Who should start for the Jays on May 14 against Tampa Bay?
| Josh Banks |  39 (13.49%) |
| Scott Downs | 25 (8.65%) |
| Shaun Marcum | 8 (2.77%) |
| Dustin McGowan | 22 (7.61%) |
| Francisco Rosario | 90 (31.14%) |
| Josh Towers | 99 (34.26%) |
| Pete Walker | 6 (2.08%) |
It just seems like Towers can be ok for a little stretch, but up some zeros on the board, then the wheels fall off and when it rains, it pours.
But barring the situation about, Rosario.
In (almost) every one of Towers' starts, he's been done in by one bad inning. I don't know whether it's a confidence thing, a loss of focus or pushing too hard to throw the perfect pitch once he gets a couple of men on base and getting waxed as a result.
Perhaps a move to the bullpen to throw in some long relief/non-pressure situations is in order.
I voted for Marcum. Rosario to be used in relief in the next 2 days in Toronto, with Marcum used in relief in Syracuse for an inning today (he threw 5 innings on May 6). Marcum up, Rosario down, and then Marcum throws 3-4 innings on May 14 with Downs scheduled to come in relief. Towers sent to the pen, and ideally used in long relief if Chacin or Lilly falter.
And if it happens precisely that way over the next 4 days, I'll try my hand at palm-reading...
Taubenheim had an ERA over 4 last year in double A. His K/9 and W/9 rates this year are not consistent with his ERA of under 1.5. It's only 33 innings, and so one would have to take the ERA with a large grain of salt. That said, he has pitched well and it wouldn't be a complete shock if he got the call instead of one of the others.
None of the above...
Jays go to a 4 man rotation until Burnett comes back...
Either way I think this is Josh's final audition if he fails this time round I think it'll be long relief until he can get it together.
In this Everything You Know Is Wrong of a season the safest start for the Jays so far has been Theodore Roosevelt Lilly (Doc's forearm issues being considered) while the team BA is .298 (before this afternoon's game; might be over .300 tomorrow). All things considering, it's nice that the team is 4 games above .500.
In honour of Eight Men Out, I say give Towers one more chance against Tampa. His first (0-1) game of the season was against the Rays and he started off with 3 shut out innings. Interestingly, his most recent (0-7) game of the season he also pitched 3 shut out innings. You do not have to be reminded of the 4th inning for either game.
Thus, Rosario should start warming up on Sunday to be ready for Inning #4.