Results 1 to 14 of 14

Thread: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

  1. #1
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Rep Power
    40

    Dobber Sports Deity

    Default Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Starting rotation is filled with Band-aid Boys. This could be another long season for Jays fans, filled with minor league arms filling major league rotation holes.



    http://sports.nationalpost.com/2014/...ng-day-roster/

    DUNEDIN, Fla. – Ladies and gentlemen, your starting pitcher for opening night at the Rogers Centre: Dustin McGowan.

    A week ago – OK, even a month ago, or a year or two ago – few would have seen this coming. But after taking a big step forward in a minor-league game Tuesday, the long-suffering Toronto Blue Jays pitcher was called into manager John Gibbons’ office and told he had won won a rotation job.

    “I was kind of speechless,” McGowan said.

    Gibbons made the announcement Wednesday morning. McGowan is scheduled to extend his pitch ceiling to 75-80 on Sunday in a simulated game, then take over the fifth spot in the rotation behind R.A. Dickey, Drew Hutchison, Mark Buehrle and Brandon Morrow. He is scheduled to start the home opener against the Yankees and Masahiro Tanaka on Friday night, April 4.

    In 2007, McGowan seemed poised to become a front-of-the-rotation starter. But the next year, he needed shoulder surgery, the first in a series. Last season he finally made it back as a reliever, but he yearned to start again. And throughout his medical ordeals, he never considered giving up.

    “There’s no quitting in my blood,” he said. “There were times I thought it may not happen anymore, but it wouldn’t be from lack of trying.”

    His start in the home opener will be his first since Sept. 26, 2011.

    “He was one of the top up-and-coming pitchers in this organization a few years ago,” Gibbons said. “We got a glimpse of it before he had his injuries. It’s pretty amazing in my mind that he’s come back this far and looked this good. So we’re going to run with it and see where it takes us.”

    The Jays will open with an eight-man bullpen, and with J.A. Happ on the disabled list.

    Happ, a starter who finished his spring outings with a 20.57 ERA, was bothered by a back problem earlier in camp. The official reason for his DL assignment is that the problem has not quite cleared up.

    After Happ’s disastrous start against the Pirates on Tuesday, Gibbons said the left-hander’s back problem was not an issue. On Wednesday, his tune changed.

    “He had that back issue early on,” Gibbons said. “It hasn’t been a big deal. He’s getting better. But it’s something that we think it’s limited him a little bit right now. It’s affected him.”

    Josh Thole made the team as the backup catcher, with Erik Kratz going to the minors. Gibbons said the deciding factor was Thole’s long experience in catching Dickey’s knuckleball.

    “It was a tough call because I thought they both did a nice job this spring,” Gibbons said. “[Thole] has got something special with Dickey, though. He’s caught him the last few years. There’s a little bit of something they got working, so we’re going to run with that.”

    McGowan, 32, lost the better part of five years to shoulder injuries. Once a promising starter, he told management at the end of last season that he wanted to try to win a rotation job. But a 10-day bout with the flu seemed to knock him out of the running because he had not been stretched out enough to set himself up for that role.

    He expected to wind up in the bullpen again. “It seemed like time was running short on me,” he said Thursday before learning of his new assignment.

    But in his past two outings, he has thrown 48 and 62 pitches, and assuming no setbacks, management is betting that another start on Sunday will prepare him for the job.

    Asked Wednesday morning how he was feeling after his Tuesday start, McGowan replied, “Great.” At that moment, he had not been told that he already had won a starting job.

    He expressed thanks to the Blue Jays for keeping him around, even giving him a three-contract extension before the 2012 season, in which injury kept him on the shelf again.

    “I’m thankful for the opportunity they’ve given me,” he said. “I guarantee you, no other organization probably would’ve stuck with me that long. But it’s paid off. They stuck with me. I’ve worked hard to get back and now we’re seeing it all come together.”

    Asked if he thought he was due for some good luck, he replied: “I don’t look at it like that. I think you make your own luck. I’ve always believed that if you went out and worked hard, good things will happen.”

    Opening-day rosters are notoriously impermanent. Expect this one to change early and often. Barring injury, the Jays will start the season with these 25 players:

    Starting pitchers (5): Dickey, Hutchison, Buehrle, Morrow, McGowan.

    Relievers (8): Brett Cecil, Steve Delabar, Casey Janssen, Jeremy Jeffress, Aaron Loup, Todd Redmond, Esmil Rogers, Sergio Santos.

    Catchers (2): Dioner Navarro, Josh Thole

    Infielders (6): Edwin Encarnacion, Ryan Goins, Maicer Izturis, Brett Lawrie, Adam Lind, Jose Reyes.

    Outfielders (4): Jose Bautista, Melky Cabrera, Colby Rasmus, Moises Sierra.
    10 Team, Points Only, Cash League

    25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
    Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
    Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt

    Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink

    G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger


    "Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."

  2. #2
    Location
    Pickering
    Rep Power
    40

    I...am your father.

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Let the record show - I picked up McGowan several days ago as my sixth starter...am I nuts?

    edit - I see now that Drew Hutchison is a starter. Good gawd I have three Blue Jays for my nine starters (need five active per week)
    The Best Fantasy Hockey Site

    15-Team Keeper, points only, best 12 fwd, 4 dman, 2 G count. Playoffs count.

    F - T. Thompson, Thomas, Nylander, Tarasenko, Arvidsson, Guentzel, Fiala, Quinn, Mittelstadt, Hagel, Zacha, Roslovic, Berggren, Brink, Ostlund
    G - Kahkonen, Vejmelka, L. Thompson, Levi, Comrie
    D - Hronek, Morrissey, Lundkvist, Girard, Brannstrom, Rathbone, Hanifin, Severson, Durzi

  3. #3
    Zorro's Avatar
    Zorro is offline
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    21,340
    Location
    Canada
    Rep Power
    50

    Dobber Sports Supreme Grand Master

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    The jays are going to need to score 10+ runs per game to be mildly successful.. I love the Jays, even when they are losing, but I can't ignore how bad the starters are going to get rocked this season..

    Im not even exaggerating here.. Dicky's knuckle ball is really not scaring anybody.. Buehrle has a career ERA around 5.. Morrow could be great some starts but injuries hamper him from being great "most" starts.. McGowan?? Really?? Hutchinson is a wildcard, I actually like him to fare well..

    I guess we shall see what happens soon enough.. The Jays offense though should be amazing, if they don't run into any huge injuries(Reyes)..

    No matter what happens, I will still be a Jays fan at the end of the day, and more importantly, the end of the season..

  4. #4
    TheWhale's Avatar
    TheWhale is offline
    Join Date
    Jul 2012
    Posts
    1,118
    Rep Power
    24

    Dobber Sports Padawan

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    I think the Jays are going to surprise a lot of people this year. Even though the roster looks the same, they have many things to be excited about. If healthy I believe this team can win 89-95 games and find themselves playing meaningful baseball come September. In the AL East all the teams are contenders in my eyes.

    They are going into this season healthy(er) than last. As a result, their D is greatly improved. Milky was playing LF with a tumor in his knee and didn't look right from the start. There were balls that should've been tracked for easy outs in the pros but he just couldn't get there. Plays like that don't count as errors and prevented the pitching staff from getting help from their D. The infield was in shambles to start the year and the relied on Maicer and Emilio to pick up the slack. Emilio was more of a liability and now replaced by (who I think) is a solid 2B. Lawrie is back and seems to be healthy. This infield can be relied on to make the routine outs. JP out and a real catcher in. The Jays D is and will be far better than last year. A good/bad D can make pitchers look better or worse than they actually are.

    The pitching staff is deeper than last year. Dickey and Buerle will give you 200 innings A piece. I've seen enough of Hutch to believe that he is a pro calibre SP. morrow and McGowan are wild cards to me. If there are injuries or McGowan doesn't work out, they can turn to Rogers, Redmond, Sanchez, Stroman, happ, Romeo and drabek. You can argue the quality of the guys i listed but That's a far cry from having to plug in a guy like Chen Ming Wang last year.

    I'm a die hard fan, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Would it have been nice to add a FA pitcher, sure. But people that get paid lots of money and know much more than me decided that they have enough in house options for them not to go break the bank on a guy like Santana.

  5. #5
    Location
    Pickering
    Rep Power
    40

    I...am your father.

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Zorro View Post
    The jays are going to need to score 10+ runs per game to be mildly successful.. I love the Jays, even when they are losing, but I can't ignore how bad the starters are going to get rocked this season..

    Im not even exaggerating here.. Dicky's knuckle ball is really not scaring anybody.. Buehrle has a career ERA around 5.. Morrow could be great some starts but injuries hamper him from being great "most" starts.. McGowan?? Really?? Hutchinson is a wildcard, I actually like him to fare well..

    I guess we shall see what happens soon enough.. The Jays offense though should be amazing, if they don't run into any huge injuries(Reyes)..

    No matter what happens, I will still be a Jays fan at the end of the day, and more importantly, the end of the season..
    While I don't believe the Jays will be great by any stretch, this reasoning you have is the reasoning everyone has.

    And I have a problem with it.


    You see - these same people, from Vegas prognosticators to the media, ONE YEAR AGO, with virtually the same team, said the Jays would win the World Series. The team implodes, their lack of depth is exposed, and one year later WITH THE SAME TEAM, they're gonna suck? Not buying it.

    The answer lies somewhere in the middle. Last year it took the newcomers 35 games to really find their groove. After that, they were an above-500 team. This year, some issues are resolved:

    - a catcher who can hit
    - a superstar who hopefully stays healthy (Reyes)
    - a healthy pitching staff. One year ago today they couldn't call on McGowan or Hutchison
    - the knowledge that the dome must be closed if Dickey pitches (please?)


    The question marks - but at least we know about the question marks this time, thanks to last year's lessons:
    - Morrow is healthy now and is potentially a great starter...but man, is he sucking. He generally takes five or six starts to find the magic. I reeeeeally hope that's the case this year.
    - Pitching depth. I really like that they have Stroman and Drabek...but I really don't like the fact that neither of them are ready.
    - McGowan. Everyone says that if he can stay healthy he 'could' be a Top 20 pitcher in all of baseball. But the odds of him staying healthy are less than 1%. But can we at least get 15 starts? Gives them enough time for Hutchinson/Morrow to find grooves, and perhaps Stroman/Drabek become ready.
    - Lawrie, Reyes and Bautista. Guaranteed to get hurt, but let's keep it under 25 games missed, boys


    All in all, injuries could kill this team again. If so, they'll still get 78 wins. But if not, watch out. I'll set:
    Min: 78 wins
    Max: 92 wins
    My call: 85-77
    The Best Fantasy Hockey Site

    15-Team Keeper, points only, best 12 fwd, 4 dman, 2 G count. Playoffs count.

    F - T. Thompson, Thomas, Nylander, Tarasenko, Arvidsson, Guentzel, Fiala, Quinn, Mittelstadt, Hagel, Zacha, Roslovic, Berggren, Brink, Ostlund
    G - Kahkonen, Vejmelka, L. Thompson, Levi, Comrie
    D - Hronek, Morrissey, Lundkvist, Girard, Brannstrom, Rathbone, Hanifin, Severson, Durzi

  6. #6
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Rep Power
    40

    Dobber Sports Deity

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Dobber View Post
    While I don't believe the Jays will be great by any stretch, this reasoning you have is the reasoning everyone has.

    And I have a problem with it.


    You see - these same people, from Vegas prognosticators to the media, ONE YEAR AGO, with virtually the same team, said the Jays would win the World Series. The team implodes, their lack of depth is exposed, and one year later WITH THE SAME TEAM, they're gonna suck? Not buying it.

    The answer lies somewhere in the middle. Last year it took the newcomers 35 games to really find their groove. After that, they were an above-500 team. This year, some issues are resolved:

    - a catcher who can hit
    - a superstar who hopefully stays healthy (Reyes)
    - a healthy pitching staff. One year ago today they couldn't call on McGowan or Hutchison
    - the knowledge that the dome must be closed if Dickey pitches (please?)


    The question marks - but at least we know about the question marks this time, thanks to last year's lessons:
    - Morrow is healthy now and is potentially a great starter...but man, is he sucking. He generally takes five or six starts to find the magic. I reeeeeally hope that's the case this year.
    - Pitching depth. I really like that they have Stroman and Drabek...but I really don't like the fact that neither of them are ready.
    - McGowan. Everyone says that if he can stay healthy he 'could' be a Top 20 pitcher in all of baseball. But the odds of him staying healthy are less than 1%. But can we at least get 15 starts? Gives them enough time for Hutchinson/Morrow to find grooves, and perhaps Stroman/Drabek become ready.
    - Lawrie, Reyes and Bautista. Guaranteed to get hurt, but let's keep it under 25 games missed, boys


    All in all, injuries could kill this team again. If so, they'll still get 78 wins. But if not, watch out. I'll set:
    Min: 78 wins
    Max: 92 wins
    My call: 85-77
    I think you mean, a catcher who can catch! It was JPA's constant errors that drove me batty last year.
    10 Team, Points Only, Cash League

    25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
    Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
    Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt

    Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink

    G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger


    "Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."

  7. #7
    Location
    Pickering
    Rep Power
    40

    I...am your father.

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Haha that too!

    So you were okay with the .180 batting?
    The Best Fantasy Hockey Site

    15-Team Keeper, points only, best 12 fwd, 4 dman, 2 G count. Playoffs count.

    F - T. Thompson, Thomas, Nylander, Tarasenko, Arvidsson, Guentzel, Fiala, Quinn, Mittelstadt, Hagel, Zacha, Roslovic, Berggren, Brink, Ostlund
    G - Kahkonen, Vejmelka, L. Thompson, Levi, Comrie
    D - Hronek, Morrissey, Lundkvist, Girard, Brannstrom, Rathbone, Hanifin, Severson, Durzi

  8. #8
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Rep Power
    40

    Dobber Sports Deity

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Dobber View Post
    Haha that too!

    So you were okay with the .180 batting?
    No, but he wasn't a key piece of their offense in my eyes, but he certainly was a key part in them losing due to piss poor defence. I never look at a catcher as a primary offensive piece. He was always known for hitting the long ball but considering his best year for average in Toronto was 0.233, him batting for average was never a priority for me.
    10 Team, Points Only, Cash League

    25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
    Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
    Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt

    Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink

    G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger


    "Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."

  9. #9
    Location
    Pickering
    Rep Power
    40

    I...am your father.

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Not a key piece, completely agree, but a regular in the lineup batting .180 would single-handedly kill about 10 wins in a given season. I mean, how many rallies ended with his at bat? How many rallies would another catcher have started simply by batting .260?
    The Best Fantasy Hockey Site

    15-Team Keeper, points only, best 12 fwd, 4 dman, 2 G count. Playoffs count.

    F - T. Thompson, Thomas, Nylander, Tarasenko, Arvidsson, Guentzel, Fiala, Quinn, Mittelstadt, Hagel, Zacha, Roslovic, Berggren, Brink, Ostlund
    G - Kahkonen, Vejmelka, L. Thompson, Levi, Comrie
    D - Hronek, Morrissey, Lundkvist, Girard, Brannstrom, Rathbone, Hanifin, Severson, Durzi

  10. #10
    Location
    Nova Scotia
    Rep Power
    40

    Dobber Sports Deity

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Dobber View Post
    Not a key piece, completely agree, but a regular in the lineup batting .180 would single-handedly kill about 10 wins in a given season. I mean, how many rallies ended with his at bat? How many rallies would another catcher have started simply by batting .260?

    True enough. Most times he stepped up, I hoped for a dinger and normally got a K. It was what it was. Every blue moon he would come through and hammer it out of the park but mainly he went back to the dugout, either walking with the bat on his shoulder or trotting back from grounding out.
    10 Team, Points Only, Cash League

    25 Man Roster (no position), top 20 point getters count at end of month
    Keep 20/25 at seasons end, Cut 5 to FA for redrafting
    Goalie points W=2pt L=-1pt SHO=2pt

    Stamkos, Tavares, Eichel, Mercer, JRobertson, RThomas, Kucherov, Nugent-Hopkins, Tuch, KConnor, Necas, Point, Konecny, SJarvis, Cozenz, Morrissey, Bouchard, Josi, Novak, Tolvanen, Peterka, Brink

    G- Vasilevskiy, Sorokin, Oettinger


    "Cleavage is like the sun. You can look, but dont stare.. Unless you're wearing sunglasses."

  11. #11
    Location
    Dryden, Ontario.
    Rep Power
    40

    Administrator

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    One of the things I think is getting too much hype (I was on the bandwagon as well) is how much of an improvement Navarro might be over JPA. Offensively, he wouldn't have to do much beyond avoiding stepping to the plate with a banjo in hand. On the defensive side of things JPA had some pretty notable gaffs and I don't know that he knows how to manage a pitching staff but he was apparently one of the best pitch-framers in the league last season while Navarro was sub-par. No really, check it out: http://www.statcorner.com/CatcherReport.php

    I don't know for sure that I buy those stats. If you go back to 2012 or 2011 they have JPA in the severe negatives, which tracks with the narrative I know but maybe he improved last season. The numbers put some of the well-known best like Lucroy and the Molinas at the top of the list so that seems to pass the smell test. Of course, they still haven't figured out how to fully quantify the effect a catcher can have on a pitching staff but if you understand the probabilities of pitch counts you start to see how the ability to frame a borderline pitch can have a huge impact on pitcher's outlook.

    Suddenly more 2-0 counts become 1-1. 1-1 counts become 0-2. Pitchers start getting ahead in the counts more often they gain the upper hand. If JPA was doing a good job with the staff in that regard and they were STILL that awful how bad is it going to be this season? Or will Navarro bring intangibles that are more important to the position?

    It's something worth monitoring.

    *

    And let's just be clear, basically all of the Jays' best players are injury-prone and they've got crap for depth and every team in the division may have gotten better. If you don't think it's possible to repeat last year's dreadful season you could be in for a rude awakening.
    Follow me on Twitter@SteveLaidlaw

    https://image.ibb.co/k3o8Sa/dobber_banner_sig.jpg

  12. #12
    Zorro's Avatar
    Zorro is offline
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    21,340
    Location
    Canada
    Rep Power
    50

    Dobber Sports Supreme Grand Master

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    Quote Originally Posted by Dobber View Post
    While I don't believe the Jays will be great by any stretch, this reasoning you have is the reasoning everyone has.

    And I have a problem with it.
    My reasoning is starting pitching.. Yes they have guys who can eat up innings(dickey and buehrle).. But their ERA's are going to be high.. That is why I am saying the Jays are going to need to put up a lot of runs.. I think they can do it, just night in and night out is a lot to ask..

    Maybe everyone is saying this, but I also didnt pick them to win the World Series, let alone the AL East last year..

  13. #13
    Zorro's Avatar
    Zorro is offline
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    21,340
    Location
    Canada
    Rep Power
    50

    Dobber Sports Supreme Grand Master

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    And don't get me wrong here, I want nothing more then the Jays to make it back to the playoffs.. I just dont believe in the Jays starting pitching at this time. I love their offense, aswell as their bullpen.. I think they have a top 3 bullpen in the AL.. Would I feel better with a DH that can kill the ball and bring in over 100 runs, a catcher with a better batting average, and a more productive 2nd baseman?? Well yes I would.. But I think a stud pitcher is #1 on my wish list.. I also realize stud pitchers don't grow on trees..

    I hope I am wrong and our pitchers succeed and pitch the lights out!! Go Jays Go!!

  14. #14
    Zorro's Avatar
    Zorro is offline
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    21,340
    Location
    Canada
    Rep Power
    50

    Dobber Sports Supreme Grand Master

    Default Re: Blue Jays announce starting rotation & roster for 2014

    So I was wrong about Buehrle, but was sooooooooo right about Hutchinson faring well, Dickey getting rocked, Morrow getting injured, and McGowan, well being McGowan.. JA Happ, ummmmmm no thanks.. I also had predicted the Jays having to get score some major runs in most games to win!!

    The Jays need to acquire some starting pitching, and they need to do it very soon!!
    Zorro says "vote for Dobber"
    Angus is my best friend at dobberhockey..

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •