Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - TDIB April 12: The Great Bullpen Disaster of 2011

TDIB April 12: The Great Bullpen Disaster of 2011

I stayed up until 2 AM for that?

I don't have the sports package, so I'm restricted to listening to Jerry and Alan describe the action. (No complaints there!) So, I don't have a lot of observations myself, but are some game notes collected via the radio.

I picked up Jesse Litsch in a fantasy league based on his very good first start, the horrible Mariners offense and the generous confines of Pretty SafeCo Field. His outing can be called a success, kind of, though not in the way I expected. Jesse somehow wiggled through five innings without allowing a run despite not pitching well at all, allowing nine base-runners.
Is it just me, or have the Jays been the beneficiaries of some horrible defense this year? It seems like they're getting an extra base thanks to a defensive blunder every other inning. Chalk it up to the "New Aggressive Jays" if you want, but it's probably just a sample size fluke (if it's even happening. I'm probably just imagining things)
The broadcasters were impressed with Lind's defense at first. This goes against what we were hearing during spring training. I remember one quote in particular about Bautista's discomfort playing third being at least partially related to having to throw to Lind.
Endless gushing about Jayson Nix. This isn't just "scrappy/hustler"-based gushing, as Nix has legitimately mashed in his ~20 plate appearances. His defense at third has apparently been quite good as well, although it can't be too hard to look good compared to E5. I would have no problem with Nix as the starting third baseman until Lawrie is ready, since all it means is Rivera moving to the bench.
I didn't like walking Ichiro with a runner on third and two outs in the ninth. Apparently it didn't start as an intentional walk but ended as one. Still, as Alan immediately pointed out, Ichiro could probably take second without a throw (and he did), and then a base hit would win the game instead of just tying it. (And it did. I wrote all that other stuff before it happened, I swear!)
Miguel Olivo: already got us a draft pick, now leaves TEN men on base. 2011 MVP???!
Of course, the thing we'll remember about tonight's game: the bullpen walked in three consecutive runs in the eighth inning in what should not have been a close game.

Posted by Dave Rutt on Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 01:38 AM EDT.

TDIB April 12: The Great Bullpen Disaster of 2011 | 68 comments | Create New Account

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greenfrog - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 02:14 AM EDT (#232565) #

Gotta say that I didn't like Farrell's bullpen usage at all. He should have had Camp, who has excellent control, in there much earlier instead of noodling around with Purcey and Dotel (note also that Dotel, a natural ROOGY, was used against two LHB while the manager was late getting his LOOGY, Rzep, to warm up). Thus far (and it is early in the season and in his managerial career), Farrell seems to be more of a democratic, "nice guy" manager who wants to mix in all of his relievers in a range of situations (possibly in the hope that it will elicit better performances by showing confidence in them), instead of aggressively using the best reliever for the situation.

dan gordon - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 02:17 AM EDT (#232566) #

Yah, quite the stretch of 3 games. First on Saturday the umpire steals a win from the Jays and now the bullpen blows a 7-0 lead against a terrible hitting team in a great pitchers' ballpark. Of course they were a little lucky to be up 7-0 given the chances the Mariners had against Litsch, but still, 7-0 against the Mariners late in the game and you lose? FWIW, I thought walking Suzuki made sense.

I think David Purcey is not going to be around for long. Nix is looking better by the day. Nice first game by Patterson.

Ron - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 02:18 AM EDT (#232567) #

Top to bottom, this was one of the worst pitching performances I've watched in a long time. None of the Jays pitchers could find the strike zone. I wonder how Janssen feels about pitching in Vegas while Purcey is still pitching at the big league level. From a M's perspective, too bad only 4000 people bothered to show up tonight. They missed a great comeback.

92-93 - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 02:19 AM EDT (#232568) #

Please bring back Clarence.

Magpie - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:11 AM EDT (#232569) #

I'm not unhappy with the bullpen management (giving the winning run a free pass is a classic blunder that they teach you not to do in Managing 101, but it's not really a matter of bullpen management.) Farrell is indeed burning through an awful lot of relievers, probably more than he really needs to, but I think it's mostly because it's early days and he's still getting acquainted with what he's got to work with. He's a baseball guy - he needs to actually see them working, in game situations; he needs to see who can come in and throw strikes; he needs to see who can go into the dugout and then go back out onto the mound.

