SB Nation - Casey Janssen

Won't You Please Let Me Go: Arbitration for Eligible Jays?

hugo — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:38:02 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

I'm not ready to let Jeremy Accardo walk away just yet (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)

Following up on Tom's post, I figured I'd take a break from my too-long hiatus to put up my views on the arbitration-eligible Jays.

I don't see the point in offering Shawn Camp arbitration. He pitched well for the team last year but there are cheaper alternatives that have more upside. And he's not even a FA after 2010, as far as I know, so there's not really a reason to keep him around for the draft pick (assuming you think he could get there) either.

Jeremy Accardo, I would offer a contract. Obviously Cito doesn't like him, but he has talent and would be a mainstay in a number of MLB bullpens. I would try to trade him. If they can't get anything useful back, I'd see if he can make the big-league bullpen out of spring, which I think he can. If he doesn't make the team, I'd release him then out of fairness to Jeremy or trade him for whatever is out there. Cito might be what we call testa dura, but he does change his mind about players sometimes and an improved attitude (and, more importantly, improved control) on Jeremy's part could give him a new lease on his Jays career.

Jose Bautista has to be non-tendered, in my view. Even if the Jays want to keep him, I think they can non-tender him and retain him for less money. $4 million is way too much for a utility player (which is what he better be) on a non-contending team. I don't see a lot of teams knocking down the door to snatch him up and if someone wants to give him a starting job, more power to him.

Raul Chavez, I'm not sure it matters one way or the other but he did a nice job last season. I'm not a fan of what I consider to be over-catching, but the pitchers didn't seem to mind.

Casey Janssen and Dustin McGowan, I think you absolutely have to offer deals. Neither is going to cost much more than the minimum and while there are huge long-term concerns for both (McGowan if he'll ever pitch again, Janssen if he'll ever be as good as he was), they do both have proven major league success and when you have the chance to get that for close to the minimum, you take it.

Shaun Marcum, Jason Frasor, and Brandon League to me are no-brainers, as is Brian Tallet. Tallet is right on the bubble of being a Type B free agent in 2010, is a useful lefty out of the pen, and shouldn't be too expensive.

Today's title from the incredible song "Age of Consent" by New Order, one of my favorite winter bands.
Stay warm.

Breaking Down Arnsberg: What Are the Astros Getting?

davoag — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:00:27 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

Is the criticism of Brad Arnsberg justified?

Browse more photos »

In case you missed the FanShot from last Friday, the Astros hired a new pitching coach. Brad Arnsberg comes with a reputation as a young pitcher-killer, but was loved by all his staffs and seemed to be able to work some magic with 'reclamation projects.' The World Wide Web was abuzz with articles about his abundance, or lack thereof, of talent. A fine hat-tip to clack and AstroAndy for linking to them.

What I wanted to do, though, is to see if it was warranted. What we're really worried about here are young pitchers, right? Guys 24 years old and younger are in the prime area for suffering from over-use. There are two different models out there currently used to predict injuries to young pitchers. Both were researched pretty thoroughly, but it's hard to tell if they're good predictors of injury potential or just good at explaining what happened in the past.

When I went back to research Arnsberg, I looked at every staff he had from 2000 in Montreal to 2002 with the Marlins and through his five-year tenure in Toronto. I focused on all the pitchers he had that were 24 or younger. This is a bit of a departure from the model, since they stop at 25, but since two-thirds of his stops were of the one-year variety, I downgraded the age a year. The two methods I mentioned were Tom Verducci's theory on an increase in innings from year to year, most recently laid out here. The other was Pitching Abuse Points (PAP), first published back in 1998 by Rany Jazayerli here. I believe it's been tweaked a bit here and there since then, but it's a good starting place for the discussion. My results after the jump...

