Posts Tagged 'Blue Jays Spring Training 2012'

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – March 20, 2012

Published March 20, 2012 Spring Training Game Recaps Leave a Comment
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The Toronto Blue Jays took it to the Boston Red Sox tonight with a big 9-2 victory.  Led by the dueling leftfielders Travis Snider and Eric Thames, for those curious here is a look at the boxscore: 

Toronto AB Run Hits RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Johnson, K, 2B 4 0 0 0 0 1 3 .233
Escobar, Y, SS 3 0 0 0 1 1 0 .258
Bautista, RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .296
Thames, E, LF 3 2 2 0 2 0 2 .353
Encarnacion, 3B 4 1 2 0 0 0 3 .297
Rasmus, CF 3 2 1 0 1 0 4 .207
Snider, DH 5 1 2 2 0 1 4 .324
Cooper, 1B 3 1 2 3 0 0 0 .313
Mathis, C 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 .143

 BATTING:

2B: Snider (4, Bard), Encarnacion (4, Mathis), Cooper (4, Mathis).

RBI: Snider 2 (15), Cooper 3 (10), Mathis (1)

SF: Cooper

Travis Snider continues his sizzling spring training as he went 2-5 with a double, two RBIs and even chipped in with a stolen base.  Not to be outdone Eric Thames went 2-3 with two walks making the Jays decision for the leftfield starting spot extremely tough.  David Cooper has quietly had a very strong spring as well and now has 10 RBIs during grapefruit league action.

Aaron Laffey, who is in a battle for a rotation spot, fired five strong innings for the Blue Jays in Tuesday night’s 9-2 victory over the Red Sox.  Laffey gave up three hits and two runs, walking none and striking out three.

“I think when I start, when I get into a good rhythm, I start to really pound the strike zone, keep the ball down in the zone,” said Laffey, who retired the last 10 batters he faced. “After those first two innings, I got into a really good rhythm.”

Up next: The Blue Jays travel to Sarasota, Fla., to face the Orioles at 1:05 p.m. ET on Wednesday. Kyle Drabek, who struck out one and gave up one hit over three shutout innings Thursday vs. the Astros, will make his fourth Grapefruit League appearance.

Blue Jays Spring Training Pitching Schedule

Published March 14, 2012 Spring Training Leave a Comment
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As per MLB.com here is the scheduled pitchers for the next few Toronto Blue Jays spring training games:

March 15 @ Astros:

Dustin McGowan (Three innings)
Kyle Drabek (Three innings)
Jesse Chavez
Jerry Gil
One more pitcher still to be determined

March 16 vs Tampa:

Ricky Romero (Four innings)
Chad Jenkins (Three innings)
Jason Frasor
Drew Carpenter

March 17 @ Phillies:

Brandon Morrow (Four innings)
Luis Perez (Two innings)
Rick VandenHurk (Two innings)
To be determined

March 17 @ Atlanta:

Drew Hutchison (Three innings)
Deck McGuire (Three innings)
Jesse Chavez
Robert Coello
Chad Beck

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – March 12, 2012

Published March 12, 2012 Spring Training Game Recaps Leave a Comment
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The Blue Jays won their 8th straight game today as they defeated the Baltimore Orioles 4-1 behind the excellent pitching of Brandon Morrow.  Read the full recap here.

The Blue Jays rode the shutout pitching of Brandon Morrow, Francisco Cordero and Casey Janssen — plus some timely hitting by non-roster veteran Omar Vizquel, Colby Rasmus and Travis Snider — to their eighth win of the spring, 4-1, over the Orioles on Monday at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Morrow, making his second start of the exhibition season, turned in three more scoreless innings. Morrow has now yielded two hits and faced just 18 batters in five innings of work.

Rasmus doubled down the right-field line with two outs in the second inning, driving in Kelly Johnson with the Blue Jays’ first run. Snider knocked in another with a long single off the right-field fence against Baltimore’s Armando Galarraga in the fourth.

And Vizquel, who is fighting to make the team as a utility infielder, delivered a bases-loaded two-run single to left.

Up next: Left-hander Brett Cecil will make his third start of the spring on Tuesday at 1:05 p.m. ET, when the Blue Jays face the Twins and fellow lefty Francisco Liriano in Fort Myers, Fla., the first of two meetings between the two teams this spring. The game can be heard on Gameday Audio. The Blue Jays will also play Team Canada in their annual exhibition at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg on Tuesday. Hot-hitting Brett Lawrie (.579) will return to the lineup in that game, which will also start at 1:05 ET.