TamRa - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:13 AM EDT (#232570) #

I do quibble with the use of Dotel facing a string of lefties, but if Purcey had done his #&^@ ^%!* job then that wouldn't have been an issue.

Still, I'd have gone with Zep there. I do understand his wanting to save Camp if he could.
And yes, for me the Suzuki walk was obvious.

The choices are (a) risk that one of the best hitters in the game drives in the tying run from third and sends you to extras with ONE reliever in hand; or (b) risk that one of the worst hitters in the league was going to be able to drive in TWO runs for the win.

to me "B" is a slam dunk.

Alex Obal - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:48 AM EDT (#232571) #

Easy to say in hindsight, but say Ichiro is 40% hit 5% walk 55% out against Camp, Rodriguez is 25% hit 8% walk 67% out (probably a bit better actually), and it's a given Ichiro if walked will steal second. Seems like an easy call to me.

I'm looking forward to this week's series in the Bronx, which will be a stiff gut check for the Orioles and will likely produce three shootouts. Tillman-Burnett, Bergesen-Hughes and Arrieta-Nova are the tentative matchups.

Alex Obal - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:53 AM EDT (#232572) #

The short bullpen is definitely a factor, but the dropoff from Ichiro to Rodriguez isn't big enough to justify putting the winning run on, unless goal #1 is avoiding extra innings and winning's less important, which might be the case for all I know. Camp struggles against lefties - without his slider he's just a guy floating his 85 sinker in there, and any major-league player is going to have a decent shot at singling off a guy like that.

scottt - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 06:26 AM EDT (#232573) #

A couple of outings like this and Purcey can be sent down without anyone claiming him, no?

#2JBrumfield - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 08:29 AM EDT (#232574) #

I feel asleep when it was 5-0 and of course, I woke up just in time to see Ichiro get walked and Rodriguez get the winning hit. That really hurts, especially when King Felix had an off night. It was reminiscent of Gregg's meltdown when old man Griffey got the winning hit.

Anyways, a couple of articles you can chew on. Ottawa continues to beat the drum for a Jays affiliation and relive some of umpire Bob Davidson's worst calls.

Kasi - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 08:44 AM EDT (#232575) #

Purcey needs to go. If Janssen is here we don't lose this game last night. I've been fine with Farrell's bullpen decisions until last night. I thought in the extra innings game with LA he handled it very well. Heck we still had relievers left while Sciosia was using Haren to pitch. But Purcey despite being a lefty is useless. He needs to be sent down, and if that means we lose him so be it.

The other mistake was using Dotel where he used him. Never use that guy against a lefty heavy run. Put him against righties sure, but against lefties no way. Once Purcey had been shown to be ineffective they should have gone straight to Rzep.

Someone (I think it was Gerry but not sure) was saying Villanueva should be sent down when Francisco returns. I pray that doesn't happen. He's one of our best bullpen arms and it would just make our team weaker. Purcey has to be the first to go. And when Morrow comes back I'm not sure who should go down. Maybe Cecil since he needs to get back up to form, but failing that if Reyes goes to the bullpen eventually he should be able to do Purcey's job better than Purcey.

Mike Green - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 09:01 AM EDT (#232576) #

I woke up at 1:30 a.m after a nightmare. I figured that it was some kind of work stress deep in my subconscious. Wrong.

I don't know that different bullpen management would have produced a different result, but the usage was a bit strange to me. On Saturday, Villanueva, Camp and Zep went 2 innings, Dotel and Frasor went 1 inning and Rauch went .2. On Sunday, Purcey had gone .2. With a 7-0 lead after 5 and 1/2, I would have planned Frasor for 2 innings and Rauch for at least 1 (he needs a low leverage outing to regain his confidence, whether he is the closer or not).

What's the story with Rauch's current role anyways? Is he hurt, and I haven't heard about it? If he was being held back last night as the "closer", why was he not brought in at the beginning of the ninth? If not, why was he not brought with the big lead?