Arnsberg oversaw 28 different pitchers in their Age 24 season or younger. His biggest year for this was in 2000 in Montreal, when 10 different young pitchers got into games. The 2000 season also seemed to be a learning year for Arnsberg as to how best to utilize pitchers. Of the 10, only one threw more innings than the previous season (Javier Vasquez, +63 IP) and only one had more than 10 PAP per start (Vasquez, 16 PAP). Carl Pavano pitched seven fewer innings than in 1999, but had a PAP/Start of 4.8 and then suffered an injury the following season. The rest all had significant drops in innings pitched and none had more than 2 PAP/start. None of the relievers in his bullpen threw three straight days and only Pavano suffered an injury the following season. Knowing what we do now about Carl, it's easy to see it probably wasn't Arnsberg's fault.

The next year he surfaced was in 2002 with the Marlins. Five guys played at 24 or younger and two of the five had jumps higher than 30 innings. Both Justin Wayne and Nate Robertson pitched over 40 innings more than the previous season, but each threw the majority of their innings in the minors, not the majors. It's hard for me to pin these jumps on Arnsberg for that reason, since their workload was controlled by the minor league pitching coordinator, not the big league pitching coach. As for the other three, Josh Beckett threw 47 less innings than the previous season and averaged 2.1 PAP per start. Pretty reasonable for a 22-year old. Brad Penny had a 69 inning drop in his workload and had 0.8 PAP/start. The other guy in this group was Blaine Neal, a reliever who saw his workload go up by six innings and was used three straight days twice that season. One of those times, though was on both ends of a double-header, when he faced just one batter in the first game. No real injury trouble here, at least not by Arnsberg's work. Beckett had the blister problems, but that's not related to overuse and Penny did have arm trouble, but much later than this.

On to the Toronto years, where Arnsberg saw an impressive group of young pitchers hit the big leagues. In his first season, he had five pitchers in the age range we are looking at. Two drastically increased their inning total (Dustin McGowan, +70, Chad Gaudin +74) while one starter also saw an uptick into the danger zone (Gustavo Chacin +36). The other two guys, Brandon League and Shaun Marcum had smaller increases or decreases, but only Chacin had any PAP to speak of. Chacin's total of 3.7 PAP/start is high, but not distressingly so and his innings increase was slight in comparison to McGowan's. Still, Chacin did suffer a major drop-off in performance and had an injury or two thrown in for good measure. Of course, his delivery is a bit quirky and he came out of nowhere to begin with, so it's hard to say whether Arnsberg led to this flameout. Certainly, the other guys on this list went on to have solid years after 2005, so we may just be dealing with a small sample size.

In 2006, Arnsberg oversaw seven young pitchers, including newcomers Casey Janssen, Ty Taubenheim, Jeremy Accardo and Davis Romero. Accardo, Romero and Dustin McGowan all had inning increases but the rest saw their totals drop. Janssen was the only pitchers with more than 1 PAP/start and his was exactly one. Marcum saw his total drop by 35 innings and had a PAP of 0.8 while League had a slight drop in innings, but was used twice three games in a row. Taubenheim moved from a starter's role in the minors to the bullpen in the majors, which explains his 60-inning drop. None of the evidence here supports the conclusion that misuse led to any injuries.

In 2007, there were only four pitchers in our age-range, including two holdovers, League and Taubenheim. Newcomers Jesse Litsch and Josh Banks both saw increases, though Litsch saw his total rise by 29 innings, just underneath the magic threshold. Litsch also had just 0.7 PAP/start, meaning he wasn't throwing a ton of pitches. League saw his total drop by 59 innings, in part due to injury (I think, though I can't find it anywhere). Taubenheim had his total rise by 15, but was not used in more than two straight games, so he didn't really get overworked.

Litsch was the only pitcher considered young in 2008 and he saw his total innings drop by 11, but his PAP jumped up to 4.2 per start. More distressingly, though was how he was used down the stretch. From August 21 to September 29, Litsch started nine games and threw 61 innings and 980 pitches. He totaled 88 PAP for an average of 9.7 per start, a huge jump over the beginning of the season. He went 5-4 over this stretch and had an average game score of 62.4. Those were both reasons why he pitched so much, I'm sure. He was doing so well that the Jays wanted to keep him pitching to keep them in the race, as the team got to 12 games over .500 on Sept. 12. However, Litsch was pretty much abused during this stretch. He was used once on two days' rest, throwing 49 pitches over three innings and was used once on three days' rest in the back half of a doubleheader. Litsch threw 110 pitches over 5 1/3 innings.

