The Blue Jays are now in territory that was familiar to them at the beginning of the 2009 season, if only for a short period. Last year the Jays got used to seeing themselves at the top of the toughest division in baseball, the American League East, after starting the season 27-14 – a winning percentage of .659. Their 42nd game of the season marked the beginning of the end when the Jays went on a 9-game losing streak.
Chances are that the Jays’ time in the sun will not be as long-lived as it was last year. And hopefully… we won’t have to see our beloved Blue Jays endure another 9-game losing streak. (That wasn’t fun)
The Blue Jays are in first place currently because of a total team effort with some less-than-likely suspects, Travis Snider and Jose Molina, stepping up on Friday and Saturday respectively to put their team over the edge. Most fans would have considered Vernon Wells an unlikely suspect to carry the team on his shoulders, but that’s exactly what he did during the season-opening series against Texas hitting 4 home runs. The Jays have also had some of the best starting pitching in the American League so far, which leads me to my next point…
DANA EVELAND. He looked a little shaky in the first couple innings, but really settled in after that. Other than a 13-pitch at bat against Nick Markakis in 4th inning, Eveland worked very efficiently throwing just 94 pitches over 7 1/3 innings. Eveland relied heavily on his changeup, which served him well throughout the game. He is not overpowering, throwing a 4-seam, and 2-seam fastball between about 86-90mph, and also mixes a curveball into his repertoire. He pitches to contact, and as such, if I were Cito, I would have been a little more inclined to start defensive specialist John McDonald at second base on Saturday in order to solidify the defense behind Eveland who induced 12 ground ball outs against the Orioles. With power pitcher Brandon Morrow on the mound on Friday, there is less of a need for superior defense when he is striking out more than 1 batter per inning on average, so Mike McCoy could have started that game instead of McDonald with Aaron Hill still listed as day-to-day with hamstring tightness.
Offensively, Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion, Alex Gonzalez and Jose Molina stepped it up with two base hits each. Jose Molina really made his plate appearances count with 2 RBIs. His first came after he was plunked in the left shoulder by David Hernandez in the 4th inning with the bases loaded, and he drove in Edwin Encarnacion in the 6th inning with a base hit.
I’m officially starting my Randy Ruiz count. How many games before he gets an at bat? We’re at 5 games now.
The Jays have officially won their first two series of the season, but will go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:35pm at Camden Yards in Baltimore.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Give Ruiz a chance!
Hi All,
Brandon Morrow definitely made it an interesting game yesterday. I'm sure there were plenty of fans tuning in on the FAN or watching the game (and maybe even a handful who made the trip down to Camden Yards) who could only think during that first inning - "WE GAVE UP BRANDON LEAGUE FOR THIS!?". But fans often jump to conclusions way too quickly. His battery mate, John Buck, said afterwards that it was most likely just excitement and nerves that led to Morrow surrendering 3 earned runs in the first inning, but probably even worse, 4 walks, and one hit batsman. The new Jay settled in and ended up striking out 5 through 5 innings of work and kept his team in the game. He showed that by far, he is the hardest throwing pitcher in the Jays' starting rotation with a fastball that topped off yesterday at 97mph, whereas the rest of the current Jays' starters are lucky to hit 92-93mph on the radar gun. Look for a solid performance from Morrow next Wednesday against the White Sox where he faces a group of hitters to whom he has only given up 6 hits over 34 ABs.
The other story I feel is worth noting and giving a little analysis to is the Randy Ruiz Situation. I understand that we're only 4 games into the season, but I think it's unacceptable that Ruiz has not received a single at bat, and that Cito has only used one pinch hitter thus far - John Buck. With Ruiz' defensive deficiencies, and Cito's commitment to both Overbay and Snider to play them as everyday, non-platoon players, Cito admits, "At this point in time, we just just don't have any space for him." Snider, who is by all accounts supposed to be a key piece to the future of this franchise, needs to be shown that management has the confidence in him to face left-handed pitching, unlike the 2009 season where they handled him with kid gloves, giving him at bats almost exclusively against righties before his demotion to Triple-A Las Vegas in May.
