Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Friday Baseball Chatter

The Jays currently sit second in the American League spring training standings and second in all of baseball with an .846 winning percentage. There is no correlation between spring training success and regular season results, so instead we are left to ponder the scraps of information fed to us by media sources, while waiting for the regular season to begin.

Baseball America posted the list of the Top 30 International Amateur Bonuses of 2011 and four Blue Jays made the list. Roberto Osuna was tied for the 8th highest bonus. Wuilmer Becerra and Dawel Lugo tied for the 10th highest bonus at $1.3 million and Jesus Gonzalez was tied for 24th with $700,000. The Rangers had three of the top nine bonuses, including the highest and second-highest. The Royals and Mariners also had two players in the top six. In terms of AL East competitors, the Red Sox had three names on the list, the Yankees had one and the Rays and Orioles had none.

Posted by Thomas on Friday, March 16 2012 @ 11:42 AM EDT.

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92-93 - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 11:46 AM EDT (#252832) #

The Rangers dedication to the international market the last few years has been incredible.

I wonder if Mark Malave has any relation to Omar.

Flex - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 12:53 PM EDT (#252835) #

Here's a fascinating piece with Anthopoulos discussing the likely change in strategy for this year's draft. The risk and reward equation will be different, and signability becomes an issue again:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/2012/03/16/davidi_mlb_draft_rules_changes_blue_jays/

greenfrog - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 12:55 PM EDT (#252836) #

hypobole - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 12:58 PM EDT (#252837) #

A while back Beeston was supposed to have said the Jays are "spending more money than anybody in the amateur draft and in the international draft (sic)"

If the BA numbers for 2011 draft and the IFA amateur signings are to be believed this is what I come up with. The Pirates were the leading spenders at just over $21 million, the Royals a close second at just under $21 million. Jays are 3rd at $18.57. The AL East in millions: Bosox - 14.23, Rays - 13.27, O's - 9.45, Yankees - 9.25. The Rangers spent huge internationally, but not on the draft, coming in just over $17 million. And then there's the White Sox: 30th in draft spending, 29th in IFA spending for a combined amount just over $3.5 million.

http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/international-affairs/2012/2613090.html
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/draft/2011/08/bonus-expenditures-2011/

hypobole - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 01:32 PM EDT (#252840) #

Andy Pettitte has signed with the Yankees. Maybe they can trade him to Pittsburg too.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/03/yankees-sign-andy-pettitte.html

Thomas - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 02:19 PM EDT (#252841) #

I haven't researched it recently, but from what I recall there was basically no correlation or such a small correlation that it was statistically insignificant.

John Northey - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 02:29 PM EDT (#252842) #

Huh. Pettitte is doing the Dave Stieb thing - come to camp as an instructor and the playing itch is activated. Wonder if it will work out better for the Yankees - Stieb was a decent reliever/spot starter for the Jays that year but nothing special and it was just a one year wonder thing. Sadly (for Stieb) the Jays had good young pitching mixed with Roger Clemens, Hentgen, Guzman & Woody Williams (Escobar, Carpenter, Halladay) while also blowing $3.5 mil (equal to about $8-$10 mil today) on Erik Hanson. I remember Texas asking about Stieb mid-season and the Jays feeling the need to give him a shot or they'd lose him.

China fan - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 03:49 PM EDT (#252843) #

I agree that there's probably not much correlation between spring-training wins and regular-season wins. But, after yet another victory by the Jays today, here's a fun fact, courtesy of the Blue Jay Hunter blog:

The best Blue Jays spring training records were 19-9 (1985) and 21-10 (1989). Those teams both went on to win AL East titles.

Original Ryan - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#252844) #

While it was highly unlikely that the Blue Jays would link up with Syracuse again next year, the Nationals just eliminated that possibility by extending their PDC with the Chiefs.

Richard S.S. - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 05:38 PM EDT (#252846) #

Lawrie left the game today with the "non-serious" groin-thing they sometimes call something else. Brett Lawrie will give us ulcers yet.

Mick Doherty - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 06:18 PM EDT (#252848) #

Andy Pettitte is my all-time favourite Yankee. (And that's saying something!0 I was crushed, and kinda pissed, when he went to the astros, though I understood he'd be happier close to home.