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – March 11, 2012

Published March 11, 2012 Spring Training Game Recaps Leave a Comment
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Brett Lawrie continued his torrid spring with three hits as the Jays rolled over the Atlanta Braves today 9-5, read the full recap here.

Brett Lawrie recorded three hits, while five members of the Blue Jays’ starting lineup drove in one run each in Toronto’s 9-5 victory over the Braves on Sunday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Lawrie and Jose Bautista added to the damage in the fifth with RBI doubles off right-hander Jairo Asencio. It was Bautista’s fourth RBI in his past two games, while Lawrie capped a 3-for-3 day.

 No. 1 starter Ricky Romero got the start for Toronto and allowed just one hit in three scoreless innings. He struck out four while throwing 23 of his 37 pitches for strikes. Romero has yet to surrender a run in five spring innings.

Up next for the Blue Jays: Toronto will host Baltimore on Monday at 1:05 p.m. ET at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium in Dunedin. No. 2 starter Brandon Morrow will make his second start and is expected to be followed by promising prospects Deck McGuire and Drew Hutchison. Casey Janssen, Sergio Santos and Francisco Cordero also will be available.

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – March 10, 2012

Published March 10, 2012 Spring Training Game Recaps Leave a Comment
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Travis Snider hit another homerun, his third of the spring as the Jays defeat the Houston Astro’s today 5-2, read the full recap.

Jose Bautista homered twice while Travis Snider added one of his own in Toronto’s 5-2 victory over the Astros on Saturday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Bautista got the Blue Jays started in the third inning with a deep shot well over the wall in left field. The two-run homer was Bautista’s first of the spring and came off Astros starter Zach Duke.

Snider added to the lead in the fourth with a solo shot that easily cleared the wall in right field and landed on the mesh screen that protects the Blue Jays’ bullpen. It was Snider’s third home run of the spring as he continues to make a strong case for the starting job in left field where he is competing against Eric Thames.

Up next for Blue Jays: The Blue Jays are set to play a pair of split-squad games against the Braves on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. ET. One group will travel to Lake Buena Vista, Fla., with right-hander Kyle Drabek getting his second start of the spring while Joel Carreno, Drew Carpenter, Nelson Figueroa and Jerry Gil are also expected to pitch. In Dunedin, No. 1 starter Ricky Romero will get the call followed by Chad Beck, Jason Frasor, Darren Oliver, Chad Jenkins and Jim Hoey.

Blue Jays Spring Training Pitching Schedule

Published March 10, 2012 Spring Training Leave a Comment
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Gregor Chisholm has outlined how the Jays plan to utilize their spring training pitching schedule per game, here are the next few games:

March 10 vs Astros:

Dustin McGowan (Two innings)
Aaron Laffey (Three innings)
Carlos Villanueva
Francisco Cordero
Casey Janssen
Sergio Santos

March 11 vs Atlanta:

Ricky Romero (Three innings)
Chad Beck
Jason Frasor
Darren Oliver
Chad Jenkins (Three innings)
Jim Hoey

March 11 at Atlanta:

Kyle Drabek (Three innings)
Joel Carreno (Two innings)
Drew Carpenter (One-to-two innings)
Nelson Figueroa (One-to-two innings)
Jerry Gil (One-to-two innings)

March 12 vs Baltimore:

Brandon Morrow (Three innings)
Deck McGuire (Two innings)
Drew Hutchison (Two innings)
Casey Janssen
Sergio Santos
Francisco Cordero

Blue Jays Spring Training Cuts – March 10, 2012

Published March 10, 2012 Spring Training Leave a Comment
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The Blue Jays have made their first round of cuts today reports MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, the first casualties to be assigned to the minor league camp are:

S. Richmond, R. Nanita, B. Jeroloman, B. Bocock and C. Perez.

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – March 9, 2012

Published March 9, 2012 Spring Training Leave a Comment
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The Blue Jays played the Houston Astros where Travis D’Arnaud & Brett Lawrie led the team to a convincing 11-2 victory, read the full recap.

The 22-year-old Lawrie, who came to Toronto 15 months ago from Milwaukee in the trade for pitcher Shaun Marcum, hit .293 in a 43-game taste of the major leagues last summer. He is 8 for 16 with four doubles this spring.

