SB Nation - Brian Burres

A Guide To Some Relevant Minor League Free Agents

Sam Page — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:00:27 -0000

In 2009, the Mets were bereft of minor league depth. It was painfully obvious looking at Buffalo's performance and it became a major issue when injuries struck. Despite what some claim, however, developing prospects is not the only way to build good farm systems. Often those fringe players that never quite breakthrough to the show are the most integral parts of a successful minor league team. So going off this list, here's some MiFA of interest:

RHP Phil Humber: I actually think Humber is a pretty bad pitcher, but need to mention him before everyone gets nostalgic. Humber was, of course, the former Mets top prospect out of Rice that was supposed to join Mike Pelfrey at the top of the Mets rotation eventually--that was, before he had Tommy John Surgery. Somehow included in the Johan Santana deal, Humber pitched really poorly for the Twins in AAA. The only real reason to bring him back would be a show of goodwill and sympathy from the Mets. Don't hold out hope for that lost potential.

IF/OF Wilson Betemit: The top-prospect-turned-super-sub Betemit probably has his best days behind him, even at age 28. He comes from the Mark DeRosa mold in that he has experience at virtually every position, but is good at none of them. And while he hasn't hit very well of late, his interesting blend of power and plate discipline and major-league track record could make him worth a flier at AAA. Personally, I might opt for better infield defense behind the Mets young developing pitchers, but few others on that list can claim being an average major league hitter over their career.

RHP Bryan Bullington: One of many infamous first round busts in the Pirate's recent draft history, this first-overall pick has some upside as a reliever. In 38 relief innings for Las Vegas last season, Bullington had a 43:7 K:BB ratio in 38.1 innings pitched. He also can be as a serviceable AAA starter, but any chance of him making the bigs is as a part of the bullpen. A good guy to have around.

LHP Brian Burres: A long-time Baltimore farm hand, Burres has the stuff to be a mid-rotation AAA guy and a #7 or 8 on an organizational depth chart. Sub-par control and a horrible 2008 with the Orioles will likely prevent him from ever earning another extended stay in the majors.

RHP R.A. Dickey:

Pros:

Went to my high school
throws the knuckleball
the only article I ever wrote for my high school newspaper was about him

Cons:

not as good as Tim Wakefield

Dickey is the rare pitcher who is seemingly improving with age. He started using the knuckleball full-time in 2007, a season in which he was the Pacific Coast League MVP. Last year he had modest success as a reliever with the Twins. Knuckleball pitchers are great because they can pitch a million innings without getting tired and because they throw the knuckleball.

3B/OF Joe Dillon: At age 33, Joe's showing some signs of decline, but with the way he's been jerked around between the majors and minors recently, I wonder whether it's genuine slowing down or just not getting settled in one place. He is one of those AAAA sluggers that makes minor league baseball fun to watch--three times in his minor league career he's had a 1000+ OPS. He's a pretty decent fielding thirdbaseman to boot. This year he was the "last man" on the Rays bench, and he could easily reprise that role with the Mets, or be big boost to the Bisons.

RHP Geoff Geary: Geary is a control-specialist reliever who has had some major league PT recently with the Astros and Phillies. He's not someone I want in the Mets bullpen, but Buffalo could use him.

OF Mitch Jones: .354, .320. Those two numbers are Mitch Jones' Isolated Power in the past two seasons. Sure, he played in a friendly home ballpark in Albuquerque, but a .651 SLG% travels. You could make an argument that Jones is better suited for a starting job on the Mets than Daniel Murphy or Jeff Francoeur.

LHP Royce Ring: Ya'll know Royce. Lefty with the funky motion. I'd take him back on a minor league deal, considering the state of the Mets' bullpen.

LHP Jon Switzer: He pitched pretty well for Buffalo out of the bullpen this year (3.85 tRA). He would be a solid re-sign.

1B Chris Shelton: Like a right-handed Chris Carter, Chris Shelton is another AAAA slugger the Bison's stagnant offense could certainly use. Last year with Tacoma, he OPSed .905 at age 29. With Chris Carter already here, however, he may be "blocked." And as you've probably suspected, I'd gladly platoon him with Murphy, Carter, or Ike Davis, if given the chance.

