The 2015 Blue Jays are very different from the 2014 Blue Jays. A total of 25 players that played for Toronto last season is not back with the team this year. A few departed during the season (Esmil Rogers, Erik Kratz, and Neil Wagner, for example) but many left after the season via free agency, waivers, or trades. Thursday Morning Sporcle this week will ask you "where are they now"?

Most of you should know where the main players went, but the more obscure players might be hard, but overall it shouldn't be too hard to get a decent score (you getz one for free!). To play, click the big green "PLAY" button then start entering the team that the former Blue Jay is currently playing for. If you can't get an answer, use your mouse to click the next box to skip ahead.

Show off your score in the comments below. When discussing possible answers be sure to black them out with the "Spoiler Text" function (click the rightmost icon between "Message" and the text box in the comments, or hit Ctrl-F when typing). All comments with an answer without the spoiler box will be hidden by a moderator.

Previous Thursday Morning Sporcle games

• Blue Jays 40-Man Roster on July 15, 2014
• Canadian Blue Jays
• Name the Blue Jays' Johnsons
• Latest Blue Jays Complete Game Shutouts
• Top 10 Blue Jays Prospects for 2010
• 2013 Blue Jays Team Picture (Bonus: 2013 Bisons Team Picture)
• 35+ Home Run Blue Jays

Stats Corner

Here is how you folks did in the "35+ Home Run Blue Jays" game from last week. Pretty normal save a bunch of suckage:

The distribution for the 2013 Blue Jays team picture game was even more normal:

Gregor Chisholm writes that the Blue Jays might go with either a shared closer role (with Brett Cecil and Aaron Sanchez sharing the job) or full out bullpen by committee.

I do get the feeling that the team has already decided that Sanchez will be in the bullpen. I might be wrong but I think they are hoping that Daniel Norris looks good this spring, so that they can put Sanchez in the pen without worry. In the story John Gibbons mentioned how that Sanchez can go more than an inning and that Cecil is pretty much a one inning guy. Gibby tries not to use a reliever two days in a role, so since we are going to have save opportunities almost every game (yeah, we'll have some blow out wins too), having a sharing the closer role make sense. Gibby had the fewest times of using a reliever two days in a row last season.

It seems like Gibby is conflicted on the issue:

During various parts of his media availability Wednesday, manager John Gibbons dismissed the notion of a bullpen-by-committee approach but also talked about the benefits of not having one defined guy in the role.

I like the idea of using the whoever you feel is best for the moment. I also hate the idea of holding back your best reliever for a moment that might not happen.

People often say that relievers like a defined role. I'm not sure that's really true. I know closers say they like a defined role, but then they like racking up the save numbers so they can use the stat in salary negotiations. I'm pretty sure no longman has ever said 'I like defined roles in the bullpen', they would like the chance to show they can handle a more important role in the bullpen.

And then, often the same people, say that closer by committee doesn't work. They'll point out times when the team using closer by committee didn't win the World Series, not realizing that 29 teams don't win every year. Lots of teams with bullpens with defined roles don't win either. People that knocked Moneyball kept saying that Billy Beane's teams haven't won the World Series, but then lots of teams don't win each year.

Other Links:

Espn has a long story on Daniel Norris and his camper. How many of these stories has there been this spring?

FanGraphs' Craig Edwards writes about 'Expected Payroll for MLB Teams'. He says the Blue Jays payroll is the most above expected in the league over the past five seasons, which, by his method doesn't surprise me. I don't think many of us have a problem with the payroll, the problem is more that they won't boost payroll a bit to get that one extra needed piece, especially at trade deadline time.

John Lott tells us thatMarcus Stroman calls Mark Buehrle 'dad'. Not creepy at all. Buehrle is only 35.

Buehrle's always got a close watch on me, man," Stroman said with a grin after his first start of the spring. "He's always got his eye on me, I think a little more on me more so than anyone else because I need it a little more. He's the father of the group, and I love Buehrle, man. I can't say enough good things. I can sit here and talk all day."

And here is a great picture from Jamie Campbell:

Future CF and former CF. @DaltonPompey and Vernon Wells. pic.twitter.com/ehXJuXFUzl

— Jamie Campbell (@SNETCampbell) March 5, 2015

The Blue Jays and their division avian rivals Orioles will battle in the first night game of spring training at the beautifully renovated Ed Smith Stadium down in Sarasota. A night road game in week one means we won't see any top players from the Jays' side, but the Orioles are will be sending out a major league lineup to face Daniel Norris, which is a good thing.

Taxiing along with the starting crew will be Gindl, Kawasaki, Smith Jr., Alford, Diaz, Fox, Hague, Jimenez, Nay, Ochinko, Tolleson, Aquino, Francis, Hynes, Oramas, Burns, Castro, Guilmet, Infante, Jenkins, and Osuna. Maybe I should make a Sporcle game to see if you can type out those players' first names in under three minutes.

The 7 pm game is viewable at MLB.tv (subscribers only) and it's audible on the Fan590 and online.