Lawrie drove in his sixth and seventh runs in just six games as the Blue Jays jumped on Houston starter J.A. Happ in the first inning. But his best play might have been tagging up and advancing to second base on a flyball, which enabled him to score on David Cooper’s two-out single.

“He’s got very good instincts inside the game,” Farrell said. “He’s a confident player and he makes very good decisions.”

Cooper drove in three runs with a single and a double while Lawrie, Edwin Encarnacion and Travis d’Arnaud drove in two runs each for the Blue Jays. d’Arnaud and Adeiny Hechavarria homered in a five-run inning off Aneury Rodriguez.

Up next: Dustin McGowan is the odds-on favourite to land the Blue Jays’ No. 5 starting slot after his long and arduous journey back to the big leagues. He’ll make his spring debut Saturday, when Toronto hosts Houston at 1:05 p.m. ET at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Blue Jays Spring Training Recap – March 8th, 2012

Published March 8, 2012 Spring Training Game Recaps Leave a Comment
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The Toronto Blue Jays defeated the New York Yankees 6-1 today in spring training action, read the full recap here.

J.P. Arencibia and Travis Snider each homered as the Blue Jays roughed up right-hander Ivan Nova en route to a 6-1 victory over the Yankees on Thursday afternoon at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

Nova pitched a scoreless first inning but got into trouble in the second. Adam Lind doubled to lead off the frame while third baseman Brett Lawrie followed with an RBI single to account for the game’s first run.

Snider added to the Blue Jays’ lead in the bottom of the sixth inning. His solo shot was his second homer in as many games as he continues to make a strong case in the competition for the starting job in left field against Eric Thames.

Left-hander Brett Cecil got the start for the Blue Jays and didn’t allow a run in two innings of work. Cecil allowed just one hit and issued one walk. Overall, Toronto’s pitching staff limited Alex Rodriguez, Mark Texeira and Raul Ibanez to just one hit in eight at-bats.

Colin Curtis hit a solo homer off Chad Beck in the ninth for the Yankees’ only run of the game.

Up next: Henderson Alvarez will start when the Blue Jays travel to Kissimmee, Fla., to take on the Astros at 1:05 p.m. ET Friday.  Toronto is expected to give most of its regulars a day off because of the long drive following a three-game homestand.

-Jays

Blue Jays Rumour Roundup – March 7, 2012

Published March 7, 2012 Jays Rumours Leave a Comment
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A few links and happenings for the Blue Jays today.

*The Blue Jays signed Dominican outfielder Andres DeAza, reports MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm.  The 17-year-old was passed over in last year’s July 2nd class.

*The Blue Jays signed right-hander Fernando Hernandez, who appeared briefly with the 2008 Athletics. The reliever has a 3.55 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.5 BB/9 in nine minor league seasons.

*Fangraphs has started to release its positional power rankings and here is a quick recap:

-Blue Jays ranked #16 at second base with incumbent starter Kelly Johnson, backup Luis Valbuena and Omar Vizquel as options.  The Boston Red Sox ranked number one with Dustin Pedroia firmly entrenched as the starter in bean town.

-The shortstop rankings with the Jays coming in at #3 with Yunel Escobar.  Number one was the Colorado Rockies with stud Troy Tulowitzki.

-Third base was another area of strength as the Jays ranked #8 with Fangraphs expecting big things from Brett Lawrie.  Number one was Tampa Bay Rays who boast Evan Longoria at the hot corner.

-First base was a weakness as the Jays ranked #20 with Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion.  Number one was interesting with the Cincinnati Reds ranking at the top with Canuck 1B Joey Votto.

-Centre field was a mess, Fangraphs had little respect for the Jays ranking them #28 with Colby Rasmus the starter and Rajai Davis a backup.  That is a little low in my opinion but fair enough considering how awful Rasmus was for most of 2011.  Number one not surprisingly was the AL East powerhouse Boston Red Sox with Jacoby Ellsbury coming off a career year.

I will continue to update as the series progresses.  I think it is safe to say people are sleeping on the Jays lineup a bit when looking at what the experts are projecting, the Jays could have an extremely potent offense this season.  Check out this post for a more detailed look at the lineup and expectations.

-MLB.com has a look at Brandon Morrow attempting to gain more consistency with his offspeed pitches.

-MLB.com also looks at Colby Rasmus, whom the Jays are counting on to rebound strongly in 2012.

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