I have been generally pleased with Farrell's bullpen management, notwithstanding last night's implosion.

rpriske - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 09:12 AM EDT (#232577) #

If you haven't heard, the Jays just signed Dewayne Wise to a minor league deal.

http://twitter.com/#!/RGriffinStar/status/57624916492685313

Hodgie - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 09:43 AM EDT (#232579) #

I can see there being some debate about the bullpen usage by Farrell last night but the fact of the matter is that no one looked good on the rubber for the good guys. It took both Frasor and Villanueva 20+ pitches to get through their innings and neither looked good so I wasn't surprised that neither came back out of the dugout.

Giving out eleven (11!) walks to a team like the Mariners is inexcusable and it started with Litsch and his Houdini act over five innings. Being a card carrying member of the Scrabble fan club I would have understood the angst over the Dotel decision if it were not for the small matter that Scrabble was just as awful. If the argument is he had better be facing the lefties he had better not be walking said lefties on four pitches.

Gerry - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 10:37 AM EDT (#232580) #

That was horrible. From Fangraphs........

The Jays looked to be at 99% chance of winning for about three innings. Even after the Saunders double in the ninth the Jays had a 60% winning probability.

It is early, just ten games into the season. The old line in baseball is that you spend the first 40 games figuring out what you have. So far the Jays have more questions than answers. It is still too early to panic or condemn Aaron Hill and Travis Snider and even Juan Rivera. Just like the Red Sox won-loss record, the Jays player performances are in early days and we need more time to figure out if they are for real, or just a mini-slump.

I hope Farrell and AA are using this month to figure out what they have and I hope that leads to decisions and action in May.

mathesond - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 10:58 AM EDT (#232583) #

I blame the lack of an Advance Scout

bpoz - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 11:03 AM EDT (#232584) #

Camp bailed out the pen in the 8th inning but other than that no body picked up their team mates. Hopefully it will not be like this too often. Camp was not supposed to be used. The pen may be over taxed now.

I know it was late so I cannot remember who was fouling off pitch after pitch, I think it was against Dotel. Also Zep was throwing mostly FBs 91-92mph, I kept wondering why he was not using his slider more.

Lets win the next 2 games.

Chuck - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 11:08 AM EDT (#232585) #

The old line in baseball is that you spend the first 40 games figuring out what you have.

Aaron Hill still looks like he did in 2010. Adam Lind has not walked yet in 10 games. Much concern on these two fronts, despite Martinez/Tabler's blather that Lind is a different hitter in 2011.

Lind has been able to make nice picks on short hops this season but anyone who has played baseball knows that fielding short hops is really not that difficult and looks far more impressive than it really is. Still, it's better that he's making those plays than not making them.

Jose Bautista may walk 150 times. And power to him for letting the opposition pitchers do so.

The pitching carousel figures to get interesting.

Morrow will bump... who? Reyes' last start notwithstanding, I don't see him as long for the rotation. I expect only one of Purcey and Reyes to stick around in the bullpen, and only because of their handedness. And I could envision both being gone except for Zep being potentially moved to the rotation down the road (should Litsch falter, should Morrow not be healthy, should Drabek slide) and the team therefore requiring one of Purcey and Reyes to be the LH reliever.

Francisco will bump... who? The early money would have been Villaneuva, but he's been pitching well. Frankly, I see Rauch as superfluous, but he's not going anywhere, unless he approves a trade. Something somewhere has to give.

I'm sure we'll see Janssen once the inevitable injuries occur. He's too good to be in AAA and could be the long(ish) man that Farrell needs, or that we think that Farrell needs.

As Gerry said, lots to be decided in the next month.

Ryan Day - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 11:44 AM EDT (#232587) #

Lind has always seemed to have a reputation as such an awful fielder that everyone comes away impressed when it turns out he's merely below average. Richard Griffin repeated the story about his bad throw that crippled David Purcey so often that I expect Lind to be a less mobile version of Edwin Encarnacion with the accuracy of Rich Ankiel.

I'm not sure his glove even matters all that much - if he doesn't rebound to something close to his 2009 form, he won't have much value to the team.

eudaimon - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 11:45 AM EDT (#232588) #

We have too many good bullpen arms. I wouldn't be surprised if AA holds onto one of Rauch/Dotel/Francisco/Frasor until some other team gets an injury or decides they need to solidify their bullpen and make him a good offer. Unfortunately this could take a while. Until then, we'll have good arms wasting in AAA (no reason to have Janssen there other than lack of room on the ML roster). I trust that AA will get good value whenever he does make a trade.

