12:40 AM Eastern
After having spent the day hanging out with the family at the Florida Aquarium (you can touch the sharks and stingrays, and the penguins walk among you!), I was dragging a bit when I got to George M. Steinbrenner Field for the Jays-Yankees tilt. Hopeful of a routine Spring Training night with little drama, Casey Janssen taking another good step towards a spot in the rotation and some good clips from A.J. Burnett, I didn’t get it. But it sure wound up a lot more interesting.
Janssen didn’t look right tonight, not from the moment he stepped out onto the field in the bottom of the first. He was stretching out his shoulder every chance he got, looking really uncomfortable on the mound, and his ball had no zip on it at all. I didn’t say anything on the broadcast because I didn’t want to be the alarmist, making everybody think that something might be up, but if he had stayed in much longer than 14 pitches, I probably wouldn’t have been able to hold it in. Brad Arnsberg did the job for me, though, coming out to yank Janssen just four batters in.
The assemblage talked to Janssen a while later, and he seemed fine. He said it was just tightness, that he wasn’t worried at all. He feels great and could probably go out and throw really soon, but he’ll see the doctor in the morning to make sure. Janssen said none of the trigger points were the same as when he hurt his shoulder last February and missed all of 2008. That was the labrum, this is the lat muscle, sort of. Whatever it is, at this point, it’s good news long-term, but bad news for Casey’s chances of making the rotation out of Spring Training.
Right now there are just over two full weeks left before the Jays head north to open the season April 6th against the Tigers at Rogers Centre. There’s no way Janssen will be stretched out to 100 pitches by then, even if he’s completely fine. He was supposed to throw about 60 tonight, and managed fewer than one-quarter of that. There’s no way he throws 75 next time out, he’ll go three innings if he’s lucky.
That doesn’t mean that Janssen can’t come north as a reliever, but if the plan is for him to start, he likely stays behind either in extended spring or opens the season in Las Vegas and keeps getting stretched out. One big benefit of moving the AAA team is that they won’t have to worry about bad weather being an issue early in the season, so rehabbers can go to their highest minor-league affiliate in order to get their games back in shape.
So who benefits from the Janssen hiccup? Likely Matt Clement. As much as the Jays love Brad Mills, a month and a half in Vegas certainly wouldn’t hurt him, and they’d love to see what they have in Clement. Now, if Clement shows good stuff and pitches like his old self in his next couple of spring starts, they can hand the last two spots in the rotation to him and Scott Richmond, with Janssen and Mills (and maybe Brett Cecil) waiting in the wings to take their jobs before the middle of May.
The Janssen story was the big buzz in tonight’s game, very obviously, but David Purcey went out there in relief and continued to solidify his hold on the third spot in the rotation. Purcey looked good again, and hadn’t given up an earned run all spring until he allowed a two-run homer in the 8th, his fourth inning of work.
Burnett started for the Yankees, and after giving up a lead-off triple to Joe Inglett to start the game, settled down and stranded him there (with help from, yes, a double-play ball off the bat of Lyle Overbay). Over 3 1/3 innings, Burnett allowed a run on three hits, walking three and striking out only one. One of the hits was a bullet back through the box – off the bat of John McDonald! – at which Burnett tried to stab with his glove, but it wound up hitting him on the left triceps muscle.
After his outing, Burnett was in a great mood, happy and joking with the Yankees media (and me and Richard Griffin, who had joined the horde). He was without question on his best behaviour with the New York reporters, and they said that he’d been that good with them since Day One. Man, are they in for a surprise.
Anyway, Burnett mentioned that the Bruce Lee tattoo on his left triceps muscle deflected the shot by McDonald. I asked him if he was surprised that it was the light-hitting shortstop that blistered one up the middle, and without skipping a beat, Burnett said “Thank God it was Johnny Mac,” followed by the obligatory “I’m kidding, I’m kidding.”
I’ll give A.J. that one, he can be a funny guy when he’s in the right mood. But he went on to share a story from later in the game. In the fourth, Burnett walked Jose Bautista and Russ Adams came in to pinch-run. He said that Adams, from first base, asked him if he was OK, and Burnett replied in the affirmative. Adams then whispered “It was Johnny Mac”, as if to say – come on, he couldn’t have hurt you anyway, and A.J. said “I know” with a laugh.
Now, it’s one thing for Burnett to laugh off a John McDonald liner, but Russ Adams? I like Russ, nice guy, tries his best, it just didn’t work out, but that’s some big-league chutzpah coming from a guy who has been a .260 hitter at AAA the last two years.
We had a JaysTalk tonight, as we will on Saturday (after the Astros game – Roy Halladay starts, but no Pudge Rodriguez) and Sunday (at the Twins – both Clement and Richmond are scheduled to throw), and here it is, for your listening pleasure:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Just like the regular season, huh?
Friday the Rays come to Dunedin, Brad Mills against Matt (Jays-killer) Garza. We won’t be broadcasting it for you on the air or on the web, but make sure to tune in for my in-game updates on the hour, and check out the ol’ blogaroo in case something juicy breaks.
Rational, reasonable comments are always welcome.
Click here to subscribe to Wilner's blog
Hey Mike. I’ve been watching the WBC dispite Canadas elimination. I notice that when teams like Japan and Korea play, they take a long time to finesh their games. Pitchers take a long time before going into their windup. It even looks like some of the umpires are tring to speed them up by motioning with their hands to try and get them moving sooner. There is a guy that caught my intrest on the Korean team. This guy Bum Ho Lee can hit some impressive bombs! He’s a guy I wouldn’t mind seing the Jays sign to a minor league deal.