Generally, I'd mention something about the rules here but since Tom is away and it's a spring game, I won't. Doesn't mean you won't be banned without warning, though.

GO JAYS GO!

It's a little cold and snowy outside in the Baltimore area, but you'll have some Orioles on MASN to warm you up tonight. They take on the Blue Jays in the first live, televised O's game of 2015.

After a long winter that, if the amount of snow I shoveled today is any indication, is not quite gone yet, Gary Thorne and Jim Palmer return to our TV sets for the night half of an Orioles split squad day. They'll be taking on the Blue Jays in the first live MASN O's game of the year. We could all use some warm thoughts.

As it is a home spring game, we can look forward to seeing at least a few innings of many of the regular players. Miguel Gonzalez is going to pitch a couple of innings to start out the game. We've yet to see Bud Norris or Chris Tillman in spring. This is not a coincidence, as it seems Buck Showalter wants to give just that little extra bit of rest to his starters who were going strong all year into the ALCS. Everyone who makes it that far into the postseason does get a couple weeks less to rest.

This game is one of only two spring games that will start at the standard civilized baseball starting time of 7:05pm Eastern. Enjoy it while it lasts!

It's only March 5, so let's not get too excited about the Orioles beating the Blue Jays 5-0, with Chris Davis and Jonathan Schoop homering. But start saving for that postseason ticket deposit just in case.

With snow coating all over the Baltimore area, an Orioles game on MASN was just the thing on Thursday night. Gary Thorne greeted fans appropriately in his opening, telling everyone to turn on a light, grab a lemonade, sit back and enjoy the game.

The O's made sure that it was an enjoyable game for the snow-bound fans back at home. Let's not overreact based on one spring training game or anything, but both Chris Davis and Jonathan Schoop homered against the Blue Jays in a 5-0 win to even up their Grapefruit League record to 2-2. The game also featured an Adam Jones walk. You can basically start printing those playoff tickets now.

As with all things spring training, there's not so much meaning to draw from any one game or even from the entirety of the spring training season. Everyone is getting back up to speed. Hitters are getting used to seeing pitches again. Pitchers are stretching themselves out for the season's workload. People might be working on things.

The team that is on the road is generally going to have a lesser-tier lineup because they don't make all of the regulars go on the road. In the Blue Jays case, a lot of their players were ex-Orioles. Names like Jake Fox, Steve Tolleson, Danny Valencia, Preston Guilmet, and Chris Dickerson popped in to the box score.

By the time the game gets into late innings, it's likely that either the hitters or the pitchers, if not both, are players who will not be factoring in to the major league team this year. But no one got hurt and the O's looked good on both sides of the game throughout the whole contest, so that's better than nothing, surely.

For the O's, Miguel Gonzalez looked good in tossing a couple of scoreless innings to start things out. Probable bullpen members Brian Matusz, Darren O'Day, Zach Britton, Tommy Hunter, and Brad Brach all threw a scoreless inning as well. O'Day struck out the side, while Hunter got two strikeouts with one walk allowed. Chris Jones and converted shortstop Mychal Givens also each tossed an inning.

Then there were the dingers. Everyone loves dingers. Manny Machado and Adam Jones each singled to get on ahead of Davis, then Jays pitcher Chad Jenkins tried to get Davis to swing over a pitch. Instead, Davis went down and drove the pitch the way you'd like to see him drive a pitch. With the benefit of the sound on the TV you could just hear the crack of the bat and there was no doubt that it would be gone, far over the fence in right center field. The Orioles led 3-0.

That was all that they would need. Just for fun, they added a couple more in the seventh inning. With pinch runner Mike Yastrzemski on first, Schoop drove a ball a long way but foul. The next pitch he got things straightened just enough to land the pitch in the left field seats. He is a strong dude.

Machado added two hits in the game. This is another fact that is not overly significant, but it's better to see him looking comfortable than not.

The O's will be heading to the Jays spring training site for a game tomorrow afternoon. Even in Florida, their games have the weird start time of 1:07. Don't expect many who started tonight's game to make the trip. The game will not be on either radio or TV in the Baltimore area, but if you're an MLB Gameday Audio subscriber you should be able to listen to the game.

Time to stop all the talk about who will spell Michael Saunders in left field until he's ready to return to the Blue Jays lineup. The former Mariner seems to have surprised just about everyone this morning stating his intention to be ready for Opening Day which is about three months early than the initial prognosis. That announcement is certainly good news for the team regardless of how many home runs Kevin Pillar hits in Spring Training.

If you'll recall, about a week and a half ago it was reported that the British Columbia native had seriously tore the meniscus in his knee after stepping on an underground sprinkler soft spot at the Blue Jays complex in Dunedin. Some good and bad news followed shortly after as apparently Saunders elected to just have the meniscus removed during surgery which greatly reduces recovery time, while also increasing the risk of arthritis later on in life. The news gets even better with Saunders thinking he can make it back to the team without missing any regular season time at all, although it may be just an overly-optimistic outlook.

