Yesterday’s game was overshadowed by the play in the bottom of the ninth inning when a determined Gregg Zaun slid into second base to try to break up the potential game-ending double-play and was accidentally kneed in the head by second baseman Pedro Lopez, who was jumping to avoid a sliding Zaun. As Rob reported in yesterday’s game thread the AP story said, “Zaun came to after a few minutes, but stayed on his stomach for about 10 minutes. He was fitted with an oxygen mask and braces for his head and neck before being carted off the field and taken to a hospital for tests.” Rob added that Paul Konerko reported that Zaun sounded like he was “choking on something. He was gasping for air, but lifeless at the same time.”
Zaun has gone on the 15-day DL with a concussion, but there is nothing further to report on his condition, so I can’t speculate as to how serious his injury is or how long he might be out of action. Originally, I wrote this game report to detail what possible options the Jays have at catcher, both internally and externally, to replace Zaun. That was covered yesterday in the game thread as well, with people talking about potentially signing the recently-released Benito Santiago or bringing back Greg Myers..
To touch upon Santiago and Myers, I would not be fond of signing Santiago. He doesn’t seem like the type to sit well with a backup role. I’m basing this on the a couple of comments I’ve heard him make in the past and the fact that he refused to go on a rehab assignment for his recent injury, saying basically that playing in the minor leagues was beneath him. I’m not sure Santiago would want to come back to Toronto and I wouldn’t want to bring him back. If JP thought that Myers was still fit enough to play (which is somewhat doubtful given how he looked earlier this year) I would have supported potentially bringing him back to platoon with Huckaby. However, I’m not sure Myers would have wanted to unretire so quickly and it would have likely taken some time for him to get back into playing condition, and an interim solution may have been needed anyway.
I concluded the section by saying the best in-house option is Andy Dominique and that with Quiroz’s collapsed lung there really are no other internal options. Shortly after I concluded my game report, the Jays recalled Dominique, and eliminated some nice theorising. However, on that note I’ll recap what we know about Dominique briefly. Gerry reported yesterday that Dominique has a body that isn’t suited for selling jeans, as he sits under 6 feet and likely weighs about 235 pounds.
In a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment Dominique had a cup of coffee with Boston last year, going 2 for 11 in 7 games with an RBI and 3 strikeouts. He caught two innings behind the plate, but spent most of his time at first base. He can’t complain, as given Boston’s massive order of World Series rings, I’ll bet he received his and now has a piece of baseball history to wear on his finger. Dominique isn’t hitting well so far this year, with a line of .169/.279/.237 in 59 at-bats for Syracuse. However, in 2003 and 2004 with Pawtucket he hit .304/.364/.502 and .267.360/.442, respectively. However, if this injury is serious, the organisation might need to look at options around the rest of the majors, as even with moderate goals for this season, Ken Huckaby and Andy Dominique seem unlikely to help the team achieve those goals. However, if there’s any position JP has been able to find answers in unexpected places for, it is catcher.
Many of us around here, including myself, have been questioning the use of the 25th spot on the roster. When Whiteside appeared yesterday it was his first appearance since April 20th. The point has been made before that it might be better use of the spot to call up another bat for the bench, from Chad Mottola to Eric Crozier, to give Gibbons another option when trying to play the match-ups or pinch-hit for someone like McDonald or Adams. People have also pointed out that there are several other options at Triple-A who were pitching better than Whiteside, including Box favourite Spike Lundberg.
However, Toronto is not the only team to have someone at the back of the bullpen who rarely sees any action. Yesterday, Rick Bauer made an appearance for Baltimore in their game with Kansas City, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings. Bauer has been on Baltimore’s roster since Opening Day and this is his fifth appearance of the year. He pitched on April 6, 14, 18 and 20 and then yesterday. His period of inactivity spanned one game longer than Whiteside’s and demonstrates that there are “forgotten men” at the back of bullpens all around the majors. For example, in Boston, southpaws Lenny DiNardo and Mike Myers combined have pitched to two batters since April 26th.
Speaking of Boston, if one was paying attention to the transaction wires yesterday afternoon, you may have seen that Boston designated Blaine Neal for assignment and purchased the contract of Cla Meredith (his first name is pronounced Clay). Which may cause many of you to ask, who is Cla Meredith?
Part of Boston’s outstanding 2004 draft class, Meredith was selected 185th overall in the sixth round out of Virginia Commonwealth University. After a mediocre 2002 season the reliever had very good 2003 and 2004 seasons, as one can determine by looking at his rate stats.
Year IP H/9 HR/9 K/9 BB/9 2002 44 9.2 0.61 6.3 2.5 2003 60 6.6 0.30 10.4 2.4 2004 67 6.6 0.40 11.3 1.6
Meredith’s 2005 stats can be found here. He pitched 12 games at Double-A Portland amassing 12 K’s and 3 BB’s in 15 innings, allowing only 5 hits while amassing 9 saves. He was promoted to Pawtucket on May 4th and made one appearance there, striking out two but surrendering two hits and a wild pitch.
Sickels describes Meredith as follows, “His fastball is average at 88-89 MPH. But he has sharp command, a good slider, and he uses a weird delivery that confuses hitters, especially right-handers. He projects as a middle reliever at higher levels.”
This scouting report is echoed by Meredith himself, who gave an informative interview to Red Sox Nation that can be read here. Meredith describes his pitches as follows, “My [sinkerball] dives more when I'm tired. I'm usually between 88 and 91, and my sink is dirtier when I'm around 87 or 88. That said, 91 with good sink is better than 88 with good sink…I'll throw a change and a slider, but it's 80 to 85 percent sinking fastballs. That's my bread and butter, and it's no secret to the hitters.” Meredith added, “I'll throw sliders to righties and more changes to lefties. But mostly I pitch them the same, keeping the ball down.”
The weird delivery referenced by Sickels above is probably partially due to the fact that Meredith pitches from a three-quarters arm angle. Never having seen him pitch, I can’t speculate as to what else is potentially deceptive about the delivery, but the arm angle is unique. It is also to Meredith’s advantage that he mixes up his delivery, sometimes dropping down to submarine the ball and occasionally going right over the top. Meredith is also a competitor, as he stated in the interview, “I feel bulletproof on the mound. I feel untouchable, like I can beat the crap out of everyone on the field. And I have no fear of pressure. I love nut-cutting time.”
Meredith is the second 2004 draftee to reach the majors behind Huston Street. While I don’t see Meredith reaching the heights that are possible in Street’s future, Meredith has posted good numbers in his limited time in the minors and his unique delivery and sharp control could allow him in a seventh inning set-up man role, although as Sickels says, he doesn’t have closer written in his future at this point.
This promotion could just be a result of Boston’s doubleheader on Sunday afternoon, which Meredith was in uniform for (and wearing #51 in a disturbing reminder for Red Sox fans of another righthander with a unique delivery) and maybe he’ll be down in the minors before too long. However, given the fact that he’s in Triple-A Meredith should be one of the first 2004 draftees to gain a permanent spot in the major leagues, even given his first appearance. Meredith made his major league debut yesterday in the second game of a doubleheader. He retired one batter while surrendering two walks and two hits, including a grand slam to Richie Sexson.
Unless he’s used as trade bait this name is someone that Blue Jays batters may have to familiarise themselves with, as they could face him seven or eight times a year for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the tale of Adam Peterson should be a lesson to all GM’s out there about the dangers of promoting a fast-rising relief prospect to the majors too quickly.
