The Jays have no game today, Shawn Marcum is starting their Triple-A game to keep him on schedule for the season opener.
I know they are 'meaningless games' and all, but I enjoyed watching yesterday's game. I know, as a blogger, stuck in my mom's baseball basement, I'm not supposed to admit this, but I really like watching baseball. I don't care if someone thinks the games are meaningless, as much as I like baseball, all the games are meaningless. Even during the season, they aren't curing cancer out there or feeding the homeless or anything really great. If baseball wasn't there, we'd have something else to entertain ourselves. Instead of going to a little league coaches clinic tonight, I'd be going to a soccer coaches clinic. Instead of throwing a ball with my boy I'd be kicking a ball.
But I do like watching the games even in the spring. The spring games can be just as entertaining as the regular season games. One of my favorite things about watching baseball is seeing the younger players come up. Yesterday I saw Tyler Pastornicky play for the first time, after hearing about him for the past three years. I saw Brad Emaus and Brian Dopirak. The other fun part of spring is sometimes older players can surprise you. Jose Bautista is pounding the ball. Aaron Hill is taking walks. Vernon Wells is taking balls the other way. Maybe none of these things will last, we know Bautista won't hit .667 this season. Maybe Hill will go back to swinging at everything. Likely Vernon will get pull happy as the season wears on. But I like watching players try to improve themselves. It reminds me that I should try to improve.
Anyway....Ken Rosenthal twittenated that the Cubs had a scout watching Jason Frasor get shelled yesterday. He also said that Frasor was 'under the weather'. If he was sick, I don't know why none of the Toronto media mentioned it. Of course, having their pitches rocket back past them would make any pitcher sick.
He also said that the Cubs were interested in David Purcey. On Purcey, Richard Griffin quotes Cito:
"(Pitching coach) Bruce Walton has cut him back to just fastball and slider," Gaston said of the talented but eternally frustrating lefty. "He threw strikes, his arm slot was great. We're probably leaning (to the bullpen) and see what he can do. I was very impressed. It's the best I've seen him throw since I've been here."
If the idea is to make him a reliever, cutting him back to his two best pitches is a good plan, but then he didn't throw a lot of curves or changeups in the past. Do you get the feeling that the recent talking up of Purcey is an effort to grow him some trade value. I can't see anyone wanting to trade for him, but then I don't understand most things the Cubs do.
Remember how we said, when the rumours came out that the Jays were signing Adeninis Hechavarria, that we'd be told that he wasn't really that great a prospect, since the Yankees didn't sign him? Well, I figured it would be the New York media that would do it but no, it is the Toronto Sun's Bob Elliot leading the charge. He has scouts, he doesn't say whose scouts, comparing Hech to Alfredo Griffin and Eddie Zosky. Come on Bob, can't we wait to see him before you tell us the Jays were stupid to spend that much money on him. Of course scouts for teams that didn't sign him will play him down. Let us have a little joy.