LHP R.J. Swindle: Of all the pitchers I've talked about so far, Swindle is easily the most desirable. He'll be just 26 next season and has fantastic minor league peripherals 9.0 K/9, 1.8 BB/9. He's got forgettable stuff: a low 80s fastball and curveball that is basically an eephus, but he's always put up great numbers and killed lefties. Chad Bradford II?

RHP Joe Nelson: The Rays signed Joe for $1MM after a fantastic '08 with the Marlins. He proved a bad investment with horrible command, but might be served well by a return to the NL East. The Mets were reportedly interested in him as a Major League piece last year, and at the very least would be a great AAA option.

C Guillermo Quiroz: A former top-50 prospect, Quiroz has evolved into a minor league catcher with a sterling defensive reputation, good pop, and poor on-base skills. Basically, he's Omir Santos. I am not even sure Omir Santos is even better than him. In fact, Omir Santos was the Orioles' AAA catcher when Quiroz was their Major League backup. That says more about how poor and ill-equipped for a starting gig Santos is, than how good Quiroz is. But if you're going to entrust Omir Santos with a roster spot, might as well keep his clone as a backup in AAA.

Bring on the Major Leagues: Jays Minor League Update

hugo — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:13:26 -0000

Las Vegas

J.P. Arencibia has begun to pick up a bit, with 2 home runs thusfar in May, but he is still not getting on base (.245 OBP). Scott Campbell, on the other hand, is slowly getting his bat where it needs to be - but slowly. He was 1-3 with a triple and a walk yesterday, and the fact that he was walked (10) more times than struck out (7) even during a slump is a pretty good sign going forward.

Fabio Castro has been quite good after quickly pitching his way up from New Hamphsire - over his 2 starts for Las Vegas, he's got a 2.19 ERA and went 7 strong innings (no runs, 2 hits, 2 walks, 3 Ks) in his last start. He could see the majors soon. Out of the recently exiled, Brian Burres surprisingly put up the better start than David Purcey in their first go around. Purcey was tough to hit in his 6 1/3 innings but he walked 5 batters (striking out 6) so still has some more work to do. Burres went seven strong yesterday and gave up just one run, walking 6 and striking out 1. I point this out because I'm a little afraid of him pitching for the Jays again. Jonah Bayliss had his perfect start ruined with a disastrous outing (1/3 of an inning, 6 earned runs). Dirk Hayhurst seems to struggle whenever he's starting (9.49 ERA, 7/5 K/BB ratio) but do well when pitching out of the bullpen (1.59 ERA, 4/0 K/BB, .090 batting average against).

New Hampshire

Brian Dopirak continues to hit well - he's batting .297/.357/.515 with 5 home runs and 7 doubles but has slowed down very recently after a torrid end to April. A callup could be in order. Catcher Brian Jeroloman has cooled off considerably, though he has started to show his trademark plate discipline. David Cooper continues to hold his own (.345 OBP) which is very good, but he hasn't shown much in the way of power yet (.375 slg, .104 Iso-P). Brad Emaus has picked it up a bit and is now hitting .294/.360/.441/.801 with 10 extra-base hits.

Even with Castro gone, New Hampshire's pitching has continued to be stellar. Marc Rzepczynski is leading the way with 41 Ks in 32 1/3 innings over his 6 starts, for a 3.06 ERA. Reidier Gonzalez, Luis Perez, and Randy Boone have also done very nice jobs. Brandon Magee was promoted from Dunedin and will make some starts for New Hampshire now that Castro is gone.

Dunedin

Eric Thames and Moses Sierra continue to swing very hot bats. Thames is hitting .333 with 3 extra-base hits, 10 RBI, and 8 walks to just 4 Ks over his last 10 games. He's looking like a draft-day steal for the Jays. As for Sierra, the rifle-armed right-fielder is batting .305/.394/.500 and you have to love that power. Another guy who is really hitting well is John Tolisano - he has been red hot recently with 4 home runs, a .300 average, and 7 walks over his last 10 games. Over the season, he is hitting an impressive .262/.366/.541. Tolisano is outpacing his more-heralded fellow draftees - Justin Jackson and Kevin Ahrens. Both have dealt with some nagging injuries (Ahrens just returned) and are really struggling.
Adam Loewen has 12 games under his belt but hasn't done much yet.