I wonde if he has his eye on the all-time Yankee fracnhise record for wins? He's currently third and would need two more seasons, at least, to get that mark -- which migh t help his currently-unlikely HOF case.

And who knew? Four of the Yankees' top five in wins have been southpaws??

1.	Whitey Ford	236	3170.1
2.	Red Ruffing	231	3168.2
3.	Andy Pettitte	203	2535.2
4.	Lefty Gomez	189	2498.1
5.	Ron Guidry	170	2392.0

Richard S.S. - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 06:48 PM EDT (#252849) #

Keith Law has a short interview http://www2.tsn.ca/window/podcastcentre/#TSN_Radio_Podcast&id=13 on TSN Radio (go to Radio, then podcasts, page 4 is about where the interview exists.

Mike Green - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 09:28 PM EDT (#252851) #

If I was looking to see whether spring training performance has any predictive value, I wouldn't look at wins and losses. Instead, I'd look at runs for and against in the first 4 innings of spring training. My hunch is that you would find a considerable difference in regular season record between teams that outscore opponents by a 2-1 ratio in the first 4 innings of spring training games and those that are outscored by the same ratio.

If I am right, the way the 2012 club has been playing in the spring is of some relevance. It suggests that the club's starting pitchers are basically healthy and reasonably likely to be at least tolerably effective for some period of time.

John Northey - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 09:55 PM EDT (#252852) #

iirc the proof of spring being useful showed that teams that were .250 points higher in spring (or lower) would shift up (or down) by a significant margin that season (5 games iirc). That is a lot to ask though. If I recall (cannot find spring records online) the Jays in the late 80's early 90's didn't care about spring records and often would be horrid in the spring (well below 500).

Spring is useful if you know what to look for. If a certain pitcher is trying to regain velocity then you look at radar gun readings. If another is spending all spring working on a new pitch then you know if it will help or not. But spring is also when you see guys like Cecil Fielder play regularly in the infield, John Olerud in LF and various other oddities (attempts to see if something works, then after causing no end of headaches for pitchers you learn nope, not a good idea).

TamRa - Friday, March 16 2012 @ 11:05 PM EDT (#252854) #

I have a personal top 3 for the next Blue jays AAA team, just speaking of the realistic possibilities:

1. Buffalo
2. Rochester - both of those are for you folks in that area
3. Nashville - which is less than 3 hours from me, assuming I ever have any money again.

StephenT - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 11:13 AM EDT (#252860) #

fyi: Rogers Digital 493 appears to be picking up the Braves telecast of the Jays' (split-squad) game at 1pm today (Drew Hutchison starting?).

BlueJayWay - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 11:24 AM EDT (#252862) #

Is there zero correlation between a team's spring training W-L record and its regular season record, or is there a weak correlation in some instances? For example, does a team that finishes with the best (or, say a top three) ST record have a slightly better chance of playing .500+ ball in the regular season? Just curious. I have a vague recollection that Elias researched this question at some point.

I remember a few years ago reading a Rob Neyer column about this, and I think he quoted the Elias study you refer to. They looked at a bunch of years, I think a decade or more for all teams, and determined there was a statistically significant, but weak, correlation.

Of course, that was for all teams. Maybe it means more, or less, for certain subclasses of teams, e.g. a young team, who knows...

greenfrog - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 11:55 AM EDT (#252863) #

Gregor Chishom's recent Q&A with Tony LaCava:

http://gregorchisholm.mlblogs.com/2012/03/16/qa-with-blue-jays-assistant-gm-tony-lacava/

robertdudek - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 01:08 PM EDT (#252864) #

Saturday's Toronto-Philadelphia game is available on MLB.com.

raptorsaddict - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#252866) #

Is the stream only available in the US?

Richard S.S. - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 01:56 PM EDT (#252867) #

It appears Michael McDade gets 1 to 2 years to see if he's the heir to Adam Lind. If he's not, A.A. might get Votto, if available, but term and money may not be to his liking. Or, a trade, or signing someone else might be necessary.

I'm more interested in Stilson's year, without the Surgery. If it was the wrong decision, another McGowan scenario unfolds, although 4 years younger.

Paul D - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 01:58 PM EDT (#252868) #

Are you sure that the increase of .250 isn't referring to slugging percentage?