On a similar topic, it should definitely be Purcey who is sent down, even if he's out of options. He's just too inconsistent. I feel like he might put together a good string of games/months on a good year, but that the stuff in between will be bad enough to not be worth holding onto him.

BalzacChieftain - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 11:51 AM EDT (#232589) #

@Ryan Day

I agree with you on the Lind front completely - his defense doesn't really matter a whole lot if he can't hit. He does have a nice start to the season, but as someone mentioned earlier, he still hasn't drawn a walk yet. His ceiling as a defensive player is probably average at best anyways.

As for Purcey, I know it is hard to find a late-inning southpaw that can throw 94, but there are a ton of pitchers you can pick up who can throw relatively hard and miss the strike zone. That's what Purcey has been doing. Not to mention that his decent velocity is offset by the fact that he doesn't really have a strikeout pitch he can go to when the Jays need a K.

uglyone - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 12:30 PM EDT (#232590) #

three things:

1) Purcey has to go

2) Farrell has to start using Villanueva as a proper long man - he should have come in right after Litsch, and worked 2-3 innings.

3) Purcey has to go

robertdudek - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 01:02 PM EDT (#232595) #

I'd rather have Purcey in the starting rotation than either Reyes or Litsch.

robertdudek - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 01:06 PM EDT (#232596) #

Nix's defense has been exceptional so far; I'd say a notch below Adrian Beltre level. There were at least two plays that Nix made yesterday that EE would not have made. The team is far better off with Nix at 3B, EE at DH and Rivera on the bench.

92-93 - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 01:08 PM EDT (#232597) #

The hatred some people have for Jesse Litsch is absurd. He has consistently shown the ability to be a reliable 4th or 5th starter.

ayjackson - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 01:12 PM EDT (#232598) #

On the positive side, I really liked the lineup last night. I agree with Dudek about sticking with Nix at 3B and EE at DH, at least until Lawrie is ready.

I vehemently disagree with Dudek that Purcey belongs anywhere near a major league rotation with his 1.5 pitches that he can't throw for strikes.

uglyone - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 01:26 PM EDT (#232599) #

yeah, jesse ain't so bad.

career as starter:

J.Guthrie (32): 6.32ip/gs, 3.97era, 4.67fip, 4.62xfip
J.Litsch (26): 5.75ip/gs, 4.03era, 4.74fip, 4.59xfip
W.Davis (25): 5.86ip/gs, 4.03era, 4.38fip, 4.41xfip
J.Niemann (28): 5.86ip/gs, 4.27era, 4.52fip, 4.40xfip
D.Matsuzaka (30): 5.92ip/gs, 4.28era, 4.28fip, 4.49xfip
P.Hughes (25): 5.45ip/gs, 4.90era, 4.55fip, 4.49xfip

robertdudek - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 02:05 PM EDT (#232604) #

The question of Litsch will revolve around whether the current Litsch is more like the Litsch of 2007/2008 or whether he's more like the litsch of 2010.

Though he managed 5 shutout innings, he looked awful against the worst offense in the league.

Matthew E - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 02:11 PM EDT (#232606) #

I think Purcey will be fine. It's still early.

Let's not get all excited about Lawrie; it could be a year or two before we see him.

Glad I missed most of last night's game; I went to bed when it was 1-0. But, you know, these things happen.

Kelekin - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 02:33 PM EDT (#232608) #

Finding pitchers who throw fast isn't hard. Sean Henn throws about as fast as Purcey as a lefty in AAA. Of course, Henn is terrible and should never be in our major league bullpen, but there are those that would argue the same about Purcey. Personally, I think you put out your best seven relievers, no matter the circumstances. That means Janssen should be on our team and Purcey should not.

92-93 - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 02:36 PM EDT (#232610) #

If that's what a 5th starter being awful looks like (against the AL CY winner), I'll take it every day of the week.

dan gordon - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:09 PM EDT (#232613) #

The Jesse Litsch of 2010 was trying to come back from arm surgery and wasn't really ready yet. By all accounts he has been throwing much better this year than last year, and he even has admitted that he wasn't ready last year. So far this year he is allowing pretty much exactly the rate of hits that he was allowing in 2007 - 2008. His ERA is fine at 2.38. The only issue has been the walks he allowed yesterday when he clearly was having a tough time gripping the ball properly. They mentioned a few times on the broadcast that he kept going to his mouth to try to improve the feeling or grip that he was able to get. He's only 26 years old. I think he's likely to be roughly what he was in 2007 - 2008.

