Batter's Box Interactive Magazine - Morrow Elbow Woe = DL

Brandon Morrow will not make his scheduled April 2 start against the Minnesota Twins at the Dome. The Globe & Mail says the 26 year-old Morrow is going on the 15-day disabled list with a right forearm strain. BlueJays.com describes the injury as inflammation in the flexor muscle of his right elbow. Thanks to Bauxite China fan for the heads up!

Brandon Morrow in action against the St. Louis Cardinals at the Dome June 24.

Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos says the team just wants to play it safe and hopes Morrow will only miss his April 2 start.

"We’re talking about him missing a start. He really is adamant he is ready to go and we said: ‘That’s fine, we understand it.’ But we decided to take the more cautious approach. We didn’t plan on having him throw 220 innings this year anyway. So, we took the decision out of his hands.”

However, Morrow felt a stay on the disabled list was not necessary.

"It sucks. I didn't think it had to be a DL stint. It feels fine right now, but that's not what they're going off of ... they're going off of the MRI."

Morrow's injury means Kyle Drabek will get the April 2 start against the Twins after Ricky Romero's Opening Day start April 1. Despite getting roughed up by the Phillies in Dunedin on Tuesday, Romero says he feels good after missing time with a finger strain.

"My arm felt great -- probably the best I've felt all spring, even going back to that Pittsburgh game where I threw four shutout innings. If anything, fastball command was a little off, but I threw some good curveballs, some good changeups and some cutters that were in on the hands."

Aaron Hill at the second base bag during an August 29 game against Detroit at the Dome.

The Globe & Mail also caught up with second baseman Aaron Hill to assess his readiness for the 2011 season as he tries to recover from a right quadriceps strain. He made his official Spring Training debut in Tuesday's 5-4 loss to the Phillies.

“I can play. It’s just going to be their decision. If they want to go forward with me being 80, 90 or whatever per cent, I’m ready.”

The National Post features additional comments from Hill which casts doubt on how effective he will be to start the season.

“It’s never been my mentality to just say, ‘Hey, OK, I’ll take some time off.’ I want to play. I want to play through it. I still have that mentality, but I guess I’m learning it is better for the long run, probably, to not be stupid, I guess.”

In other news...

BlueJays.com says Brett Lawrie is not going to be on the Opening Day roster. The Canadian third baseman has been sent down to minor league camp.
The Canadian Press says the April 1 home owner is sold out.
The Toronto Star says the Jays are 27th in terms of franchise value according to Forbes magazine.
Closer-to-be Frank Francisco, suffering from sore right pectoral and biceps muscles, may not be ready for April 1 according to Jays manager John Farrell.

"He'll start with a throwing program on Sunday. It looks like right now he will not be ready to go at the start of the season. We'll have a better read on that once he gets back into the throwing program."

Farrell says the news is better for fellow closer candidate Octavio Dotel.

"It was an encouraging outing just from an arm-strength standpoint and not favoring anything in the hamstring from his delivery."

Finally...

If you are an ESPN Insider, you can check out a feature on how the Jays would win the NL Central.
It appears former Jays farmhand Brad Emaus' chances of making the New York Mets roster are looking good according to ESPN New York. Emaus was taken by the Mets from the Jays in the recent Rule 5 draft.

Posted by #2JBrumfield on Wednesday, March 23 2011 @ 07:12 PM EDT.

Morrow Elbow Woe = DL | 30 comments | Create New Account

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Richard S.S. - Wednesday, March 23 2011 @ 09:06 PM EDT (#231644) #

Morrow will miss a minimum of 1 start to a maximum of 3 starts. This, according to the Jay's Homepage, indicates Drabek, Litsch and Reyes all make the team. The Site says (1)Romero, (2)Drabek, (3)Cecil, (4)Reyes followed by (5)Litsch will be The Rotation (so as not to make changes to Spring Training Rotation). The Bullpen is the main interest now, with Francisco and Carlsen likely to join Morrow on the D.L.. Dotel, looks more likely to make the team. One LHP or Two? With the Bench not yet written in stone, there will be interest in whether A.A. finds an upgrade for us there. Counting today's game, only 8 more to determine the makeup of the Roster.