Arden Zwelling provided us with the great Friday morning tidbit:

Michael Saunders update! He played catch yesterday, got up to 80-90 feet, felt great. Today hoping to take some swings off a tee. #BlueJays

— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) March 6, 2015

Saunders is hoping to be ready for opening day in NY. Feels confident about it. Knee has responded to everything very well so far. #BlueJays

— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) March 6, 2015

Saunders has been standing in with live pitchers during their bullpens to keep his timing and eyes fresh. Working to limit rust. #BlueJays

— Arden Zwelling (@ArdenZwelling) March 6, 2015

A lot of talk around these parts has gone towards why there is such a discrepancy between recovering time for athletes returning from meniscus injuries and it mainly boils down to the fact that undergoing a meniscectomy, a removal of the meniscus, has a much quicker recovery time than a knee that has its meniscus only repaired. That's why Victor Martinez is also planning to be back in April after going down to a similar injury a short time ago and subsequently having a meniscectomy.

For the Blue Jays this can't be seen as anything but good news as their left field position is still paper-thin with Kevin Pillar projecting much better as a fourth outfielder than an out-and-out starter in April. The Saunders news will only serve to make the competition with Pillar for the final outfield roster spot more fierce with Andy Dirks soon returning from injury as well as Ezequiel Carrera making a push to crack the team.

Fans of the Jays can only hope that Saunders is able to return to full health in early-April and is able to stay injury-free during the season, which is something he's never really been able to do during his career. The most games he's ever played during one year is 139, with most of his seasons coming well short of that figure. This injury scare could be seen as a warning shot at the front office, who appeared to be lacking any real answer on how an absence of Saunders would be handled by the current players in the organization. Thankfully we may never have to know the answer.

Last night, the Orioles regulars beat the Blue Jays reserves. This afternoon, it will be Orioles reserves against Blue Jays regulars. Mike Wright will open up the game on the mound for the O's.

Even when they're in Florida and they aren't on TV, the Blue Jays have games start at the weird time of :07 after the hour. What is this about? I often wonder. Truth in advertising, perhaps, because most O's games actually have first pitch at 7:07 or 7:08 even though the schedule is 7:05.

The Orioles beat the Blue Jays last night, but that was a different bunch of Orioles and Blue Jays. Now the shoe is on the other foot, with mostly Orioles reserves and Blue Jays starters. Well, some Blue Jays starters. I don't know that Chris Colabello will be starting for them much in the regular season.

Mike Wright is your starting pitcher for the Orioles, with others in the bullpen including Ryan Webb, Steve Johnson, Logan Verrett, Oliver Drake, Eddie Gamboa, and Tim Berry.

It wasn't the Orioles' day in rainy Dunedin on Friday afternoon. They fell to the Blue Jays, 5-4, after an eighth-inning Steve Johnson throwing error plated the go-ahead run for the Jays.

Good teams can have bad spring trainings and bad teams can have good ones. That's the kind of stuff you want to tell yourself after the Orioles lose to the Blue Jays by a 5-4 margin. A game like this in the regular season, lost after a late throwing error by Steve Johnson on a ball that might have been a double play ball and instead scored the go-ahead run, would have brought about a lot of rage. Since it's the Grapefruit League, whatever.

The true most important goal for spring training is for no one to get hurt. That's especially true on a day where the game's start was delayed by nearly two hours due to rain in Dunedin. Nobody slip on a wet field! Five games in to the schedule, the Orioles are successful in this way. Knock on wood. I just did, don't worry.

Otherwise a good result is nice, but how many games in the regular season do you think will have the trio of Chris Parmelee, J.P. Arencibia, and Jayson Nix all in the starting lineup? Even if it was the full team of regulars, it's a month away from Opening Day, and it wasn't the full team of regulars.

The O's faced an early hole in Friday's game. In the second inning, Mike Wright allowed a home run to 2014's April and May darling, Chris Colabello. Kevin Pillar was on base ahead of him. The Blue Jays led 2-0 after two. In Wright's couple of innings of work, he gave up two runs on four hits, including the homer, and struck out two. At least he didn't walk anybody.

Another O's minor league pitcher, Tim Berry, came into the game in the third. Berry did walk people, and also hit a batter. That is a rough inning. The hit batsman came with the bases loaded and brought the third Jays run of the game across the plate.

Orioles batters went hitless for the first four innings of the game. Two of these were pitched by knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, while the other two were pitched by Drew Hutchison, who at times seems like his MLB career might be singlehandedly prolonged by his dominance of the Orioles. Even in spring they do nothing against him.

The O's got on board in the fifth inning against Liam Hendriks with a little rally of their own. David Lough walked with one out and was driven home by Ryan Flaherty. In the box score it was only a two-out single for Flaherty but somehow Lough scored. That's actually ridiculous. Maybe that's one of those spring training GameDay glitches. At any rate, Flaherty was still on base for a home run off the bat of Alejandro De Aza, tying the game up for the moment.