Overbay is a completely different story. This is surely Overbay's last year in a Toronto uniform, given that this is his last year under contract with the team, and that they have Brett Wallace as the first baseman of the future down in Vegas currently. If I were a betting man, I would say Overbay is traded to another team before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. Cito, being the players' manager that he is, is likely to give Overbay plenty of time to shine and show his stuff in preparation to enter the free agent market at the end of the season. But given that this is a re-building/re-tooling year (however you want to refer to it - we all know what it is) the Blue Jays have no illusions of making the playoffs this year. They'll probably be more than happy if they manage to beat out Tampa for 3rd place in the AL East. So having said all that, GIVE THE 32-YEAR OLD, ALMOST-ROOKIE A REAL SHOT, AND SEE IF YOU'VE ACTUALLY GOT SOMETHING! This is the person who led the Blue Jays in 2009 (in limited action, yes, 115 ABs, but that's still a decent sample size) in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. Also, in terms of all players who finished the season with the Blue Jays, he led the club in terms of batting average, hitting .313 on the year. (Scott Rolen hit .320). He has hit at every level in his long minor league career, and had arguably his best season ever hitting .320/.392/.584 with Triple-A Las Vegas and earning the Pacific Coast League's Most Valuable Player Award.
Randy Ruiz is definitely psyched to have been apart of a major league opening day roster for the first time ever earlier this week, but that high will certainly wear off shortly if he's not getting at bats, and he will be left wondering to himself, "What on earth do I have to do to prove that I am ready to be given a real shot in the major leagues?!" The Jays have nothing to lose with Ruiz, but very well may have found a diamond-in-the-rough. Now they've just gotta dig that diamond out, polish it off, and see how many karats it weighs... or... how many home runs it can hit!
Brandon Morrow definitely made it an interesting game yesterday. I'm sure there were plenty of fans tuning in on the FAN or watching the game (and maybe even a handful who made the trip down to Camden Yards) who could only think during that first inning - "WE GAVE UP BRANDON LEAGUE FOR THIS!?". But fans often jump to conclusions way too quickly. His battery mate, John Buck, said afterwards that it was most likely just excitement and nerves that led to Morrow surrendering 3 earned runs in the first inning, but probably even worse, 4 walks, and one hit batsman. The new Jay settled in and ended up striking out 5 through 5 innings of work and kept his team in the game. He showed that by far, he is the hardest throwing pitcher in the Jays' starting rotation with a fastball that topped off yesterday at 97mph, whereas the rest of the current Jays' starters are lucky to hit 92-93mph on the radar gun. Look for a solid performance from Morrow next Wednesday against the White Sox where he faces a group of hitters to whom he has only given up 6 hits over 34 ABs.
The other story I feel is worth noting and giving a little analysis to is the Randy Ruiz Situation. I understand that we're only 4 games into the season, but I think it's unacceptable that Ruiz has not received a single at bat, and that Cito has only used one pinch hitter thus far - John Buck. With Ruiz' defensive deficiencies, and Cito's commitment to both Overbay and Snider to play them as everyday, non-platoon players, Cito admits, "At this point in time, we just just don't have any space for him." Snider, who is by all accounts supposed to be a key piece to the future of this franchise, needs to be shown that management has the confidence in him to face left-handed pitching, unlike the 2009 season where they handled him with kid gloves, giving him at bats almost exclusively against righties before his demotion to Triple-A Las Vegas in May.
Overbay is a completely different story. This is surely Overbay's last year in a Toronto uniform, given that this is his last year under contract with the team, and that they have Brett Wallace as the first baseman of the future down in Vegas currently. If I were a betting man, I would say Overbay is traded to another team before the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline. Cito, being the players' manager that he is, is likely to give Overbay plenty of time to shine and show his stuff in preparation to enter the free agent market at the end of the season. But given that this is a re-building/re-tooling year (however you want to refer to it - we all know what it is) the Blue Jays have no illusions of making the playoffs this year. They'll probably be more than happy if they manage to beat out Tampa for 3rd place in the AL East. So having said all that, GIVE THE 32-YEAR OLD, ALMOST-ROOKIE A REAL SHOT, AND SEE IF YOU'VE ACTUALLY GOT SOMETHING! This is the person who led the Blue Jays in 2009 (in limited action, yes, 115 ABs, but that's still a decent sample size) in on-base percentage, slugging percentage and OPS. Also, in terms of all players who finished the season with the Blue Jays, he led the club in terms of batting average, hitting .313 on the year. (Scott Rolen hit .320). He has hit at every level in his long minor league career, and had arguably his best season ever hitting .320/.392/.584 with Triple-A Las Vegas and earning the Pacific Coast League's Most Valuable Player Award.