MW: Are you sure that’s the reason you want the Jays to sign Bum Ho Lee?
- Matt in BCNext time someone sneaks a ball between Russ Adams legs, Johnny Mac should whisper to him “but it was Russ”. Of course, he wouldn’t do that.
What’s most troubling about this though, is AJ. Why would AJ offer this info to reporters. All it can do is cause a little friction in the clubhouse. It actually wouldn’t surprise me if there already is a little friction between MacDonald and Adams. Adams did lose his SS job (and it was his to lose) to MacDonald, and MacDonald is turning that into a decent major league career, while Adams is getting older and older in AAA.
MW: I’m pretty sure there’s no friction at all between Adams and McDonald. There’s no reason for any. McDonald is a major-leaguer.
- RMHi, Mike:
In regards to Joe Inglett and his option situation, if memory serves, he was optioned to Syracuse last year twice (maybe even three times?), but was immediately recalled (and did not report)because of injuries to others.
Did this situation count as an “option year”? How many options does he have left?
MW: Yes, Inglett used an option last year. I’m going to assume that this year is his last option year.
- NormOne of the callers last night (and it was much like ones we’ve heard before) was talking about JP’s drafting, how the Gord Ash guys were doing the best, etc. Don’t people realize that while Rios, McGowan, Halladay and Wells (maybe there are more) were drafted by Ash, it doesn’t mean that JP should get no credit for keeping them around? What do people expect from this guy? He doesn’t have money to throw at his problems like NY and Boston do, so when someone gets hurt in Toronto, they can’t just go out and buy someone to replace them.
His drafting, especially recently, looks pretty good from where I sit. Consider that if things go right, this could be the lineup in 2011:
3B Scott Campbell
2B Aaron Hill
RF Alex Rios
LF Travis Snider
CF Vernon Wells
DH/1B Adam Lind
C JP Arencibia
DH/1B David Cooper
SS Justin Jackson
SP Dustin McGowan
SP Brett Cecil
SP David Purcey
SP Brad Mills
SP Ricky Romero
Other than maybe Romero and Jackson this doesn’t even look like that much of a stretch to me. Obviously a lot can happen between now and then. But to say that JP has not drafted well is just untrue in my opinion, because this looks like a really solid group to me.
- Mike MHi, again, Mike:
Further to my question on Joe Inglett’s options, I have just read Jordan Bastian’s article on it, and realize that I had forgotten the early option (for a few weeks)–so obviously he DID use up a year.
So let me rephrase the first question — if he had only had the “24-hour” options, for which he did not report to the minors, would he have lost a year?
MW: Yes, because the options (at least one of them) weren’t cancelled. He was optioned down, and then recalled the next day. Whether or not he reported, it counts.
- NormHello there Mike,
Gee, suddenly dating back to late last season, AJ Burnett has become loveable all of a sudden. I wonder if that will last?
Well, I guess it really looks like Richmond has a good chance to make the rotation now with janssen a question mark. Oh well, I’ll have to get over it. I’m telling you, please remember I told you so….he will get lit up like the skies on the 4th of July. Anyhow, enough Richmond bashing. I am very excited to see David Purcey for a full year. I am really impressed with the big guy. Also, if Clement rebounds, this rotation could surprise people. I am forever the Jays optimist (except where Scott Richmond is concerned—oops sorry). I also thing the offense will rebound so I am thinking the Jays will surprise people. I don’t think they will win the division or wildcard, but they could really be a thorn in the side of the contenders. I would like to see the Jays go at the Rays hard and create a little rivalry there.
- IanNice to see the Jays talk on the blog again, always good to hear your take on the Jays, as always very balanced and honest.
You brought up that the jays have had some of the best pitching and defense the last few years, and credit for that deserves to go to JP for sure. So would you say he’s a defensive minded GM or is this just the way his moves have panned out?
Also given that a lot of young pitchers are getting a chance this year to show their stuff, and with 2010 looking like McGowan and Marcum will be back at 100% for the full season. Do you think any young pitchers get moved to bring in bats at some point?
MW: At some point, maybe, but look at what happened to Janssen last night. Even if you think you have more than enough pitching, it doesn’t take much to force you to readjust that thinking. I think Ricciardi has built his team with an eye towards pitching (tough to get) and defense (easy to get).
- Smitymike,
I don’t think any of the young guys really impressed statistically. What do you think of their potential and does anyone have ace stuff? When do you think will we see Romero, Cecil and Mills with the Jays for good?
MW: Cecil definitely has ace stuff, Mills really knows how to pitch and I haven’t seen Romero throw yet, but he starts on Monday. All three of them up for good with the Jays? I’m not sure that’ll ever happen, but I think we’ll see plenty of Mills and Cecil this year.
- nickMike…I know a lot of wise cracks have been made about his weight issues, but in your opinion, what happened to Andruw Jones?
MW: He got fat and forgot how to hit.
- chris m.It’s the same old story, no pitching and hopeful hitting. I for one am getting tired. I have been following baseball in Toronto since the 1950s. The Maple Leafs with Eddy Stevens, Mike Goliat, Hector Rodriguez, Loren Babe and Sam Jethroe were more exciting than this bunch. They’ll be out of the playoffs by the end of May. It’s too bad Roy Halliday. You deserve to go to a winner.
MW: The same old story? You’re even worse than the guy above you. You do realize the Jays led the major leagues in pitching last year, right?
- Jim