Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - As The Rotation Turns: Today's Episode

As The Rotation Turns: Today's Episode - Mills vs. Braves

Brad Mills has a chance to nail down one of the final two spots in the rotation as the Jays battle the Braves this afternoon in Disney.

You can catch today's game on MLB.TV at 1:05 p.m. Dirk Hayhurst and Jeremy Accardo are also slated to be on the mound today.

The Jays had a day off yesterday to recover from Tuesday's crushing 7-6 loss to the World Champion Phillies in Dunedin. At least, we'll always have that memory of Joltin' Joe! (more on him in a moment!)

Anyways, with David Purcey putting together a decent six inning start that was undone by a B.J. Ryan and Brandon League implosion, it appears the big lefty has all but nailed down a spot in the starting rotation. With Matt Clement deciding whether he wants to pitch in Nevada, it boils down to lefties Ricky Romero and Mills and righty Scott Richmond for the final two spots. Richard Griffin's latest blog indicates Romero and Mills will probably get the final two spots. Richmond is set to start Saturday against Detroit while Romero will go Sunday versus Houston. Roy Halladay, who just did enough to make it again this year, starts tomorrow against the Pirates. Don't you just hate people who scrape by in life and don't live up to their potential? :)

In other news, ALCS hero David Price isn't good enough to make the Tampa Bay Rays Opening Day roster (I'm sure the Jays could find him a spot!). The Yankees have decided on their Opening Day and Home Opening Day starter, and Joe Carter is getting into the Hall of Fame - the College edition.

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 12:02 PM EDT.

As The Rotation Turns: Today's Episode - Mills vs. Braves | 19 comments | Create New Account

The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

ramone - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 12:49 PM EDT (#197506) #

Well this has more to do with the bull pen race but bastian is reporting that BJ is hitting 84-85 on the gun and they are not sure why.

Mylegacy - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 01:15 PM EDT (#197507) #

The pitching is getting twitchy...

In the PEN: Clearly Ryan is NOT right. Accardo in 8 innings has given up 15 hits with 2 BB and 3SO. Downs has hardly pitched, Frasor/Carlson/Wolfe and Camp have ALL pitched UNDER 5 innings! Hayhurst has 7 innings 5 hits 0 BB and 12 SO's - the best results in the pen BY FAR and he won't make th team. Things better change in the next 10 days - 'CAUSE that's it - 11 days from today it's SHOWTIME!

The Starters: Halladay has been iffy - 20 innings 21 hits 4 BB and 16 SO - BUT - Doc is always working on something in the Spring AND I trust him to be ready to go day 1. Purcey in 17 innings has given up 19 hits 5 BB and 11 SO. Mills in 14 innings has given up 15 hits with 7 walks and 10 SO. Romero in 11 innings has given up 11 hits 11 BB with 14 SO. Cecil in 11 innings has given up 7 hits with 5 BB and 12 SO. Litsch in 10 innings has given up 8 hits 4 walks and has 6 SO. Richmond in 9 innings has given up 12 hits with 1 BB and 10 SO. The BOTTOM LINE - I'd go with Halladay, Purcey, Litsch FOR SURE and then Richmond and Mills - HOWEVER - the REAL lesson here is that Cecil IN PARTICULAR and Mills will both be UP EARLY.

The HITTING may just SAVE us until the pitching comes around - I GUARANTEE a BIG year from: Rolen, Snider, Hill, Lind, Wells and EVEN Overbay. Rios - sigh - is Rios - the guy just doesn't have it in him to kick it up a notch - what you see (not that bad really) is what we're gona get for hte next four years.

ayjackson - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 01:17 PM EDT (#197508) #

I thought velocity went up after TJ? Well it'll be DL for him until he hits 90mph, which helps the bullpen issues.

ayjackson - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 01:20 PM EDT (#197509) #

I still think Rolen's are best hitter if healthy. He's at a different skill level than the rest of the team. I don't know that he can play many games pain-free though.

I'm more worrried about our starters than anything else. I think our offense will be better than last year and our bullpen will be good.

ayjackson - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 01:38 PM EDT (#197511) #

Mills is facing a full-strength Braves squad, by the looks. The Jays are fielding backups, mostly, Hill and Lind being the exceptions.

timpinder - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 01:39 PM EDT (#197512) #

Regarding BJ Ryan, I'm by no means an expert, but I was in Dunedin and had an opportunity to watch Ryan pitch close up following 4 innings by the Doc. Just a couple of pitches into it and I immediately noticed that Ryan's body was way ahead of his arm and it looked like he was just dragging his arm through. His mechanics looked really messed up and another guy sitting behind us said the same thing. I'm hoping it's just a mechanical issue he needs to work through.

damos - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 02:03 PM EDT (#197513) #

Not a particularly strong showing thus far for Mills.
Ryan & Accardo have both had troubling springs. Yikes.

ayjackson - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 02:23 PM EDT (#197514) #

The only good news for Mills is 9 groundball out versus 1 flyball out. This is important, since Mills was purported to pitch up in the zone. REports from Anrie and Cito and results from ST games suggest that he has done a good job of pounding the bottom of the zone.

Pistol - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 03:18 PM EDT (#197517) #

I thought velocity went up after TJ?

I believe that TJ gets you back to where you should be. It's just typical prior to the injury for a player to lose velocity. So when they come back higher than when they left it appears they're faster.

This far out from TJ velocity shouldn't be an issue for BJ so he's either cruising through ST or there's a problem.

ramone - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 03:21 PM EDT (#197518) #

In Bastian's blog he said Arnsberg has no idea what the problem is, he's looked at tape as far as three years back to try and find an answer.

VBF - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 03:35 PM EDT (#197520) #

MyLegacy, how do you guarantee career years from everyone BUT Rios?

If I had to pick the most likely person to lead the offense this year, it probably would be Rios.

SheldonL - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 03:46 PM EDT (#197522) #

Studies performed by James Andrews have actually shown that pitchers do come out with faster fastballs post Tommy John surgery.

However, that has nothing to do with the elbow ligament but plenty to do with the rehab involved in getting the arm ready. The exercises often involve strengthening shoulder muscles and forearms which will reduce stress on the elbow.

As a result, most pitchers come out of Tommy John rehab with a stronger arm and thus have a faster fastball.

Mylegacy - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 03:57 PM EDT (#197523) #

Firstly: VBF - my GUARANTEES come with several tiny provisos as listed in appendices "A" through "Z14."

Ergo - nothwitstanding the foregoing and subject to the relevant "Statute Authorities" and "Fate" and "Luck" - and several other very clever methods of assessment - Rios is just not gaining the wieight, or showing the intensity, he needs to get from 15 - 20 homers to 30 - 40 homers.

And now for something completely different - Did anyone see Jackson's loud out to right and his great throw in the 9th? I'm getting a warm all over feeling for Justin that I normally reserve for "Millie O'Neill and Her Girls of Exceptional Contortionist Agility."

jgadfly - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 04:48 PM EDT (#197525) #

Mylegacy ... I take it that you decided to sign up for the MLB TV feed ... I'm also thinking of signing up but there are some questions that I can't locate answers to ... How many Blue Jay games do you actually get to see with the feed ? How has your monthly download allocation from your server been impacted ? Thanks ...

PS... Has anybody asked J P how Ryan's "back" is doing ?

VBF - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 05:12 PM EDT (#197528) #

MLB.TV makes sense if you only want to watch Spring Training games or live outside of Canada. I live in Toronto and only pay for one month to watch Spring Training games. Once the season starts, blackout rules apply and anyone within range of Sportsnet can't watch MLB.TV, even if the games aren't being broadcast.

The quality though is very good IMO and I haven't had any issues with my server.

greenfrog - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 08:45 PM EDT (#197529) #

If I had to guess, I would say that it's Ryan's mechanics catching up with him. He's a big guy, and his delivery has always looked awful. He's now in his early 30s and has lost a season because of the TJ surgery. I hope he regains his velocity, but it wouldn't surprise me if last year was the beginning of a significant decline for the Beej.

Mylegacy - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 09:12 PM EDT (#197531) #

On MLBTV - I agree with VBF - for ST it is often the only place in town. However during the season - even here in Nanaimo, BC the games are blacked out - the pits.

HOWEVER, with the new system you can watch 4 OTHER games at the same time- SO you can see the Yanks, Sox TB and O's on your computer while watching the Jays on Sportnet. Not so worse!

April 6th I attend my first ever Opening Day in TO - Mommy - how many more sleeps is that?

brent - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 09:30 PM EDT (#197533) #

Korea and Japan have all 30 MLB teams blacked out, so being outside of the area doesn't always help. Then Selig would wonder why people are watching illegal feeds.

vw_fan17 - Thursday, March 26 2009 @ 11:25 PM EDT (#197536) #

mlb.tv is one of the few perks of being a Jays fan (now) living in the US..

As The Rotation Turns: Today's Episode - Mills vs. Braves | 19 comments | Create New Account

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