This has been debated to death and I'm sure will be again, but I'm firmly in the "a two man bench is silly" camp

The Jays don't have a vaunted superstar to call up in Lawrie's absence, therefore a 2 man bench makes sense. "Unnamed utility players" are worthless.

Nobody has said that an extra bench player would be worthless. Some people have predicted that Mike McCoy would be the most likely utility player to be called up, and our view is that he's unlikely to add a lot of benefit to the bench. If there are better names, please suggest them. It's difficult to debate with abstractions and hypotheticals.

In any event, the real issue is that the Jays need to protect the health of their top relievers. They've already gambled with the health of Janssen and Santos, running them on back-to-back days at an earlier stage of the season than they preferred to do. The benefit of the 8th reliever is protecting these guys and offering decent options in extra-innings games or in games when the starter is removed early.

Yes, there's benefit to having another bench player, but the benefit of protecting the health of the most valuable relievers is a greater benefit. That's the argument that some of us are advancing. But nobody is saying that an extra bench player would be worthless.

By the way, if David Cooper was healthy and available, I'd have more interest in the 7-man-bullpen argument. He's the kind of bench player who could really add a major threat to the lineup. The difference between his bat and a Mike McCoy is an order of magnitude.

"The benefit of the 8th reliever is protecting these guys and offering decent options in extra-innings games or in games when the starter is removed early."

The exact same benefits exist when carrying an extra bench player. And frankly, that's what the SEVENTH reliever was introduced to rosters for.

First game I've listened to on the radio - Jack Morris is terrible.

Thank God they have an early lead. The Umps strike zone is loose as Lackey is not this good, even at his best.

Now we know.

Ugh, seeing someone's arm pop live is never a thrilling sight.

Nothing compared to Dave Dravecky who broke his arm on the mound.  Recovering from cancer he was doing well against the Expos when, with Raines on first, he threw a pitch and you heard a 'snap'.  Ugh.  It was re-injured in the playoffs in one of those stupid pile ups (if you have a broken arm, don't run into a crowd of people jumping on each other) and then they found the cancer came back so they amputated his pitching arm.  He wrote a book about his life story and it was quite good as I recall.  Someone who never whined about how life was unfair.

No one hits more majestic dingers than Colby Rasmus. So much potential, so frustrating.

I don't feel bad for Lackey. He's got that big contract.

I'm more concerned about Drabeck and Hutch.

I've been listening to the Jays on radio all week and I've been impressed with Morris.

I've seen too many unfortunate and ugly injuries for far too many years, much too many games. Now I try not to remember, as injuries bother me, those who've moved on don't.

Of Santos' first 10 pitches, 6 were balls, three were strikes, yet he had two outs before pitch 10? Is two days off too much this early in the season, or is he slower getting up to speed since he returned from injury?

I wouldn't read too much into a guys first 10 pitches in a game.  I mean, I've heard of small sample sizes but that is getting crazy. 

3 games for Santos, 2 2/3 IP, 1 HR, 0 BB 4 SO, 3 hits.  Not bad - the HR sucks but otherwise very solid with the 4-0 SO-BB ratio.  Last year he walked and K'd 4 before going down with an injury.  Avoiding walks is vital and so far so good.

Check out the asshattery in this Boston Globe article. The money quote is this — "The crowd of 45,797 callously booed as Lackey as he came off." He does not even bother to proofread either. I hope the Jays win tomorrow to at least salvage this homestand.

Rasmus has an interesting slash line: 167/ 250/556. In other words, he's hitting .167 but has an OPS of 806. I think the Jays would take an 806 OPS from Colby in 2013, no matter how he gets there.

Tomorrow's matchup should be a good challenge for the Jays. Some of the new players have had success against Lester (Cabrera, Izturis, DeRosa), and Bautista, EE and Davis have done OK against him. Unsurprisingly, Lester has owned Lind and Rasmus.

If Gibbons wants to mix things up a bit against the LHP with Dickey starting for the Jays, he could go with a lineup along these lines:

Reyes SS
Cabrera LF
Bautista RF
EE 1B
Arencibia DH
Davis CF
DeRosa 3B
Izturis 2B
Blanco C

It's early but I noticed this in the stats through 5 games:

Bautista 3 hits, 2 HR
Rasmus 3 hits, 2 HR
DeRosa 1 hit, 1 HR
Encarnacion 2 hits, 1 HR
Izturis 2 hits, 1 HR


Total for the 5 hitters, 11 hits, 8 homers

Bautista will probably DH tomorrow, otherwise you may have seen that lineup.