In 2009, Litsch was shut down in April and finally had Tommy John surgery in June. I think it's safe to say that his usage pattern at the end of 2008 may have led to this, but we can't be certain. Arnsberg's last year with Toronto saw five pitchers in our age-group, including Litsch. Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil, Mark Rzepczynski and Brad Mills made major-league debuts and all but Mills saw increases in their inning totals. None saw jumps of over 30, though they all had more PAP than in Arnsberg's past. Romero tallied 6.3 PAP/start and saw his innings jump 14, while Brett Cecil had a jump of 24 innings and 2.1 PAP/start. Rzepczynski made the jump straight from Double-A and saw an increase in 28 innings while having a PAP of 3.8 per start.

What does this mean? Arnsberg gets blamed for the injuries to Marcum and McGowan, but in their formative years with the club, you can see he really didn't do much to hurt them. Only in 2008 did his usage patterns significantly change, and that also coincided with a new manager, Mr. Old School Cito Gaston. This is a classic example of a guy from a bygone era trying to throw pitchers out there like they did in the '70's and hoping it will work. In 2008, for example, Gaston used pitchers on short rest six times, while the American League average was just 3.7. In 2009, he was right in line with the league average of 3, but it still shows that he used his pitchers differently than most of the league. Arnsberg didn't like it, and clashed with his manager as was chronicled here and here. I'm not sure you can blame Arnsberg for what happened to Litsch but you definitely can't blame him for Marcum and McGowan. B.J. Ryan also can't be blamed on him, nor can A.J. Burnett, as both guys had either a history of injuries or a jump in innings before coming to Toronto.

At least one place is mad Arnsberg left Toronto, while there are a couple other places that still levy criticism. I'm not sure how Arnsberg will do with Houston, but I do know he's got a pretty good track record of keeping the young guys healthy. He'll have a tough time on his hands next season, though, as Bud Norris saw a 95 inning jump in his workload, though his PAP/start was just 0.5. Yorman Bazardo was also in the danger zone with a 34 inning jump, and his performance doesn't need any regression. The only worrying part of the bullpen was Sammy Gervacio being used three straight days three different times and once for four straight games. Of course, the 24-year old only threw more than 20 pitches in a game twice, so it's not as worrisome as it appears.

To review, Arnsberg coached for four different managers and only under Gaston did his track record go astray. Out of all his young pitchers, just three were inordinately abused: Chacin, Litsch and Vasquez. Now, we can see that Vasquez was just built to hold up to a higher workload, similar to Roy Halladay. Still, it doesn't excuse the abuse in the first place. Is Gaston more to blame for the last couple of seasons in Toronto? We can't REALLY tell, but after reviewing all this, I certainly feel better about the Astros' new pitching coach.

Downs Blows Lead in 8th, Jays Lose

jessef — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 03:32:03 -0000

More photos » by Kathy Willens - AP

I know Hideki Matsui's just doing his job, but why does he have to do it so well against the Jays? This was his sixth homerun and he hit .373 / .439 / .745 against us this season. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

Browse more photos »

Yankees 5 Blue Jays 4

Well, the Yankees took an early lead off Brian Tallet when they scored two runs in the first inning, off an RBI double by Mark Teixeira and an RBI single by Hideki Matsui. Vernon Wells doubled to lead off the second, but the Jays were unable to cash him. In the bottom of the second, Tallet took a grounder off his foot. He stayed with the ball, got the out at first and got a strikeout to end the inning. In the top of the third, the Jays came back to tie it up, thanks to a solo homerun from Jose Bautista and successive singles from Travis Snider and Marco Scutaro (an infield single off Yankees starter Chad Gaudin) and an Adam Lind RBI groundout. Shawn Camp came on to relieve Tallet due to injury concerns related to the grounder he took off the foot in the third and pitched three scoreless (indeed excellent) innings.