Randy Ruiz is definitely psyched to have been apart of a major league opening day roster for the first time ever earlier this week, but that high will certainly wear off shortly if he's not getting at bats, and he will be left wondering to himself, "What on earth do I have to do to prove that I am ready to be given a real shot in the major leagues?!" The Jays have nothing to lose with Ruiz, but very well may have found a diamond-in-the-rough. Now they've just gotta dig that diamond out, polish it off, and see how many karats it weighs... or... how many home runs it can hit!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
2 games - 2 solid efforts
Overall, the Blue Jays fan has to be pleased with the effort put forth by the club in their first two games of the season. The performances of the two starting pitchers were absolutely stellar (Marcum) and solid (Tallet). On Monday, Marcum briefly flirted with history, almost joining Bob Feller as just the second pitcher in major league history to throw a no-hitter on opening day as he took the no-no into the 7th inning. Gritty as usual, Brian Tallet battled through 6 2/3 innings. He had to deal with some poor defence behind him, and a little hiccup in the 4th inning giving up back-to-back home runs, on back-to-back pitches to Vlad Guerrero and Nelson Cruz.
Offensively, Vernon Wells has (surprisingly) been the story for the Jays so far. The wrist must be feeling better for Wells because now he's making solid contact with the ball as opposed to getting under the ball, popping it up, and slamming his bat down in frustration - a sight that was all too familiar last year. Wells has gone 5 for 7 so far, with 3 home runs and 6 RBI - most definitely doing his job so far as the cleanup hitter. Given that Wells never blamed his wrist last year for his performance, it is doubtful now that he will attribute his performance to a healthy wrist. Wells will most likely never live up to his rich, back-loaded, 7-year, $126M contract, but if the wrist his 100% healthy, I would predict him having a season that the average Jays fan can be very pleased with.
If these two games were played with Vernon Wells circa 2009, the Jays probably lose these two games. Taking a cursory look over the box scores from the last 2 days, you may think that the Jays received some timely hitting with runners in scoring position given that today in particular, the Jays scored 7 runs with just 5 hits. But in fact, the Jays actually went 1 for 13 with RISP. But when you're hitting 5 HRs, 3 coming courtesy of your cleanup hitter, and when you make the opposing team pay when they make mistakes (walks), you put yourself in a very good position to win (as long as your closer doesn't blow a save).
Canadian pitcher, Rich Harden, looked dominant and out-of-place all at the same time on Wednesday night. It's not often that you see a pitcher rack up 8 strikeouts over just 3 2/3 innings. (5 of the first 6 outs for Harden were recorded by way of the K). The walks killed the Rangers' first two pitchers of the day - Harden & Dustin Nippert - who walked 9 collectively over 6 1/3 innings. Back-to-back bases loaded walks surrendered by Harden to Snider and Bautista in the 4th marked the end of the day for the Canuck.
So far, so good. Don't get too excited, don't write them off. Just sit back and enjoy some baseball
Reasonable and rational comments are always welcome.
Offensively, Vernon Wells has (surprisingly) been the story for the Jays so far. The wrist must be feeling better for Wells because now he's making solid contact with the ball as opposed to getting under the ball, popping it up, and slamming his bat down in frustration - a sight that was all too familiar last year. Wells has gone 5 for 7 so far, with 3 home runs and 6 RBI - most definitely doing his job so far as the cleanup hitter. Given that Wells never blamed his wrist last year for his performance, it is doubtful now that he will attribute his performance to a healthy wrist. Wells will most likely never live up to his rich, back-loaded, 7-year, $126M contract, but if the wrist his 100% healthy, I would predict him having a season that the average Jays fan can be very pleased with.
If these two games were played with Vernon Wells circa 2009, the Jays probably lose these two games. Taking a cursory look over the box scores from the last 2 days, you may think that the Jays received some timely hitting with runners in scoring position given that today in particular, the Jays scored 7 runs with just 5 hits. But in fact, the Jays actually went 1 for 13 with RISP. But when you're hitting 5 HRs, 3 coming courtesy of your cleanup hitter, and when you make the opposing team pay when they make mistakes (walks), you put yourself in a very good position to win (as long as your closer doesn't blow a save).