2JBrumfield: I saw the replay of that and the fans were booing at first, as it looked like Lackey was throwing at the Jay hitter (Reyes) but once people figured out he was hurt the booing started to quiet down although some idiots kept doing the 'Farrell' chant for awhile. 
You can see & hear it here.

I was at the game and the boos when Lackey got hurt had zero to do with Lackey and everything to do with Farrell being on the field.

Sheesh - the hatred towards people who choose to leave (well, pretty much demand to leave) is pretty strong isn't it?  Farrell has taken over as public enemy #1 - probably in part because he didn't just leave but he went for the same job with one of our top rivals.  The only way it would've been worse is if he went to the Yankees I suspect. 

Been awhile since I went to a game and will be a long time till I go again (moved to Thunder Bay which isn't exactly close to Toronto) ... are the fans this nuts about anyone else, or ever been for baseball?  Al Leiter probably would've got lots of boos if he came back to Toronto year one after leaving but didn't pitch against the Jays until 1997 (6 shutout innings in a 8-0 whitewash of the Jays in late August of another lost season, saw the Jays again in 2000, 2001 [one game each] and 3 times in 2005]).  Roberto Alomar got a few after his spitting incident but generally I think most understood his leaving the sinking ship that was the Jays under Gord Ash.  Roger Clemens ... now there was a similar situation with a guy who came here and said the right things then asked to leave for the Yankees - he would've been booed soundly but he also knows how to respond to that.  Strangely enough he didn't face the Jays his first year away from here, beat the Jays twice in NY in 2000 (2 R in 14 IP), finally came to Toronto in 2001 and won both starts (13 IP 2 R).  Yeah, that was a pitcher who knew who he played for previously and would rise to show them why he won 350+ games.

An interesting thing I just noticed - at most 6 games in (some at 5) every last team has won at least one game and every last team has lost at least one.  Seems odd to have no one perfectly good or perfectly bad so quick.

Also for fun I checked the attendance comparison BR has to see how the Jays are doing vs last year.  Last year their first home series was against Boston so it is comparable.  Up 4,056 per game - over 81 games that would work out to 328k more fans.  Only the Dodgers are off to a faster attendance start - up 11k per game (!) while the Reds are next at +1.3k per game.  Oakland's 'fans' show why they want to move as they are down 15k per game despite making the playoffs last year.  9 teams have yet to have a home game including Florida.  Oh, and everyone's favorite whipping boy for attendance, Tampa Bay, is down 8.5k per game already.  Ouch.

Really, we should be overjoyed he is no longer manager. For a former pitcher, he is really clueless. Lackey was shown favoring his arm before he got hurt. How did he and the training staff not bother to react beforehand? He and the Red Sox deserve each other.

Interesting point you bring up 2JBrumfield.  Last year the Jays had a crazy streak of pitching injuries, seeing the starters go down like flies.  Now the Red Sox just lost one pitcher...could more be following?  Could be coincidence or could be a common factor.  A pitching coach should know what signs to look for, and with a guy coming back after 18 months away one would think he'd be watching extremely closely.  Looking at release points via Brooks Baseball I don't see anything obvious right away, Lackey has two clear release points and was fairly stable with them (shifting release point is a red flag).    Right now I bet he wishes he went with a 75 pitch limit (he threw 77). 

I much prefer how the Jays are handling potential injuries this year.  Bautista sat for multiple games after he felt something rather than risk it. 

I do miss Brian Butterfield, though.

Here's a baseball movie that I think I will see as soon as it is released.  For most of us, we know the way Jackie Robinson looked on the basepaths from old video but for a few, it might bring back some old memories. It sounds as though the actor has worked hard at it. 

Rumour has it that people who put up new posts on this site actually sleep occasionally. No wonder it takes so long for new posts.

There’s a provocative review of this film by Dana Jennings in the April 5  NYT.  It argues that the makers have depicted the “legend” Robinson, whereas the actual Robinson was far more complicated, complex, and bitter.  Interesting read.  (Again, I have no idea whether this link will be permitted to work.)

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/07/movies/jackie-robinson-the-hero-in-42.html?hpw&_r=0


Yes, I wish we still had Butterfield, too.

The link is unfortunately behind the NYT paywall, Dewey.  As always, I hope the movie is not too sanitized.

I worked around the paywall by googling  "Dana Jennings New York Times Jackie Robinson" and just clicking in the link.