The Jays plated a run in the sixth off a Vernon Wells single, Lyle Overbay double and Rod Barajas RBI groundout, but were unable to add to the lead thanks to an intentional walk to Jose Bautista (I'm not making that up), which led to a Moonraker strikeout against Damaso Marte. Casey Janssen pitched an excellent sixth inning and the Jays added another run in the top of the seventh when Scoot doubled and Lind got him in with a sacrifice fly. Tek came back out for the seventh and ran into a bit of trouble when he gave up a single and Edwin Encarnacion made an error (albeit on a pretty tough play). However, Jeremy Accardo came in and got a quick strikeout, walked Derek Jeter and then induced a fly ball to left to escape the inning with the two-run lead still in tact. Tom requested that I do the recap and that's when things -- naturally -- fell apart. Cito went to Scott Downs for the eighth and before being removed with -- I think -- elbow tightness, he yielded a single to Alex Rodriguez and a game-tying dinger to Hideki Matsui. Jason Frasor closed out the eighth, but the Jays were unable to capitalize on a Moonraker bunt single in the top of the ninth and the score was tied at four going into the bottom of the ninth. Leading off the inning, Brett Gardner singled off Frasor on a full count and predictably stole second base. Derek Jeter grounded out to put Gardner on third and he scored when Francisco Cervelli (playing only because of Jorge Posada's suspension) drove him home with the game-winning single.

Jays of the Day: Camp (.185), Accardo (.159) and Overbay (.159). Honorable mentions to Scoot and Vernon, who had a single and double each, as well as Tek, who would have fared better, were it not for E5's error.

Towers goes to Tallet (-.110), though he may have fared better if he'd been able to stay in.

Batistas go to Snakeface (-.380) and Frasor (-.306).

Hinskes go to Lind (-.161, in spite of the two RBI) and E5 (-.138, plus the error) and Rod Barajas comes close (-.095).

Well, at least we don't have to watch anymore Yankees walk-off wins this year.

We ought to hire a couple of those Angel pitchers to throw BP, Jays beat Angels

Tom Dakers — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 21:10:53 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

3 months ago: Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Ricky Romero works against the Los Angeles Angels during second-inning AL baseball game action in Toronto on Sunday, Aug. 23, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Darren Calabrese)

Browse more photos »

Angels 3 Blue Jays 8

Seven runs in the first 3 innings is a great way to cure those summer time blues, everyone in the lineup had at least 1 hit. We had 15 altogether and 6 walks. Add in a Moonraker homer and life is good. Travis Snider and Adam Lind had 3 hits each. Marco Scutaro and Lyle Overbay had two each. But i think the big news is that the Angels choose to intentionally walk Vernon Wells. Man is their scouting out of date. It didn't work, Randy Ruiz hit a double down the line after to clear the bases,

Ricky Romero pitched a good game, 6 innings and only 2 earned. Pat Tabler spent the whole game telling us how great the Angels were and how poorly Romero was throwing. Josh Romero struggled through 2 outs in the 6th but Jesse Carlson came in and got the last out of the inning and then struck out 3 in the 8th. Casey Janssen pitched a perfect 9th. The most fun of his inning was getting Vladdy to swing at, and foul off,a pitch that bounced and was at least a foot outside. Guerrero is the most amazing batter you'll ever see, he'll swing at anything and often hit it.

Jays of the Day are Romero (.130 WPA), Ruiz (.117) and Overbay (.097). Vernon and Bauista were close and likely deserve honorable mention. I think I'd give honorable mention to Snider and Carlson too. No Suckage Jays, Raul Chavez was closes at (-.041).

Tomorrow we start a series with the Rays and Roy Halladay goes for us against Jeff Niemann. In other news Scott Downs is likely to be activated tomorrow. Not sure who will be sent down to make room for him. Casey Janssen maybe?

And if you like great/lucky defense Eric Bruntlett of the Phillies ended their game with the Mets with an unassisted triple play. You can see it here. The first time a game has ended with an unassisted triple play since Johnny Nuenn did it on May 31, 1927.