It was the O's who broke the tie the next inning. Two consecutive singles to lead off the inning by Parmelee and Travis Snider ended up giving the O's men on first and third with only one out. Urrutia drove in Parmelee from third with a sacrifice fly. Sure, they might have gotten more, but get the man in from third with less than two out and you've done your job.

That lead did not last for long. An RBI triple off the bat of Ryan Goins scored Dwight Smith in the bottom of the sixth. Whenever you see a triple in the box score you have to wonder if something weird happened. Maybe Goins is just fast. Nothing to do but wonder since the game was not televised.

It was something of a tough luck run against Logan Verrett as the first runner only reached base on an infield single. That's life. Verrett tossed two innings on the day and has now allowed just this one run in four spring innings. Not a bad beginning of an audition for the Rule 5 pick. In the inning where he allowed the run, he also struck out three batters.

The score after this was 4-4. The tie held until the bottom of the eighth. Steve Johnson, making his spring debut, walked Dickerson to lead off the inning. Smith then hit a single to left field. The left fielder at this moment was Jimmy Paredes, which is another thing that will probably not often occur in the regular season.

Might a real outfielder have caught it? Perhaps. You still have to make the play in response. Johnson got what may have been a double play ball from Devon Travis, but after a double clutch he threw the ball away, allowing Dickerson to score and not getting any outs. This play put the O's down 5-4 and since it came in the bottom of the eighth they were already down to their final three outs.

They did not threaten much in the ninth, with one lone hit coming on a single by Glynn Davis. I mention Davis mostly because he is a perennial favorite of mine since he, like me, attended the Community College of Baltimore County in Catonsville. Sometimes minor leaguers who don't have big league camp invites get brought along for the ride on spring road trips. He got into this game and got a hit.

Sure, it's not the big leagues yet, but it's still got to be cool, especially for a local kid, to get a hit while wearing a real Orioles uniform.

Next up for the O's is another division opponent on Saturday afternoon. The Red Sox are coming in to Sarasota for a 1:05 game. That probably means so are their fans. The game will not be televised but it will be on the radio on 105.7 FM if you are able to listen to it.

Orioles 4 Blue Jays 5

The interesting thing about today's game was R.A. Dickey throwing to Russell Martin. Dickey was good, 2 innings, first inning he struck out 3, including Travis Snider, allowing one walk. In his second inning he got J.P. Arencibia to pop up (on a 3-1 pitch), then a ground out and a fly out. It sounded like Martin didn't have too much trouble catching his pitches. He did have a few pitches clank off his glove, but that's going to happen.

After R.A. left the game, Drew Hutchison came in and pitched 2 more hittless innings, allowing just 1 walk. He did give up some deep flies but they stayed in the park.

Liam Hendricks had a tough inning, giving up a single, a walk and then a 3-run homer to Alejandro De Aza, not a good showing but there was little chance he'd make the team out of spring training. Aaron Loup allowed a run on 2 hits in his inning.

Scott Copeland, Greg Burke and Juan Pablo Oramas each pitched a scoreless inning.

On offense:

• Chris Colabello hit a 2 run homer in the 2nd inning. He went 2 for 3 with a strikeout.
• Jose Reyes: 1 for 3 with a strikeout.
• Martin: 0 for 1 with 2 walks.
• Edwin Encarnacion: 0 for 3 with a k.
• Daric Barton: 0 for 2, 1 k.
• Josh Donaldson: 1 for 3.
• Dioner Navarro: 1 for 2 with a walk.
• Kevin Pillar: 0 for 4.
• Ramon Santiago: 1 for 2.
• Devon Travis: 0 for 2 with a strikeout and a double play. Still looking for his first spring hit.
• Ryan Goins: 1 for 2 with a triple and a k.
• Caleb Gindl was hit by pitch, with the bases loaded to drive in a run.

The Jays are now 2-2 on the spring.

Tommorow, at 1:00 Eastern, the Jays make the very short drive to Clearwater to play the Phillies, at a really pretty park.

A lot of commentary about beards.

Last Thursday, our Sporcle quiz asked you where former Blue Jays in 2014 have landed this season. We took several of those players and compared their official photo day portrait from last year with the Blue Jays to the one taken earlier this week with their new teams. To play with the sliders, simply hover your mouse over each picture and move it left and right to shift between the two photo, or use a finger on a touch-screen device.

Melky Cabrera

Photo credits: left - Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports; right - Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Melky Carbera may now be with the White Sox, but he still proudly places a red maple leaf on the knob of his bat.

Anthony Gose

Photo credits: left - Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports; right - Brian Blanco/Getty Images

Anthony Gose learned that no facial hair is better than weird whispy facial hair.

Brandon Morrow

Photo credits: left - Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports; right - Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

It doesn't look like Brandon Morrow has changed much, except filling out his beard a bit.

Brett Lawrie

Photo credits: left - Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports; right - Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Other than a little bit more ink on his right wrist, and some extra hair around his mouth, the two Photo Day portraits of Brett Lawrie is creepily alike.