On the pitching side, as we mentioned, Magee earned his promotion. Trystan Magnuson could be close behind - the big righty has done a nice job for Dunedin with a 2.95 ERA and 2/1 K/BB ratio over his 18 1/3 innings. Tim Collins has been even more dominant, with almost twice as many strikeouts (31) as innings pitched (16 1/3) and a miniscule .67 Whip. Andy Liebel has also pitched okay in his first full season, with a nice strikeout to walk ratio.

Lansing

Johermyn Chavez continues to hit everything in sight. The toolsy Venezuelan outfielder is now hitting .333/.371/.678/1.049 with 15 extra-base hits (half of his total hit output), including 6 home runs and 4 triples. 2008 draftee third baseman Mark Sobelewski is doing a decent job, hitting .286/.364/.388 and nice walk (about 10% of plate appearances) and strikeout numbers (less than 20% of PAs). Most of the other Lansing hitters aren't doing much yet, though shorstop Ty Pastornicky is picking it up a bit at the plate.

As for rehabbing Jays, Casey Janssen (shoulder) is scheduled to pitch for Dunedin today, with Ricky Romero (oblique) going tomorrow. B.J. Ryan is also beginning his rehab stint with Dunedin. Oh, and thanks to Pavement for today's title.

April is the Cruelest Month / Breeding Lilacs Out of the Dead Ground: Blue Jays' April in Review

hugo — Sat, 02 May 2009 12:20:28 -0000

More photos » by Frank Gunn - AP

Marco Scutaro and the Jays got a solid jump start on the 2009 season, but there's a lot of baseball yet to be played. (AP photo/The Canadian Press,Frank Gunn)

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So, in case you weren't paying attention, here's what happened in April, after we spent January, February, and March hearing about how bad this team was going to be. Yes, April bred the lilacs of victory out of the dead ground of below-low expectations. It was the cruelest month for our opposition (except the Royals) and for those who figured the Jays would struggle to win 70 games.

- The Jays went 15-9, good enough for the best/second best record in the A.L.(percentage points behind the Boston Red Sox) Their Pythagorean record was also 15-9, or 14-10 depending on which page of Baseball Reference you read.

- The Jays scored 5.92 runs per game. They gave up 4.67 runs per game

- The Jays lead the American League in defensive efficiency

- For all the problems with the starting rotation, the Jays had the 4th best pitching staff in the A.L. (4.29 ERA) and lead the league in strikeouts.

- The Jays saw more pitches per plate appearance than any team in the American League, lead by Adam Lind with 4.72, a player who last season walked in a scant 4.7% of his plate appearances and swung at 34% of pitches outside the strike zone. This season, he's walking almost 12% of the time and swinging at just 25% of pitches outside the strike zone. And those adjustments have translated into his hitting too: Lind hit .320/.400/.557 in April, with 4 home runs and a wOBA of .415. His BABIP was high (.377), so his batting average may drop a little bit, but with improved line drive, plate discipline, and HR/FB rates, there's plenty of reason for optimism going forward. Lind is a big reason for the offense's success, and he did it all while hitting in the middle of the order (5th) and against lefty and righty pitching (actually, after struggling practically his whole career against lefties, he's hitting .321/.345/.464 against them this season)

- Marco Scutaro was a great leadoff hitter, walking almost at will (in almost 20% of his plate appearances) en route to a .420 OBP and .409 wOBA. Scutaro also added power to his game this month, (5 HR, .223 Iso-P) and played incredible defense (19.5 UZR/150 at shortstop). So much for not being a credible everyday player. Scutaro is leading all major-league shortstops in OPS, wOBA, OBP, home runs, walks, runs scored, RsBI, and Runs Created. The truly weird thing is that he's doing it with a puny 11% line drive rate, and he's always been a good line-drive hitter despite being a low BABIP hitter (a trend that has continued this season).