That was more exciting than it needed to be.

Tom Dakers — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 02:59:44 -0000

More photos » by Jim Ross - AP

Nice swing Vernon, lets hit a few more of those. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Jim Ross)

Browse more photos »

Angels 4 Blue Jays 5

Until the bottom of the 9th that was a fun, almost boring game. The first inning took 40 minutes and we came out of it up 4-0. Marc Rzepczynski had runners on 2nd and 3rd in the top of the first but got out of it, but he was pitching extremely slow. But that was all the trouble he got into all game. We got a Aaron Hill homer and a Vernon Wells RBI double. Then we loaded the bases in the bottom of the first and actually scored when Jose Bautista hit a two run single. We really ought to try scoring after loading the bases more often. It seems to work. That was all the scoring we had except for a Wells solo homer in the 3rd.

Scrabble pitched great for us, going 6.1 innings, allowing only 3 hits, a walk, a run and striking out 6. He really has to be in the mix for starters next year. Josh Roenicke pitched a good 1.2 innings, allowing his inherited run to score but was very good after that. Then in the 9th Brandon League came in and gave up two ground ball singles. Bad luck, niether was hit hard and had the second one been a few feet left or right it would have been a double play ball. Then he gave up a line drive that Hill made an amazing play on. After that Cito took him out of the game. One of those where he got the ground balls he was supposed to get but you can't aim them.

But then Cito brought in Casey Janssen. I really didn't understand this move. It was a save situation and, I am a big Janssen fan, but he hasn't pitched that much since coming back up and hasn't looked great. I'd save him for middle relief for a while yet. But Janssen came in and Mike Napoli homers making it a one run game. I figured we'd see Frasor now but no. A pop out to center and a double later and suddenly we have the tying run at second and Bobby Abreu up. Again I'm sure we'll bring in Frasor but no again. Janssen gets a ground ball from Abreu but thankfully it was at Lyle Overbay and that was the game. A save for Janssen. a save where he gave up a homer and a double, but a save.

Offensively Vernon had a good game with a double, a homer, 2 runs and 2 RBI. Hill had a homer. Bautista had a 2 run single and 2 walks. Randy Ruiz had a single and 2 walks. Travis Snider walked twice as well. Everyone in the lineup had at least a hit or a walk except Raul Chavez who was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts.

Jays of the Day are Scrabble (.191 WPA and a win), Wells (.130), Bautista (.105) and Hill (with the homer and the very important catch in the 9th). No Suckage Jays today.

Oh I guess I missed the big news, Randy Ruiz stole a base. Yep all 250 pounds of him. The other big news was that Moonraker hit 6th in the order. That was good to see, thanks Cito.

Tomorrow we have an afternoon game with Ervin Santana going against Scott Richmond.

Travis Snider hit a homer in his first game back. Oh yeah we lost.

Tom Dakers — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 05:58:12 -0000

More photos » by Darren Calabrese - AP

I wanted a picture of Snider but there wasn't one, but Ruiz hitting his 3rd homer is good too. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Darren Calabrese)

Browse more photos »

Red Sox 10 Blue Jays 9

Travis Snider had a great game in his first game back. 2 for 3 with a walk and homer, 2 runs and an RBI. Cito I know you think you are protecting the guy but let's move him out of 9th in the order. Soon. Tomorrow for example. He looked great at the plate. His out was a strikeout.

Beyond that? Who cares. Well, if you want to know, Randy Ruiz hit his 3rd homer and Rod Barajas had one as well. Everyone in the line up had at least one hit and our little power slump is over since we hit 3 homer and 4 doubles. 2 for Aaron Hill and 1 each for Vernon Wells and Adam Lind.

Pitching and defense let us down tonight. Ricky Romero only lasted 3.2 innings, giving up 8 hits, 6 runs, 5 earned, walked 3 and struck out 2. Camp pitched a good 1.2 innings, giving up a homer but that's all. Jesse Carlson got the 2 outs asked of him. Casey Janssen pitched a perfect 7th striking out 2. But coming back out in the 8th he gave up a single, a walk and made an error on an Alex Gonzalez bunt attempt (our 2nd missplayed bunt of the game, guys, when they give you an out, that it). Brian Tallet came in and allowed the two runners Janssen left on score and we were down by 3 runs. Jason Frasor a scoreless 9th.