Canadian pitcher, Rich Harden, looked dominant and out-of-place all at the same time on Wednesday night. It's not often that you see a pitcher rack up 8 strikeouts over just 3 2/3 innings. (5 of the first 6 outs for Harden were recorded by way of the K). The walks killed the Rangers' first two pitchers of the day - Harden & Dustin Nippert - who walked 9 collectively over 6 1/3 innings. Back-to-back bases loaded walks surrendered by Harden to Snider and Bautista in the 4th marked the end of the day for the Canuck.
So far, so good. Don't get too excited, don't write them off. Just sit back and enjoy some baseball
Reasonable and rational comments are always welcome.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Jays finalize pitching staff
No, it wasn't an April Fools joke, Brett Cecil is going to start the year in Triple-A Las Vegas. Cecil figured that he showed management enough during his start on Wednesday against the Phillies to warrant him breaking camp with the club, but apparently not. I find it a little peculiar that they made the final decision before Tallet's final start of the spring. If they were able to make that decision when they did, that tells me they basically had their minds made up even before Cecil's start on Wednesday. No matter how good Cecil pitched on Wednesday, he wasn't going to make the team.
Not that the order of the pitching rotation matters all that much in the grand scheme of things, but fans were under the impression that sophomore Ricky Romero was supposed to be the #2 starter, but in fact, it will be reliever-turned-starter Brian Tallet that will occupy that position and start next Wednesday against Texas. Tallet's position as the #2 starter also wins him the honour of starting for the Blue Jays in their home opener on April 12th vs. Chicago. Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow and Dana Eveland round out the starting rotation as the 3,4, and 5 pitchers.
Since both Tallet and and Eveland (possibilities for the bullpen) are currently in the starting rotation, that leaves only one lefty in the Jays' bullpen - Scott Downs, who last year, got used to the role as the Jays' closer for a period of time after the departure of BJ Ryan, but now may simply be used as situational lefty - quite a change from the closer's role. Obviously having only one left-handed pitcher in the bullpen is not a long term solution. To me that indicates that they believe Jesse Carlson will be returning soon. It also indicates that ideally they would like to have at least one of Tallet or Eveland in the bullpen - maybe both - when Marc Rzepczynski, and hopefully, Dustin McGowan return from their respective injuries.
Reasonable and rational comments are always welcome.
Not that the order of the pitching rotation matters all that much in the grand scheme of things, but fans were under the impression that sophomore Ricky Romero was supposed to be the #2 starter, but in fact, it will be reliever-turned-starter Brian Tallet that will occupy that position and start next Wednesday against Texas. Tallet's position as the #2 starter also wins him the honour of starting for the Blue Jays in their home opener on April 12th vs. Chicago. Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow and Dana Eveland round out the starting rotation as the 3,4, and 5 pitchers.
Since both Tallet and and Eveland (possibilities for the bullpen) are currently in the starting rotation, that leaves only one lefty in the Jays' bullpen - Scott Downs, who last year, got used to the role as the Jays' closer for a period of time after the departure of BJ Ryan, but now may simply be used as situational lefty - quite a change from the closer's role. Obviously having only one left-handed pitcher in the bullpen is not a long term solution. To me that indicates that they believe Jesse Carlson will be returning soon. It also indicates that ideally they would like to have at least one of Tallet or Eveland in the bullpen - maybe both - when Marc Rzepczynski, and hopefully, Dustin McGowan return from their respective injuries.
Reasonable and rational comments are always welcome.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Blue Jays hand Halladay a loss...? (That just doesn't sound right)
Former Blue Jay, now Philadelphia Philly, Roy Hallady had an uncharacteristically short outing today against his former club going just 3 innings, while surrendering 5 hits and 4 earned runs - all in the first inning. The Blue Jays jumped all over their former ace early with 3 extra-base hits in a row to start off the game. Halladay looked great in his second inning of work striking out the side in order, but he struggled with his command in the first inning. He threw a lot more curveballs than Blue Jay fans were used to see last year. The curveball visibly fooled right handed batters like Jose Bautista, Vernon Wells and Edwin Encarnacion who all turned away from the pitch thinking it was coming well inside to them.
