnett
Mickey Storey
Ramon Ortiz
Claudio Vargas
Justin Germano
Dave Bush
Juan Perez
Alex Hinshaw
Neil Wagner
Todd Redmond
Brad Lincoln
Catchers
Mike Nickeas
Josh Thole
Infielders
Adam Loewen
Munenori Kawasaki
Mike McCoy
Ryan Goins
Luis Jimenez
Eugenio Velez
Jim Negrych
Andy LaRoche
Outfielders
Ryan Langerhans
There are no real surprises here. The Bisons have tweeted their lineup for today's Opening Day game:
#Bisons
Opening Day Lineup: Negrych (4), Gose (8), Sierra (9), Jimenez (3), LaRoche
(5), Thole (2), Langerhans (7), Velez (DH), Goins (6)
So we can see that Negrych actually gets to hit leadoff with
Gose batting second. This is really the expected configuration, with Velez
DHing and Justin Germano getting the start. This is a fairly old AAA team, with
a lot of ML experience up and down.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats
Pitchers
Danny Barnes - DL
Fernando Hernandez - DL
Chad Jenkins - DL
Chorye Spoone - DL
Evan Crawford - DL
Marcus Stroman - Restricted
Ryan Tepera
Trystan Magnuson
Chad Beck
Clint Everts
Matt Wright
Austin Bibens-Dirkx
Randy Boone
Tyson Brummett
Joel Carreno
Tommy Hottovy
Catchers
A.J. Jimenez - DL
Seaon Ochinko
Jack Murphy
Infielders
Jon Talley - DL
Brian Van Kirk - DL
Clint Robinson
Kevin Ahrens
Amadeo Zazueta
Outfielders
John Tolisano
Ricardo Nanita
Kenny Wilson
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats roster
is very interesting, particularly because the number of players who have been
put on the 7-Day DL to start the season, including Catcher A.J. Jimenez, and
highly ranked pitching prospects Chad Jenkins and John Stilson. Also
somewhat unexpected is the appearance of Ricardo Nanita on the Fisher Cats
Roster. He's a guy who's got a ton of minor league experience and played
in AAA last year, so I'm not sure what's up with that. Also showing up
here is Clint Robinson, who was picked up off waivers from the Pirates and
essentially takes Lars Anderson's place on the 40-man roster. Anderson was traded to the Chicago White Sox for cash.
Prospecty guys on this roster include Pillar and Wilson.
Some people that I talked to at Spring Training think that Wilson is one
of the most improved players in the system and might open some eyes in AA.
He's a speedster, so don't expect him to light up the scoreboard, but I
did see some pop to the gaps, so he could hit doubles and triples.
While the website doesn't have Sean Nolin on their roster,
Bluebird Banter reports HERE that
Sean Nolin will be on the Fisher Cats roster, but starts the season on the DL.
Dunedin Blue Jays
(Note: the
roster listed at the Dunedin Blue Jays' website are incomplete, so I'm using
this list, compiled at Bluebird Banter)
Pitchers
Dayton Marze - DL
Tyler Ybarra - DL
AaronSanchez
Casey Lawrence
Jesse Hernandez
Ricky Romero
Scott Copeland
Casey Lawrence
Jesse Hernandez
Ricky Romero
Scott Copeland
Dustin Antolin
Scott Gracey
Tony Davis
Marco Grifantini
Efrain Nieves
Blake McFarland
Andrew Meyer
Shawn Griffith
Scott Gracey
Tony Davis
Marco Grifantini
Efrain Nieves
Blake McFarland
Andrew Meyer
Shawn Griffith
Catchers
Pierce Rankin - DL
Aaron
Munoz
Derrick Chung
Derrick Chung
Infielders
K.C. Hobson - DL
GabeJacobo
Jon Berti
Peter Mooney
Andy Burns
Oliver Dominguez
Jon Berti
Peter Mooney
Andy Burns
Oliver Dominguez
Outfielders
Nick Baligod - DL
MarcusKnecht
Jonathan Jones
Michael Crouse
Matthew Newman
Kevin Patterson
Jonathan Jones
Michael Crouse
Matthew Newman
Kevin Patterson
Dunedin's pitching staff is quite a veteran one, with the exception of Aaron Sanchez. Marcus Stroman, while listed on the NH Fisher Cats roster, is frozen there until his suspension is over. The word is that he will be sent to Dunedin to start when he's able to play again, around mid-May. The infield and outfield have some younger players. Pretty much all of the outfield is full of guys who are "toolsy." Including Canadians Knecht and Crouse, and speedster Jonathan Jones. On the infield, Andy Burns could be a surprise, we'll see how he reacts to the Florida State League.
Lansing Lugnuts
Pitchers
Kramer Champlin - DL
Wil Browning
Matt Johnson
Arik Sikula
Chuck Ghysels
Tucker Donahue (click link to read our exclusive interview with Tucker)
Ian Kadish
Ben White
Catchers
Seth Conner
Leo Hernandez
Infielders
Emilio Guerrero
Gustavo Pierre
Jorge Flores
Shane Opitz
Outfielders
Ron Melendez
Chris Hawkins
Carlos Ramirez
If you want to go out and see prospects, the Lansing Lugnuts are the boys to see. This team is chock full of high-upside guys who are going to be tested in full-season ball for the first time.
Leading the pitching staff is consensus #2 Jays prospect Roberto Osuna as well as Top 5 guy Daniel Norris. I've liked what I've seen out of Javier Avendano and Taylor Cole dominated in Vancouver last year.