We did make an attempted come back with a 2 out rally in the 8th that scored 2 runs to bring it back to a 1 run game. We did get the tying run to second in the 9th off a Jonathan Papelbon.

Just to show all is not sunny having Snider back. He did make a bad error in the 4th, missing a very catchable ball in right. I'm not sure how much right field he's played in the minors. But it was great to see the team score some runs and with his and Randy Ruiz' power the last month and a half of the season should be great fun.

Jays of the Day are Snider (.153), Hill (.131) and Barajas (.106). Suckage Jays Romero (-.379), Janssen (-.285), Wells (-.157) and Lind (-.142).

Tomorrow Roy Halladay (13-5, 2.65) goes against Clay Buchholtz (1-3, 4.45) It should be interested as Buchholtz was rumored to be the main piece of a possible Halladay trade to the Sox. And Travis Snider will be playing again.

The game thread was great fun again tonight. Hugo asked an interesting question that I couldn't come up with an answer to: Has JP released or given a guy away in a trade who has hit it big somewhere else? Now we aren't talking about guys that left as free agents or ones traded in normal trades that we expected each team to gain something. Generally any GM that has worked for a few years has that guy that they got rid of thinking he had no value and he turns into something. Anyway I couldn't come up with anyone off the top of my head.Anyone got someone? The closest I could think of was Brandon Lyon and he wasn't terrific. No it doesn't mean that he's a great GM if there isn't, just kind of an interesting question.

Casey Janssen up for Accardo

Tom Dakers — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:48:47 -0000

Jordan Bastian twittered it a few minutes ago as well as saying Kevin Millar is switching to number 15 now that Alex Rios isn't using it. Janssen isn't as interesting a choice as I was hoping for, but I guess they want to see what he can do in the pen.

Orioles 7, Jays 5

hugo — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 15:38:38 -0000

More photos » by Jim Ross - AP

Former Toronto Blue Jays player Joe Carter laughs as he is acknowledged by the crowd during a celebration of the Blue Jays World Series team from 1992 and 1993 at Rogers Centre before a baseball game between the Blue Jays and the Baltimore Orioles on Friday, Aug. 7, 2009. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press,Jim Ross)

Browse more photos »

The Blue Jays finished in second place in yesterday's contest with the Orioles, not exactly reminding fans of the team's glorious past.

On the Mound: Ricky Romero ran into trouble in the 6th inning, giving up 4 runs and spoiling a start that had been solid to that point. Of course the inning started with a walk to Matt Wieters.

At the Plate: Vernon Wells and Alex Rios hit solo home runs in the first inning to stake Romero to a lead. Aaron Hill doubled in Joe Inglett (who has been hitting well recently) in the 5th but the Jays then had another golden opportunity with runners at 2nd and 3rd and 1 out. Adam Lind and Lyle Overbay failed to bring any of them in. Wells and Rios accounted for another 2 runs in the 8th with an RBI single and sacrifice fly, respectively.

From the Pen: Brandon League had problems in the 8th. He got the first batter on a groundout but then gave up a single through the middle. A wild pitch sent that runner to second. League then got three straight ground balls. Unfortunately, two of them went through the infield and the inning unraveled from there. League did bail out the Jays in the 7th by coming in to retire the final out after Jesse Carlson had left two runners on, so it was another situation where he ran into problems after the inning break. He's been very good recently, and other than the double he served up to Matt Wieters, didn't look all that bad yesterday, but it was an ugly result.

Vernon Wells earns Jay of the Day honours. Romero and League take home the Towers and Bautista, and Barajas earns himself a golden Hinske (or should the Jays of the Day awards be made from porcelein with cobalt glaze?)