Sean Nolin

Photo credits: left - Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports; right - Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Sean Nolin lost some weight, but gained a new beard on his face.

Colby Rasmus

Photo credits: left - Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports; right - Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

That's some good flow on the back of Colby Rasmus's head this year.

Casey Janssen

Photo credits: left - Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports; right - Brad Barr-USA TODAY Sports

Maybe it's the stubble but Casey Janssen looks like he has aged five years since last year.

Dustin McGowan

Photo credits: left - Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports; right - Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Dustin McGowan trimmed some of his chin hair from last year and pasted it to the rest of his face. I miss the muttonchops.

Sergio Santos

Photo credits: left - Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports; right - Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Whoa. This is the first time I noticed that Sergio Santos's ears are folded over at the top.

J.A. Happ

Photo credits: left - Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports; right - Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

New team, new glove for J.A. Happ. He isn't smiling in either photo, but he did at least once since going to Seattle.

Adam Lind

Photo credits: left - Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports; right - Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Umpires will no longer be able to use Adam Lind's beard to brush home plate this year. Also: notice that the Brewers' cap has the player's number on the underbrim.

BONUS CONTENT: The Aging of John Gibbons (2003–2015)

Photo credits: left -  Ezra Shaw/Getty Images; right - Rob Carr/Getty Images

It's been a hard 12 years.

The game is on MLB.tv today, from Clearwater, Florida.

Even though it is a road game, we have a number of regulars in our lineup, mostly because Clearwater is about a 20 minute drive from Dunedin (though in rush hour traffic, it won't be much longer).

In Blue Jays news, Brett Cecil has shoulder inflammation and will be down for a week.

It could be worse, Yu Darvish might be headed to Tommy John surgery.

I've got a busy weekend going, I'm going to try to watch some of the game but I'll be in and out a lot.

Jays lineup:

Blue Jays 4 Phillies 2

Lots of good pitching for the Jays today. We didn't give up runs until the 9th.

Mark Buehrle allowed two hits, one off his foot, in his 2 innings. Marco Estrado followed with 2 innings of hitless ball, getting a strikeout. Estrada looked pretty good.

Miguel Castro, Wilton Lopez and Steve Delabar followed with impressive innings. Delabar did allow a single, but he had 2 strikeouts and was throwing a mid-90's fastball. Castro looked particularly good.

Kyle Drabek didn't look as impressive, but he pitched around a leadoff walk and an error to give us a scoreless inning. He bounced a few pitches. We'll see, maybe he'll look better as camp goes along, but I don't see him making the team.

We did have trouble in the 9th.Jayson Aquino allowed a double and a single to start the inning. Gibby brought in Ryan Tepera (did wonder why the quick hook). Ryan got Russ Canzler to strike out, got a ground out from Carlos Ruiz that scored a run, then Brian Bogusevic doubled in another run, but Chris Nelson ground out to end the game. Save for Tepera.

On offense:

• In the second Justin Smoak was hit by pitch to start the inning, Dalton Pompey singled. After Dayan Viciedo hit into a double play, Kevin Pillar singled in Smoak.
• In the 4th Josh Donaldson had a solo home run, that went a mile.
• In the 7th Dayan Viciedo led off with a double, and Caleb Gindl drove him in with another double. Dayan moved to moved to third on Devon Travis' ground out and Matt Hague drove him home with a single.

Of note:

• Devon Travis had his first hit of the spring.
• Daric Barton was 0 for 3. He's 1 for 8 with 2 walks this spring.
• Russell Martin was 1 for 3.
• Justin Smoak was 0 for 3, with a k, he's looking for his first hit still.
• Ryan Goins was 0 for 2 with a k. He's 3 for 9 this spring.

Tomorrow's game is on Sportsnet Ontario.

I hope you all remembered to change your clocks. I don't know why we still change our clocks, why not choose one, Daylight Savings Time or Standard Time. Vox.com agrees.

Anyway, today's game is on Sportsnet and MLB.tv. I'm not going to be able to watch much of it, We have a birthday party going on at our house, so I don't think my wife going to let me sneak away and watch the game.

The good news is that Jose Bautista is back in the lineup. Being a home game, Gibby is using a lot of his regulars. Aaron Sanchez gets the start and, likely, the first 2 or 3 innings.

In one game the Astros scored 14 runs in winning effort, and in the other the Astros were no-hit but managed to salvage a tie.

The Astros had their first split squad games on Sunday. A.J. Hinch headed to Joker Marchant Stadium to face the Tigers, while Trey Hillman lead the Astros against the Braves at home base - Osceola County Stadium. In one game, the Astros scored at least one run in all but one inning. In the other, they were no-hit but still managed to salvage a 2-2 tie.

In Lakeland, FL, the bats were hot for the Astros. Every player recorded a hit (or reached base with a walk, looking at you Andrew Aplin) in the game except Gregorio Petit and Ruben Sosa. Which means both will be cut today, kidding. Robbie Grossman (2-3, 2 R, 1 RBI), Evan Gattis (2-3, 2 RBI, 1 BB), Jon Singleton (2-3, 2 R, 2 2B), and Jake Marisnick (2-4, 3 RBI, 1 BB) lead the charge on offense for the Astros.