I think it's reasonable to dump Purcey at this point. He's about to turn 29, has been in parts of 4 mlb seasons, with a career ERA of 5.43, a WHIP of 1.53, and more than 4.5 BB per 9IP. His minor league work was generally unimpressive, except for a 117 inning stint in Syracuse in 2008.

JC - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:19 PM EDT (#232614) #

Mills and Janssen recalled from las Vegas, according to MILB.com

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_trn&lid=112&sid=t400

Gerry - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:36 PM EDT (#232617) #

Mills was due to start tonight for Las Vegas so the 51's have a TBD starting for them. If Scott Richmond was to get to Sacramento he could start, he only had to get one out on sunday.

Janssen pitched last night but Mills could pitch a lot of innings.

uglyone - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:39 PM EDT (#232618) #

mccoy in for davis.

Mills in for ?

Janssen in for ?

China fan - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:41 PM EDT (#232619) #

Just checked a bunch of Jays twitter feeds, and there's no word yet on who is being sent down or put on the DL to make room for Mills and Janssen. So we have a few minutes to speculate! Possibly Encarnacion is going on the DL? Maybe McCoy going back to Las Vegas again? Or is Anthopolous finally pulling the trigger on Purcey or another tough decision?

uglyone - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:42 PM EDT (#232620) #

EE played well yesterday, doubt he's going anywhere.

this might be the end of the line for Purcey.

China fan - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:46 PM EDT (#232621) #

If nobody is going on the DL, there might be a trade in the works. There aren't two pitchers who can be demoted without going through waivers (unless Cecil or Zep are among them). On the other hand, McCoy could be demoted if Rivera has become the back-up outfielder (with Snider shifting to centre if Patterson is injured).

eudaimon - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:51 PM EDT (#232622) #

Villaneuva pitched 2 innings on the 9th, maybe he needed a break. He has been used as a proper long reliever this year, but that doesn't mean he should work 2+ innings each time out.

Gerry - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 03:55 PM EDT (#232623) #

The same link that JC put up suggests McCoy is headed back to Las Vegas.

eudaimon - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:05 PM EDT (#232625) #

What evidence is this based on? If you base it on his MLB starting track record, there's not much. His only success in the major leagues was as a reliever, and that was last year. His minor league numbers are pretty inconsistent too.

uglyone - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:10 PM EDT (#232626) #

Purcey DFAed

uglyone - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:12 PM EDT (#232627) #

http://www.mlb.com/mlb/presspass/gamenotes.jsp

robertdudek - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:24 PM EDT (#232628) #

Just to clarify,

I in no way said I thought Purcey would be an acceptable major league starter, just that I'd rather go with a guy who COULD (even if that chance is very slim) become a decent starter over a guy (Litsch) who has been alternately (a) very bad over the last 2 years (in AAA too) and (b) unable to handle a starter's workload without getting injured.

Honestly, I'd give a shot to Villanueva, Janssen, Mills or Stewart over Litsch.

Yesterday, if Litsch had been facing a decent lineup in a park that didn't favour pitchers so much, he would have got hammered. Time will tell - by mid-season if LItsch is still healthy, in the rotation and pitching well, I will eat my words.

ComebyDeanChance - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:41 PM EDT (#232631) #

Davis has been put on the DL, Purcey DFA'd, Mills(?), janssen up. Mills? Can't imagine him out of the pen as a lefty soft-tosser. I think they would have been better to move Cecil to the pen and call up a starter. Unlikely he'd be worse than Cecil has been, and Cecil as the soft throwing lefty in the pen would be an upgrade on Mills.

Alex Obal - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 04:45 PM EDT (#232632) #

That's like saying the Yankees should call up Carlos Silva to take Phil Hughes' rotation spot. After all it's unlikely he'd be any worse than Hughes has been, and Hughes would be an upgrade on Bartolo Colon as the bullpen's meatball specialist.