Thomas - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 02:55 PM EDT (#252872) #

Since 1996, the teams with the 15 best spring training records in a single season have gone on to have a cumulative .509 winning percentage when combining their subsequent regular season records. Since 1996, the teams with the 15 worst regular season records have gone on to have a cumulative .507 winning percentage.

ogator - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 03:02 PM EDT (#252874) #

I have a niggling feeling that Thomas's statistics, while compelling may lead to a conclusion that is an oversimplification. The overall statistic seems to indicate that for a bunch of teams in a bunch of seasons the overall predicative value of spring training records is of no consequence but isn't is possible that there were, in fact, specific teams whose spring training records did have some predictive value? I have no specific evidence to support my feeling.

Mick Doherty - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 03:17 PM EDT (#252875) #

ogator, sure, sort of, but what you really mean is that there ere probably LOTS of examples of specific teams whoes ST and regular seaon records were similar. That's to be expected. But in no was is occasional, or even moderately frequent similarity to be conflated with predictive. The massive number of unrelated/dissimilar ST/regular season team records takes the concept of "predictability" right off the table. (If it can only be seen in retrospect, and only sometimes, no less, it's the opposite of predictable, you see?)

greenfrog - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 03:21 PM EDT (#252876) #

"Since 1996, the teams with the 15 best spring training records in a single season have gone on to have a cumulative .509 winning percentage when combining their subsequent regular season records. Since 1996, the teams with the 15 worst regular season records have gone on to have a cumulative .507 winning percentage."

Well, this clearly proves that if you have a middling ST winning percentage, you're likely to finish under .500 in the regular season:)

Gerry - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 04:16 PM EDT (#252878) #

Keith Law has some notes from a Jays minor league game. The story is for insiders but here is a summary:

He was impressed by Aaron Sanchez
John Stilson was OK given he is coming back from injury.
Tyler Ybarra has some potential.
Dustin Antolin was OK but his changeup needs work.
Kellen Sweeney needs some work on his swing.

hypobole - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 04:49 PM EDT (#252881) #

Gerry, thanks for the heads up on the KLaw article. Are there any other reports coming out of our minor league camp? Good to see something (and something fairly positive) on Stilson, but I can't remember reading a thing on Smith jr., Comer, Dean, Lopes etc.

Richard S.S. - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 05:40 PM EDT (#252882) #

Blue Jays play two, lose two. Hutchison and McGuire: 6.0, 8H, 4R, 3ER, 1HR, 0BB, 4SO in a 5-3 loss to Atlanta's main lineup while Toronto sent Davis, Snider, Valbuena and kids. In a 4-3 10 inning loss to Phillies' main lineup Toronto sent Encarnacion, Rasmus, Arencibia, Thames, Francisco, Mathis,Morrow , L.Perez and more kids. VandenHurk, Gil blow saves while Korecky took the loss.

Both split-squad games were lost by Pitchers not in this year's plans. I consider that very encouraging. I believe, this year, winning in Spring Training matters more than ever before. To learn how to win, you must win, any way you can.

hypobole - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 07:52 PM EDT (#252884) #

To learn how to win, you must win, any way you can.

or die trying?

greenfrog - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 08:25 PM EDT (#252885) #

"To learn how to win, you must win, any way you can."

Just don't count on any help from the man in the white shirt.

Gerry - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 09:17 PM EDT (#252886) #

It can be tough to get reports from minor league camp for several reasons. First, camp games started this week so there is not much of a track record. Second, Blue Jay coaches and managers are reluctant to give opinions, other than generic positive ones, based on a short look. Scouts are used to making quick judgments, I find managers and coaches like to see players for a longer period before they give an opinion.

I will try and get some comments in about ten days time.

Original Ryan - Saturday, March 17 2012 @ 09:46 PM EDT (#252887) #

I believe, this year, winning in Spring Training matters more than ever before. To learn how to win, you must win, any way you can.

It's hard to "learn how to win" when the other team is only mildly interested in defeating you.

bpoz - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 08:05 AM EDT (#252889) #

Once my blood is no longer boiling but instead simmering pleasantly... it is intriguing to ponder the concept of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

wdc - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 12:22 PM EDT (#252893) #

A brief change in topic: I just looked at today's lineup and I see that Encarnacion is again starting in left field. Why is Farrell trying him out there? Don't we already have two other players fighting for that position? I don't get it.