Among the reserves that saw action, Matt Duffy popped a slow home run. Jonathan Villar after getting picked off as a pinch runner, smacked a triple in his two at-bats. Brent Phillips went 1-2 with an RBI.

Dan Straily was the first starting pitcher to struggle out of the gate, giving up two runs on four hits over two innings. Brad Rodgers relieved Straily and gave up four earned runs over 1.2 innings. Rodgers has allowed six earned runs over 2.1 innings of work this spring. The three pitchers outside of Straily that are likely to see major league action didn't give up an earned run over 3.1 innings of work, Jake Buchanan, Joe Thatcher, and Kevin Chapman.  Luis Cruz's only blemish in two innings of work was a solo home run to Jason Krizan.

I couldn't complete a recap of this game without mentioning George Springer and Carlos Correa. Springer was 1-for-2 with two walks and scored two runs. Correa was 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. The Astros finished off J.D. Martinez and the Tigers 14-9.

As previously mentioned the Astros were no-hit by the Braves staff in the second split squad game. It clearly the work of Bo Porter's voodoo magic. Porter returned to face his former team as the Braves' third base coach.

Colby Rasmus, Chris Carter, and Dan Johnson all collected two walks in the game. The Astros two runs came in the seventh, Matt Dominguez and L.J. Hoes leadoff the inning with walks. Alex Presley loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch. Ronald Torreyes and Nolan Fontana drove home a run each with ground outs.

Scott Feldman and Jason Stoffel both gave up a run each in two innings of work. Pat Neshek saw his first Spring Training action, pitching a scoreless third inning.

The Astros play the Blue Jays Split Squad today, Collin McHugh the mound at 12:07 PM CT.

Is there a rift in the Blue Jays' clubhouse? Yes, at least for today: the team will be split into two to play two Grapefruit League games today, with one staying in Dunedin to face the Houston Astros, while the other will be going off on an hour-long bus ride to Lakeland to face the Tigers.

Colby Rasmus will not be travelling to Dunedin to meet his old pals, and Drew Hutchison will not be travelling to Lakeland to visit his old stomping grounds. However, Asher Wojciechowski is on the Astros' travelling squad.

Here is the lineup for the Blue Jays-Astros game in Dunedin (via the Astros and Barry Davis), which is the one that will be called by Mike Wilner and Joe Siddall.

UPDATE: Chris Dickerson enters the starting lineup after Dayan Viciedo was scratched for a yet-unknown reason.

Dayan Viciedo scratched. Chris Dickerson replaces him, playing LF and batting third. #BlueJays#MLB#Astros

— Scott MacArthur (@TSNScottyMac) March 9, 2015

Mike Wilner provides us with the list of the Jays who will be going to Lakeland (not Kissimmee as he claims in the tweet). Jose Bautista and Dalton Pompey drew the short straws and will be on the bus trip.  John Gibbons will be making the trip so the Dunedin game will likely be managed by DeMarlo Hale. The lineup for that game has not been announced yet.

#Bluejays have split their squad today. Here's the list of guys on their way to Kissimmee. #Jays#Astrospic.twitter.com/4hBovlVugW

— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) March 9, 2015

UPDATE: Here's the lineup for the Lakeland game.

Our SS lineup vs DET in Lakeland: Carrera-LF Pompey-CF Bautista-DH Navarro-C Gindl-RF Barton-1B Santiago-SS Travis-2B Kawasaki-3B Norris-P

— Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 9, 2015

After the split squad game today the Blue Jays will #ComeTogether again to face the Twins in Dunedin on Tuesday.

I have not had a chance to read through it yet, but FanGraphs just put out a Blue Jays prospect evaluation post right here. Take a look at it before the games begin!

GO JAYS GO!

Join the conversation as the Astros take on the Blue Jays in Dunedin.

Houston Astros (2-2-1) at Toronto Blue Jays (3-3), 12:07 p.m. (CST)

Radio: KBME 790 AM (Delay), MLB.com At Bat
Blue Jays SBNation Blog: Bluebird Banter

Pitching matchup

RHP Collin McHugh (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.50 WHIP) vs. RHP Marcus Stroman (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 1.20 WHIP)

Lineups

#Astros travel roster and starting lineup at Toronto. @collin_mchugh makes his second #AstrosST start. pic.twitter.com/A2PzrC4rPU

— Houston Astros (@astros) March 9, 2015

Here's how we line up at 1:07 ET in a split squad game vs the Astros in Dunedin: http://t.co/n1IGclIddLpic.twitter.com/hYEmfK1nUA

— Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 9, 2015

Collin McHugh and Asher Wojciechowski each pitched three scoreless innings in Astros.

A day after an Astros split squad team scored 14 runs in one game, Houston scored only one run. That was enough for the Astros pitching staff on Monday.

