Morrow now on DL, Romero now off the 40 man roster, and Chad Jenkins is demoted.  Up is Ortiz and Storey. Via the Jays site.

Richard isn't pitching tonight after getting the win last night/this morning. Something named Robbie Erlin is making his first career start for the Padres.

I had thought the Jays were lining up Todd Redmond to pitch Sunday if Morrow couldn't go. He threw 50 pitches last night so that plan, if it was a plan, was dead.

So who are the next 5 starters? Beuhrle, Ortiz?, Johnson, Dickey, Esmil Rogers?

At this point, maybe the jays should give Cecil a look as a starter....

He was a decent starter before the velocity disappeared, maybe he can go back to the 2010 Cecil?

In response to Gerry's question: the next 5 days in the rotation, according to a tweet by Barry Davis, will be: Buehrle-Ortiz-offday-Johnson-Dickey. The Jenkins spot would have been skipped this time through the rotation. The next time a 5th starter is needed would be June 11, and Jenkins could be recalled to fill that spot if needed.

Who exactly is the '5th starter' in this rotation? Jenkins may be nominally, but it's hard to see any of the rest, except perhaps Buerhle, considered better than him. From Dickey wobbling between bad and unpitchable to Romero not even being able to stick on the 40 man, this has to be the most disappointing Blue Jays staff ever. Conceiving the marketing campaign for this wretched team next year will be an act of advertising ingenuity.

This wouldn't be happening if the Jays had gone with my plan of pitching Dickey and Buerhle on three days rest.

With only three Starters available, Buehrle (1st, 7th, 12th); Johnson (4th, 9th); and Dickey (5th, 10th) plus off days on June 3rd and 6th, problems arise. Who pitches the 2nd, 8th and 11th?

Jenkins would be on the 8th or 11th I suspect (whenever he can be called up).  The 2nd is Ortiz (sigh) and if he does well I suspect he'd get the other of the 8th/11th.

The big issue though is getting the top 3 going and getting Johnson and Happ back (Romero I doubt we'll see again before September if at all). 

Given their ERA's one wonders...what if they allowed one run less per game, how would that have changed things?
Dickey: 12 starts, 43 ER - remove 12 and you have a 3.73 ERA which would've been more what we expected.  Take that run away from each start with a 'wild card' run due to the one game he didn't allow any.  Does anything change?
Ignore the 4 wins as one less run just means an easier win.  4 losses were by more than 1 run so those still would've happened (most likely).  That leaves 4 games that would've been ties at the end but one was extra innings, so extras which are 50-50 odds normally so say 2 1/2 more wins.

Buehrle: 11 starts, 41 ER - 4.03 ERA with 1 less run per game.  Jays won 7 of his starts, so that stands.  The other 4 were all losses by more than 1 run (twice by 2) but one of those was an extra inning game which they would've won if he allowed 1 less run.

Morrow: 10 starts, 34 ER - 4.21 ERA.  4 wins already.  3 one run losses two in extra innings the other in the 9th, 3 more by 4+ runs.  So 2 1/2 wins added in.

So for those 3 we are looking at 6 more wins if they had ERA's that were higher than we expected but 1 run less per game than they are doing in reality.  Johnson had one game that would've been a tie instead of a loss had he allowed 1 run less per game in his 4 starts. Romero's two losses were 4+ run losses.

Add 6 more wins to the Jays and you get 29-26 3 1/2 games out of first.  That is using perfectly reasonable expectations for this rotation going into the season and ignoring how if they did allow one run less that the pen would've been less taxed (as they could've lasted longer most likely).  Sigh.

I think Esmil Rogers would get the start on the 8th. Jenkins can come back for the 11th, sooner if there's an injury in there somewhere.

Ricky Romero's first non-40-man start tonight with Buffalo in Norfolk, through three innings: Glass Half Full - No walks. 1 K. Glass Half Empty - 5 hits, 4 earned runs and 3 wild pitches.

Prior to 2013 and 2012, this team would have had one and usually more winning streaks of 5-7 games. This usually was highlighted by lots of offense, opposing Starter not mattering.