92-93 - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 12:41 PM EDT (#252895) #

Who cares? Both Thames & Snider played yesterday (Thames the full game), and apparently Farrell wants to give them a blow. Trying to improve Encarnacion's versatility can only help the team.

Nice to see the Jays finally being broadcast on TV. I'm guessing there's going to be a lot of sofa-scouting of Brett Cecil.

BCMike - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 01:22 PM EDT (#252897) #

Nice to see Sportsnet getting more progressive with stats. Showed Fangraphs pitch type data for the starters and they are displaying avg obp AND slg for hitters. They were one of the first to consistently show obp, nice to see they've finally added the other piece to the puzzle in slg. No more avg hr rbi!

Mike Green - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 04:16 PM EDT (#252898) #

I heard some of today's game. It sounded as though Cecil's velocity was down, but that there was good separation between fastball and change. How was the plane and location?

TamRa - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 04:23 PM EDT (#252899) #

OT - non-baseball chatter, pimping this:

http://eachvoicepub.com/PaintedPonies.php

Probably a bit vanilla for you guys, what comes after will be less so. But I'm told they are well written (despite what you might infer from my rambling forum posts!)

Richard S.S. - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 05:06 PM EDT (#252900) #

I think when you drop 40 lbs, you'll have to learn your new body and your timing might be off, as reported on the Telecast. He was pitching in the bottom of the strike zone with some sideways movement, but wasn't fooling everyone 4.0 IP 4H 1ER 2SO; but looked comfortable. Sure has a babyface.

greenfrog - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 05:37 PM EDT (#252901) #

In the first inning, Cecil was missing his spots and was up in the zone quite a bit. He was better in the second inning (I only watched those two frames). There was a real contrast between the two lefties on the mound, as Hamels clearly has better stuff and can pound the zone aggressively with a good FB (among other pitches). Cecil did throw some effective pitches, but at 85-89 he's really going to have to rely on location down in the zone, movement, pitch selection, change of speed, getting ahead, etc. My concern is whether he will be able to do this consistently enough to succeed in the powerhouse that is the AL - he doesn't have a lot of margin for error.

Mick Doherty - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 06:05 PM EDT (#252902) #

No more avg hr rbi

I agree that showing the more recent brand of stats is good, but wholly disagree that NOT showing the straditional batting line is a good thing. Use both if you want, but don't alienate your largest fan base -- those who have no idea how to calculate SLG or any clue what OPS or even OBP stands for ... gotta leave those in place to keep 'em watching.

Mike Green - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 07:03 PM EDT (#252903) #

Cecil did throw some effective pitches, but at 85-89 he's really going to have to rely on location down in the zone, movement, pitch selection, change of speed, getting ahead, etc. My concern is whether he will be able to do this consistently enough to succeed in the powerhouse that is the AL - he doesn't have a lot of margin for error.

The offences in the AL East are not that overwhelming. It is more the pitching that is so impressive. Hell, the Yankees may be better at preventing runs than scoring them this year.

Many pitchers have succeeded with the profile of a well-located fastball at 85-89, an excellent change at 77 and an occasional curve against RHH and a slider used more frequently against LHH. It aint sexy but it gets the job done.

greenfrog - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 07:38 PM EDT (#252905) #

Yup, hopefully it works out for Cecil. If he's pitching well, he will certainly be an asset.

Richard S.S. - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 09:15 PM EDT (#252906) #

I PVRed the Game today, and I firmly believe Brett Cecil is getting better. Cecil's first inning run started with a one out triple, so his 4.0 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 SO was a very good start. As much as anyone would like to dis inning 1, it was a decent inning. In innings 2-4 he kept his pitches down, with movement, and confused batters.

Flex - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 10:09 PM EDT (#252907) #

Congrats on the story collection TamRa!

StephenT - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 10:16 PM EDT (#252908) #

wdc: They said on Sportsnet today that EE was playing LF to see if he could play there in interleague games.

BCMike: They sometimes did show 'BA HR RBI'. I like seeing OBP and SLG though. Even showing OPS last year put Sportsnet way ahead of most teams' telecasts on insightful batting statistics.