- Aaron Hill returned from his nightmarish concussion injury and has been unbelievable, squaring up on seemingly every pitch. Hill, who was previously a slow starter, even returned to his power-hitting ways, hitting 6 doubles and 4 home runs, with an Iso-P of .193. For the first two weeks or so, Hill wasn't walking all, but there was no reason to worry, and in the second half of the month, Hill started walking a lot (7 times over the second 12 games of the month). Hill has a .429 wOBA hitting out of the second spot and while part of that is his .400 BABIP, he's also hitting a lot of line drives (almost 30% of his batted balls). Hill, who has always been a superior defender, seems a little uncomfortable at second-base so far (although he has made some incredible plays), and that's borne out by the stats (he's slightly below average so far according to UZR).

- Scott Rolen had an okay first month, hitting .317/.367/.427, basically in line with his overall performance last season. Rolen actually got off to a hot start last season, though mostly in May, so his numbers thusfar this season aren't what they were. Rolen's lack of increased power over last season is a little worrying (actually his power is down, he has a puny Iso-P of .106 so far this season) but he is OPSing almost .800 so we'll just have to see if the power will come. A .361 wOBA is nothing to sneeze at. As usual, Rolen is playing superlative defense (15.1 UZR/150 thusfar).

- The Lyle Overbay/Kevin Millar "platoon-like situation" is working splendidly. Kyle Moverbay (since we're getting more Overbay than Millar) his .298/.402/.521 as a first-baseman over the first month. Overbay is supplying most of the OBP (.403) and plenty of the power (.500), while Millar is definitely pulling his own weight as well. If you don't think Overbay can keep it up, last season he put up a .384 OBP against righties and a .481 SLG, so he can.

- What's up with Alex Rios? Rios is hitting just .248/.308/.362, and isn't showing selectivity or power at the plate. With a -3.3 wRAA, he just hasn't produced. An absurdly low BABIP (.301) isn't the problem. Rather, he's hitting too many ground balls (43%), has a ridiculously low HR/FB en route to just 1 home run, and is hitting way to many pop ups (24% of his batted balls). UZR also suggests he's not performing well in the outfield. Rios was slightly better in the second half of the month, but no question he's struggling.

- Despite suffering the slings and arrows of an outrageous fanbase, Vernon Wells had an okay month, hitting .283/.345/.465 for a .356 wOBA and 110 OPS+. A little more power would be nice, but Wells is walking more than he's striking out and his HR/FB is way below his career numbers so more power is a reasonable expectation for the future. Wells is popping up an absurd 42% of his batted balls (his career number is 16.5%) and there's no way that trend can continue. Unfortunately, Wells' hot start with the glove didn't continue and UZR is suggesting he's doing a pretty poor job in centrefield.

- In left field, Travis Snider got off to a hot start, hitting .321/.387/.786 over the first half of April but the second half of the month was a very different story (.206/.270/.235). No doubt he's hitting like a 9th place hitter at the moment. His overall numbers are fine, and he's actually doing quite a good job at laying off pitches outside the zone, but he could stand to be a little more selective in the zone as well. He's seeing less fastballs and more offspeed offerings now, and will have to adjust to that. After a crazy high line drive rate last season (34%), it's now absurdly low (12.8%), leading to a relatively low BABIP of .289. Still, he is walking a reasonable amount of the time, and striking out a lot less than folks feared, so he's doing fine. It's just an adjustment he needs to make, and he'll make it. Jose Bautista (.317/.404/.463) is doing a nice job as his right-handed platoon-mate.

- Rod Barajas was a nice surprise at the plate, hitting .299/.333/.493, good for the 3rd best catcher in the AL. It may not last, but he's doing a great job at the plate right now.

