With a rough outing by starter David Purcey yesterday, let's check in on our three recovering pitchers nearest to contributing to the Jays. I say nearest to contirbuting because it would take quite a while to update all the injured Jays pitchers. The Jays could pretty much spell "Halladay" out in semaphore with all their injured pitchers. If anyone gets that reference (it connects to the title), I love you.
Casey Janssen (shoulder) had his first rehab start yesterday in High-A Dunedin and everything went well. He got through 4 innings, a good sign he was both pitching and feeling well, giving up 2 hits, 2 walks (no runs), and striking out 3. Janssen also got 7 outs on the ground to 2 in the air, which is one of the reasons we like him so much as a starter for the Jays. Mid-May seems the likely return time for Janssen, since he'll need about 2-3 more starts. I'd prefer not to rush him, but 4 innings in his first start back is pretty encouraging.
As we mentioned in the notes to yesterday's game thread, Dr. James Andrews (we can say his name now) cleared Jesse Litsch (forearm/elbow) to begin throwing again. From the timetable given by Cito (some time throwing off flat ground, then a mound, then a rehab assignment), it sounds like Litsch may be back around the end of May or so.
Ricky Romero (sneeze/oblique) was supposed to begin playing catch yesterday. If all goes well (obliques sometimes are tricky in terms of setbacks), he should also be back around mid-May.
So, yeah, Help! is on the way soon.