China fan - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 05:08 PM EDT (#232633) #

The Jays actually announced a couple days ago that Davis would be DL'ed. At that time, they said McCoy would be called up to replace him. (I think McCoy had been sent down to make room for Patterson.) So, the arrival of Mills and Janssen means that McCoy will stay at Las Vegas, if I'm following all of these confusing moves correctly.

As for David Purcey: he's been his own worst enemy. The Jays gave him plenty of chances, including the transition to the bullpen last year, which at first appeared to be a good move. Just a few months ago, many fans were speculating that he had the potential to be a closer.

On the other hand, remember what happened to Encarnacion last year. He too was DFAed, and his Jays career seemed to be over. Now he's back in the starting lineup again.

China fan - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 05:17 PM EDT (#232635) #

Here's an early John Lott story on the Purcey move: http://bit.ly/fRyNoW

He confirms, by the way, that McCoy will remain in Las Vegas to help make room for Mills and Janssen. So if there's an injury to Patterson during a game, I guess Snider will play CF and Rivera will play LF.

China fan - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 05:31 PM EDT (#232636) #

.....I think they would have been better to move Cecil to the pen and call up a starter....

That's an interesting idea. But in that scenario, it might be Mills who would be promoted anyway. It's too early to call up Zach Stewart from AA. The only other options would be Bobby Ray and Scott Richmond (at least until Morrow is ready to return). Personally, I'd like to see Richmond get another chance, but he is fighting against a logjam of pitchers in the Jays rotation and the bullpen.

In any event, Mills is probably just an emergency reliever, in case of a total bullpen collapse, so that Farrell has somebody available who is stretched out to go for 3 or 4 innings if his starting pitcher has to leave the game early. Morrow will be back with the Jays in a week or so. At that point, it's likely that Reyes will shift into the bullpen, and Mills will return to Las Vegas. His only hope for staying with the Jays would be if Cecil or Litsch pitch badly and the team decides to demote one of them to Vegas for a few games.

China fan - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 05:42 PM EDT (#232637) #

In fact, come to think of it, the Jays are unlikely to carry 8 relievers for more than a couple of games, so Mills will probably be demoted as soon as the Jays decide to bring back McCoy. They won't go indefinitely with Snider as the back-up centre-fielder, so McCoy will presumably be promoted soon and Mills will return to Las Vegas. The question then is whether Janssen will survive the eventual return of Morrow and Francisco.

ComebyDeanChance - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 06:47 PM EDT (#232638) #

ayjackson - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 06:54 PM EDT (#232639) #

Janssen and McCoy were both optioned less than a week ago and can only be brought up in the case of an injury. Davis went to the DL so they opted for the pitcher instead of the position player. Mills will probably be sent down in three days, when McCoy is eligible to return, or tomorrow for another outfielder (Mastroianni or Wise).

TamRa - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 07:56 PM EDT (#232640) #

McCoy was optioned out on the 10th, can't return until the 17th without an injury in the majors. I think it's a pipe-dream to suppose Mastroianni is coming up anytime before mid-season (and that wold be a stretch)

Either they try to ride it out with a short bench or the swap Mills out for Wise in a couple of days.

TamRa - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 08:02 PM EDT (#232641) #

Could it be that this is just a short term move to allow the team to bring up some fresh arms? The Jays get to see if anyone is interested in Purcey, and if not, return him in 10 days to the roster. In the meantime, some fresh arms are brought to a beleaguered bullpen.

I thought once you were designated you HAD to leave the team, either via trade, release, through waivers or whatever. I'm pretty sure you can't simply say "psych!" and put them back on the roster.

ComebyDeanChance - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 08:26 PM EDT (#232642) #

Tamra. Could be the explanation on Wikipedia is in error, but it conforms to my understanding that it's a revocable waiver.

Designated for assignment is a contractual term used in Major League Baseball. When a player is designated for assignment, he is immediately removed from the club's 40-man roster. This gives the club 10 days to decide what to do with the player while freeing up a roster spot for another transaction, if needed. After designating a player for assignment, the club must either: (a) return the player to the 40-man roster within 10 days from the date of designation, or (b) make one of the following contractual moves: Place the player on waivers (which can only be done within the first 7 days of the 10-day period) Trade the player Release the player

TamRa - Tuesday, April 12 2011 @ 08:33 PM EDT (#232643) #

that seems right as far as it goes. IIRC Encarnacion didn't come off the 40 when he was optioned out.