Out of the bullpen, you can see friend of Blue Jays from Away Tucker Donahue and Griffin Murphy, who's worth seeing just for his moustache.
Behind the plate is up-and-coming catching prospect Santiago Nessy, while Christan Lopes will be at 2B. In the outfield you've got Mississauga born prospect Dalton Pompey as well as Chris Hawkins who, while scouts have mixed feelings about him, could be a sleeper.
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Game 2 Recap - Indians 3, Blue Jays 2 (11 innings)
Well, that's two games down and two losses for the home squad. The offense is sputtering while the pitching continues to look very sharp.
Brandon Morrow was quite good yesterday, but seemed to struggle with control, especially early. While he was able to work his way out of trouble, he ended up with a higher pitch count than one would like, especially this early in the year. I think we saw a little bit of the 2011 Brandon Morrow, where he was trying to take things into his own hands a bit too much. He wasn't really helped out by his defense, though and of the 6 hits he gave up, I think only about 2 of them were hit really well. Still, 8 strikeouts in six innings is quite fantastic, and while he threw a lot of pitches, he only walked two batters.
The bullpen was also extremely solid. With an inning each from Delabar, Oliver, Rogers, Janssen, and Santos, the only runs were an unearned one off Oliver (again, not being helped by the defense) and the Mark Reynolds HR off Santos. Which was on a pitch that almost no human beings even swing at, let alone hit out of the park. That HR is definitely not Santos's fault. The pitch was literally at Reynolds's shoulders. The last guy I saw hit a pitch like that out of the park was Rob Deer, another free swinging strikeout king.
As far as the offense went, except for solo bombs from Maicer Izturis and Jose Bautista, it didn't. There were a couple of nice patience at the plate by Encarnacion, Lind, and Arencibia but the Jays couldn't capitalize, or really get any rallies going off Ubaldo Jimenez or anyone else. In the 11 innings of this ballgame, the Jays brought more than 4 batters to the plate only once.
A lot of people will be talking about the umpires in last night's game. The fact is that home plate umpire Kerwin Danley probably helped Brandon Morrow than he hurt him. There was one pitch that was clearly a strike that he missed, but he was generally calling a wide strike zone all night. Either Danley is known for a wide zone, or the hitters picked that up early on, which is why you didn't see very much complaining about the strike zone during the game. I think in the general scheme of things, if you went by the Pitch Tracker graphic on the broadcast, Morrow got a lot more pitches that were outside the zone called strikes than he got pitches inside the zone called balls.
The big issue was over a ground ball down the first base line hit by Maicer Izturis in the 8th inning. Called fair by first base umpire Lance Barksdale, it was much more questionable (the TV broadcast didn't provide a definitive angle). There were two problems with that call (and I say this with 15 years of umpiring experience). One - It wasn't his call. Fair and foul calls are the home plate umpire's until the ball passes the first and third base bags. Two - The first base umpire had NO WAY of seeing the ball through a sliding Nick Swisher.
I have a feeling that the reason that the first base umpire made the call in the first place was because the plate umpire, Danley, was blocked out by Izturis running down the line. In this case, it's his job to get clear of the runner to make sure he can see the ball. That is his first priority. On the broadcast, you can clearly see that the first base umpire made the call first, after a hesitation, which was then mirrored by the home plate umpire. My gut (and on-the-field experience) tells me that the hesitation was because Danley was blocked out, couldn't see the ball, and asked his partner Barksdale to make the call for him.
This is probably the reason that the umpires never conferred with each other after Jays manager John Gibbons came out to argue the call. If he had come to me and I knew that my partner didn't have a good look, I would have gotten together with the crew and made a decision after we could talk it over. Because there was no conference following Gibbons's discussion with Danley, it's my hunch that Danley didn't see it clearly either and therefore, the only two umpires who could have seen the play from the proper angle were both blocked out and therefore had to live with the call.
So, that's it for last night's game. I'm not sure what I'll do about tonight's game, which is on Sportsnet 1, which I don't get. Thank you, Rogers.
Brandon Morrow was quite good yesterday, but seemed to struggle with control, especially early. While he was able to work his way out of trouble, he ended up with a higher pitch count than one would like, especially this early in the year. I think we saw a little bit of the 2011 Brandon Morrow, where he was trying to take things into his own hands a bit too much. He wasn't really helped out by his defense, though and of the 6 hits he gave up, I think only about 2 of them were hit really well. Still, 8 strikeouts in six innings is quite fantastic, and while he threw a lot of pitches, he only walked two batters.
The bullpen was also extremely solid. With an inning each from Delabar, Oliver, Rogers, Janssen, and Santos, the only runs were an unearned one off Oliver (again, not being helped by the defense) and the Mark Reynolds HR off Santos. Which was on a pitch that almost no human beings even swing at, let alone hit out of the park. That HR is definitely not Santos's fault. The pitch was literally at Reynolds's shoulders. The last guy I saw hit a pitch like that out of the park was Rob Deer, another free swinging strikeout king.
As far as the offense went, except for solo bombs from Maicer Izturis and Jose Bautista, it didn't. There were a couple of nice patience at the plate by Encarnacion, Lind, and Arencibia but the Jays couldn't capitalize, or really get any rallies going off Ubaldo Jimenez or anyone else. In the 11 innings of this ballgame, the Jays brought more than 4 batters to the plate only once.
