TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays are giving young left-hander Brett Cecil the chance to sort out his issues on the mound by demoting him to triple-A Las Vegas.
Thursday’s move isn’t a major surprise after the 24-year-old was left nearly inconsolable and in desperate need of some answers after another poor outing Wednesday night, this time against the New York Yankees.
Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said the team first considered sending Cecil down before his previous start, and might have after that outing had he not salvaged his night with three strong final frames in a 7-6 win.
Then things slid backwards again in the 6-2 loss to the Yankees, when he allowed five runs on six hits and four walks, repeatedly coming out of his delivery in an attempt to ratchet up his velocity. Since late in spring training, Cecil has been struggling to regain some lost zip on his fastball, pitching in the 88-89 m.p.h. range after sitting 92-93 last season.
He’ll need to solve the mystery in the desert now.
“I think it’s delivery-related more than anything,” Anthopoulos said on a conference call. “Brett is a strike-thrower and … it’s about command. If Brett’s throwing strikes and he can get to his secondary stuff, he’ll be fine.”
The Blue Jays called up infielder Chris Woodward to take Cecil’s roster spot, leaving some dominos to fall before a pitcher is named to fill the rotation vacancy next Tuesday.
Anthopoulos said second baseman Aaron Hill remains day-to-day with a hamstring injury and that the results of an MRI on Wednesday did little to clear his status.
“Right now everything is still really inconclusive,” said Anthopoulos.
If Hill is placed on the DL, the Blue Jays would have the option of bringing back right-hander Jesse Litsch, who was optioned to Las Vegas Tuesday and must remain in the minors for 10 days before being recalled unless there is an injury.
Anthopoulos said no decision was yet made for Tuesday, but bringing up Brad Mills from triple-A or pulling Carlos Villanueva out of the bullpen have been discussed. Using lefty Marc Rzepczynski, who spent the spring as a starter before being moved to the bullpen, isn’t on the table right now.
Double-A prospect Zach Stewart may also be in the mix.
Either way, it was becoming increasingly apparent that the Blue Jays needed to do something to ease the pressure on Cecil.
“Brett is extremely frustrated,” said Anthopoulos. “This gives him a chance to catch his breath a little bit. … We don’t think it’s drastic or dramatic. He needs to go down and get his confidence back.”
Cecil, 24, is 1-2 with a 6.86 ERA in four starts this season. The young pitcher has allowed 24 hits and 11 walks in 21 innings. Manager John Farrell and pitching coach Bruce Walton have spent countless hours watching video trying to identify various issues – his shoulder had dropped, he wasn’t tall enough over the rubber, he was losing momentum through his windup – but nothing seemed to take.
“Thanks for all the support and words of encouragement…flying home tom. to be with the family for a few days then headed to CO springs…” Cecil posted on his Twitter page.
Woodward, 35, was hitting.305 with two homers and seven RBIs in 12 games with Las Vegas, and gives the Blue Jays an extra bench player with Hill currently on the sidelines.
“He’s really a perfect fit for what we need,” said Anthopoulos. “It’s a short-term move.”
Infielder Mike McCoy, who’s been up and down a few times already this season, couldn’t be brought up because he has yet to spend 10 days in the minors. He could be recalled if Hill goes on the DL.
Meanwhile, Anthopoulos said the Blue Jays were still waiting for infielder Brad Emaus, taken by the Mets in the Rule 5 draft and designated for assignment Tuesday, to clear through waivers before making a call on whether to buy him back for US$25,000.