- On the pitching side, Roy Halladay was quite good, striking out 8 times as many batters as he walked and putting up good K numbers. Doc's continuing his deadly combination of inducing grounders, striking out guys, and not walking them, and has been a little hit unlucky. It's likely he'll get even better as the season goes on. Ricky Romero was a very pleasant surprise (2-0, 1.71 ERA, 3.25 K/BB ratio) before an oblique strain sidelined him. Scott Richmond has been quite good (3-0, 2.70, 2/1 K/BB ratio) and has utterly dominated right-handed batters. We all know about David Purcey's control problems and how he was sent down, so Robert Ray will see what he can do. Brian Burres, the less said the better. Enter Brett Cecil. And Brian Tallet had 2 excellent starts before having one terrible one, so let's not write him off as a useful starter yet. Sounds like Casey Janssen and Romero will be back soon, with Jesse Litsch returning not too long after that, so if the current squad can hold it together a little longer, things should improve.

- Our bullpen was outstanding, with a 3.17 ERA as a group. Scott Downs (0.47 Whip, 14/0 K/BB ratio, 0.84 ERA), Jesse Carlson (1.50 ERA, 1.00 Whip), and Jason Frasor (0.42 Whip, no runs given up, 6/1 K/BB ratio) have lead the charge, with Downs stepping in for B.J. Ryan when the latter struggled amidst a trapezius injury. Brandon League had a little trouble at the start, but has been lights out lately - over his last 6 innings, he didn't yield a hit and struck out 7, walking 1 and getting plenty of his trademark ground balls.

- The Jays were 7-3 at home, 8-6 on the road, and 5-2 in one-run games. Bring on May and the rest of the season!

Burres Gets Hit So Hard It Knocks Him Back to the Minors, Jays Lose

Tom Dakers — Fri, 01 May 2009 01:14:45 -0000

More photos » by ED ZURGA - AP

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Brian Burres (14) walks and asks directions to Vegas, while the rest of the team tries to figure out who thought it was a good idea to call him up in the first place. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)

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Jays 6 Royals 8

How come the only people that thought using Brian Burres as a starter was a good idea worked for the Jays? The good news is that Burres and Bryan Bullington were sent back to the Minors after the game. Maybe there is a God, or at least intelligent life in the Jay's front office.

Anyway the game....I don't really want to talk about it....but Burres was awful for the 2 innings plus he was out there for, giving up 5 hits, 6 runs, 4 earned and a walk to bring his ERA to a wonderful 14.21. Isn't there some baseball saying about an ERA bigger than your shoe size being bad luck? Bullington wasn't much better in relief. League and Carlson did well over the last 3 innings but by then it was a little late.

Offensively? Well we did get back into the game late and likely would have done better but we hit into 6 (!) double plays. 6 double plays! One each by 6 different players. Tying a league record. The scary part is we could have done worse. We hit into a double play in each of the first 4 innings.

There were some good offensive performances, like someone in the game thread said 'you need lots of base runners to have 6 double plays. We took 6 walks and had 11 hits, including a leadoff homer by Marco Scutaro and a 2 run shot by Adam Lind. Everyone in the lineup got on base at least twice except Jose Bautista who got on once.

Jay of the Day is Adam Lind (.095 WPA). Honorable mention to Kevin Millar and Scoot for that leadoff homer. How many of you guessed that Marco Scutaro and Aaron Hill would be tied for the team lead in homers at the end of April. Put down your hands, you liars. Suckage Jays? Let's all say it together Brian Burres (-.395 WPA, please, please JP, I don't care what happens from here on out, do not call this man up again), Jose Bautista (-.168) and Hill (.101) get Hinskes.

Beyond that, I'm sorry, I know Cito is like everyone's favorite manager, and I'll admit he is growing on me, but his idea that we can't pinch hit is an idiot idea. Think about this, 8th inning, the team has worked their way back from down by 6 to where they have a runner on and the tying run at the plate. Bautista up, ok, you want to give Rolen the whole day off, let him bat against the righty. I don't like it but ok. But after he strikes out, Raul Chavez is up.