Collin McHugh made his second start of Spring Training, he scattered three hits while striking out three over three innings of scoreless work. The only threat of offense from the Jays was Jose Reyes leading off the game with a double. McHugh retired the next three batters in order including Russell Martin and Justin Smoak to end the inning. Roberto Hernandez made his Astros debut in the fourth. Hernandez worked himself into a jam by loading the bases with two outs with a hit-by-pitch and two walks to Reyes and Martin. But the artist formerly known as Fausto Carmona (promise it's the last time I use it. Have to work the bad habits out in Spring Training) prevented any runs from scoring a with a groundout by Chris Dickerson.

Asher Wojciechowski pitched three scoreless inning of his own - 3 IP, 2 H, 3 SO. Wojo has now pitched in five innings this Spring Training, allowing just five hits and one walk. Will Harris closed out the ninth with an uneventful inning - three up, three down.  Harris has pitched in 2.2 innings of work in Spring, giving up 2 hits, zero walks, and zero runs. Of course all of these stats can be taken with a grain of salt, it is Spring Training after all. Still, it's good start all around and that's the least you could ask.

As for the offense, Robbie Grossman continued his hot streak leading off the game with a single. He would end up being 1-for-2 with a walk on the day. Chris Carter picked up two more walks yesterday to push his total to four in nine at-bats. Jon Singleton went 2-for-3 with a double - his fourth of Spring Training. Jake Marisnick drove home the Astros' lone run with single to score L.J. Hoes who had pinch run for Evan Gattis.

On the flipside, Hank Conger left six runners on base during his 0-for-3 day. Jonathan Villar was 0-for--2 with two strikeouts. Carlos Correa was 0-for-2 for the day subbing in Gregorio Petit.

Astros took home the 1-0 victory, they now play Cardinals at home in Kissimmee in FL.

Spring is the time for injury news. This time it is Edwin Encarnacion and Dioner Navarro who will be missing a few games.

Edwin Encarnacion is going to miss a few games with a sore back. He had an MRI:

John Gibbons says Encarnacion's MRI showed inflammation. He's down 4-5 days and then will have to build toward games. #BlueJays#MLB

— Scott MacArthur (@TSNScottyMac) March 10, 2015

It's good that it is nothing serious and good that it is in March, not the middle of the season. What is it with first basemen and back pain? Adam Lind is out with a bad back too, leaving the Brewers scrambling to find someone else to play first, though, you would think that if you are planning to use Lind at first, you would have a backup plan ready.

It seems like karma is punishing Adam for complaining about the Blue Jays medical staff.

I hope Edwin isn't out any longer than a week or so, he seems to be one that needs a little while to get his timing down at the start of a season.

And Dioner Navarro will be out for a couple of days too:

Navarro tweaked his knee yesterday but it's supposed to be minor. Might miss a couple of days. #BlueJays

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) March 10, 2015

Right after Bob Elliot wrote about the Tigers and the Diamondbacks having interest in trading for him. If Dioner wants to be traded, he's going to have to show better defense. He's had an error on a throw, a passed ball and had a player steal third because he lobbed a throw back to the pitcher.

It isn't all bad news on the Blue Jays injury front:

Good news for both Cecil and Saunders. Cecil will play catch and Saunders will take live BP with a coach throwing. #Bluejays

— Barry Davis (@SNBarryDavis) March 10, 2015

I sounds like Saunders could be back soon after the start of the season.

In other links, Ben Nicholson-Smith has a quick profile of Roberto Osuna and Miguel Castro.

And, if you were wondering about today's lineup, here it is:

Here’s how we line up at 1:07 ET vs the Twins in Dunedin: http://t.co/uooGKj59mupic.twitter.com/gpvAFkONF9

— Blue Jays (@BlueJays) March 10, 2015

Although Matt West had already chopped off his majestic locks by the time he was claimed on waivers by the Blue Jays this winter, he still brings to Toronto three big assets: a 95 mph fastball, a power curveball, and an remaining minor league option. Ideally, West would stand out in camp and make the roster, but if he doesn't the option allows the Jays to send him down to the minor leagues without exposing him to waivers.

What we often read from sportswriters (or hear from sportscasters on the radio or television) is that players "have three options." What they mean is that a player who has been added to a major league 40-man roster can be sent down to a minor league team in three separate seasons without being eligible to be picked by the 29 other teams on waivers. The time players spend in the minor leagues while being on the 40-man roster is referred to as serving an "optional assignment." (Note that there are no set limit to the number of times someone can be sent down or called up during an option year; players like Mike McCoy and Chad Jenkins know that well.)

The reason why I am writing this post is that there is something that stands out about West's situation: he has already been optioned in three separate seasons. According to the rule outlined above, that should mean that West should be "out of options," but of course there is a rare exception to the rule that gives some players a fourth option year.

Matt West is one of those players. You can just accept that as a fact and go back to your life, or you can venture further and find out exactly why.