A lot of people will be talking about the umpires in last night's game. The fact is that home plate umpire Kerwin Danley probably helped Brandon Morrow than he hurt him. There was one pitch that was clearly a strike that he missed, but he was generally calling a wide strike zone all night. Either Danley is known for a wide zone, or the hitters picked that up early on, which is why you didn't see very much complaining about the strike zone during the game. I think in the general scheme of things, if you went by the Pitch Tracker graphic on the broadcast, Morrow got a lot more pitches that were outside the zone called strikes than he got pitches inside the zone called balls.
The big issue was over a ground ball down the first base line hit by Maicer Izturis in the 8th inning. Called fair by first base umpire Lance Barksdale, it was much more questionable (the TV broadcast didn't provide a definitive angle). There were two problems with that call (and I say this with 15 years of umpiring experience). One - It wasn't his call. Fair and foul calls are the home plate umpire's until the ball passes the first and third base bags. Two - The first base umpire had NO WAY of seeing the ball through a sliding Nick Swisher.
I have a feeling that the reason that the first base umpire made the call in the first place was because the plate umpire, Danley, was blocked out by Izturis running down the line. In this case, it's his job to get clear of the runner to make sure he can see the ball. That is his first priority. On the broadcast, you can clearly see that the first base umpire made the call first, after a hesitation, which was then mirrored by the home plate umpire. My gut (and on-the-field experience) tells me that the hesitation was because Danley was blocked out, couldn't see the ball, and asked his partner Barksdale to make the call for him.
This is probably the reason that the umpires never conferred with each other after Jays manager John Gibbons came out to argue the call. If he had come to me and I knew that my partner didn't have a good look, I would have gotten together with the crew and made a decision after we could talk it over. Because there was no conference following Gibbons's discussion with Danley, it's my hunch that Danley didn't see it clearly either and therefore, the only two umpires who could have seen the play from the proper angle were both blocked out and therefore had to live with the call.
So, that's it for last night's game. I'm not sure what I'll do about tonight's game, which is on Sportsnet 1, which I don't get. Thank you, Rogers.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Game 1 Recap: CLE 4, TOR 1
I don't promise that I'll recap all of the games. I probably won't watch every game, but the great thing about baseball is that there's so many games, you don't feel like you have to watch every single one.
This won't be a blow-by-blow either. I'll just touch on some of the things that I noticed, some good, some bad.
First, the good. The relief pitching was terrific. With only 1 walk in three innings, the relievers really came out with their great stuff. Aaron Loup was probably the "worst" of the bunch giving up a hit and a walk in his 1 1/3 innings. The walk for Loup was particularly uncharacteristic -- he only walked 2 in over 30 innings last season -- but he did look like he struggled to throw good strikes. He was relieved after one out in the 8th by Sergio Santos. Santos was lighting up the radar gun at 96 mph and throwing a slider that just looked unfair. If his stuff is always that sharp, righties in particular are going to be hopeless against him.
Finally, I think this blog is going to adopt Brett Cecil as our comeback Blue Jay this year. Cecil, as I've blogged a couple of times previously (particularly from when I was in Florida watching Spring Training games) has looked really good and came in last night firing BBs. He threw up to 94 mph on the Toronto radar gun and Fangraphs has his average fastball velocity at 91.1 mph, up about 2 mph over the past couple of season, which is actually quite significant. He got through his inning in a tidy 10 pitches and induced a strikeout from #9 hitter Drew Stubbs, a groundout from leadoff hitter Michael Bourn, and a flyout from hero-of-the-night Asdrubal Cabrera. All in all, an excellent appearance from Cecil. As I tweeted with Blue Jays writer Chris Toman after his appearance, if Cecil can throw in the low 90s with good movement on 3 pitches and the kind of control that he showed last night, he could pitch as long as Darren Oliver.
I loved how patient many of many of the batters were, particularly the top of the order against Masterson in the first few innings, but other than that, the offense was pretty anemic, and Adam Lind produced the only run by grounding hard into a double play that was turned by Asdrubal Cabrera in a fantastic play.* However, that changed as the Jays were unable to get anything going after the fourth. With only four hits on the night (and four walks) the entire lineup gets a failing grade with particularly rough nights for Colby Rasmus (0 for 3, 3Ks and 1 BB) and J.P. Arencibia (1 for 4, 2K, 2B, 3 passed balls).
Bonifacio had the only other extra base hit for the Jays but it was really a solid single to right that his speed turned into a double. With Colby Rasmus going first to third, Bonifacio just turned on the jets right out of the box and made it look like he had hit it into the gap with how easily he made it to second.
As far as R.A. Dickey went, he struggled to control the knuckleball and wasn't fantastic, but there are two caveats we have to take away from his first start as a Blue Jay. One is that he's a knuckleballer. The factor that makes the pitch so unpredictable and difficult to hit also makes his outings unpredictable. He won't always be good, and there could be nights when he's horrible. The second caveat was that J.P. Arencibia had a very bad night catching him. He gave up extra bases and took away double play situations at least three times in the night and really made things more difficult for Dickey. Fortunately, Dickey was generous with his young catcher and didn't throw him under the bus in his post-game interview, but I have a feeling that we'll see Henry Blanco on Sunday in his next appearance against the Red Sox.
Game 1 down, 161 to go.
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* Notice that I said that Lind "produced" the run, not "drove in" the run. RBIs aren't credited when you hit into a double play that results in a run.
This won't be a blow-by-blow either. I'll just touch on some of the things that I noticed, some good, some bad.
