2012 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread - Page 2 - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

Sylvanfan · 03-05-2012, 12:42 PM

Not to mention when has Snider proven he can outhit Lind at the MLB level, and in the past two years hasn't given a great deal of indication that he will be able to. As much as Lind has not put up great numbers the past two seasons...still a fair ways ahead of anything Snider has shown. Yeah, I know potential to get better, high ceiling....blah blah blah. But unless Lind sucks when the real season gets going and Snider continues to hit, I don't think it's much of an option.

flames_1987 · 03-05-2012, 02:31 PM

Great to see the optimism and positivity return around this team. Lot of strong words today from baseball people talking about how good they think the Jays can be and how strong the mood around this team is.

Caged Great · 03-05-2012, 03:38 PM

Jays lost 4-2 playing mostly non jays players. Rasmus went 2-2. That's about it.

The Big Chill · 03-05-2012, 03:51 PM

Its really great to have a battle in left with Snider and Thames. I'm not sold on either of them, but there has to be a decent chance that we can keep one of them playing at a MLB level for the year. I still have a lot of faith in Snider. When he keeps his hands low he seems to have good bat speed and is able to generate a fair bit of power. When he has it going he has a great line-drive swing. However, at other times he looked completely lost and off-balance. Hopefully he can remain focused and do something with all that potential of his.

This is a huge season for Rasmus and Lind. This has to be the final time in either of their careers that they are just handed a starting spot. If they don't do something with this opportunity then they will be stuck as bit players unless they have a major turnaround. Lets see what you got, boys!

Pierre "Monster" McGuire · 03-05-2012, 04:04 PM

To the hardcore Jays followers: What are the chances of Drabek being a starter this season for the Jays?

I'm really excited about him. He did very well in AAA last season after a shaky start with the Jays at the start of last season.

The Big Chill · 03-05-2012, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

To the hardcore Jays followers: What are the chances of Drabek being a starter this season for the Jays?

I'm really excited about him. He did very well in AAA last season after a shaky start with the Jays at the start of last season.

The rotation is pretty wide open after Romero and Morrow. If he has a good spring training in which he shows some maturity and the ability to throw strikes consistently then there is no reason why he couldn't make the opening day roster. It will also depend on how Cecil, McGowan, Alvarez etc perform. At this point, though, I would have to think its more likely that he is in AAA to start the season.

flambers · 03-05-2012, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

To the hardcore Jays followers: What are the chances of Drabek being a starter this season for the Jays?

I'm really excited about him. He did very well in AAA last season after a shaky start with the Jays at the start of last season.

I would bet he is sent to AAA to start the season but is recalled before the year is done.

flames_1987 · 03-05-2012, 05:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Big Chill

Its really great to have a battle in left with Snider and Thames. I'm not sold on either of them, but there has to be a decent chance that we can keep one of them playing at a MLB level for the year. I still have a lot of faith in Snider. When he keeps his hands low he seems to have good bat speed and is able to generate a fair bit of power. When he has it going he has a great line-drive swing. However, at other times he looked completely lost and off-balance. Hopefully he can remain focused and do something with all that potential of his.

This is a huge season for Rasmus and Lind. This has to be the final time in either of their careers that they are just handed a starting spot. If they don't do something with this opportunity then they will be stuck as bit players unless they have a major turnaround. Lets see what you got, boys!

Rasmus and Lind are in pretty different places though. Rasumus and his glove in CF makes him valuable alone. Lind could be out of the majors after this season but Rasmus will be here for a long time.

RedHot25 · 03-05-2012, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flames_1987

R Lind could be out of the majors after this season .

?

Adam Lind has a lot of things to work on, let's not kid ourselves, but...out of the majors after this year...?

flames_1987 · 03-05-2012, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RedHot25

?

Adam Lind has a lot of things to work on, let's not kid ourselves, but...out of the majors after this year...?

He follows that 2nd half pace this season and maybe he's not out of the year, but he's nothing more then a bench player

Sylvanfan · 03-05-2012, 08:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flames_1987

He follows that 2nd half pace this season and maybe he's not out of the year, but he's nothing more then a bench player

Yeah, how many years has Eric Hinske hung around the majors as a bench/fillin player? Lind might not be able to start for the Jays much longer, but he'll be able to hang around the league.

flames_fan_down_under · 03-05-2012, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

To the hardcore Jays followers: What are the chances of Drabek being a starter this season for the Jays?