AAA Watch: Travis Snider was 3-5 with a double. Brian Dopirak and J.P. Arencibia didn't do much, but Casey Janssen pitched another perfect relief inning, striking out 2. He seems rather sharp recently so I wonder how long it'll be before he replaces someone like Accardo, who looked pretty shaky yesterday.

Friday Notes: Janssen, Snider, Marcum, Stewart, Jackson

hugo — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 14:31:31 -0000

More photos » by Matt Slocum - AP

Casey Janssen, Shaun Marcum, and Travis Snider are all hoping to see the majors again by the end of the season. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Browse more photos »

Hi everyone. Just a quick collection of some notes.

The Las Vegas Sun has had a trio of nice articles over the past week. First, they talked to Shaun Marcum about his rehab:

"I'm just trying to stay positive, knowing that hopefully I can get up there and pitch again this year, but if I don't, it's not the end of the world," Marcum said Saturday before the 51s' 8-7 victory over Salt Lake at Cashman Field. "I just have to take the rehab process slowly enough so that I don't have to go through this again next year."

With Marcum's recent back injury, the Jays haven't decided yet whether he'll throw again this season. The minor-league season ends in a few weeks.

The next day, the Sun talked to Travis Snider:

''I'm just getting in there and allowing things to happen,'' said Snider, who was sidelined from early June until July 2 with a lower back injury. ''Since I've come back from the injury, I've worked really hard with hitting coaches in the organization to fix some mechanical errors that I've had. Things just weren't translating based on the pressure I was putting on myself.''

Snider is positively mashing at the plate recently, hitting .447 with 3 home runs, a triple, and 9(!) doubles over his last 10 games, 8 walks, and just 7 strikeouts.

Most recently, the Sun talked to Casey Janssen about his frustrations in attempting to return from labrum surgery, one of the most difficult injuries from which a pitcher can attempt to recover. Janssen has continued to experience unpredictable stiffness and inflammation in his shoulder at times, but has slowly been progressing:

"The body's weird, and I know they always say the first year after a labrum (injury) is the toughest. I've ridden that roller coaster this year."

Casey also mentioned that he has no problem with relieving, as opposed to starting, when he returns. I've always liked him as a starter and I think he has the stuff to be a good one, but if relieving keeps him healthy than that's the way to go.

Baseball America took a look at the best prospects traded during the trade season this year and Zach Stewart, acquired by the Blue Jays, clocks in at number 2, behind just Brett Wallace, who was traded for Matt Holliday. The best of anyone involved in the Cliff Lee trade was Jason Knapp, who came in at #5.

Finally, shortstop prospect Justin Jackson hasn't played in a while, because he himself underwent labrum surgery - on his left (non-throwing) shoulder (h/t Batter's Box and their short interview with Dick Scott). Jackson is expected to be ready to return to action in December, but this is something to keep an eye on as the left shoulder is the more crucial shoulder for a right-handed hitter. I wonder whether this explains any of Jackson's struggles at the plate this season.

Yankees 8, Jays 4

hugo — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:08:31 -0000

Tough one last night for our heroes.

On the Mound: Marc Rzepczynski pitched great until the 7th inning, when he ran into some trouble and was lifted. Things really unraveled, and Zep ended up with 4 runs allowed over his 6 innings, though he did strike out 7 and walk just one. He wasn't the problem.

At the Plate: Vernon Wells and Alex Rios had RBI singles in the 1st inning. Adam Lind and Marco Scutaro added solo home runs. We had our baserunners, but didn't cash them.

From the Pen: Bad showing from our relief corps last night. Josh Roenicke entered in relief of Zep in the 7th and gave up 3 walks and 2 hits. Jesse Carlson gave up another run in the 8th and Brian Tallet surrendered a Damon home run in the 9th. Yuck.

Cold Comfort from the Farm: Travis Snider had a double. J.P. Arencibia hit a home run, his 12th of the season. Casey Janssen pitched a perfect inning, striking out 1. Though David Purcey got absolutely shellacked.

Lind was the only one with JoTD numbers. The Jays are off today before taking on Baltimore this weekend.