Chavez is a good defensive catcher, but he hits, well he hits like Johnny Mac. On our bench is Lyle Overbay, and he is swinging the bat so well of late. 99 managers out of 100 would pinch hit there. In fact likely 100 out of 100, unless the 100th is our Cito. But Cito is still posing for that statue that they are going to put outside of Skydome. I really really don't understand how you can be philosophically opposed to pinch hitting and be a manager in the majors. It doesn't make sense to me. You won't do it because it might hurt Raul Chavez's feelings? Chavez knows he isn't here because of his bat.

Anyway, let's not get too upset by one loss, because if anyone told you we'd be 15-9 at the end of April you'd have been happy. Currently we are half a game behind the Red Sox for first but the Sox are down 6-0 to the Rays at the moment (Beckett looks terrible), so odds are we will be going into May tied for first. I thought we were optimistic here at BBB but I thought we might start slow and build as the season went on. But this is terrific.

Better news, we won't have to suffer thru another Brian Burres start. I'm sure street cleaners outside Hugo's office building are happy too, he won't be making the big jump. Not sure who the Jays are bringing up, but it can't get no worse than Burres has been. You'd have to think Accardo will come up for Bullington.

Everything Hits at Once: White Sox 10, Jays 2

hugo — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 03:04:04 -0000

Well, it's never a good matchup when you've got your 9th or 10th best starter facing the other team's ace, and it didn't work out so well for our heroes today.

We hated the idea of Brian Burres starting today's game, and it turned out to be for good reason. Burres was bad, giving up 7 hits and 4 walks over 4 1/3 innings. He generally looked like he lacked the stuff to get major-league hitters out and knew it, so he was afraid to pitch inside or challenge good hitters. It was a poor performance and not one, in my opinion, that justifies another major-leagues start. He did manage to make it to the 5th inning just having given up 2 runs, but his luck ran out that inning and things went south.

The White Sox scored 6 runs that inning, 4 of them coming on a grand slam by Alexei Ramirez off Shawn Camp, who had the unenviable task of coming in with the bases loaded and trying to minimize the damage. Brandon League and Brian Bullington pitched scoreless innings at least.

Offensively, the Jays managed two runs in the 2nd inning of Sox starter Mark Buerhle but that was it. Marco Scutaro had a decent day at the plate with a single, a walk, and a sacrifice fly, as did Jose Bautista (rbi single, walk), Aaron Hill, and Kevin Millar. But the Jays managed no extra base hits. No Jays of the Day today, though Burres takes home the Towers and Camp the Batista.

The Jays will put their series win streak (as well as their non-consecutive loss streak) on the line tomorrow afternoon. Roy Halladay will pitch for the Jays, while Jose Contreras will hurl for the Pale Hose.

In other bad and potentially really bad news, Jesse Litsch, who was ahead of schedule, had pain throwing last night and will be examined by he-who-must-not-be-named on Monday. The Jays are saying that it's precautionary only, but keep your fingers crossed.

5th Series Win in a Row to Start the Season!

Tom Dakers — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 03:30:20 -0000

More photos » by Frank Gunn - AP

Toronto Blue Jays' Alex Rios, right, is congratulated by teammate Aaron Hill after hitting a two-run home run. Now that you see how it's done Alex, let's keep doing it.(AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)

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Rangers 2 Jays 5

You know, this season is so much more fun than last year. I know we are going to go thru bad stretches and losing two of our starting pitchers in the first month seems like a bad omen but right now this is so much fun.

We've had such good luck with the starting pitchers. Tonight Scott Richmond had his second really good start in a row.Hugo and I were saying before the season that we thought Richmond could do a good job as a 5th starter, but it is nice to see him do it. Today he got us 6 innings, 2 earned runs both on solo homers, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. If you got to give up a couple of homers in a game, solo shots are the way to go.

Our bullpen as terrific again. League, Carlson, Camp and Downs pitched the last 3 innings only allowing 1 hit and striking out 5. Downs got his first save of the season. Yeah I wish Cito would give Downs the night off when we are up by three but I am trying to keep from letting little things Cito does bother me. Trying. Downs has appeared in 9 of our 17 games. He does seem to have a rubber arm but why test his limits?