For The Brave

Let us turn to the exception clause of Major League Rule 11(c), which reads:

EXCEPTION: Contracts of Major League players who, prior to commencement of the current season, have been credited with less than five seasons in the Major and Minor Leagues [...] shall be eligible for a fourth optional assignment [...] 90 days or more on the Active List during a championship season shall constitute a "season of service." While time spent on any Inactive List shall not be counted toward the 90 days required before a season's service is credited, if a player is placed on the Disabled List after the player has been credited with 60 or more days of service in any particular season, the Disabled List time shall be counted to the player's credit.

In short, players must spend at least 90 days active on a roster in a calendar year to be credited with a professional season, unless he gets placed on the disabled list after accruing 60 days of service. That means that players who spend an entire season in a short-season league, which runs from mid-June to early September, do not get credit for a pro season. Players with up to four pro seasons of service, who have already run out of their three option years, will get a fourth option year.

Let's take a look at Matt West's career transactions (via Rangers.com, Baseball-Reference, and Pro Sports Transactions):

• 2007-06-07: Drafted by the Texas Rangers as a third baseman
• 2007-06-19: Signed
• 2007: Assigned to the Arizona League Rangers (Rookie, short season)
• 2008: Assigned to the Spokane Indians (short season-A)
• 2009: Assigned to the Hickory Crawdads (single-A, full season); completed PROFESSIONAL SEASON 1
• 2010: Assigned to the Hickory Crawdads (single-A, full season); completed PROFESSIONAL SEASON 2
• Became a pitcher between the 2010 and 2011 seasons
• 2011-06-18: Assigned to the Spokane Indians (short season-A)
• 2011-09-05: Assigned to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (A-advanced, full season)
• 2011-11-18: Contract selected, added to major league 40-man roster
• 2012-03-03: Sprained UCL in spring training, decides to rehab elbow instead of surgery, later proves Adam J. Morris's cynicism was well-placed
• 2012-03-15: Optioned to the minor leagues; on inactive list. [OPTION 1]
• 2012-06-17: Activated and assigned to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans (A-advanced, full season)
• 2012-08-12: Aggravated UCL injury. Has Tommy John surgery on 2012-08-22.
• 2012: Completed PROFESSIONAL SEASON 3 (completed at least 60 active days before injury)
• 2013-03-06: Optioned to the minor leagues; on inactive list. [OPTION 2]
• 2013-08-20: Recalled from the minors, immediately placed on 60-day disabled list
• 2013-08-27: Assigned to the Arizona League Rangers (Rookie, short season) for a rehab stint
• 2014-03-07: Optioned to the minor leagues. [OPTION 3]
• 2014-04-04: Assigned to the Frisco RoughRiders (double-A, full season)
• 2014-05-04: Assigned to the Round Rock Express (triple-A, full season)
• 2014-07-10: Recalled from the minor leagues, makes major league debut
• 2014-07-21: Optioned to the minor leagues
• 2014-09-26: Recalled, not-to-report; completed PROFESSIONAL SEASON 4
• 2015-01-05: Designated for assignment
• 2015-01-14: Claimed on outright waivers by the Blue Jays

So we can see that West has gone through three option years (in 2012, 2013, and 2014) in just four professional seasons (2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014), thus by Rule 11(c), he is eligible to be optioned for a fourth year in 2015. After this season, he will have completed five professional years which means that his fourth option cannot be "carried forward" into 2016 unless he fails to stay active for the requisite number of days.

West nearly avoided this whole fourth option year business because he was very close to gaining a professional season in 2012. He accrued 56 days of active service for the Pelicans before going on the disabled list with 25 days remaining in the season. If he had gotten back from his first rehab stint just five days earlier, he would've gotten 61 days of active service plus 30 days on the disabled list, giving him the 90 he needed.

On the other hand, the Rangers could have "saved" an option year by putting West on the major league 60-day DL at the beginning of 2013 instead of optioning him down to the minors and letting him serve on a minor league DL. However, his second UCL injury happened in the minor leagues, and as we saw from Neil Wagner's case last season, teams generally would trade an option and a roster spot for the large salary difference and major league service time that West would've accrued on the 60-day DL. (Especially how, by that time, the Rangers would've figured out that a fourth option year was very likely.) He was eventually placed on the 60-day DL in August when Texas needed a roster spot for Travis Blackley.

TL;DR

Matt West can be optioned for a fourth season in 2015 only because of an exception in the rules, and that is why he has a "Yes" in the "Opt 4" column of MjwW's fantastic table that lists all the Blue Jays' option and outright statuses. His fourth option likely cannot be carried forward into 2016.

Another chance for Russell to catch Dickey, which will be the reason to listen to this game. I wish we could watch it, I don't trust Mike Wilner and Joe Siddall to be honest about how well Martin is doing. They seem to have the idea that only Thole can catch R.A. I'm not sure if the exaggerate the troubles Russell  might have or not, so I'd just like to see it with my own eyes. People other than Thole have caught knuckleballs before.

Beyond that, I'd like to see Travis make some hard contact, he had a couple of hits yesterday.

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