Ryan Day - Wednesday, March 23 2011 @ 09:08 PM EDT (#231645) #

He probably didn't need to do it with the Morrow injury, but Reyes nailed down his spot today: 6ip, 3h, 2er, 2bb, 4k, against the Yankees' regular starting lineup.

dan gordon - Wednesday, March 23 2011 @ 09:53 PM EDT (#231647) #

Yah, Reyes looked terrific, and against the regular Yankees lineup. The Jays may have really found themselves something there. Purcey, on the other hand.....

Mike Green - Wednesday, March 23 2011 @ 11:22 PM EDT (#231650) #

I didn't see the game, but Gameday makes Purcey's outing seem to be nothing so bad: single, walk, fielding error by third baseman, sac. fly, strike out, passed ball, fly out. Perhaps he was behind in the count the whole inning?

How did Aaron Hill look in the field?

ComebyDeanChance - Wednesday, March 23 2011 @ 11:34 PM EDT (#231651) #

I was at the game. Purcey came in with a 3-0 shut out, to face Cano with runners on 1st and 2nd. and none out. He left with a 4--3 deficit. I don't recall Hill having a play in the field. Lind looks extremely shaky at first.

krose - Wednesday, March 23 2011 @ 11:45 PM EDT (#231652) #

Mike:
Purcey was having control problems. Molina was out to talk to him 2 or 3 times. Walton was also out. That coupled with a critical error, which might have been an inning ending double play, well....

Didn't see Hill do anything in the field. He came out of the box a little slowly on the double.

With regard to the Morrow issue, I think AA indicated managements thinking when he said, "We didn't plan on having him throw 220 innings this year anyway". Morrow gets to rest an extra game or two at the beginning of the year instead of the end. Management can take a little extra time to assess others. Someone gets to start in the majors before being sent down to AAA or to the bullpen. AND Morrow starts the year without pain. (But maybe not without being a pain.)

Richard S.S. - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 01:05 AM EDT (#231653) #

I didn't see the game, but Gameday makes...

Gameday in Spring Training sucks for it's accuracy. I wasn't at the game either, but with the At Bat 2011 App on my iPhone 4 the game was shown free of charge. Which is a bonus when your not with a T.V. or with a T.V. that doesn't have the game. Purcey sucked, he was much better last year, so what happened? Reyes had a 1 hitter through 6 complete, so he belongs, thus far.

rtcaino - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 01:26 AM EDT (#231654) #

How did Aaron Hill look in the field?

He made one nice play, snagging a fairly high line drive and doubling up the runner at second.

rtcaino - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 01:31 AM EDT (#231655) #

Perhaps he was behind in the count the whole inning?

Ya, he couldn't throw strikes. Was behind pretty much the whole time.

When he did manage to throw a strike, they tended up be up in the zone and not well located.

Thomas - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 02:21 AM EDT (#231656) #

He made one nice play, snagging a fairly high line drive and doubling up the runner at second.

I could be wrong, as I only caught a few innings, but I thought McCoy was in the game at that point (unless there were two similar plays and each 2B made one)? I agree with your assessment of Purcey's performance.

rtcaino - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 08:24 AM EDT (#231657) #

I thought McCoy was in the game at that point

You are correct!

The play occured in the bottom of the 6th, after Hill had been substituted.

sweat - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 11:42 AM EDT (#231663) #

Hill did help turn a double play early on, and he looked pretty good in his at bats. He might not have given 100% coming out of the box, but it looked pretty close to max effort. JoJo did look like he could be pretty fantastic, he was definitely tiring at the end of the 6th, and I think in a real game would not have been put back in to let the first two batters get on in the seventh. Purcey did not look good at all, but I imagine he wouldn't have been put in for that inning in a real game.

