The Jays Spank the Yanks!

A solid effort from the Blue Jays (big leaguers and minor leaguers alike) lead them to a commanding 9-1 victory over the New York Yankees in the first televised (online at least) Blue Jays game of the season.

For Blue Jays fans, the most encouraging sign is definitely that Shaun Marcum looked sharp pitching 2 innings, not allowing a single hit, and only allowing one walk to Alex Rodriguez on 4 pitches where Marcum was most likely being cautious about giving the future hall-of-famer anything to hit. If Marcum keeps this up throughout the spring, you can pencil him in as the ace of the staff. That's not a knock against Ricky Romero, but that would be a lot to put on the shoulders of a sophomore pitcher.

In terms of position players, Jose Bautista, Vernon Wells, and J.P Arencibia have also been impressive in the Blue Jays first few games of the spring. Both Wells & Arencibia are obviously trying to bounce back from disappointing offensive seasons. Wells' offensive numbers lagged in 2009 highlighted by just 15 HRs - his lowest season total since becoming the Jays' everyday centre-fielder in 2002. Wells has looked solid in the 2 games in which he has appeared going 4 for 6, making some solid contact with the ball. J.P. Arencibia has given Jays fans a glimpse of why there has been so much hype about him over the last couple of seasons, leading the Jays so far with 2 HR and 5 RBI. As for Jose Bautista, check back shortly for a detailed article about the Blue Jay whose role with Jays this season is highly-debated.

As for the Yankees, they will surely shake off this poor performance. The Jays hitters rocked Jonathan Albaladejo with 7 hits over 1/3 of an inning, thus ballooning the Yankee reliever's early spring ERA to a laughable 189! Former Blue Jay A.J. Burnett lasted 1/3 of an inning less than expected after surrendering 2 ERs on 5 hits. Burnett is hoping to add a changeup this season to his arsenal which currently consists of a devastating '12-to-6' curveball (which he did not throw today) and an overpowering fastball. If you're a Jays fan, don't get too excited just because your Blue Jays knocked around Burnett a little bit. If A.J. can actually incorporate a changeup into his suite of pitches, it will make his fastball that much more effective by leaving hitters guessing. If he can learn to locate his pitches a little bit more, and NOT lead the AL in walks as he did in 2009, Burnett will surely be one of the most feared pitchers in professional baseball.

The Jays host the Tigers Sunday at 1pm in Dunedin.