My point of confusion - and it's based mostly on what reporters say - is that even if he stays he has to leave the 25 (not the 40) man roster.

Maybe not.

Seems like it would be used a LOT more often for a bait-and-switch if you could do it that way.

greenfrog - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 08:50 AM EDT (#232652) #

I think Farrell has sensibly decided not to use the bullpen any more in 2011.

China fan - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 10:39 AM EDT (#232659) #

It will be interesting to see if Purcey has any trade value. The Astros are among the clubs rumored to be interested in acquiring him, according to MLBTR. Conventional wisdom has it that MLB teams will always be interested in hard-throwing lefties, even those who have trouble throwing strikes. Here's what AA said last night: "I expect to be able to trade him," Anthopoulos said. "I've had enough interest from other clubs that I believe we'll be able to move him before that 10-day window expires."

MatO - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 12:21 PM EDT (#232665) #

It's too bad that you can't trade draft picks since you normally don't get much in these types of deals. I'd prefer something like a 3rd or 4th rounder instead.

China fan - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 12:36 PM EDT (#232666) #

I'm guessing that Anthopolous will try to trade Purcey for a C-grade prospect who is still relatively young, 23 or younger, so that he has at least a theoretical chance of developing into something.

uglyone - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 01:11 PM EDT (#232667) #

pretty sure that Mills was just an emergency callup because they went through 6 'pen arms in game 1 of the series, a couple days after a 15 inning affair.

I'd expect him to be sent down as early as today, but definitely by the start of the next series, and I doubt he gets any action in this stint, at least.

I'd guess Wise or Mastro gets the call until mcCoy is free to come up.

I'd love to see AA add something interesting for Purcey - even getting a Uviedo type would be a good move.

Kelekin - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 01:43 PM EDT (#232670) #

Agree with the above. Uviedo could develop into a good middle reliever. Tons of teams undervalue players in the way we undervalue Emaus, so let's get another Uviedo at the very least.

Lee John - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 02:02 PM EDT (#232674) #

I'd rather have Purcey in the starting rotation than either Reyes or Litsch.

You mean he of the career 79 ERA+ and 1.53 WHIP, who has been even worse as a starter? That David Purcey? Who is three years older than Litsch and unlikely to ever be much more than he is right now? No offense Robert, but this is dingo ate my baby-level crazy.

China fan - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 02:24 PM EDT (#232677) #

Farrell has assembled a fascinating lineup today. No Lind, no Hill, no Snider. Is he hoping that a rest day will help them break out of their slumps? Will a shakeup bring some life into the rest of the team? It's too early in the season to think that this is just a normal break for those three.

The lineup, courtesy of Gregor Chisholm, is as follows: Escobar SS, Patterson CF, Bautista RF, Rivera LF, Nix 3B, Arencibia DH, Encarnacion 1B, McDonald 2B, Molina C.

China fan - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 02:30 PM EDT (#232679) #

And let us pray that Molina does not pick up an injury in the first inning of today's game. If I recall correctly, switching the DH to catcher means that the pitcher has to hit for himself. Farrell could insert a pinch-hitter for the pitcher, but he won't want to lift Drabek from the game in the early innings. So -- anyone for Johnny Mac at catcher??

James W - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 02:37 PM EDT (#232680) #

Yes, if the designated hitter goes into the field (not only at catcher), then the pitcher goes the batting order.

Jonny German - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 03:08 PM EDT (#232682) #

I think it's a great call to use Arencibia in the DH slot, I'm glad Farrell isn't afraid to do it. The chances of Molina getting injured are extremely small, something on the magnitude of 1 in 100. If it happens, the Jays will have to pinch hit for the pitcher twice (on average). And even if it happens so early in the game that Drabek has to bat for himself, he's not exactly taking the place of the best hitter on the team.

Jonny German - Wednesday, April 13 2011 @ 07:10 PM EDT (#232710) #

Correction. Today Molina was the best hitter in the lineup. Good thing he didn't get hurt.

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