Quick Recap: Spring Game 14, Jays and Astros
by Tom Dakers on Mar 19, 2010 4:00 PM EDT
in Toronto Blue Jays Game Recaps
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The big news out of this one was that Brandon Morrow was a scratch with a 'sore shoulder'. Hoping it isn't anything serious but not good news. It is the time of spring for sore arms so maybe it is just that.
The Jays didn't take many of their regulars with them on their bus trip. In fact they used a few guys that will start the season in the low minors. I can understand them not wanting to have to ride the bus when they can get swings at their own training facilities.
Pitching:
- Steve Register got the start in place of Morrow, pitched 3 innings, 4 hits, no walks, 2 K with a 2 run homer given up in the first inning.
- Casey Janssen: 1 perfect inning.
- Jeremy Accardo: 1 inning with just a walk.
- David Purcey got 2 quick outs, then gave up a single and 2 walks, but got a strikeout with the bases loaded to end the inning. 2 walks, 2 strikeouts.
- Rommie Lewis: 1 perfect inning.
- Willie Collazo: a perfect 9th with 1 K.
Batting:
- Joey Gathright: 0 for 4. He made a couple of great catches in the outfield. .179.
- John McDonald: 0 for 3. .313.
- Jeremy Reed: 2 for 3. He must be in front of Gathright in the battle for the 4th outfielder spot. .394.
- Randy Ruiz: 0 for 3, with a walk and a strikeout. .424. Has slowed from his fast spring start.
- Chris Lubanski: 0 for 4, 3 strikeouts. .217.
- David Cooper: 1 for 4, with a strikeout. .333 on the spring.
- Jose Molina: 1 for 3. .133.
- John Tolisano: 0 for 2
- Sean Ochinko: 2 for 3 with a K.
Dustin McGowan pitched 1.2 innings in a Triple-A spring game. 2 hits, 2 walks, 1 K. They say he hit 88 on the radar gun so he's got a ways to go yet.
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Ochinko... slowly...
becoming a real prospect?
He was very good last year in Auburn, his first partial year after being an 11th round pick. The guy is 22 this year, 5" 11" 205, in 2009 he hit 324 with 188 ABs, his OBP was 382 and he slugged 527. Very good – BUT he was just slightly old for the level. This year will be a real test. IF – he is for real then we’ve got FOUR catchers – JP, D’Arnauld, Perez and Ochinko. Should be another interesting guy to be watching this year!
Ochinko
It would be interesting if the Jays converted him to third base. He’s supposed to be ‘athletic’ which is normally scouts talk for ‘can play anywhere’, and with the number of possible prime and backup catchers in our system (Phillips and Jerolman), if Ochinko can play multiple spots, his value would go up immensely.
Absolutely!
I very much agree on this point. I see no downside at all to trying him at 3B
Sure. Even if he’s destined for the bench, having a guy who can play a capable catcher and 3B has value especially if he brings some power in as a pinch hitter. If he clicks and tears it up, 3B is an open spot after this year, and he can slide in as a third catcher on the depth.
good idea
"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman
McGowan - 88mph
What did pre-op Dustin get on his fastball? Wasn’t he a 94-95 mph kindaguy?
"I've only been in love with a beer bottle and a mirror" - Sid Vicious.
by craig in calgary on Mar 19, 2010 7:05 PM EDT reply actions
Jordan Bastian article
Reading Jordan Bastian’s MLB article on McGowan, he’s got quite some ways to go. The loss in velocity shouldn’t be seen as a verdict on his post-surgery arm, but rather a result of the fatigue and dead-arm factor that sets in when resuming a throwing routine after being on the shelf for so long. He needs time to get back into form and then we can see what he’s got.
hardest fastball in the league
I remember when Dustin got injured his fastball averaged 95.1mph according to fangraphs, which was the hardest average fastball velocity amongst all starters in the majors.
"Post-Doc era finds Jays looser, relaxed"
Found this Jordan Bastian MLB article on the post-Halladay vibe among the players and particularly the starters very interesting. It’s obvious that the players are going out of their way to say they’d rather still have Doc and they aren’t trying to be critical, but his departure has loosened things up and is helping the young pitchers come together.
“I’ve had many discussions with the pitchers,” Blue Jays center fielder Vernon Wells said. "If No. 32 could be back on the mound and be here in this clubhouse, we’d obviously love to have him here. I think guys learned from his work ethic, but his intensity was immeasurable. I think some guys were possibly a little intimidated by it and didn’t know when to approach him or how to approach him at different times.
“Now, they’re making a point to try to keep that same intensity, but be open as a unit and be willing to be accountable to one another and be approachable, and they can talk about anything that’s going on in their day-to-day lives or what happened on the mound.”
I loved Doc, but I often wondered about this in recent years. It was all very good that he set a great example by his work ethic and how he prepared himself as a pitcher. But it often sounded to me like it was to the point that he appeared isolated and difficult to approach.
It reminds of when I started as an editor, there was an old veteran who knew his stuff inside out, set a fine example but was difficult to approach and set a tone that wasn’t that open. But once he left, the team got younger, the atmosphere more relaxed and open, then we really gelled together as a group and produced better work.
It’s not to be negative about Doc, as I’m sure his contribution was positive overall and a great example for these young guys. But over time, his temperament probably became more suited to a veteran, contending team like the Phillies where he’s at now, and it may very well be that his departure is key for the Jays to really reshape their starting staff not just with the opening of slots but a new atmosphere that’s better conducive to the young guys feeling comfortable and coming together.
He was hard to approach during game day
Every player will tell you he was an open book and a large part of the leadership in that clubhouse. The younger pitchers never seemed afraid to chat with Doc on his days not starting.
On game day though you didn’t speak to Doc.
Virtually every article ever written about Doc last year
Anything talking about him and the young kids in the rotation brought it up. It was talked about mutliple times in the TV casts as well. Romero seems to idolize the guy (and realistically, that’s not a bad thing) and has said he learned stuff by picking Doc’s brain when he could.
"Don't tell me it's impossible. Be honest and tell me you can't do it. Tell me you don't know how."
don't forget that horrendous Mike Toth piece
The only takeaway from which was that Doc is a bad person because he didn’t talk to reporters on gameday.
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
There's no question doc was hard to approach
I had a hard time looking at him when he was frustrated with a bad inning. I don’t think anyone even sat anywhere near him after a bad inning; I am surprised there was room for him on the bench with the size of his bubble after a bad inning.
I think Doc must of had a Do Not Disturb sign on him anytime he was doing this routines. I believe anything anyone says about how focused he was.
That’s an interesting comparison. I think there might be some similarity in terms of how tightly wound up they got. Though have to say that working in and out of the clubhouse in the late 1980s, I found Stieb to be a generally prickly character. Halladay strikes me as more benign and professional, more quiet, less verbal as you say.
From a team perspective though, when Stieb played there were other veteran starters over the years (Jim Clancy, Jimmy Key, etc) to balance things out and maybe make it easier for the younger pitchers. The problem with having kept Halladay this year and even last year really, was that it was him and a bunch of younger pitchers.
So there isn’t any obvious counterpoints to balance things out and keep the staff on an even keel when Halladay’s isolated and/or wound up. Doc will be just fine on a veteran team, but it’s probably good for our young staff as a whole that he’s moved on.
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