I'd like to see them show the pitch counts; Sportsnet still lags behind the Yankees and Red Sox telecasts in that regard.

electric carrot - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 10:17 PM EDT (#252909) #

Here are my worries about the Jays in rank order:

1. Injuries (especially Lawrie and Bautista)
2. Colby Rasmus' bat
3. Brett Cecil's era
4. Kelly Johnson's bat
5. Adam Lind's bat
6. #5 starter be it McGowan/Drabek/Hutchison (one of them has got to be good tho right?)
7. Thames' defense if he spends much time in LF

JB21 - Sunday, March 18 2012 @ 10:22 PM EDT (#252910) #

EE is playing LF so he can do so in Interleague Play.

greenfrog - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 12:01 AM EDT (#252911) #

"Congrats on the story collection TamRa!"

+1

92-93 - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 10:08 AM EDT (#252912) #

I thought Cecil displayed very poor command. He looked like the same guy who finished 2011 to me. Decent off speed offerings but a flat fastball that looks like a cookie coming in because it lacks like and he doesn't work in the lower quadrants.

Lylemcr - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 10:25 AM EDT (#252913) #

I watched the game on TV yesterday.

Oh boy do the Jays have pitching and catching depth! AA has so many trading chips, it is sick.

Also, in the last week, I think I have heard people compare Gose to Kenny Lofton. Please let it be true, Please let it be true....

greenfrog - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 10:47 AM EDT (#252914) #

On the subject of baseball chatter, what do people think about the prospect of giving Lawrie a long-term contract (maybe along the lines of Matt Moore's contract: 5/$14M plus three club options for $7M, $9M and $10M)?

On the one hand, I want to see how Lawrie does in his first full season (and whether he can stay healthy).

On the other hand, if the Jays wait too long, his price tag could go way, way up.

MatO - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 11:03 AM EDT (#252915) #

I only watched a couple of innings yesterday but Buck and Pat were in mid-season form. Some of the gems I heard:

The starting pitching wasn't very good last year but what's great about the guys this year is that they're all trying to improve. That's a relief!

The Jays are going to be aggressive this year, always looking to take the extra base. I guess nothing has been learned after last season's base-running fiascos particualrly early on. The competition is working on not swinging at pitches over their heads but it's hard to take the extra base if you're walking to first.

When Lind was hitting well early in the season, Bautista was great. When Lind sucked later in the season then Bautista was not as great. In other news. House prices have at least tripled on our street since we moved in in 1993. Obviously, having us move onto your street will cause home prices to rise.

greenfrog - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 11:23 AM EDT (#252916) #

Perhaps Buck and Tabby just need to work the platitudes out of their deliveries before Opening Day (could be a mechanical thing). I think Bautista's second-half decline in 2011 had a lot to do with his July 14 severe right ankle sprain.

MatO: I just saw an open house down the street from me. Any interest?

Jonny German - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 11:35 AM EDT (#252918) #

Along with the "Left field playing time" prediction contest, it'd be interesting to have a prediction contest of how well the various related pieces will hit. My expectation:

Snider (best)
Thames
Encarnacion
Francisco
Lind
Davis (worst)

Granted, it's unlikely that all 6 will get a meaningful number of at bats.

Chuck - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 11:56 AM EDT (#252919) #

Perhaps Buck and Tabby just need to work the platitudes out of their deliveries before Opening Day (could be a mechanical thing).

More like honing their platitudes for the regular season.

John Northey - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 12:44 PM EDT (#252923) #

Jonny, we'd need a method to judge quality there. If we go by OPS+ I'd probably go...
Lind (just a gut feeling)
Thames
Encarnacion
Francisco (platoon type role should help)
Snider (soured a bit on him)
Davis

But defense would be pretty much a flip of the rankings.