First, the good. The relief pitching was terrific. With only 1 walk in three innings, the relievers really came out with their great stuff. Aaron Loup was probably the "worst" of the bunch giving up a hit and a walk in his 1 1/3 innings. The walk for Loup was particularly uncharacteristic -- he only walked 2 in over 30 innings last season -- but he did look like he struggled to throw good strikes. He was relieved after one out in the 8th by Sergio Santos. Santos was lighting up the radar gun at 96 mph and throwing a slider that just looked unfair. If his stuff is always that sharp, righties in particular are going to be hopeless against him.
Finally, I think this blog is going to adopt Brett Cecil as our comeback Blue Jay this year. Cecil, as I've blogged a couple of times previously (particularly from when I was in Florida watching Spring Training games) has looked really good and came in last night firing BBs. He threw up to 94 mph on the Toronto radar gun and Fangraphs has his average fastball velocity at 91.1 mph, up about 2 mph over the past couple of season, which is actually quite significant. He got through his inning in a tidy 10 pitches and induced a strikeout from #9 hitter Drew Stubbs, a groundout from leadoff hitter Michael Bourn, and a flyout from hero-of-the-night Asdrubal Cabrera. All in all, an excellent appearance from Cecil. As I tweeted with Blue Jays writer Chris Toman after his appearance, if Cecil can throw in the low 90s with good movement on 3 pitches and the kind of control that he showed last night, he could pitch as long as Darren Oliver.
I loved how patient many of many of the batters were, particularly the top of the order against Masterson in the first few innings, but other than that, the offense was pretty anemic, and Adam Lind produced the only run by grounding hard into a double play that was turned by Asdrubal Cabrera in a fantastic play.* However, that changed as the Jays were unable to get anything going after the fourth. With only four hits on the night (and four walks) the entire lineup gets a failing grade with particularly rough nights for Colby Rasmus (0 for 3, 3Ks and 1 BB) and J.P. Arencibia (1 for 4, 2K, 2B, 3 passed balls).
Bonifacio had the only other extra base hit for the Jays but it was really a solid single to right that his speed turned into a double. With Colby Rasmus going first to third, Bonifacio just turned on the jets right out of the box and made it look like he had hit it into the gap with how easily he made it to second.
As far as R.A. Dickey went, he struggled to control the knuckleball and wasn't fantastic, but there are two caveats we have to take away from his first start as a Blue Jay. One is that he's a knuckleballer. The factor that makes the pitch so unpredictable and difficult to hit also makes his outings unpredictable. He won't always be good, and there could be nights when he's horrible. The second caveat was that J.P. Arencibia had a very bad night catching him. He gave up extra bases and took away double play situations at least three times in the night and really made things more difficult for Dickey. Fortunately, Dickey was generous with his young catcher and didn't throw him under the bus in his post-game interview, but I have a feeling that we'll see Henry Blanco on Sunday in his next appearance against the Red Sox.
Game 1 down, 161 to go.
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* Notice that I said that Lind "produced" the run, not "drove in" the run. RBIs aren't credited when you hit into a double play that results in a run.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Your Blue Jays Broadcast Team
Because our gateway to the Blue Jays is mediated by the media, I thought an Opening Day primer about the Jays' broadcast team was in order.
The play-by-play man on the TV side of things is former Jays catcher and manager, Buck Martinez. The right-handed hitting half of the Whitt/Martinez catching tandem for the Jays, he's probably best known these days for his expertly coifed head of hair, and this play, in which he was run over, breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle while still making 2 putouts: WATCH.
While Buck is a solid, professional broadcaster, I think that he was at his best working with (now ESPN broadcaster) Dan Schulman. With Schulman as the play-by-play man and Martinez as the colour analyst, the Blue Jays broadcasting was at its peak. I think that Martinez is slightly miscast as a play-by-play man although he does a good job letting his partner do most of the analysis.
Most nights, Buck's partner on TV is former Blue Jay Pat Tabler whose two seasons with the Jays culminated in a 1992 World Series victory. While Pat is a very humble fellow and (from my brief meeting of him) a very nice person, I feel that he gets very repetitive on the air and is a victim of the "obviousness" disease. While watching a pair of spring training games on TV, I actually switched to listening to the radio broadcast after Pat made the same comment about Adam Lind several times. I understand that there's a fine balance in addressing both occasional and habitual audiences, but I'm sure there's something you can find to say about Adam Lind that is interesting to both groups of people without repeating yourself.
On the radio side, we have the long-time commentator Jerry Howarth anchoring the broadcasts. For me (along with soon-to-be Hall of Famer Tom Cheek) Jerry's is the voice of summer. He is one of the few broadcasters that I've found to be not only quite impartial, but also knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He makes it sound effortless, particularly on the radio and his little proprietary comments (... And there she goes!.... The Blue Jays are in flight!) really make the game a Blue Jays game.
Pairing up with Jerry this season will be Jack Morris. While Morris has big shoes to fill after Alan Ashby departed to take a job with the Astros closer to home, I still don't really have a good read on him after listening to him a few times. He doesn't muster the enthusiasm that other broadcasters do, always sounding somewhat tired or bored. Maybe with all of the excitement of his borderline Hall of Fame playing career, nothing he sees in broadcasting thrills him. The sample size is still too small to really form a lasting opinion of Morris as a broadcaster, so we'll see what he brings as the season progresses.