Maldoff - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 11:59 AM EDT (#231664) #

rtcaino - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 12:27 PM EDT (#231666) #

Listening to Buck and Tabler gush about Jojo last night, I thought we had the second coming of Halladay on our hands. Looking at the statistics, Reyes actually appears to have been somewhat lucky during the spring. His K rates (5.7 K/9, 17% Ks) are low (below Drabek), and his BABIP is .125, meaning some reversion is likely coming. Haven only seen him pitch last night, he was pretty dominate for the most part. It's hard to rack up the K's when you pound the zone, forcing them to put a swing on it, but not allowing them to square the ball up.

MatO - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 12:35 PM EDT (#231667) #

Purcey was lousy but he was also victimized by your typical Molina passed ball which plated the go-ahead run.

Thomas - Thursday, March 24 2011 @ 02:59 PM EDT (#231668) #

Listening to Buck and Tabler gush about Jojo last night, I thought we had the second coming of Halladay on our hand

That may have been Tabler's first time seeing him pitch. I think Buck's seen him before, as I've heard he's been around spring training for a couple of weeks, at least off and on. Tabler, on the other hand, seems not to have been following the team closely in the spring, as his interview with Rajai Davis demonstrated.

MatO - Friday, March 25 2011 @ 09:47 AM EDT (#231682) #

A mildly troubling story on Cecil in today's Star. It seems that Cecil has lost a few mph on his fastball this spring and is sitting at 86-87. He feels perfectly fine from a physical point of view and is searching for a reason why. One of the little talked about aspects of pitching is that pitchers sometimes inexplicably lose velocity without any obvious injury. Let's hope it's just temporary.

Mike Green - Friday, March 25 2011 @ 10:09 AM EDT (#231684) #

in the radio interview a couple of days ago, AA was asked about what he expected in 2011. He said something like: "We are excited to see whether pitchers like Morrow and Cecil can repeat their performances from last year. We know what Ricky Romero can do because he has done it for two years." I thought that it was a bit of an overstatement, and frankly tempted the arm health fates.

Respecting the fog doesn't make for great radio, though.

bpoz - Friday, March 25 2011 @ 12:58 PM EDT (#231688) #

Mike, I too was intrigued by the AA comment about Romeo. Based on 2 years he is convinced that Romero is a #2 SP. He said, I believe, that he will not call any pitcher a #1, but he did define #1 as 4-5 good years.
He mentioned youth (JPA) as uncertain, so to me he is looking for ML proof. Cecil had 1 good year if he can repeat it then he will qualify as a #2 also. I am not sure Morrow's 2010 qualified as good, AA said improving or something, so Morrow may be at 0 years in the quest for #2 status.

Wanting to see more than I good season from a player is something that I got the impression is very, very important to AA. When I have time I intend to go through the roster and see who has how many good years.

I just checked S Marcum's history and in 2007 & 2008 he would have qualified for Good both years unless they don't qualify because of 150 IP which may be a factor but then he only had 25 starts. So then by My logic you can trade for Marcum before his V Good 2010 and expect some sort of discount. There is no shortage of injured pitchers in the league, so maybe that is a source.

rtcaino - Friday, March 25 2011 @ 01:49 PM EDT (#231689) #

Wanting to see more than 1 good season from a player is something that I got the impression is very, very important to AA.

As evidenced by the Bautista extension.

bpoz - Saturday, March 26 2011 @ 10:22 AM EDT (#231705) #

Bautista failed to have more than 1 good season so far, which would prove my statement wrong. I realized that before I made the statement, and still made it. Oh... Just in case you are agreeing with me then I apologize for the details below.

I still believe strongly in what I said. I think that Bautista was a little unique:-
1) The media & others suggested

Never mind I am wrong. Lind signed long term with only 1 good season, also there was no urgency to sign him.