The Blue Jays starting pitcher, Brett Cecil looked good in what should be his last outing of the spring. Cecil went 6 innings giving up no walks, and just 2 earned runs (2 solo home runs). A solid performance from Cecil today should be enough to win him a spot in the Jays' rotation after it was announced today that the bruised middle finger that Marc Rzepczynski sustained in Tuesday's game against the Yankees is actually a broken or fractured middle finger which will keep him out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks. Once again, this changes the look of the Jays pitching staff. As opposed to speculating who is going to be in the rotation and who is going to be in the bullpen (the wildcards of Tallet & Eveland make that argument too complicated) I think one can easily say that the following 11 pitchers are locks to break camp with the club in some form:
-Shaun Marcum
-Ricky Romero
-Brandon Morrow
-Brett Cecil
-Brian Tallet
-Dana Eveland
-Jason Frasor
-Kevin Gregg
-Scott Downs
-Casey Janssen
-Shawn Camp
The final spot could go to:
-Merkin Valdez
-Jeremy Accardo
-Josh Roenicke
One would think Valdez has the option because he is out of options and would need to be placed on waivers if they Jays wanted to send him down to Las Vegas, and he has quite arguably pitched better than Accardo and Roenicke.
Today Raul Chavez was reassigned to Triple-A Las Vegas to serve as the backup to the Jays' top catching prospect - J.P. Arencibia, which means that Jose Molina will serve as the Blue Jays backup catcher.
Reasonable and rational comments are always welcome.
The Blue Jays starting pitcher, Brett Cecil looked good in what should be his last outing of the spring. Cecil went 6 innings giving up no walks, and just 2 earned runs (2 solo home runs). A solid performance from Cecil today should be enough to win him a spot in the Jays' rotation after it was announced today that the bruised middle finger that Marc Rzepczynski sustained in Tuesday's game against the Yankees is actually a broken or fractured middle finger which will keep him out of the lineup for 4-6 weeks. Once again, this changes the look of the Jays pitching staff. As opposed to speculating who is going to be in the rotation and who is going to be in the bullpen (the wildcards of Tallet & Eveland make that argument too complicated) I think one can easily say that the following 11 pitchers are locks to break camp with the club in some form:
-Shaun Marcum
-Ricky Romero
-Brandon Morrow
-Brett Cecil
-Brian Tallet
-Dana Eveland
-Jason Frasor
-Kevin Gregg
-Scott Downs
-Casey Janssen
-Shawn Camp
The final spot could go to:
-Merkin Valdez
-Jeremy Accardo
-Josh Roenicke
One would think Valdez has the option because he is out of options and would need to be placed on waivers if they Jays wanted to send him down to Las Vegas, and he has quite arguably pitched better than Accardo and Roenicke.
Today Raul Chavez was reassigned to Triple-A Las Vegas to serve as the backup to the Jays' top catching prospect - J.P. Arencibia, which means that Jose Molina will serve as the Blue Jays backup catcher.
Reasonable and rational comments are always welcome.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
David Wright = Rick Moranis in Spaceballs
2009 seemed to be the season of hitters getting plunked in the head by pitchers. David Wright, Francisco Cervelli, Scott Rolen and Marco Scutaro all faced similar scary incidents, but none was worse than Wright's though. Along with Wright, Cervelli is now wearing an oversized helmet that can reportedly withstand those 94mph fastballs like the one from Matt Cain of the San Francisco Giants that beaned Wright in the head in August of last year.
But is it just me, or do these helmets remind you of Rick Moranis in Spaceballs?!
Randy Ruiz the Pinch Runner...
That's not something you're too likely to see the big boy from the Bronx doing during the regular season even though he has trimmed about 20 lbs. off his frame over the offseason.
The bigger, or biggest story of the game was arguably how Marc Rzepczysnki struggled to hit his spots giving up 5 earned runs, 8 hits and 2 walks to the Yankees over 4 and 2/3rd of an inning. Rzepczynski's only real saving grace was his curveball at times, which helped him strike out the last two hitters in the 4th inning - catcher Francisco Cervelli, and minor league speedster Greg Golson. The young pitcher must have felt that his curveball was working so well for him that he decided to open up the 5th inning against Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter with that pitch, only to hang it a little bit up in the zone. Jeter made Zep pay by tripling to center field. That was the beginning of the end for Zep who left later on that inning after reaching out for a ground ball hit up the middle by Ramiro Pena which hit him on his throwing hand. The extent of the injury to Rzepczynski was not made known during or after the game, but one could tell that he was in obvious pain.
Zep's lack-lustre outing tonight coupled with a potential injury makes things even more interesting for the Blue Jays' starting rotation. Brett Cecil, who many in the media had already pegged to start the season in Triple-A Las Vegas, starts on Wednesday for the Blue Jays against the Phillies and could book himself a ticket for a flight out to Texas next week as opposed to Sin City if he delivers a solid outing against Roy Halladay's new club. Rzepczynski's shaking outing also keeps things open for Dana Eveland to join the Jays' rotation as opposed to the bullpen.
The Jays struggled at the plate especially during Sergio Mitre's first three innings where he was perfect and had his changeup working particularly well for himself. Mitre started the game even though Phil Hughes has already been named the Yankees fifth starter. The only hits for the Jays came from Aaron Hill who homered in the 4th inning to give the Jays a brief 1-run lead; Jose Bautista and Lyle Overbay who both singled; and Adam Lind who doubled.
In other Blue Jays news, a few more cuts were made today with David Purcey, Jesse Carlson and Jeremy Reed being sent to Triple-A Las Vegas. Purcey doesn't come as much of a surprise, but Carlson and Reed were a little less expected. As I mentioned yesterday, Gaston seemed very partial to Carlson last year and was quoted as saying about Carlson, "He's one of the guys I really, really like as a person." Carlson who has dealt with a knee injury this spring will get some work in Vegas and we will surely see him up with the big club later this season. Jeremy Reed is being sent to Las Vegas after hitting .431/.460/.490 in the spring over 51 ABs (more than any other Blue Jay hitter). Although Reed couldn't have done much more during the spring, Blue Jays' GM Alex Anthopolous felt that Mike McCoy did that much more than Reed, and McCoy's versatility in the field was surely one factor that made the decision easier for management.
If you have MLB.TV, tune in tomorrow at 1:05pm EST because the Jays take on the Phillies in Clearwater with Roy Halladay taking the mound for the Phils!
The bigger, or biggest story of the game was arguably how Marc Rzepczysnki struggled to hit his spots giving up 5 earned runs, 8 hits and 2 walks to the Yankees over 4 and 2/3rd of an inning. Rzepczynski's only real saving grace was his curveball at times, which helped him strike out the last two hitters in the 4th inning - catcher Francisco Cervelli, and minor league speedster Greg Golson. The young pitcher must have felt that his curveball was working so well for him that he decided to open up the 5th inning against Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter with that pitch, only to hang it a little bit up in the zone. Jeter made Zep pay by tripling to center field. That was the beginning of the end for Zep who left later on that inning after reaching out for a ground ball hit up the middle by Ramiro Pena which hit him on his throwing hand. The extent of the injury to Rzepczynski was not made known during or after the game, but one could tell that he was in obvious pain.
Zep's lack-lustre outing tonight coupled with a potential injury makes things even more interesting for the Blue Jays' starting rotation. Brett Cecil, who many in the media had already pegged to start the season in Triple-A Las Vegas, starts on Wednesday for the Blue Jays against the Phillies and could book himself a ticket for a flight out to Texas next week as opposed to Sin City if he delivers a solid outing against Roy Halladay's new club. Rzepczynski's shaking outing also keeps things open for Dana Eveland to join the Jays' rotation as opposed to the bullpen.
The Jays struggled at the plate especially during Sergio Mitre's first three innings where he was perfect and had his changeup working particularly well for himself. Mitre started the game even though Phil Hughes has already been named the Yankees fifth starter. The only hits for the Jays came from Aaron Hill who homered in the 4th inning to give the Jays a brief 1-run lead; Jose Bautista and Lyle Overbay who both singled; and Adam Lind who doubled.
In other Blue Jays news, a few more cuts were made today with David Purcey, Jesse Carlson and Jeremy Reed being sent to Triple-A Las Vegas. Purcey doesn't come as much of a surprise, but Carlson and Reed were a little less expected. As I mentioned yesterday, Gaston seemed very partial to Carlson last year and was quoted as saying about Carlson, "He's one of the guys I really, really like as a person." Carlson who has dealt with a knee injury this spring will get some work in Vegas and we will surely see him up with the big club later this season. Jeremy Reed is being sent to Las Vegas after hitting .431/.460/.490 in the spring over 51 ABs (more than any other Blue Jay hitter). Although Reed couldn't have done much more during the spring, Blue Jays' GM Alex Anthopolous felt that Mike McCoy did that much more than Reed, and McCoy's versatility in the field was surely one factor that made the decision easier for management.
If you have MLB.TV, tune in tomorrow at 1:05pm EST because the Jays take on the Phillies in Clearwater with Roy Halladay taking the mound for the Phils!
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