Hosting duties and studio analysis on the TV side has been done by the team of Jamie Campbell and Gregg Zaun. It's an interesting pairing that kind of reminds a lot of people of Ron McLean and Don Cherry over on CBC for the hockey. Zaun doesn't shy away from the controversial, but unlike Cherry, he actually has valuable, relevant baseball information to share. Zaun has run into controversy with some tweets that have been derogatory towards women. Campbell, who seems like a very nice fellow (I very briefly met him down at the Jays' minor league complex in Dunedin), had the play-by-play duties for the TV side for a year or two before Martinez returned to Toronto and is also a very professional, well prepared broadcaster. He's at his best in the studio, setting up Zaun and seamlessly bridging topics.
Getting some radio game-calling time this spring were pre- and post-game host Mike Wilner and former Blue Jay and author Dirk Hayhurst. These guys understood that they were calling exhibition games on the radio and not the World Series and kept the mood light and fun. Wilner has subbed in on regular season broadcasts in the past and has modulated his game-calling by catering to the different situations of Spring Training and regular season games. I've found him to be a very good broadcaster for his play-by-play duties and have enjoyed his work both calling games and doing his pre-game and post-game Jays Talk duties. Some criticize him about being too much of a "know-it-all," but maybe we're just two peas in a pod (i.e., we're both "know-it-alls") because I appreciate the fact that he doesn't let callers get away with the kind of nonsense that frequently arises in those types of call-in shows.*
Both Wilner and Hayhurst were frequently humourous in their Spring Training broadcasts but I think that Hayhurst falls into the "I played with that guy" trap a little too frequently (particularly with the "TOD" - Teammate of Dirk - designation). While for Spring Training games, his insight into behind-the-scenes part of the game was refreshing, if I was listening to regular season or (hopefully this season) playoff games, I'd want to hear more of a dissection of strategy and analysis of what happened on the field. I think that Hayhurst, who is still new to the broadcasting realm, will find that balance going forward, and will eventually take over for Morris. Whereas Morris sounds like he's less than thrilled to be working in radio, Hayhurst oozes charisma and energy.
For those of us who aren't at every game (or who might even prefer to watch/listen at home), These are the guys that bring Blue Jays baseball to us. I've heard and watched other teams when I've been away or traveling through other cities,** and I have to say that watching and listening to Blue Jays broadcasts is always one of my favourite ways to catch the Jays.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
* I find listening to post-game Maple Leaf call-in shows intolerable due to the host's encouragment of the morons who call in.
**Listening to Chicago Cubs or White Sox games on the radio is especially painful/hilarious depending on your view of the unique Chicago brand of homerism.
Both Mike Wilner and Dirk Hayhurst are active Twitterers
Mike Wilner: @Wilnerness590
Dirk Hayhurst: @thegarfoose
Blue Jays from Away: @Jaysfromaway
The play-by-play man on the TV side of things is former Jays catcher and manager, Buck Martinez. The right-handed hitting half of the Whitt/Martinez catching tandem for the Jays, he's probably best known these days for his expertly coifed head of hair, and this play, in which he was run over, breaking his leg and dislocating his ankle while still making 2 putouts: WATCH.
While Buck is a solid, professional broadcaster, I think that he was at his best working with (now ESPN broadcaster) Dan Schulman. With Schulman as the play-by-play man and Martinez as the colour analyst, the Blue Jays broadcasting was at its peak. I think that Martinez is slightly miscast as a play-by-play man although he does a good job letting his partner do most of the analysis.
Most nights, Buck's partner on TV is former Blue Jay Pat Tabler whose two seasons with the Jays culminated in a 1992 World Series victory. While Pat is a very humble fellow and (from my brief meeting of him) a very nice person, I feel that he gets very repetitive on the air and is a victim of the "obviousness" disease. While watching a pair of spring training games on TV, I actually switched to listening to the radio broadcast after Pat made the same comment about Adam Lind several times. I understand that there's a fine balance in addressing both occasional and habitual audiences, but I'm sure there's something you can find to say about Adam Lind that is interesting to both groups of people without repeating yourself.
On the radio side, we have the long-time commentator Jerry Howarth anchoring the broadcasts. For me (along with soon-to-be Hall of Famer Tom Cheek) Jerry's is the voice of summer. He is one of the few broadcasters that I've found to be not only quite impartial, but also knowledgeable and enthusiastic. He makes it sound effortless, particularly on the radio and his little proprietary comments (... And there she goes!.... The Blue Jays are in flight!) really make the game a Blue Jays game.
Pairing up with Jerry this season will be Jack Morris. While Morris has big shoes to fill after Alan Ashby departed to take a job with the Astros closer to home, I still don't really have a good read on him after listening to him a few times. He doesn't muster the enthusiasm that other broadcasters do, always sounding somewhat tired or bored. Maybe with all of the excitement of his borderline Hall of Fame playing career, nothing he sees in broadcasting thrills him. The sample size is still too small to really form a lasting opinion of Morris as a broadcaster, so we'll see what he brings as the season progresses.
Hosting duties and studio analysis on the TV side has been done by the team of Jamie Campbell and Gregg Zaun. It's an interesting pairing that kind of reminds a lot of people of Ron McLean and Don Cherry over on CBC for the hockey. Zaun doesn't shy away from the controversial, but unlike Cherry, he actually has valuable, relevant baseball information to share. Zaun has run into controversy with some tweets that have been derogatory towards women. Campbell, who seems like a very nice fellow (I very briefly met him down at the Jays' minor league complex in Dunedin), had the play-by-play duties for the TV side for a year or two before Martinez returned to Toronto and is also a very professional, well prepared broadcaster. He's at his best in the studio, setting up Zaun and seamlessly bridging topics.
Getting some radio game-calling time this spring were pre- and post-game host Mike Wilner and former Blue Jay and author Dirk Hayhurst. These guys understood that they were calling exhibition games on the radio and not the World Series and kept the mood light and fun. Wilner has subbed in on regular season broadcasts in the past and has modulated his game-calling by catering to the different situations of Spring Training and regular season games. I've found him to be a very good broadcaster for his play-by-play duties and have enjoyed his work both calling games and doing his pre-game and post-game Jays Talk duties. Some criticize him about being too much of a "know-it-all," but maybe we're just two peas in a pod (i.e., we're both "know-it-alls") because I appreciate the fact that he doesn't let callers get away with the kind of nonsense that frequently arises in those types of call-in shows.*
Both Wilner and Hayhurst were frequently humourous in their Spring Training broadcasts but I think that Hayhurst falls into the "I played with that guy" trap a little too frequently (particularly with the "TOD" - Teammate of Dirk - designation). While for Spring Training games, his insight into behind-the-scenes part of the game was refreshing, if I was listening to regular season or (hopefully this season) playoff games, I'd want to hear more of a dissection of strategy and analysis of what happened on the field. I think that Hayhurst, who is still new to the broadcasting realm, will find that balance going forward, and will eventually take over for Morris. Whereas Morris sounds like he's less than thrilled to be working in radio, Hayhurst oozes charisma and energy.
For those of us who aren't at every game (or who might even prefer to watch/listen at home), These are the guys that bring Blue Jays baseball to us. I've heard and watched other teams when I've been away or traveling through other cities,** and I have to say that watching and listening to Blue Jays broadcasts is always one of my favourite ways to catch the Jays.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
* I find listening to post-game Maple Leaf call-in shows intolerable due to the host's encouragment of the morons who call in.
**Listening to Chicago Cubs or White Sox games on the radio is especially painful/hilarious depending on your view of the unique Chicago brand of homerism.
Both Mike Wilner and Dirk Hayhurst are active Twitterers
Mike Wilner: @Wilnerness590
Dirk Hayhurst: @thegarfoose
Blue Jays from Away: @Jaysfromaway
Monday, April 1, 2013
2013 Blue Jays Preview, part 4
44 - RHP Casey Janssen
Age: 31
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $3.9 million
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $3.9 million
Over the past two seasons, bullpen arms don’t come as
reliable as Casey Janssen’s. In fact,
he’s been very good or better over the past three seasons, since returning to
form more than a year after surgery to repair a torn labrum that caused him to
miss the entire 2008 season. Casey took
masterful to a new level last year, picking up 22 saves, but more importantly
being a shutdown closer in a non-overpowering way. He did it with good (but not great) stuff and
superior control. Typically (like Sergio
Santos), dominant closers will walk a lot of batters, but Janssen walked
(unintentionally) 11 batters all year and only gave up 44 hits in 63 2/3
innings while striking out 67 batters.
Some people look to the K/BB ratio as an indicator of a pitcher’s
performance (others have decided that a K%/BB% is much better), but in either
case, Janssen is a rock star.
We will see what happens this year. Coming off surgery to clean out his shoulder,
Janssen has been brought along slowly this spring but is said to be ready to
start the season. He and Santos (also
recoving from surgery) will probably close in
tandem early in the season to ensure that neither pitches on back to back days
for at least a couple of weeks. This
said, Janssen has been anointed the “closer,” but my hunch is that Santos will
settle into that role (with Casey being a high leverage and 8th
inning guy) by the end of the season.
48 - LHP J.A. Happ
Age: 30
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $3.7 million
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $3.7 million
Coming off a newly minted contract extension as well as a
spot in the Blue Jays’ starting rotation, J.A. Happ will be the Jays’ 5th
starter. After a very good spring and
deepened concerns for Ricky Romero, Happ is looking to make a name for himself
in Toronto, rather than being that guy they got from Houston after all the
pitchers got hurt last year, or the guy the Jays sent to AAA after they added 3
better pitchers to the rotation.
Which brings us to the question of “Who is J.A. Happ?” (as a
pitcher at least). Happ’s career goes
from Philadelphia to Houston to Toronto and he has pitched decently (or worse)
in every season except for his 2009 season with the Phillies. Apparently, Happ has been on Alex
Anthopoulos’s radar since that season in which he started 23 games and went
12-4 with a 2.93 ERA and a decent 1.235 WHIP.
Not all was great in the state of Pennsylvania, though, as Happ’s FIP was
4.33 and xFIP was 4.43 that same year, numbers he actually outperformed in his
40 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays last year (4.48 FIP, 3.75 xFIP). Happ should give the Jays a decent or better
5th starter, even if Romero fails to recapture his previous self.
50 - RHP Steve Delabar
Age: 29
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $498,900
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $498,900
I’ve written about the Velocity program that Delabar
attended after breaking his arm and thinking he’d never pitch professionally
again. Not only did he regain health in
his shoulder, he gained arm strength and velocity as a by-product and made his
unlikely return to professional baseball and even the majors. Acquired from Seattle last season for the
paltry cost of OF Eric Thames, Delabar came to the Blue Jays and continued his
resurrection. The only major difference
between the 4.17 ERA he posted in 36 2/3 innings with the Mariners and the 3.38
ERA he posted in 29 1/3 innings with the Blue Jays is his significantly lower
HR ratio. For the Mariners, he was
giving up 2.2 HR/9 while he only gave up 0.9 HR/9 with the Blue Jays. That and his strikeout rate skyrocketed
(while his walk rate also rose).
The myth was that he became a different pitcher and was way
more dominant with the Jays, but that just isn’t true. While he threw far more split-fingered
fastballs with the Blue Jays (and fewer 4-seamed fastballs), he actually gave
up more fly balls and fewer ground balls than he did in Seattle. Whatever he did, it kept the ball in the park
and increased his already excellent K%.
If he continues that trend and even (hopefully) brings his walk rates in
line to what he did in Seattle, he will be a dominant arm out of the bullpen.
53 - OF Melky Cabrera
Age: 28
Nationality: Dominican
2013 Contract: $8 million
Nationality: Dominican
2013 Contract: $8 million
Much is known about Melky’s 2012 suspension for the use of
Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs).
However, he is the type of hitter that the extra strength may not
benefit. Many writers wonder if Melky
was so dominant last year (with an NL leading .346 batting average) because of
his .379 BABIP rather than the PEDs.
From watching Melky in Spring Training, I can say that he
was a hitting machine. He’s going to be
a great presence at the top of the lineup (batting second) hitting mostly
singles and doubles. His defense looked
very good (even in CF where he played a couple of times) and has shown a very
good arm. I’m very comfortable with
Cabrera, and he seems to fit in well in the Jays’ heavily Dominican populated
clubhouse.
55 - RHP Josh Johnson
Age: 29
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $13.75 million
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $13.75 million
Another new addition to the Jays, Johnson brings an
outstanding pedigree over from the Marlins in the National League. While A.J. Burnett never pitched as well in
the AL Beast as he did in the NL, most pundits think that Johnson will make the
transition a little bit easier than Burnett did. The reason is that, while he has had to deal
with decreased velocity after an arm injury cost him most of 2011, he has made
up for it by reintroducing his curveball and changing speeds more.
Johnson's numbers last season (the first back after an
injury) were solid, I expect even better from him this year. He looked dominant in Spring Training, and
while ST numbers aren't indicative of anything, it's good to see the imposing
righty look good.
56 - LHP MarkBuehrle
Age: 34
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $11 million
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: $11 million
Buehrle (yes, that's spelled right) will have to pitch this
season without the support of his beloved family and dogs, but that might just
make the majors fastest worker work even faster. Buehrle is known for his consistency, his
durability, and his no-nonsense "get the ball and throw it" demeanor
on the mound. This finesse lefty gets
batters out with guile, movement, changing speed and relying less and less on a
fastball that averages 85 miles an hour.
Coming back to the AL shouldn't be a problem for Buehrle but
the man who is possibly the next incarnation of Jamie Moyer is owed $48 million
over the next three seasons. This means
that he will have to really produce at a level that is higher than expected
when a player signs one of those long-term, backloaded contracts.
62 - LHP Aaron Loup
Age: 25
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: 494,200
Nationality: American
2013 Contract: 494,200
Loup was one of the biggest surprises of 2012 coming up and
showing the "ice water in his veins" (as the TV announcers like to
say) while really showing pinpoint control (only walking 2 batters in 30 2/3
innings). He had a strong spring and
looks to make an impact again, securing his spot in the Jays' bullpen.
Loup is mostly a fastball/slider pitcher from the left side,
averaging 92.1 mph on his fastball. He's
not a power guy, but from the left side, that's pretty good. He saw about an equal split of righties and
lefties and was effective against both, but did post better numbers against
lefties than righties. While his
strikeout and walk numbers aren't much better, it looks like that Loup induced
a lot more weak contact from the left-handed batters. This is encouraging, but with a bullpen with
three lefties (Loup, Oliver, Cecil), being able to pitch to righties too will
definitely help him get some more innings.
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Note: Clicking on a player's name will bring you to his Baseball Reference page.
Don't forget to follow us on Twitter: @Jaysfromaway
Interview with Tucker Donahue, Lansing Lugnut
One of the Jays' minor leaguers that I had a chance to see play when I was down in Florida was relief pitcher Tucker Donahue.*
Tucker is a 22 year old righty who was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 4th round of the 2012 draft out of Stetson Univeristy in his home state of Florida. After a championship season with the Vancouver Canadians last year, Tucker will be pitching for the Jays' A-ball affiliate in Lansing, Michigan to start 2013 and he was kind enough to answer some questions for me to pass the time flying up to Michigan from Florida.
It's noteworthy that Tucker was part of the Blue Jays' strategy to "game" the 2012 draft. By agreeing to a $5000 signing bonus as a college senior, he (and the rest of the Jays draftees in rounds 4 through 10) enabled the team to spend above slot in order to sign guys like D.J. Davis, Marcus Stroman, Anthony Alford, and Matt Smoral. When I talked to Zach Mortimer, we had just seen Tucker throw in an intra-squad game at the Jays' minor league complex in Dunedin. Zach was really surprised to see the quality of Tucker's stuff and you can see what he said HERE. I think you'll see from his answers that Tucker is a thoughtful, intelligent young man, and we wish him the best of success in 2013.
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 |
| Tucker Donahue pitching for Stetson University. Photo: Atlanticsun.org |
It's noteworthy that Tucker was part of the Blue Jays' strategy to "game" the 2012 draft. By agreeing to a $5000 signing bonus as a college senior, he (and the rest of the Jays draftees in rounds 4 through 10) enabled the team to spend above slot in order to sign guys like D.J. Davis, Marcus Stroman, Anthony Alford, and Matt Smoral. When I talked to Zach Mortimer, we had just seen Tucker throw in an intra-squad game at the Jays' minor league complex in Dunedin. Zach was really surprised to see the quality of Tucker's stuff and you can see what he said HERE. I think you'll see from his answers that Tucker is a thoughtful, intelligent young man, and we wish him the best of success in 2013.
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Blue Jays from Away: Obviously, the Blue Jays had let you know
that they were interested in selecting you fairly early in the draft last
season. What can you tell me about the conversations you had with the
Blue Jays and their scouting staff? What other teams were you in touch
with? Which scout was responsible for "signing" you?
Tucker Donahue: Well, the Blue Jays’
interest in me dates back to my junior year at Stetson (2011 draft) when Joel
Grampietro and I spoke quite a bit leading up to the draft that year. I ended up going to the Rangers in the 38th
round after a handful of deals fell through in earlier rounds. But I chose to finish my degree at Stetson
(finance) and return for my senior year.
In 2012, I had a good amount of attention from a vast amount of scouts
for different teams. Mr. Grampietro and
the Jays had maintained their interest and as the draft got closer the
conversation of selecting me in the top ten rounds started picking up steam from
about 10 teams (Royals, Yankees, Rangers, White Sox, Cubs to name a few). And on draft day Mr. Grampietro and [Blue
Jays scouting director Andrew] Tinnish both spoke to me on the phone to confirm
I’d sign, a few times, before they made the move.
Essentially
the overall feeling from all of the teams were they would be able to draft me
in an earlier round and it'd make sense from a business stand point due to my
lack of leverage, but they felt they were getting a pitcher with a valuable
tool as well. I couldn't disagree, I knew the situation going in and not many
college seniors are gonna turn down a top ten round draft position. To me I
knew what I could do on the mound and that I still had room to grow and if it
were about the money I could have left school as a junior, or pursued a job
with my degree.
BJfA: How has pitching changed for
you between college and pros? What kind of pitcher would you say you are (then
and now)?
TD: The
biggest difference I've seen in pitching from the short time I've been in pro
ball is learning what pitching down in the zone really means. I'd say from a
"stuff" point of view I'm a power pitcher but I don't approach the
art that way. I attack the zone and try to induce weak contact in early counts
much like a more crafty pitcher may classify their game as. I just do it with a
little more velocity.
BJfA: How do you feel about
your season last year? What did the coaching staff ask you to work on in
the off-season? How did you train differently this off-season (your first
in pro-ball) than in the past?
TD: I thought my first season
with the Blue Jays was great. I really bought into making the changes I needed
to clean up my delivery and become more consistent with my fastball command. I
loved that I was able to do so, worry free, in game settings because there's no
better chance to learn about yourself than when there's a guy in the box trying
to get his job done. If you wanna find out how good you are, hitters will let
you know. From Vancouver through instructs and my time in the Dominican I feel
like I made some big strides in the right direction and I'm really going to
benefit from the work the staff has put in with me.
BJfA: What
was it like pitching in the Dominican Republic?
TD: The Dominican was definitely a great
experience. A chance to continue to
pitch against hitters and I was able to see the game from their
perspective. I definitely don’t take the
things we get here for granted after seeing how hard it is for those players to
get off the island.
BJfA: Are you doing anything differently than you
did last year?
TD: I worked a lot on raising my arm angle a
little bit to get more downhill tilt on my pitches and I think it's paid off to
this point. I'm more consistent with repeating my delivery and release point
and that's something I think I struggled with when I first arrived in Dunedin
last year.
BJfA: Do you have any experience pitching in cold
weather? Are you looking forward to Michigan in the spring-time?
TD: Yeah, last summer in Vancouver was pretty
cold, for me at least. I've spent my whole life playing baseball south of
Jacksonville so that was a little shock to my body. But the best baseball is
played in the cold so it's something we all have to adapt to. I hear Lansing is
real nice, but I know Florida is real nice too so I'm trying to get back to
playing there soon as well.**
BJfA: What's it like sitting in the bullpen for a
game? How do you react when the call comes in to get up and start
throwing?
TD: We have a lot of down time down there in the
'pen. For the first couple innings I like to stay loose and talk with the guys
a little bit. Maybe play a movie trivia game but after about the third inning I
start to mentally prepare for the impromptu call to get hot. When that call
does come down I've already gotten my body as loose as possible without
throwing and I'm ready to get it started. I'm lucky and I don't take much time
to get hot so after about 10-12 throws I'm ready to go.
BJfA: What's a bigger rush: Striking
a batter out? Or getting a batter to ground into an inning ending double play?
TD: Anytime
you can get 2 for the price of one I think you're a little more happy with the
outcome.
BJfA: What was it like pitching in
Vancouver last season (both in terms of the team winning a championship and in
terms of the city itself)?
TD: Vancouver
was a great introduction into playing with the blue jays. You play to win the
game no matter what level you're at and I hate losing so coming home with a
ring was the only acceptable ending to my season in my eyes. The city was
beautiful when it finally cleared up and temperatures warmed up a bit. On our
off days (all 2 of them ... the third was spent on a bus) I went for a run
along Kitsilano beach which is a great backdrop for a good long run.
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* Click on Tucker's name to go to his Baseball Reference page.
** Note: Tucker clarified for me that by saying "the best baseball is played in the cold," he's talking about playoff baseball in October. When he talks about getting back to Florida, he's referring to the Blue Jays' Advanced-A affiliate in Dunedin, Florida.
Don't forget to follow Tucker Donahue on Twitter: @TuckeRyan
And Zach Mortimer: @ZachMort
And us: @Jaysfromaway
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