One area of importance for pitching and hitting coaches that I think gets downplayed, both in the press and in their actual job function, is their ability to spot injuries.

I look at someone like Vernon Wells - shouldn't Brantley have been able to figure out there were health problems?  Pitching and hitting coaches should have a solid understanding of their players' mechanics and be able to pick on changes to those mechanics.  Those changes being either a switch away from what they're doing or a decrease in effectiveness in what they're doing.

I'm not expecting them to spot injuries with 100% certainty, but I find it odd that I seldom hear of a pitching / hitting coach picking up on a player's injury (maybe it just doesn't make the press?)

To think of it similarly - don't you notice a limp whenever your kid/spouse/parent/whatever has an injury even if he/she doesn't tell you about it?

We don't know if Brantley did or did not notice anything with respect to Wells' shoulder issues. For all we know, Wells told him about it. It just wasn't made public. It's not Brantley's job to call a press conference and announce Wells has a bad shoulder.

Mind you, I'm not convinced Mickey Brantley could spot an elephant at 20 paces. he was hired because he was a pal of Gibbons. I don't know how Denbo will work out, but at least he seems like a professional.

Pitching coaches are (probably rightly) considered to be of great importance in the game, but batting coaches are another story.  It does seem that the impact is less visible, and often overwhelmed on a team level by natural fluctuations due to injury or other cause.  As Mike Barnett knows, it is easy to go from hero to zero in the space of a season.

How many hitting coaches are perceived to have a prolonged effect on the team?  Charley Lau, Walt Hriniak maybe.

We don't know if Brantley did or did not notice anything with respect to Wells' shoulder issues. For all we know, Wells told him about it. It just wasn't made public. It's not Brantley's job to call a press conference and announce Wells has a bad shoulder.

I agree, which is why I said:

I'm not expecting them to spot injuries with 100% certainty, but I find it odd that I seldom hear of a pitching / hitting coach picking up on a player's injury (maybe it just doesn't make the press?)

What I do know is that I've never heard of a batting coach / pitching coach get hired and the team report that they are great at spotting injuries (although I have heard that the A's have had pitching coaches that were good at preventing injuries).  The fact that injury identification is not publicized when hiring is evidence that they're not looking for them to do this.  I'll grant it's not absolute evidence, but it is evidence.

Similarly, Brantley has been rather vocal since he was fired in that he thought it was unfair.  If he brought up concerns about Wells having a potential injury and was ignored, I'd expect that we'd have heard it by now from him.

What I do know is that I've never heard of a batting coach / pitching coach get hired and the team report that they are great at spotting injuries

I fully believe this is part of a training staff's mandate, as they would be most likely able to detect from observation movement that is characteristic of an injury, for example favouring a sore leg causing a compensation injury. it would be part of managing health. however it isn't a trainers responsibility to watch a player day to day to determine this.  it would be a batting/pitcing coaches responsiblity to notice and attempt to correct flaws in approach that would lead to injury, as well as to notice changes in approach that might be caused by injury. in this last circumstance they could recommend an evaluation by the training staff to see if there is a reason for any mechanical change.  it's also a players responsiblity to disclose if they're injured. 

so to clarify. i think pitching/hitting coaches should be paying attention to see if there are any noticeable changes in approach, and have basic enough knowledge to know certain types of motion can lead to injury, and to act on it by disclosing to management and requesting evaluation by qualified medical staff

Isn't Mickey Hatcher the hitting coach of the Angels?  Or am I missing something here?

I'm pretty sure Mickey Hatcher should read "Mickey Brantley."

I'm excited about Denbo, although this is based on pretty limited information. I like him because:

- He's been the hitting coach on a championship team, and with a top organization
- He comes highly recommended by at least two excellent players (Jeter and Posada)
- He is reputed to be hardworking and focused (and willing to use new technologies)
- He advocates a team hitting approach and plate discipline, which I think the Jays have been lacking

Bring on spring training!

Apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere, but according to the Jays broadcast schedule, CityTV is carrying the March 2nd spring training game against the Reds.  I don't recall City ever carrying the Jays before.

Recently, Rogers bought City TV from the CHUM group.  You can  see evidence of  it from TV shows that are moving around on channels (ex: Dirty Sexy Money went from CTV to A-Channel), but it boils down to the fact that one group owns:

CTV
A-Channel
City TV
TSV
Sportsnet

The Jays are a great fit for Rogers.  Essentially he's paying himself to broadcast his team.  It's for this reason that many people are skeptical that the Jays lose money.  It also wouldn't suprise me if the Jays eventually migrated to a Leafs TV type of set up.

Make that TSN.

The concentration isn't quite that bad. TSN and CTV are owned by CTVglobemedia. Rogers purchased the CityTV stations when the CTV conglomerate was obliged to sell off  part of  CHUM  (CTV still owns CHUM radio stations and A Channel stations).

 

Thanks Roy Halliday, I feel vindicated. My comments that the "offence looked uninspired" (http://www.battersbox.ca/comment.php?mode=view&cid=177851), were met with erudite responses such as "This 'uninspired' meme is one of the stupidest things ...".

Any way grousing aside, it is nice to hear a Jay pitcher who is the epitomy of intensity and competitiveness saying:

And check out these comments from pitching ace Roy Halladay, who said the addition of third baseman Scott Rolen and shortstop David Eckstein will help the team big time, not only on the field but in the clubhouse.

“I think there were times last year where there just wasn’t that sense of urgency, where things were kind of taken lightly,” Halladay said. “So that’s a huge difference for me. I think just those two presences are going to make a big difference.”

So let's hope it's as exciting to watch the hitters next year as it was the pitchers last year. This isn't Xbox baseball, it's flesh and blood. Hurray for some passion. It's infectious, and I'm feeling it too.

Grjas - I generally agree with your comments.

You know something else that really impressed me?  The fact that Russ Adams is there already.

Now, I don't think he's going to do anything for the team ... ever.  But you know, I've always liked the effort that this guy brings to the organization.  I hope that someday it all magically clicks for him and he at least gets a job as a multi-purpose backup.  Right now, there's nothing that leads me to believe it will happen, but I like that guys attitude.

Does anyone know how many / which preseason Jays games will be covered on MLB.tv?  I'm thinking of taking the plunge this season.

Russ Adams ... but I like that guys attitude.

Yeah me too. He plays hard, doesn't complain about his fate and tries to improve his game. Hopefully it pans out for him.

Remember with MLB.TV if you are in Canada all Jays games have live black outs. They didn't in 2006. I got burned last year - I was in the US til the end of June and then had an essentially useless subscription from then on. Not to mention because I was in Connecticut I couldn't get the Boston or New York games because of the local blackouts.

I believe it's different for spring training games since I don't recall any Jays games being blacked out last year during spring training.  I'm not 100% certain of that, though.

I think there was only one Jays game on MLB.TV last spring--when they picked up the Yankees broadcast.  It was not blacked out.

MLBTV only carries the game if it is televised somewhere.  They have web rights to the broadcast, but don't do games independently as far as I know.  Maybe the NYY and BOS games will be carried.