I'm really excited about him. He did very well in AAA last season after a shaky start with the Jays at the start of last season.

Well from what I've been reading about Drabek is that AA, Farrell and Walton have been putting a lot of work into trying to fix his release so he has a better command of his strike zone. AA has said he is seeing improvement but there is still a lot of work to be done. Drabek has the stuff, he's still very young at 24, so there is a lot of room for improvement.

VERVE · 03-05-2012, 09:18 PM

I have a good feeling that Hemderson Alvarez will surprise alot of people this year. He is a calm on the mound and is not afraid to target the plate.

It is impossible not to cheer for McGowan and wishing him success. He will have a feel good story year and wins more than he loses. He will have his stuff back.

howard_the_duck · 03-06-2012, 09:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

To the hardcore Jays followers: What are the chances of Drabek being a starter this season for the Jays?

I'm really excited about him. He did very well in AAA last season after a shaky start with the Jays at the start of last season.

IIRC he didn't fare too much better in AAA. Still had huge mechanical problems causing his walks to be really high and put up pretty awful numbers - 5-4 with a 7.44 ERA.

From everything I've read he's actually been receptive to the coaches advice to improve his consistency in his delivery this spring, but who knows where he projects now.

I'd be surprised if he broke camp as one of the starters. Hopefully he can dominate in the PCL and be an early call-up

flames_1987 · 03-06-2012, 09:34 AM

Unless he has an unbelievable camp, I think you'll see Drabek in the minors and see the Jays show a lot of patience with him.

dustyanddaflames · 03-06-2012, 10:36 AM

Ya the way Gregor Chisholm talks (Jays beat reporter for MLB.com), sounds like the rotation is pretty much set it stone - Romero, Morrow, Cecil, Alvarez, and McGowan. Would take an absolutely unbelievable camp from Drabek to knock McGowman/Cecil off, and even still, I think it is best the Drabek goes down to AAA and refines his approach - both mechanically and mentally.

howard_the_duck · 03-07-2012, 02:36 PM

Drabek with a tough outing to start his Spring.

I'm anxious to see how McGowan fares in his first start this week. From all reports at camp his stuff has been filthy.

dustyanddaflames · 03-08-2012, 09:37 AM

So far:

Thames, E - .200 Avg, .700 OPS, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Snider, T - .250 Avg, .833 OPS, 1 HR, 5 RBI

Snider does have two more AB than Thames - but interesting to see how the two compare early in camp.

howard_the_duck · 03-09-2012, 08:29 AM

Cecil with good results in his debut but there were some slightly concerning signs. His fastball topped out at 88 but was mostly around 86.

Farrell also commented that his location was not ideal and that he found himself up in the strike zone, which is how he got into trouble last year. While it would be foolish to jumpy to such hasty conclusions after 2 IP, I have some concerns that Cecil can't really be counted on heavily to be the 3/4 in the Jays' rotation. If his velocity is going to be in the mid 80's, which again was also a problem last year, his location needs to improve drastically to have any kind of success.

It's difficult because I think if the Jays want to be even mentioned in the wild card race, arms like Cecil need to have huge bounce back seasons and I just don't know whether he's physically capable.

dustyanddaflames · 03-09-2012, 12:29 PM

Going to sound weird, but I think that McGowan/Alvarez/Morrow's progression is far more important than Cecil's contributions. I have never really thought of Cecil as more than a really good 4th starter, where as McGowan/Morrow could easily slot into that #2/3 starter postion, if they reach their ceilings/regain form. I guess I just don't find Cecil's success that imperitive to the club's success - and that is taking nothing away from Cecil. He had a really good season, and until his drop in velocity, appeared to be on track to becoming a good #3.

I feel that kids like Hutchison, Jenkins, Drabek could all have solid seasons, and really help off set the loss of Cecil in a rotation - similar to what Alvarez did last year. The loss of Morrow or McGowan (if he regains his form), would be crippling to the franchise's hopes of a playoff birth.

EDIT - all personal opinion of course