My word this pitching staff is a mess.

There have been so many different faces on the team this season I bet if there were ever a team reunion 25 years from now everyone would have to wear "Hi My Name Is" tags on their shirts.

Romero done after 6 IP: 8 hits 5 runs all earned, no walks, 3 strikeouts, 3 wp (not clustered, one in each of the first three innings).

83 pitches, 53 strikes.

 

Lind gets the start against the lefty tonight.

Romero done after 6 IP: 8 hits 5 runs all earned, no walks

That should get him called up next week.

Why?  You've got a lefty pitching and no DH, so DeRosa and Encarnacion can play the corners.  Humbug. 

This club used 27 pitchers through the end of May.  To put it in perspective, no team in the AL East used that many pitchers all of last season except for your Toronto Blue Jays.  All I really can say about it is that if you are going to take this kind of approach, why not go whole hog and have tandem starters at the outset of the season?  The amazing thing is that the club added a workhorse (Buehrle) and a knuckleballer in the off-season and even that hasn't helped. 

Incidentally, Jose Reyes still has more plate appearances this season than Derek Jeter. He's got more plate appearances than Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, and Curtis Granderson combined. And the guys replacing Jeter and Rodriguez haven't been as good as Munenori Kawasaki.

Just sayin'.

Yep. 

Is Encarnacion, Izturis, DeRosa, Lind and Arencibia the worst Jay middle infield defence in recent recollection?  Perhaps so.  I can't remember a game where all five inner defenders were way below average, but it probably has happened.  Buehrle can't be too happy about it.

And yet the first error of the game goes to the Gold Glover, Buehrle. Strange game, baseball.

Lind gets the start against the lefty tonight.

Youneverknow.

The only time I can think of is if Hinske played 3B while Glaus played SS, but it doesn't look like that ever happened. Makes sense...the entire reason to put Glaus at SS was to get Glaus, Hillenbrand and Overbay in the lineup without the DH. I had totally forgot that they busted out that lineup in AL games, though.

I think the manager is now a big time fan of Wagner.  Used 3 times in 4 days, 4 2/3 IP 3 hits, 1 walk 3 strikeouts no runs.  Can't ask for more than that, especially from a minor league free agent signing.  Hopefully he sticks around awhile as it seems he has figured out whatever it was that kept him in the minors for so long despite a live arm.

Toronto has played 19 1-run games, winning only 7. Too many places are available for someone to point a finger and say "there". J.P. Arecibia isn't going anywhere, he's still really cost effective (pre-Arb). Brian McCann is an expensive Free Agent this offseason. Someone to work with J.P. on his glove work and OBP would be a bonus (paid well, of course). The message could be "if you can't learn, you don't play".

Is Encarnacion, Izturis, DeRosa, Lind and Arencibia the worst Jay middle infield defence in recent recollection? Perhaps so. I can't remember a game where all five inner defenders were way below average, but it probably has happened. Buehrle can't be too happy about it.

I was thinking that the defence would be better if DeRosa was at third, Izturis at second and Edwin at short. That way everyone except Edwin would be playing a position that they can play. Sure, he can't play short, but he can't really play much third either and Izturis is likely little better at short. I think it was the worst defensive combination you could make of those players, except perhaps playing Lind and Edwin in the middle. Either way, you have three players asked to play a position they can't play, all in order to keep Kawasaki's bat out of the lineup against a left-hander.

Izturis is likely little better at short. [br] [br] This is where your reasoning fails you. BIG GULF between Edwin and Izturis at short.

C Bautista
1B Kawasaki
2B Rasmus
SS Melky
3B Edwin
LF Arencibia
CF Lind
RF Izturis

Make it happen, Gibby. Make my dreams come true.

C Bautista 1B Kawasaki 2B Rasmus SS Melky 3B Edwin LF Arencibia CF Lind RF Izturis Make it happen, Gibby. Make my dreams come true.

This is the kind of stunt Bill Veeck would pull. Have that as your starting lineup, pitcher throws an intentional ball and then everybody resumes their normal positions. Would be fun to watch all those players criss-crossing on the field. Would be especially fun to see Arencibia in LF with full catching gear on.

"Sure, he can't play short, but he can't really play much third either and Izturis is likely little better at short."

What an asinine suggestion. Edwin has looked just fine at 3B.

I feel like Derosa has been solid at 2b as well. Not a tonne of range obviously but solid.

I would have preferred if Kawasaki was at short behind Buehrle, with DeRosa and Encarnacion at the corners.  Lind did have a big game last night, so it is not likely that this move would have had any positive overall effect on the outcome.  In Buehrle's career, 5.7% of the ground balls have turned into infield hits.  This year so far, the figure is at 11.8%.  The other thing that has hurt him is more HRs than usual. 

Would be especially fun to see Arencibia in LF with full catching gear on.

That would mean Bautista behind the plate with no catching equipment, right? With this team's luck, that one intentional ball would fracture Bautista's kneecap...

"Is Encarnacion, Izturis, DeRosa, Lind and Arencibia the worst Jay infield defence in recent recollection?"

They had Buehrle on the mound which might have saved them, but even so I think yes. Given how far Izturis has fallen, it might be the worst I can recall in the majors.

Gary Sheffield played two innings at third base in 2004. A lineup of Sheffield, Jeter, Cairo, Giambi and Posada might be in the conversation.

Ya, cuz those defenses with Jayson Nix, Mike McCoy, Aaron Hill at his very worst, and Juan Rivera were real defensive powerhouses. Or how about when Troy Glaus would start at SS with Shea Hillenbrand at 3B and Russ Adams at 2B? And that's just off the top of my head. I'm fairly certain the Jays have fielded many infield defenses that were vastly inferior to the one the Jays rolled out yesterday when you consider how EE and DeRosa have looked at their respective positions the last couple of times out there.

You saw a different Encarnacion at third base than I did, 92-93.  He looked the same as ever- capable of making a very good play, but inconsistent as all get out.  I don't blame him at all for that.  He was never a good defensive third baseman, and if you stick him there on an occasional basis, he is bound to be rusty. As for DeRosa, he makes the routine play at second and that is about it. 

"Ya, cuz those defenses with Jayson Nix, Mike McCoy, Aaron Hill at his very worst, and Juan Rivera were real defensive powerhouses"

Nix was a very good defender at 3rd. McCoy was better, or at least no worse, than any of our current SS's, Hill at his worst was better than any of our 2nd baseman and Rivera was pretty well on par with whatever we put out at 1st now. And compared to the infield we fielded last night, that group you mentioned from 2011 WAS a defensive powerhouse.

Gary Sheffield played two innings at third base in 2004. A lineup of Sheffield, Jeter, Cairo, Giambi and Posada might be in the conversation.

Heck, Vernon Wells has played 3B this year.

I haven't seen any "inconsistency" in Encarnacion's 3B defense and would love to know what you mean by that.

I guess you were out of the room for the mess of bobbles.  Trust me, Edwin was Edwin.  He's always been a -10 to -15 runs/150G third baseman according to both UZR and DRS, and that is exactly what he still look likes.  It's pretty impressive actually, as he hasn't played the position for any significant time since July 2011.

A -10 3B is more than good enough to play the position when your team is in a pinch without its starting 3B playing NL games with a hot DH.

Continuing on the ex-Jays in strange defensive positions theme, Lyle Overbay is making his first career start in RF today.

A -10 3B is more than good enough to play the position when your team is in a pinch without its starting 3B playing NL games with a hot DH.

It depends.  I don't think that it's a good idea to play a -10 to -15 third baseman with a -15 to -20 shortstop (Izturis) with Buehrle on the mound.  It would be different with Brandon Morrow (circa 2012- a RHP who strikes em out and gives up flyballs). 

Lyle Overbay is making his first career start in RF today.

Which sends Wells, apparently once again a pumpkin, to the bench.