Results tagged ‘ Cleveland Indians ’
Restocking the ‘Pen
I have been away from home the past week, travelling in Alberta and then restarting at university, all while dealing with illness. However, I still had time to follow the Jays news. The Jays upgrded their bullpen, by signing LHPs Darren Oliver and Aaron Laffey while trading for Jason Frasor. This allows Alex Anthopoulos to continue to improve the club in other areas, knowing that there is a solid bridge from the starters to the end of the game.
Frasor, 34, came back to the Jays after a two-month stint with the White Sox. Prior to that time, Frasor had been with the Jays since 2004 and appeared in 455 games, a franchise record. Frasor closed for partial season in 2004 aand 2009, but mostly served as a reliable right-handed reliever in the seventh and/or eighth innings. Frasor should settle nicely into the seventh inning for teh Jays behind Casey Janssen in the eighth and Sergio Santos in the ninth.
Oliver, 41, was signed for a year at $3.5 million with an undisclosed one-year option from the back-to-back American League champion Texas Rangers. Oliver, active since 1993, has also pitched for the Angels and is possibly most known for being the winning pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals in the game Mark McGwire hit homerun #70 in 1998. Oliver will serve as the primary left-handed specialist (LOOGY), filling a role formerly held by Marc Rzepczynski, who was sent to the Cardinals in the Colby Rasmus deal.
Laffey spent time with the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees in 2011, logging 53.1 innings in relief with a 5.06 K/9 and 3.54 BB/9. He hasn’t shown much velocity (87 MPH fastball for his career), or command (3.59 BB/9) and despite the Jays seemingly interested in trying him as a starter, according to Laffey, he projects more as a long man, or depth arm for AAA Las Vegas.
These additions should complete the Jays bullpen, consisting of the seven-man corps of: Santos, Janssen, Frasor, Oliver, Litsch, Carlos Villanueva and one of Luis Perez, or Joel Carreno.
The offseason is far from over and the team could still use some improvements (see my last post), but a major piece of the Jays puzzle to contention has been filled.
I will be back in a few days, but for now: cheers!
A-Hume
Time is Now for Promising Cecil
When I found out that Brett Cecil was being summoned to The Show in order to start in place of Brian Tallet on Friday (April 23), I was excited. I initially assumed that it was simply a spot start due to soreness. Imagine my joy then when I came to the realization that Tallet was being placed on the 15-Day Disabled List. This was in all likelihood to not just be a spot start, but three chances for Brett Cecil to showcase his skill against the potent Rays and Red Sox and offensively meager Cleveland Indians. He pitched well in Las Vegas, a member of the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League (2 GS, 11 IP, 11 K, 2 BB) and was deserving of a chance to start in the Majors.
Brian Tallet, on the other hand, is awful. Horrendously awful. His entrance music from 2009, “Gimmie Shelter” by the Rolling Stones, was the most appropriate entrance music I have ever heard. Tallet needs shelter; shelter from constantly getting shelled. He won’t overpower anybody and his spotty command jsut provides the ultimate catalyst for disaster. Granted, he has shaved a full BB/9 off his numbers from last year, but when his K:BB is 2:1 (6 K/9, 3 BB/9), he finds himself working out of the stretch and playing with fire for the majority of most of his short (5.89 IP per) starts. The Blue Jays are a team that is in a transitional phase, 1 A.D. (After Doc). They are not expected to contend right away, but they do have a glut of young talented arms that could become integral parts of the Jays’ mound future.
This brings us back to Cecil, a Maryland product selected 38th overall in 2007 (one pick after Brett Wallace, whom we acquired in the Halladay trade). Projected as a #2 starter on a contending team, he features a four pitch repertoire: low 90s fastball, mid 80s slider, high 70s-low 80s curve and a low 80s change. He has consistently struck out approximately a batter per innning in the minor leagues, while keeping his walk rate in the 3 BB/9 range. He mixes his pitches well, and kept the hitters guessing all night (8 K). The four runs allowed in six and two-thirds did not do him justice as two came on a pair of the few mistakes he made all night, a pair of homers. Outside of these blips, he was dominant against the team with the best record in the Majors.
Tallet is a valuable veteran on a young team, but Cecil is a promising young star. If Cecil pitches well the next two times out, and Tallet struggles in his return, Gaston and the gang will be forced to think.
That said - Carpe Diem Brett. Seize the day.
A-Hume
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