Mike Green - Saturday, March 26 2011 @ 11:49 AM EDT (#231709) #

Arencibia's homer last night nicely demonstrates what he is capable of- taking a pitching down and away a long way to right-centre.

I don't seem to get a "link" button now- so here's the link.

http://www.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=13279849

Hodgie - Saturday, March 26 2011 @ 02:02 PM EDT (#231713) #

The ability to stay inside that pitch and generate that much power to right centre is one of the reasons why I am hopeful that Arencibia has a better chance to develop into an above average bat behind the plate than perhaps some people give him credit for.

Equally impressive to my eyes was the Loewen homerun off Beckett. After two straight changeups, he was able to turn on the inside fastball sending it for a long ride over the bullpen in right. With his continued progression and what this Pollyanna hopes is the emergence of David Cooper this spring, Las Vegas fans are in for a treat at least in the short term. A lineup consisting of Loewen (26), Thames (24), Mastroianni (25), Cooper (24), Jeroloman (25) and Lawrie (21) seems to hold the promise for a lot of fireworks in the desert. What strikes me most about this group is the relative inexperience in professional ball for half of them, namely Lawrie, Thames and Loewen as well as the diversity of the skill set.

Hodgie - Saturday, March 26 2011 @ 03:06 PM EDT (#231714) #

Hutchison acquitted himself quite well today against the majority of the Phillies projected starting lineup. He is an interesting prospect, only 20 years year old and I am assuming slated to pitch in Lansing to start the season. His profile screams Marcum with a bit more fastball to me (fastball sits 90-92, plus change up, 3:1 K/BB ratio). With all of the young arms coming through the lower levels of the system (Wojciechowski, Sanchez, Syndergaard, Jenkins, Nicolino, Murphy, McGuire, Alvarez) he could wind up being a major sleeper.

Thomas - Saturday, March 26 2011 @ 05:20 PM EDT (#231717) #

I didn't see Hutchinson today, but I agree with the comment that he could be a sleeper and would probably get more attention if Toronto's system was not as deep as it is. John Sickles recently named a bunch of sleeper prospects (his sleepers tend to be deep sleepers, not players who may be considered Top 10-15 prospects but just not household names) and Hutchison was the only Blue Jay on the list.

To compare, his 2010 sleeper list had two Jays: Bobby Bell and Carlos Perez.

Mike Green - Sunday, March 27 2011 @ 09:00 PM EDT (#231740) #

Interesting lineup today with Lind batting 4th and Snider batting 7th. I like the separation of the LHHs, but would prefer if they batted one or two slots higher in the lineup.

Snider, Encarnacion and Arencibia batting 7-9 is also not the "Casting Central" model of lineup construction. I am pretty sure that no club has ever got 90 homers out of the 7-9 slots, but if everything breaks right, it could happen here. The '85 Jays had a lineup a lot like this, with the club's best hitter, Barfield, batting 8th much of the year.

CeeBee - Monday, March 28 2011 @ 02:49 PM EDT (#231764) #

What are the odds of Chris Woodward making the team? I imagine it would be at the expense of McCoy but I'd think it has to be around 50/50. The Jays probably view it differently though.

Mike Green - Monday, March 28 2011 @ 08:12 PM EDT (#231777) #

Great moments in baseball cross-examination, Exhibit 1.

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/story/2011/03/28/sp-mlb-bonds-trial.html

Ryan Day - Tuesday, March 29 2011 @ 12:01 PM EDT (#231806) #

In an interesting development, Edwin Encarnacion is going to be the starting third baseman, and Bautista is moving back to RF. Farrell says Encarnacion's lost weight & improved his defence. (And I imagine they want to let Bautista play where he's happiest)

Mike Green - Tuesday, March 29 2011 @ 12:15 PM EDT (#231807) #

With Rivera as DH, or with a new acquisition? If the club is intending to acquire a DH before the season starts, that would mean a different approach to the season. Lesson: don't make predictions until the bell is about to ring.

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