With all due respect to Casey Janssen, Jesse Litsch, Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum the incredible amount of pitching injuries sustained by the Blue Jays over the past year may turn into a positive in 2010.
Of course 2009 isn’t over; in fact, as I write this the Jays are tied with the Yankees for the AL Wildcard spot. This alone is a remarkable achievement. Being tied for a playoff spot near the end of June despite a significant amount of pitching injuries and poor performances by Wells and Rios is a testament to minor league pitching depth and of course Cito Gaston.
Regardless of the final outcome of 2009, the Jays pitching should be even stronger in 2010. This year is similar to the season when the combined ineffectiveness of Tomo Ohka, John Thomson and Victor Zambrano allowed for the maturation of Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum. This season’s injuries are allowing Ricky Romero, Brett Cecil, Scott Richmond and Brian Tallet to establish themselves as viable options for the 2010 rotation.
Options for the rotation next season could be Halladay, McGowan, Marcum, Tallet, Janssen, Cecil, Romero, Ray, Purcey, Richmond and Mills. I’ve always felt you need at least eight serviceable starters to get through a season. The number now is more likely closer to 10. So far, the Jays are strengthening their position as one of the best organizations at producing pitching.
As we’re already talking about pitching injuries, I’d like to share a little information with you. In 2008, I did some research on pitching injuries across baseball. I was with the Jays at the time and certainly felt like we had more than our share of DL placements. So I tabulated all the major throwing-related injuries for each club since the beginning of the 2005 season – I included elbow, shoulder and ribcage problems, and excluded any freak injuries such as a sore big toe. The start date of 2005 wasn’t arbitrary; it coincided with Brad Arnsberg taking over as pitching coach for the Jays. My findings, Toronto was pretty much right in the middle of the pack when it came to DL placements and duration when it came to arm injuries.
Obviously there have been some additions to the list this year, most notably Litsch, but I’m not sure if the jays would move too far up the list. If you take a look at the DL across baseball – you’ll find a tremendous amount of pitching injuries.
Just keep this little piece of info in the back of your head before making judgment on Arnsberg or the Jays training staff. I guarantee you they will collectively be doing their best to keep the Jays’ staff incredibly deep in 2010.