92-93 - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 12:51 PM EDT (#252924) #

I thought this offseason would have been a great time to get Rasmus, Morrow, and Lawrie's names down on team-friendly extensions. The Jays payroll is fast-approaching an unsustainable area if revenues don't rise as a result of winning. They're already at 50m next year without much of a bullpen, Johnson, and Rasmus.

uglyone - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 01:05 PM EDT (#252925) #

Career wOBA:

En'cion (29): 3078pa, .344woba
Lind (28): 2534pa, .335woba
Thames (25): 394pa, .333woba
Francisco (30): 1514pa, .333woba
Snider (24): 877pa, .318woba
Davis (31): 1793pa, .318woba

Last 2yrs wOBA:

En'cion (29): 897pa, .342woba
Thames (25): 394pa, .333woba
Francisco (30): 490pa, .325woba
Lind (28): 1155pa, .312woba
Snider (24): 521pa, .309woba
Davis (31): 899pa, .306woba

Last Yr wOBA:

En'cion (29): 530pa, .344woba
Thames (25): 394pa, .333woba
Lind (28): 542pa, .315woba
Francisco (30) 293pa, .312woba
Davis (31): 338pa, .282woba
Snider (24): 202pa, .273woba

As of right now, IMO, EE and Thames are the two that clearly deserve being handed full-time jobs until they lose it. Lind IMO should have already lost that privilege, and should be battling to earn every at bat at this point.

I would lean towards dropping Davis first. Though given that he does add a unique dimension to the bench, maybe not.

Snider is deservedly in the situation where he has to earn himself every single at bat he'll get, really.

clark - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 01:12 PM EDT (#252926) #

I have been down to FLA and had the chance to watch a few Jays games and thought I would share a few observations.

First of all, I was not near Dunedin, and saw games in the Astros, Tigers, and Braves facilities. The Blue Jays are the Yankees of spring training. In all the stadiums, there were many Jays fans enjoying the games.

Not being in Dunedin, the travel lineups we saw did not include too many regulars. In other years this would be a downer, but with the Jays crop of prospects, it made for some exciting viewing.

In Lakeland, on the first defensive play, Hechavarria fielded a grounder in the hole and just barely threw out Austin Jackson. An outstanding play. In that game, Gose came in to play centre field and showed off his cannon arm with a throw to third. One thing we didn't particularly like was Gose scowling into the stands calling out "hey fat boy." I couldn't tell what that was all about. For fun on the mound, Evan Crawford had a dominating 1,2,3 inning, striking out two, including Miguel Cabrera.

At our next game in Houston, Gose again impressed us by legging out a chopper on the infield. It looked like he had no chance whatsoever of beating the throw, later on he hit a ball down the first base line and legged out a triple. (Ended up being a ground-rule double, but the fun was watching him run it out)
Lawrie showed some speed of his own by tagging from first on a fly ball to center. Not to be outdone, Marisnick did the same thing later on on a ball that was hit even shallower. We had the pleasure of watching big Mike McDade chugging around from first to score on an extra-base hit. Of particular note was Hech smashing a home run over the 410 sign in straight away centre field. D'Arnaud shone as well, homering to left and throwing out a runner attempting to steal. For good measure, Michael Crouse made an outstanding running catch on a line drive out in right field. Of note on the pitching side, Luis Perez looked absolutely outstanding over a couple of innings. There were no stadium radar readings, but he looked to be throwing very hard and racked up several strikeouts.

Unfortunately, we only saw an inning and a half against the Braves as the game was rained out. We did have the privilege of watching Drabek look absolutely dominating. His fastball was at 93/94, and the threw two off speed pitches as well, all for strikes.

I shouldn't forget Cooper, who was at all three games and consistently hit the ball very hard.

Great fun provided by the Jays farmhands, the future is looking pretty bright.

Mike Green - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 01:15 PM EDT (#252927) #

The starting pitching wasn't very good last year but what's great about the guys this year is that they're all trying to improve.

It is clear that only Romero was trying to improve last spring, while all of the rest of the starters were more interested in golf, March Madness, Bud Lite, and rollerblading (and don't tell me I'm wrong because I've been watching every move that they make).

Alan Ashby was on about how great a defensive outfielder Jose Bautista is, and in particular how much ground he covers. I sure don't see it. Which leads to the numbers. Fangraphs now has the updated DRS which takes into account measured time on batted balls, as well as location. This is a significant advance. Bautista is -13 runs each of the last two years by DRS for range, and -10 runs each year according to UZR. He makes up quite a bit of it with his arm.

MatO - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 01:33 PM EDT (#252928) #

I'm seeing my optometrist next week. I'll try and and remember to ask him if rolling your eyes is good exercise for them.

Thomas - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 05:32 PM EDT (#252933) #

Thanks for the report, Clark.

bpoz - Monday, March 19 2012 @ 06:09 PM EDT (#252935) #

I have not been paying much attention to Evan Crawford. But he is getting a lot of praise. Gose likes him a lot (Wilner interview on Sunday), which may count since Gose is a hitter.

MatO - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 09:34 AM EDT (#252937) #

Any reason why Santos hasn't pitched in any official spring training games since the 7th? I haven't heard a peep about him.

85bluejay - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 09:44 AM EDT (#252938) #

The Jays explanation is that Santos came into camp in such good shape & throwing so well that they wanted to slow him down and use this opportunity to have him work on his changeup in BP sessions - don't know if I buy this, guess we'll see when he gets into games this week - teams says he will be on a regular closer schedule starting this week.

BalzacChieftain - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 10:48 AM EDT (#252939) #

Not that I know anything, but the reason for Santos not pitching because he's "too ready" seems like a massive load of bull. Working on his changeup in a live game that doesn't count would be more beneficial to his development of the pitch. This is what Spring Training is for.

ComebyDeanChance - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 10:52 AM EDT (#252940) #

Santos has been pitching in the minor league camp.

John Northey - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 10:56 AM EDT (#252941) #

I thought I read somewhere that the Jays were having their relievers pitch in minor league training games as they have all got big league experience thus no need to have them face the crowds/etc. while for the kids it would be a good growth experience thus the emphasis on kids vs veteran relievers.

However, Frasor has been in 6 games, Cordero 5, Janssen 4, Oliver 3, Santos 2. All of them land into the 'vet' category and are locks for the pen. That is 20 innings that could've been used for kids if the feeling is the vets don't need to see ML hitters (of course, this point of the spring who does see ML hitters). Guess we'll see.

Mike Green - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 11:02 AM EDT (#252942) #

Here's the link.

China fan - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 02:23 PM EDT (#252943) #

McGowan had a pretty terrible outing in a minor-league game today. And Keith Law had some negative words about him recently. Anyone getting concerned about him? Anthopoulos is clearly scouting around for starting-rotation help, although it's uncertain if anything can be done at this point in the season. Cecil and McGowan would both rate as question marks at this point, although there's nothing wrong with giving them some games in the regular season to see how they do.

John Northey - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 04:28 PM EDT (#252944) #

Eh, if McGowan is off then so be it.

Romero, Morrow, Cecil, Alvarez are the ones we have been counting on with McGowan always a major question mark. A shame Litsch is out for now as he'd have been perfect to fill the hole until a kid is ready to replace him or Cecil. Villanueva and Perez need to be ready just in case now, as do the various kids who now could break camp with the team if they can impress enough.

For the team it would be best if one of the kids sees the door open and forces it. Top talent will do that and by all accounts these kids are just that. You'd like them to get a year in AA/AAA but if one is ready then give it to them I say. If not, then we'll just suffer through a month of Villanueva/Perez until Litsch or McGowan are ready.

China fan - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 04:33 PM EDT (#252945) #

Perez has been getting rave reviews at Spring Training. Yeah, I know the comments by coaches are always inflated, but independent observers seem to be impressed too. He might be my first choice to step in if McGowan or Cecil are faltering in April.

Mike Green - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 04:57 PM EDT (#252946) #

For the team it would be best if one of the kids sees the door open and forces it. Top talent will do that and by all accounts these kids are just that. You'd like them to get a year in AA/AAA but if one is ready then give it to them I say.

I love Syndergaard, Norris, Nicolino et al, but none of them are like Tim Lincecum who was ready after 5 overpowering starts in triple A. The two who could conceivably be ready by mid-year are Hutchison and McGuire. If McGowan is not ready, I imagine that the 2nd choice for the 5 slot at the start of the season would be Drabek. In my view, this is far from ideal from a development perspective, but it might work anyway.

92-93 - Tuesday, March 20 2012 @ 08:34 PM EDT (#252947) #

Watching tonight's game, and I think it's just wrong that Aaron Laffey was allowed to take #32. Too soon.

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