First off, congratulations to the Dominican Republic for their World Baseball Classic title.
They received major contributions from Toronto Blue Jays’ players including Jose Reyes, Edwin Encarnacion, and minor contributions from Moises Sierra and Ricardo Nanita.
The third installment of this tournament was a qualified success highlighted by the ascension of the Dominicans and Puerto Rico, the excellent showing by Netherlands, and a wild base-brawl between Canada and Mexico.
For our Canadian squad, it was a second-consecutive disappointing appearance, starting with the loss of Brett Lawrie, a 10-run loss to Italy, and a late-inning loss to the United States. But let’s face facts here. With a minor league rotation and a bullpen that couldn’t keep two of the games close, they needed a lot to go their way and it just didn’t happen.
But the best part of the WBC being over is that the Blue Jays will finally get their players back in Dunedin.
Reyes, Encarnacion and J.P. Arencibia — a third of the everyday lineup – will rejoin Blue Jays camp with less than two weeks until this new and improved squad gets introduced in front of a full house on Apr. 2 against the Cleveland Indians.
If there was a spring where the Blue Jays didn’t need the WBC to happen, it was this year, but that’s a moot point now.
Despite a 9-13 Grapefruit League record heading into Wednesday’s action — and we all know how little wins and losses matter in Spring Training — this has been a relatively uneventful spring for new/old manager John Gibbons.
Lawrie remains sidelined with the oblique strain, and 2012 closer Casey Janssen has yet to pitch in a major league game as he slowly returns from off-season shoulder surgery.
The return of the WBC players will allow Gibbons to get his everyday lineup back together, and will allow Arencibia — who will make the majority of the starts behind the dish — to get to know new starters R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle much better.
Discounting spring stats, the five-man rotation hasn’t exactly set the world on fire, save for Johnson, with a collective 5.94 ERA and a 1.596 WHIP, but with at least two more turns through the rotation and their proper catcher back in camp, I’m expecting to see these five eventually round into form.
The big question mark remains Ricky Romero, who fell from ace to No. 5 in the rotation after the blockbuster deals with the Miami Marlins and New York Mets. Romero suffered through one of the worst seasons by a starter in franchise history, followed by an off-season with procedures to his elbow and knees.
He hasn’t exactly shown that he’s turned it around with more walks than strikeouts and 18 base runners in his first 8.2 innings this spring. Gibbons and general manager Alex Anthopoulos are in full support of Romero, which is fine, but if the results aren’t there, and with J.A. Happ their next option, one has to wonder how long Romero’s leash will be.
Especially with the Amercian League East seemingly wide open after a rash of injuries to key players has brought the New York Yankees back to the pack, and the never-ending soap opera that is the Boston Red Sox.
For now, Blue Jays’ fans should be more than happy when they tune in to Saturday’s telecast from Dunedin (1:00 p.m. ET / 10:00 a.m PT on Sportsnet Ontario and Sportsnet ONE) as they will likely see as close to the everyday lineup taking the field for at least half the game.
Brandon Morrow is the scheduled starter, slated to go six innings, followed by an inning each from Aaron Loup, Esmil Rogers and the recently-acquired Guillermo Moscoso.
Buck Martinez, back from Japan after his analysis of the WBC, and Pat Tabler will have the call.