Offensively home runs won it for us. Happily the most ragged on players (well other than BJ Ryan) hit the homers. Wells and Overbay each hit solo shots and Rios hit a 2 run homer. Vernon's home run moved him past Jesse Barfield into 4th all-time in homers for the Jays. Rolen came thru with a single with 2 out in the 8th to drive in our 5th run.

We did have some 0fers today. Scutaro, Lind, Barajas and Snider, but Moonraker and Lind each took a walk, Scutaro hit the ball hard a couple of times and Big Rod hit 2 homers yesterday so he is allowed an ofer today.

Jays of the Day are Richmond (.167 WPA), Rios (.134) and Overbay (.110). Honorable mention Wells and League. Suckage Jay was Scutaro (-.112) getting the Hinske award.

Tomorrow the Jays are in Chicago to play the White Sox. Jessef has a preview of the pitching match ups here. I'd feel sorry for him because, for the second time in a row, after he has writen a great post on the match ups in up coming series teams change starters on him. I would feel sorry for him, but his brother has threatened to fire him if it happens again.

In other Jay news Bryan Bullington has been called up from Vegas to fill BJ Ryan's roster spot. Apparently Brian Burres will be called up Saturday to take Ricky Romero's start. I was hoping Dirk Hayhurst would get a callup but no such luck yet.

And in case you forgot. We are 12-5, in first place in the AL East, 2 games up on the Yankees and the Red Sox. Enjoy.

Spring Game Recap, Jays Lose To Reds

Tom Dakers — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:13:38 -0000

Jays 0 Reds 3

Ricky Romero, is suddenly back in the mix for one of the two open starting rotation jobs. Ricky didn't do too bad, going 5 innings, allowing 7 hits, 2 walks, 2 runs and struck out 5. After the crappy start for Clement yesterday and Janssen's shoulder soreness, even a fairly average start for Ricky helps his chance. Brian Burres pitched 2 scoreless innings and Jeremy Accardo pitched 1 inning, gave up a single and triple and a run.

Offensively we did almost nothing: Aaron Hill was 2 for 3 and stole a base. Scott Rolen was 1 for 2 with a triple. Wells had a single in 3 times up and Raul Chavez was 1 for 2.

Notable ofers: Joe Inglett was 0 for 4 and is hitting .211, getting harder to make a case for him. Alex Rios was 0 for 2 with a walk. Johnny Mac was 0 for 2 and is hitting a big .143. Randy Ruiz and Aaron Matthews were 0 for 3 but then they aren't going to make the team anyway.

Tomorrow David Purcey starts as the Jays play the Phillies. Marco Scutaro is back from the WBC and will play tomorrow and Travis Snider who missed some time with a sore knee will play, The game is on Gameday audio tomorrow so we'll get to listen in.

In other news, Curt Schilling and Corey Koskie have each annouced their retirement. I'm sorry about Koskie, he apparently dove for a ball in a spring game and felt nauseous after. Add in that his 6 year old son suffered a concussion in football game and he figured it was a sign that he ought to quit. It is really too bad, I was just talking to someone that knew him from Manitoba a couple of weeks ago, saying what a great guy he is. At 34 he's too young to retire but he did have a good career.

Game Recap: Jays Lose to Yankees

Tom Dakers — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 09:57:34 -0000

Jays 4 Yankees 7

The first game we actually got to see and there was some bad and some good. The bad included Casey Janssen leaving the game, after 4 batters, with 'tightness in his shoulder'. The Jays are saying it isn't anything serious but it will definitely slow Janssen down a bit and he was a little behind anyway. I think that means odds are a little better for Clement and Mills to make the rotation out of spring training, with Richmond having to catch up a bit too. I have a hard time believing Mills is making the team having not pitched higher than Double A and just 6 games there but things seem to be moving that way.

Brian Burres came in to replace Janssen and did nothing to made you think he ought to be a major league pitcher giving up 6 hits and 4 runs in 2.2 innings. David Purcey looked better in his 4.1 innings but he did tire at the end of his stint giving up a 2 run homer. Nathan Starner came in and got the last two outs.

Offensively there were few bright moments; Joe Inglett went 2 for 3, Jason Lane hit a 2 run double to give him 10 RBI on the spring, Brad Emaus hit his 3rd homer of the spring, he has 8 RBI and is looking like he has a future with the team, though likely not this year, Scott Campbell drove in his 9th run (does it bother anyone else that the guys leading the team in RBI this spring are likely not to make the team?) and John McDonald singled off AJ Burnett's left arm. As AJ said:

"Thank God it was Johnny Mac," Burnett quipped of the direct hit.

Defensively, McDonald made a bad error at short, the guy can't hit at all so he better field and Jose Bautista looked very awkward in the outfield. I hope we don't see much of him out there, unless it is in an Astro uniform. Apparently he is on the Astro's radar to fill their third base hole. I don't think any of us would be all that sad to see him go.

In other news Roy Halladay had some interesting things to say about AJ Burnett in a Richard Griffin story in the Globe:

"They label you as the No.1 guy and you have a guy here who has more talent than you that you know, as soon as he figures it out, you're not going to be there any more. It's a different feeling than in the past where it's just kind of handed to you. You have to embrace that and work with it."

and

"He wanted to go out and strike everyone out," Halladay recalled of Burnett after his arrival as a free agent. "He wanted to go hard all the time. It's hard to do that at that intensity level, not only for a whole game, but for an entire year. I think he learned to use his breaking ball and other pitches more and not always blow them away right from the get-go."

Tomorrow the Jays play the Rays but the game isn't on MLB.TV or gameday audio so we will likely skip the game thread. Brad Mills is to pitch for the Jays and Jay killer Matt Garza is to start for the Rays. Vernon Wells is to DH and Alex Rios and Rod Barajas, back from the WBC are both to play.

Game Recap Red Sox and Jays

Tom Dakers — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:51:21 -0000

Red Sox 6 Jays 4

Doc didn't look good, Jerry and Alan on MLB Gameday audio said he was working on an off-speed pitch and spring is the time to do that. He gave up 8 hits, 3 homers, a walk and struck out 5 in 5 innings. Don't let it worry you. BJ Ryan pitched a quick inning, perfect with a strikeout, that is reassuring. I guess he's fixed his 'mechanical problems'. Brian Burres, Matt Bush and Luis Perez each pitched an inning, it was our first 'look' (listen?) at Matt Bush. He looked good, other than a leadoff double that scored, he got 3 quick outs after that with a strikeout.

Offense? Travis Snider hit a two run homer. Jason Lane went 2 for 3, both doubles. He continues to impress. Well impress me at least. Someone named Aaron Mathews was 2 for 2. Inglett and Hill each had a double. Brad Emaus, Jose Bautista, Lyle Overbay, Ryan Patterson and Raul Chavez all had a single. The only bit 0 fer was Johnny Mac, 0 for 4 with a strikeout and 3 pop ups. He is hitting a big .111 at the moment. Russ Adams was also 0 for 2 with 2 strikeouts, but he's still hitting .333 this spring.

~~Tomorrow~~ Whoops, tomorrow is an off day, Wednesday the Jays play the Phillies, Jesse Litsch is to start and go 4 innings and Scott Richmond is also to pitch.

We had a good time in the thread today, so if you aren't doing anything else ~~tomorrow~~ Wednesday at 1:00 Eastern, join us.

Added: Jordan Bastian said that Vernon Wells DHed in a minor league game today and says he is fine to play now. And that Matt Clements pitched in an intrasquad minor league game today.

Brian Jeroloman and JP Arencibia were sent to minor league camp today. Bill Murphy, Davis Romero and Robert Ray have been optioned to Triple A.

Highway 19 Revisited: Spring Training Week in Review, Pitchers Edition

hugo — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:03:00 -0000

Another week gone, and the Jays' pitching continues to look good. Doc looks scary good, Litsch is pink, round, and efficient as ever, Purcey has been effective if a little erratic, and it's actually something of a battle for the last two spots, with Janssen, Richmond, Mills, Cecil, and Clement all looking worthy of a spot and Romero turning a much better performance in his most recent appearance. Here's the rundown: