We turn the page on the calendar, I hope our pitchers can turn the page too.

It was kind of a month in two acts. First act ended about April 22, we beat the Orioles 9-3, pushing our record to 11-9, just a game out of first. Our bats seemed to be coming around.  The rotation hadn't been good, but all-in-all things weren't too bad. Since then, 3 wins and 6 losses and the bullpen has been awful. As bad as it has been, it's only 9 games and all teams will have a 3 and 6 run at some point. But we are conditioned to think that all bad stretches will continue for months, because sometimes they have.

For the month the starting pitchers were 9-9 with a 4.41 ERA, 147 innings in 27 games, averaging 5.4 innings per game.  Batters hit .259/.341/.417 against them.  They gave up 3.8 walks/9 and had 7.7 strikeouts/9.

R.A. Dickey: 2-3, 5.09 ERA in 6 starts. 35.1 innings (5.9 per start). He had 2 good starts, one ok start and 3 bad ones. Batters hit .252/.350/.400 against him. 4.6 walk/9. 7.6 k/9. A lot has been made of how he is best early in the game. Batters hit .184/.259/.265 there first at bat against him. .213/.296/.319 second. .389/.522/.667 the third time.  I do think he is tiring quickly, and I don't think Gibbons is noticing when he tires. There seems to be this idea that knuckleball pitchers never tire, but they do. We have to hope he does better as the season goes on, it worked that way last year.

Mark Buehrle: 4-1, 2.16 ERA in 5 starts. 33.1 innings (6.7 per start). He had 4 good starts (very good starts) and one bad one. Batters hit .268/.319/.390 against him. 2.2 walks/9, 5.1 k. He's making good use of his defense. I thought he was hurt by our awful defense at the start of last season, and improved as the defense improved. This year, the defense has been good from the start. He does really need the plays made behind him. He struck out 11 in his first start, just 8 in the 4 starts since, a 2.9 k/9 rate. I don't think anyone else in baseball could be successful like that. I'm not sure he can continue to be successful like that.

Drew Hutchison: 1-2, 3.82 ERA in 6 starts. 33 innings (5.5 per start). He 5 pretty good starts and 1 bad one. His record has been hurt by poor run support and poor support by the bullpen. Batters hit .254/.312/.421 against him. 2.7 walks/9. 10.4 k/9. He went 7 innings last night, I'm hoping he can keep pitching late into games, now that he's had a few starts to build up his arm. He threw 102 pitching on the 24th, his high mark for the month. You have to like the strikeout to walk rate. I'm hoping the bullpen stops ruining his starts soon.

Dustin McGowan: 1-1, 5.87 ERA in 5 starts. 23 inning. (4.6 per start). He had 1 good start, 1 ok start and 3 bad ones. Batters hit .290/.377/.462 against him. He's had 3.9 walks and 5.9 strikeouts per 9. The strikeout rate worries me. Strangely, he's been worse against RHB (.316/.350/.553) than lefties (.273/.394/.400), but then lousy against both. He threw 92 pitches in his last start, so he'd getting there, but he's going to have to go deeper into games or he'll be replaced in the rotation. He doesn't seem to have a fan in Gibby.

Brandon Morrow: 1-2, 6.04 ERA in 5 starts. 22.1 innings (4.5 innings per start). He really hasn't had a very good start yet. His best start, he went 6 innings, allowing 5 hits, 3 earned, 1 walk with 9 strikeouts.  Batters hit .232/.357/.427 against him. He's walked 6.4 and struck out 9.7 per 9 innings. The good news is that he isn't giving up hits. The bad news is that when he does get hit, he gets hit hard. 9 of the 19 hits against him have been extra base hits, including 2 homers and 3 triples.  He's thrown up to 98 pitches, a good number for April, especially since he's coming off missing most of last season with an injury. I like the strikeouts. The walk rate isn't good, but half of his walks came in his last start, 8 walks in 2.2 innings. Before that 8 walks in 19.2 innings.

Winning is fun, but it makes for less exciting recaps.

Mark Buehrle had the most Buehrlesque start ever, pitching to a line of 6.2IP, 7H, 3R (2 earned), 2BB, 4K, and Aaron Loup got the 2.1 inning save without allowing a man on base.

Chris Getz hit second today, because you just can't argue with a career .583 batting average.

Top of the 1st: After a Jose Reyes fly out Getz used the power of smaller samples to make us eat our words about small sample sizes by singling to right and stealing second during a subsequent 9 pitch Jose Bautista walk in which he maybe should have struck out once or twice. With Edwin Encarnacion up, Getz and Jose, both deeply concerned about the team's lack of steals to date, successfully executed a double steal. An Edwin chopper to 3rd allowed Getz, running on contact, to score. Bautista decided to run as well, even though the ball was fielded right along the basepath, and was put out in a rundown. Maybe he was trying to draw Danny Valencia's attention away from Getz to make sure he got home safely? Who knows. Either way, 1-0 Jays after 1.

With two outs in the Kansas City half of the 2nd, Buehrle walked Justin Maxwell and gave up a single to RF to Alcides Escobar. Bautista muffed the ever so slowly rolling ball, allowing Maxwell to round 3rd and even the score at 1s. Nice of Bautista to protect Buehrle's ERA, I supppse.

Buehrle opened the next inning with an Omar Infante walk, and an Eric Hosmer double that was 3 feet from being a home run. Billy Butler then singled to left. Infante scored on the hit to make it 2-1 Royals, but Gose made a strong throw to beat Hosmer at home, allowing Buehrle to escape a 2nd and 3rd, no outs situation relatively unscathed.

Edwin edwalked on 5 pitches to lead off the next inning. A Navarro pop-up later, Juan Francisco crushed a homer to right field to put the good guys ahead 3-2. Brett Lawrie singled to center, but Colby Rasmus Krasmus'd and Gose grounded out to end the inning.

Toronto almost scored again in the 5th inning. After Getz led off the inning by grounding out and proving that he is no longer bulletproof, Bautista lined a ball into the LF corner for what should have been a double. Alex Gordon, master physicist and understander of angles and spin, however, fielded the ball perfectly off the wall and had the ball in to 2nd base before Jose even had a shot to consider going for two. Edwin followed by singling on a soft liner up the middle that allowed Bautista to go from 1st to 3rd, and on which he easily could have scored if not for Gordon having kept him from 2nd base. After a poor first strike call, Dioner Navarro eventually flied out to Maxwell in right to end the inning.

In the KC half of the frame Infante scored again on a Butler double to the left-center gap, tying the game at 3 a piece.

In the 6th, Guthrie struck out Francisco and Lawrie in order, but gave up a no doubter to Colby on a 1-2 slider that he golfed into the crowd to put the Jays back in front by 1. Anthony Gose followed with broken bat single (his second lost bat of the game, after slinging one into the stands in his first plate appearance) and later advanced to 2nd on a pickoff attempt that got past Hosmer at 1st. Alas, Reyes lined out to Guthrie to end the inning after watching the 2nd pitch of the AB, a mid-high fastball, for a strike earlier in the AB.

KC nearly answered again, when Alex Gordon led off the home half with a double and tagged and advanced to 3rd on a Valencia fly out. After Maxwell went down swinging, Escobar sent a fly ball deep to the right-center gap but Rasmus just managed to keep pace and made a diving catch to end the inning and preserve the Blue Jays lead. The play was Jay of the Day-worthy even if he hadn't had the number from his offensive contributions.

Guthrie was pulled to start the 7th, finishing with a line of 6.0IP, 8H, 4ER, 2BB, 4K, and was replaced by righty Michael Mariot, who pitched a clean 7th.

Buehrle got the first two batters in the 7th, Jarrod Dyson and Infante, to fly and pop out respectively before being pulled for Loup with Eric Hosmer up. Presumably because Ned Yost is a gentleman, scholar, and all around nice guy, Hosmer, former prospect extradorinare and current professional successful hitter of baseballs, tried to bunt for a hit. He was unsuccessful.

The The Ned Yost Experiece does raise one benefit of the Jays having weak hitters in the 2 hole: every one of their bunts is ever so slightly less wasteful than those by teams with more capable number 2 hitters. Small victories!

Toronto thanked Mr. Yost by blowing the game open in the 8th, scoring 3 runs in the inning.

Navarro walked, Francisco singled, and Lawrie singled on a grounder to the SS-3B hole that Escobar got to with a dive but from which was unable to get up and make a throw to 3rd. Bases loaded. Mariot walked Colby on 4 pitches to make it 5-3, and was subsequently checked out of the game, because easy puns are the worst, and Louis Coleman brought in. Gose welcomed him to the game with a single-turned-double thanks to some good awareness on the basepaths, bringing the score to its eventual final, 7-3 Blue Jays.

Most importantly, the Jays did not have a 3 run lead to end the inning. Four times in the last 8 games, Toronto has had a 3 run lead and has ended up relinquishing it quickly, and losing by at least a field goal.

Juan Francisco (.237, 2-5, HR) and the aforementioned Rasmus (.203, HR, lead-saving catch) are you Jays of the Day. Only Reyes had the suckage number, at -.104 on an 0-5 night. Every other starter had a walk or a hit, with Brett, Francisco, Getz and Gose each getting two hits. Bautista bumped his league-leading BB% up ever so slightly to 24.6%, for a lead of 4.1% over second place Josmil Pinto of the Twins.  Also of note: in the 4th inning Buehrle showed off his gold glove, snaring a hard liner for the 3rd out.  Maybe he'd be willing to audition to play second base on rest days?

On the StrikeTracker front, the Jays were a net +1.8 strikes on the night, losing .6 strikes while pitching, but gaining 2.4 with the Royals on the bump.

Tomorrow the Jays head to the terrifying land of the National League, a treacherous plane littered with double switches, pitchers holding bats instead of balls, and Mr. Met, for a three game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. First pitch is at 7:05 pm.

One year and one month into the less talked about Blue Jays trade of the 2012-'13 offseason, who has come out ahead in the deal that sent then-38-year-old knuckleballer R.A. Dickey (and Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas) north of the border for John Buck, Noah Syndergaard, Travis d'Arnaud, and Wuilmer Becerra?

While their trade with the Marlins two offseasons ago made the most noise, the Blue Jays deal netting them R.A. Dickey reigning NL Cy Young Award winner from the Mets is just as interesting.

With club control of Dickey running out and GM Sandy Alderson not wanting to commit multiple years to extend their unique ace past the 2013 season, the Mets did what any smart team in the midst of a rebuild should do. They found a trade partner that would pay for their star pitcher with the most valuable currency there is to a team with its eyes on the future: high-upside prospects.

So the Mets shipped off Dickey along with back-up catcher Mike Nickeas and slightly more useful back-up catcher Josh Thole--who has had the unenviable job of catching Dickey since 2010. For his part, Alex Anthopoulos quickly signed Dickey to the extension that he wanted, adding two years at $12MM a pop to the $12MM he was set to make in 2013 and a club option for at third year at the same price with a $1MM buyout, guaranteeing Dickey an extra $25MM.

In return, the Mets got two catchers--albeit two catchers with much more upside than Mike Nickeas and Josh Thole--John Buck and Travis d'Arnaud, along with the giant righty hurler Noah Syndergaard and RAW Venezuelan minor league rightfielder Wuilmer Becerra.

On the Blue Jays side of the equation, R.A. Dickey was worth 2.0 rWAR and 2.0 fWAR last season. He saw his K% dip from 24.8% to 18.8%--a significant drop--and his BB% rise from 5.8% to 7.5%. This meant his K/BB dropped from an aberrant career-high of 4.26 in his Cy Young season to 2.49, which is pretty much exactly what it had been in the two seasons leading up to his miraculous [read: unsustainable] 2012 campaign. To add to his woes, his GB% dropped to its lowest mark as a full-timer in a decade, while his increased FB% coincided with a spike in HR/FB% that was eerily similar to the numbers he put up early in his career in Texas.

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Dickey's struggles meant that the Jays found themselves paying above-market costs for the 2.0 WAR he gave them, as his performance was about $9.9MM last season.

Thus far this season, Dickey has an ERA on the wrong side of five (5.09), while his 4.32 FIP is actually lower than his 4.58 mark last season. His K% is up modestly (19.1%), but his BB% has spike alarmingly, settling in at 11.5% through five starts. Obviously the season is still early, so it's far too early to make much of Dickey's 2014 performance. Both ZiPS and Steamer like Dickey to finish right around 2.0 WAR, so given the market inflation this past year, the Jays could actually get their money's worth.

Josh Thole, the other player to have gotten anything resembling playing time for Toronto, has been worth -0.3 rWAR and -0.2 fWAR.

The story for the Mets is still largely to be written. Before he was flipped to the Pirates along with Marlon Byrd for Dilson Herrera and Vic Black at the waiver trade deadline, Buck was worth 0.4 rWAR and 1.6 fWAR. Buck started just six games down the stretch for the Pirates, so one can probably assume that the Marlon Byrd was the key to the deal for the Pirates. Still, Buck will continue to give the Mets value in the deal until Herrera and Black run their way through the org.

Despite raking in the high minors, the twice-traded über-prospect Travis d'Arnaud has yet to make an impact in the Majors. Still, he is just 52 games into his Major League career, and he cracked the top 25 on Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America's prospect lists. There is a lot of upside with d'Arnaud, but right now he has been worth -0.5 rWAR and 0.1 fWAR. ZiPS projects d'Arnaud to be worth 1.5 fWAR this season, while Steamer has him at a cool 2.0 fWAR.

Photo credit: USA TODAY Sports

While d'Arnaud was considered the key "get" in the deal for the Mets--and what catcher with his bat wouldn't be?--6'6" flamethrower Noah Syndergaard has established himself as a consensus top 20 prospect. On the verge of getting his first Major League experience, Syndergaard was a chic pick for NL Rookie of the Year this season. Just needing a little refinement on his change-up to go with his 80-grade fastball and plus curve (with the potential to be a 70-grade offering). Any struggles one might perceive him as enduring can likely be chalked up to pitching in one of the most aggressively unfriendly settings for pitchers in the minors, Las Vegas.

As for the prospect to dream on, Wuilmer Becerra, he is very raw, but he's always been about two years younger than the average player in his league. He is a lottery ticket, but it's conceivable (though unlikely) that he could turn into something.

Even if d'Arnaud completely flames out, it's hard to imagine a scenario in which Syndergaard isn't worth significantly more than Dickey over the course of Dickey's three and possibly four years. Of course, the Mets really just gave up one year of Dickey with the right to negotiate an extension with Dickey, thus avoiding having to contend with other suitors. Still, the value of this in the scope of what the Mets gave up is hard to quantify, and the fact is: Alderson was not going to extend Dickey.

Given that fact, it's hard to see how this trade plays out in the Jays' favor.

It's premature to make such pronouncements; but given the fact that Dickey is unlikely to be worth the money the Blue Jays will be paying him and that the Mets will have nearly seven years of Syndergaard alone, to make no mention of John Buck and Travis d'Arnaud, it seems like this is a clear win for Alderson and the Mets.

How about a little interleague play this weekend folks? The slumping Blue Jays travel to Pittsburgh to take on Travis Snider and the 10-18 Pirates. The NL Central team is2-8 in their last 10 games and have not kept the hot play going that got them into the playoffs last season. The Pirates had games on Tuesday and Wednesday rained out so they played late into Thursday evening finishing up a doubleheader with the Orioles (that they lost both games of), which should make them little tired. There's a ton of holes in their team and not even Andrew McCutchen's .408 OBP can save them.

via ESPN Depth Charts

The pitching matchup on this Friday evening could be a good one as Brandon Morrow takes on young gun Gerrit Cole. The first overall pick in 2011 has had an impressive start to his major league career and has a 3.18 ERA with a 4.28 FIP this season.

The righty throws the usual fastball, sinker, curveball, slider, and changeup all regularly and effectively although the sinker is no longer being recognized by Pitch F/X as the movement is pretty similar to his regular fastball:

It seems the Blue Jays have faced a ton of good pitching in this young season and it won't get any easier facing high-90's fastballs like this one tonight (click the link):

via fromforbestofederal.com

Hopeful Lineup

Finally the Blue Jays called up Anthony Gose. Time to see what he's got at the plate (same goes for Brandon Morrow I guess....).

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Brett Lawrie 3B
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
5. Dioner Navarro C
6. Colby Rasmus CF
7. Anthony Gose LF
8. Chris Getz 2B
9. Brandon Morrow P

Find The Link

Find the link between Gerrit Cole and the father of Luke Walton.

This game could either be a pitchers' duel or a complete rout depending on if Brandon Morrow has realized he's good at baseball yet. Let's hope for the former.

The Yankees are exactly 1/6 of the way through the 2014 season. Let's how look at how they have compared to their division rivals thus far.

I will admit it: part of the reason I felt like writing a piece looking at how the AL East was shaping up this far in the season is because the Yankees are sitting on top. But regardless, things have been just about as tight and contentious in the division as you would have assumed they would be. Injuries have already played a big factor and certain players have surprised thus far, but everyone is still pretty bunched together. All five members have been mostly crummy and the division is the only one in baseball where every team has a negative run differential. Let's look at where everyone is as May has just begun.

New York Yankees: 15-12, - GB, -13 run differential, Pythagorean record: 12-15

You know these guys, so let's just move on.

Baltimore Orioles: 13-12, 1 GB, -3 run differential, Pythag record: 12-13

Free agent Ubaldo Jimenez was brought in to try bring more high-end depth to the Orioles rotation but has been awful (6.59 ERA, 5.31 xFIP). Like last year, it's been Wei-Yin Chen and not much else. Offensively, even with Chris Davis regressing from his Ruthian 2013 (.382 SLG) Nelson Cruz has bopped seven dingers and Matt Wieters has finally looked like the superstar catcher he was expected to be (144 wRC+). It's all offense for the O's again this year.

Toronto Blue Jays: 12-15, 3 GB, -6 run differential, Pythag record: 13-14

The Blue Jays have been the mirror of the Orioles, boasting a dangerous offense while sporting a tame starting staff. Jose Bautista (193 wRC+, .463 OBP) and Melky Cabrera (157 wRC+)  both are healthy and back to how they were at their very best career points, which is particularly scary of Bautista since he was a really good hitter last year anyways. Mark Buerhle has been his normal steady self, and while R.A. Dickey continues to struggle Comeback Player of the Year candidate Drew Hutchison has given them a nice lift (0.9 fWAR, 10.36 K/9).

Tampa Bay Rays: 13-16, 3.0 GB, -10 run differential, Pythag record: 13-16

The injury bug crippled the Rays as Matt Moore went down for the season and Alex Cobb has thrown only 19 innings. David Price and Chris Archer both have an ERA over four, but their peripherals suggest they'll lower these very shortly. The normal crew of Evan Longoria and Ben Zobrist have been good in the heart of the Rays order, while Desmond Jennings (138 wRC+) has developed into an excellent all around player. The Rays have been done no favors by intended closer Grant Balfour getting off to a terrible start (1.00 K/BB, 5.11 ERA) but his two saves yesterday may get him going.

Boston Red Sox: 13-16, 3.0 GB, -14 run differential, Pythag record: 13-16

The Red Sox lineup has been hit by the Regression Monster as Daniel Nava and Mike Carp are both well off their torrid 2013 paces (Carp 77 wRC+, Nava 36). Xander Bogaerts and Jackie Bradley Jr. have been solid, but the offense is just not near the juggernaut it once was. On the pitching side, Jon Lackey and Jon Lester are in the Top 25 in fWAR (Lester is second only to Jose Fernandez) while Jake Peavy has danced around unimpressive peripherals to the tune of an ERA under 3.00.

When you look at it, the Yankees should consider themselves pretty fortunate to be where they are. Aside from the run differential, they've been lucky to have their rivals either suffer major injuries or stumble out of the gate. They face a real test this weekend, as a bad series against the Rays could send them tumbling down the standings in a hurry.

The episode title is "Friends, Stroman, Countrymen", so lend the podcast your ears. As he does every single week of the season, Lansing Lugnuts broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler will be hosting a live podcast today at 5 pm Eastern to talk about the Blue Jays' minor league system. You can tune in right here.

This week, aces will be the theme:

Marcus Stroman excels under scrutiny, Matt Boyd and Kendall Graveman get the call upward, Daniel Norris is spotless, and Tom Robson and Alberto Tirado are putting it all together. It's the second month of the baseball season, and the Jay-talking is heating up!

The tour 'round the nest will go from Buffalo to Dunedin to Lansing to New Hampshire today. So go ahead and ask your questions in the comments below!

Blue Jays 5 Pirates 6

I don't know what to say about Sergio Santos. Two home runs to dead center field. He just needed three outs and he had 2 runs to play with.

That wasn't the best start of Brandon Morrow's life but he only gave up 1 walk, which, since he gave up 8 in 2.2 innings last time out, is a victory. Or could have been a victory if Santos wouldn't have blown the save. He gave up a lot of hits, 11, in 5 innings, but most of them were of the soft ground ball variety. It seemed to me that Reyes was playing further over towards third base, likely compensating for Lawrie not being there, and so much was going past him on his left. As we said in the GameThread, I like Brandon throwing strikes, last game he couldn't do that. The next step is quality strikes.

The good news is that Steve Delabar pitched a scoreless inning. Not an easy scoreless inning, giving up a single, double and hit batter to load the bases but he got out of it. And Brett Cecil pitched 2 scoreless inning, allowing just a single. 5 innings, 3 earned isn't good, but he's a whole lot better than last time out.

And we had some good offense against a tough starter. 10 hits, 5 runs. 2 hits for Jose Bautista (both doubles) in his return to Pittsburgh and Brett Lawrie (a single and legged out double). Colby Rasmus homered to the opposite field. Steve Tolleson had a pinch hit triple in his first at bat as a Blue Jay. All our 8 regulars in the lineup had at least one hit. And we seemed to be working the count.

Juan Francisco made a nice play at third base. Lawrie looked confident at second base. Jose Reyes and Edwin Encarnacion each stole a base.

Jays of the Day are Cecil (.135 WPA), Francisco (.114), Rasmus (.114) and Tolleson (.128).

Suckage: Santos (-.932, a season high for suckage). Morrow also had the number at -.144.

I don't know about the rest of you but I think I'm going to drink. Anyone want to go to the bar?

We had a nice GameThread (at least until the home runs in the 9th), 1265 comments. Kraemer_17 again lapped the rest of us.

After last night's swell finish to the game the Blue Jays try to get back on track this evening against Pittsburgh. R.A. Dickey faces off against Francisco Liriano in the middle game of a three-game series. The left-handed Liriano has been okay this year with a ERA and FIP BOTH equal to 3.97 plus a K/9 of exactly 9.0. The Dominican was battling some flu issues in the past week or so that caused him to leave a start early, but it seems he's ready to get back on the mound tonight.

Francisco Liriano is a pretty simple pitcher, throwing strictly sinkers and sliders against lefties, while also mixing in a changeup against right-handed batters. His slider is definitely his bread and butter and he uses it whenever he needs a strikeout. Although he's fairly predictable, batters can't seem to hit his slider even when they know it's coming whiffing on 40% of their swings. Even the movement on his pitches isn't that impressive:

SLIDERS!

via cdn.fangraphs.com

Normally I would be afraid of such a good off-speed pitcher against the Blue Jays fastball hitters, but Edwin Encarnacion has two home runs in four at-bats against Liriano and Jose Bautista has been fairly successful as well in an EXTREMELY small sample. You can see how Liriano gets right under the hands of righties with his slider:

via www.fangraphs.com

Hopeful Lineup

I'm beginning to get very confused with who's on this team anymore. Unfortunately Josh Thole is going to have to face the tough lefty due to R.A. Dickey being on the mound. Apparently Brett Lawrie at second is a thing now too...

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrea LF
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
5. Juan Francisco 3B
6. Brett Lawrie 3B
7. Colby Rasmus CF
8. Josh Thole C
9. R.A. Dickey P

Find The Link

Find the link between Francisco Liriano and a former Blue Jay who appeared in 11 games for Toronto in both 2011 and 2012.

Let's have a win eh Blue Jays?

Also claim Moises Sierra off waivers from Toronto and place Nate Jones on the 60-day DL

If nothing else, we know this: It's possible for the White Sox to get unhealthier before they get healthier.

Adam Eaton's early departure from Friday's game triggered yet another wave of roster moves and he headlines the list with a visit to the 15-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring. That's a different injury than the left hamstring/back-of-knee injury that caused him to miss some time last month, and he had been trying to play through both, apparently:

"Just with both legs, and legs are the game that I play, so I'm not 100 percent sure, but that's what I'd say we're leaning towards," said Eaton of the DL. "We want to get everything right, and I'm not doing any good when I'm [playing] at 80 percent. I'm not sure what [White Sox head athletic trainer] Herm [Schneider] wants to do, but we'll see.

"It kind of started off [with] some small little irritation, and then it kind of felt a little more. You don't take anything serious in this game, especially with your body. You try to play through stuff, but that's what we were trying to do, and it kind of bit us in the butt. I don't know what other precautions we're going to take, DL or whatever. I'm not sure what's going to happen because I've got to talk to him, and I'll know more after."

The White Sox used his spot to (hopefully) temporarily expand the pitching staff, calling up lefty Frank De Los Santos from Charlotte. The Sox acquired De Los Santos in a late-season trade with the Tampa Bay Rays (cash went the other way), and was among the more obscure members of the 40-man roster. The 26-year-old started the season in Birmingham, where he soon earned a promotion to Charlotte. He hasn't skipped a beat with the Knights, either, standing out among other known lefties like Donnie Veal and David Purcey.

With no productive outfielders at Charlotte, the White Sox had to go outside the organization and use the Blue Jays' favorite weapon against them -- the waiver claim. The Sox yoinked Moises Sierra from Toronto after the Jays designated him for assignment on Thursday. The Jays had their reasons to DFA him, as he started the season 2-for-34 with one walk and nine strikeouts. But ... it comes after a season in which he hit .290/.369/.458 in 35 games -- and with reverse splits -- which is more what the Sox are hoping for.

Sierra has never played center in the big leagues -- he's primarily a right fielder, and has the arm for it -- so if the Sox have immediate plans for him, we might see Alejandro De Aza return to center during Eaton's absence, and then maybe Dayan Viciedo could flip corners, too.

Since the 40-man roster is full, claiming Sierra necessitated moving Nate Jones from the 15-day DL to the 60-day DL. So apparently he's not get any closer to returning, either.

The Blue Jays have placed Brandon Morrow on the DL. I don't have any more information than that at the moment. No idea what the injury is. He pitched last night, and I didn't see any issues.

Chad Jenkins is back with the Blue Jays. I'd imagine there will be another change when Morrow's turn comes around in the rotation, unless they just decide to leave J.A. Happ in the rotation.

Not good news.

Update: Apparently it is a right index finger strain, which doesn't sound overly serious, I wouldn't think he should be out longer than the 15 days.

Morrow felt something pop in his right index finger last night. He's on the DL and currently in Arizona getting an MRI. #BlueJays

— Gregor Chisholm (@gregorMLB) May 3, 2014

The pitching prospect will start out as a member of the Jays' bullpen.

The Toronto Blue Jays are promoting pitching prospect Marcus Stroman to the major leagues on Sunday, according to a team announcement. Corresponding moves to add him to the 25- and 40-man rosters will be made tomorrow.

Stroman, 23, will immediately join the Jays' bullpen instead of their rotation, according to reports. That comes as a bit of a surprise, as he has not seen time as a reliever in the minor leagues since 2012. Toronto's bullpen has struggled mightily this season, losing seven games and posting a 4.99 ERA, so the Jays hope that a young arm like Stroman's will provide an immediate boost. If one of the team's starters gets injured or struggles, Stroman could be slotted into the starting rotation.

A first round pick (22nd round) of the Blue Jays in 2012, Stroman has spent parts of three seasons in the minors, posting a 14-7 record and 3.03 ERA in 40 appearances (25 starts). He was very good last year with Double-A New Hampshire (9-5, 3.30 ERA in 20 starts) and has been even better to begin this season with Triple-A Buffalo (2-2, 1.69 ERA in 5 starts).

At the end of last season, Baseball America ranked Stroman as the second best prospect in the Jays' system and the 55th best prospect in all of baseball. He was ranked even higher by John Sickels of Minor League Ball (45th), MLB.com (52nd), and Baseball Prospectus (28th), coming in second to fellow right-hander Aaron Sanchez in the Jays' team rankings.

Stroman is known for having a good fastball in the 92-95 range, and has also been praised for his cutter and slider. At only 5'9", he is smaller than most pitchers, causing some to think that he could be better utilized as a late-inning reliever in the future.

The Cubs are employing some familiar scouts looking for draft help, getting the club to focus their eyes on the field, and is taking a glass half-full approach to April struggles.

Thanks to Al for filling in on Thursday. But you still missed me, right?

From Comcast SportsNet

• Kerry Wood is trying to help the Cubs find the next big thing in the draft.
• And the Cubs will be looking for what the Cardlinals already have in the draft.
• Kris Bryant is ready for whatever rolls his way.
• GM Jed Hoyer says trade talks are "nonexistent" right now.
• Hoyer also thinks Brewers' pitcher Matt Garza is speaking out because he feels rejected.

From Cubs Den

• Despite what Hoyer said, it looks like the Cubs have been scoutingBlue Jays' prospect Marcus Stroman.
• On the plus side, the Cubs' young core seems back on track after getting "Sveumed."

• (Video) Jed Hoyer talks about another disappointing April.
• Midge Donahue was a pioneer as a Cub executive. She was honored on Saturday.
• The Cubs are developing a watchful eye mentality.
• Mark Gonzalez covers another mailbag.

From the Chicago Sun-Times 

• Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo are early risers this season.
• Ricky Renteria has been fighting for his players.
• Kids, don't do this: a Wrigley Field cashier was charged with theft after allegedly stealing money out of a couple of cash drawers at the ballpark during Friday's game.
  

Miscellaneous

• Hector Rondon managed to draw one of the wildest swings of April.
  

Today's food for thought

• Here are 8 great philosophical questions that will never be answered.

The Blue Jays look to salvage something (anything!) from their trip to Pittsburgh this afternoon as they finish off their series with the Pirates. Dustin McGowan gets the start today, which will have to go well if he hopes to stay in the rotation any longer. First-year Pirate Edinson Volquez opposes him, after signing a one-year $5 million contract with Pittsburgh in free agency this winter. The right-handed Dominican has been pretty solid this year, thanks in large part to finally finding some control. With a BB% usually hovering in the mid-teens, a 4.5% rate this year has kept the basepaths much clearer, although a .236 BABIP certainly doesn't hurt either. A problem that may be lurking beneath the surface is that Volquez is only striking out 13.6% of hitters which is way down from his 20% career average, likely stemming from the fact that hitters are swinging (and not missing) at nearly half of his pitches, which is up from the usual 40% swing rate against him.

Edinson Volquez mainly throws a sinker, curveball, and changeup as well as occasionally featuring a straighter four-seam fastball as well. His curveball is really the only pitch with serious movement, which makes it look like a loner on a chart like this one:

via FanGraphs

Volquez isn't afraid to throw his changeup to hitters on both sides of the plate and he isn't even afraid to throw it in the exact same spot regardless of who he's facing:

via www.fangraphs.com

via www.fangraphs.com

Anyway, with the way Volquez is pitching this season, balls will be in play and it's up to the baseball gods to decide how it turns out. Some BABIP regression for the Dominican would certainly be nice with the way the season is going right now.

Hopeful Lineup

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera LF
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
5. Brett Lawrie 3B
6. Colby Rasmus CF
7. Erik Kratz C
8. Chris Getz 2B
9. Dustin McGowan P

Find The Link

Find the link between Edinson Volquez and Roberto Hernandez.

Bad things are going to start happening if the Blue Jays keep losing games, so hopefully that doesn't happen today!

I don't understand the Blue Jays sometimes.

Marcus Stroman is called up, I think the obvious move is to send out Chad Jenkins. Either that or DFA Esmil Rogers or Todd Redmond. But no, we get rid of our one real outfielder on the bench. Also our best pitch runner. Easily the best guy to fill in center field for Colby Rasmus, if say we wanted to rest his sore hamstrings for a game. He's the guy we send out.

So our bench (well after we get back to AL rules games, stupid pitchers battering), Erik Kratz, Josh Thole and Steve Tolleson. If you are keeping score, that's 2 backup catchers and a jack of all trades. But then Dioner Navarro is still day to day, I guess.

Still if a non-catcher comes out of the game, any non-catcher come out of the game Tolleson fills his spot. If a second one has to come out of the game? I guess Thole would move to first and Edwin Encarnacion would move to where ever needed. Someone tell Brett Lawrie not to drop his batting gloves anywhere close to an umpire.

And, added into the dumb, Gose can't come back for 10 days (unless there is an injury) in the (very likely if you ask me) case that we suddenly decide a fourth outfielder is a good idea. I guess Darin Mastroianni is next up.

Anyways, Stroman is up, at the moment to help in the bullpen. And, man, does the bullpen need help.

What I think will happen is Dustin McGowan makes today's start, Stroman follows him as the 'long man'. Then, after today's start, McGowan goes into the pen and Stroman makes the start the next time through the rotation.

What I think happened is Gibby really wants McGowan in the bullpen. I think he only trusts Cecil, Loup and Delabar, and he remembers how good McGowan was in the pen last year and figures having four guys he trusts would be better than three.

I'd imagine he phoned Alex after last nights game and said 'hey, my job is clearly on the line, let me go down the way I want. Let's put McGowan back in the pen. I'm happier like that'.

Alex would have said something like 'Well, McGowan is scheduled to start tomorrow, and it's too late to change that. It would be unfair to him and unfair to Stroman, but I'll call Stroman up and he can help out the pen for a couple of days and then you can put him in the rotation. Deal. And yeah, your job and my job are on the line.'

It is also possible that McGowan is very good today and J.A. Happ isn't good tomorrow and Gibby decides to give Stroman Happs spot, but clearly Gibby doesn't trust Happ in the pen at all. Happ hasn't pitched since April 23rd, which really doesn't set him up well for tomorrow's start. I hate putting guys into spot where it is unlikely they will succeed, but that's where we are.

I really don't understand sending out Gose. To me it is dumb. When is the next time Jenkins is likely to pitch? It will likely be a mop up spot that Rogers or Redmond could just as easily take. Why a 8th man in the bullpen over a fourth outfielder I have no idea. It seems a dumb way to run a team.

Who is more likely to get you a win? Gose who could, at least, pinch run in an important moment of a game or Jenkins, Rogers or Redmond, who will come into games that are already decide?

Interleague Play continues tonight as the Blue Jays try to extend their one-game winning streak in Philadelphia before the teams go back to Toronto and play in some weird home and home thing. Former Phillies pitcher J.A. Happ gets a start this evening against current Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick. The Phillies are 15-14 this year with their usual blend of average young players and aging veterans. If you don't know how the Philly team lines up after seeing the Jays play them about 150 times during Spring Training, then here you go:

via ESPN

Kyle Kendrick is a right-handed reliable pitcher, who's been a mainstay in the Phillies rotation since 2007. He's provided somewhere between 0-1.7 WAR each year, which has been good enough to cement a place for him in the middle of Philadelphia's solid rotation. He basically throws a sinker, cutter, and splitter inducing a ton of groundballs and not really blowing anyone away. As you can see, his sinker and splitter are pretty similar so it makes sense that a lot of hitters get crossed up and struggle to make good contact:

Lefties have a hard time making any contact with the split-change because he locates on the outside of the zone along with the arm side movement that sinks away from them:

via www.fangraphs.com

Hopeful Lineup

Even with the solid splitter, left-handed hitters hit Kendrick much better.

1. Jose Reyes SS
2. Melky Cabrera LF
3. Jose Bautista RF
4. Edwin Encarnacion 1B
5. Brett Lawrie 2B
6. Juan Francisco 3B
7. Colby Rasmus CF
8. Erik Kratz C
9. J.A. Happ P

Find The Link

Kyle Drabek’s Long and Winding Road

As prospect writers covering the minor leagues, we make our best assessments based on what we see on a regular basis. The majority is done in person, with scouting reports & daily stats reading mixed in. We work from data and witnessing the process.

Paul Swydan over at ESPN.com (subscription required) has a list of 4 changes that the Blue Jays need to make if they want to content. Lets take a look at his suggestions:

1. Find a solution at second base.

Well, yeah, we've been saying that since the end of last season. The Jays decided to go with Ryan Goins, figuring his defense would make up for his offense. They've changed their minds. Personally, I would give Getz a change but that's me. And there is still Stephen Drew sitting at home. I do agree with this:

This weekend, they tried playing Brett Lawrie at second and Juan Francisco at third, but this is a bad idea long term. Lawrie is a plus third baseman, but he didn't grade out very well in his limited time at second base last season, and Francisco has been a below-average defender at third base throughout his career as well.

Swydan makes four suggestion for the job:

• Emilio Bonifacio (Cubs) - Swydan must be kidding, that's not going to happen.
• Luis Valbuena (Cubs) - he's hitting .227/.378/.379, and Fangraphs has him at a -6.1 UZR/150 career at 2B. I think the high OBP is a result of batting 8th, in front of the pitcher. I'd rather keep Getz.
• Danny Espinosa (Nationals) - he is hitting .270/.320/.449 and has a career 5.7 UZR/150. He's younger, just turned 27. I think his price would be more than Alex would be willing to pay.
• Rickie Weeks (Brewers) - he is hitting .212/.278/.242 and hasn't hit for the past 3 seasons. He's a career -8.2 UZR/150 and he's 31, I don't expect his defense is going to suddenly improve. I'd stick with Getz.

There are a couple of names he didn't name, Nick Franklin and Dustin Ackley from the Mariners.

Personally, I don't see anyone that would be more than a marginal gain for the Jays, I'd stick with Getz and Tolleson for now and I'd keep considering Drew. I don't think any of the upgrades listed would buy us more than an extra win. Let's see how Getz does.

2. Colby Rasmus needs a platoon partner

I'm not against this but I like Colby's defense so I'll put up with his less than terrific bat against lefties. But yeah I'd consider bringing up Darin Mastroianni. after he has a couple of weeks in Buffalo to get his swing together. Kevin Pillar was international league player of the week, I wouldn't be against bringing him up to be fourth outfielder, and he'd be a good bit better than Bautista in spelling Rasmus in center field occasionally. But, again I think it would be a fairly marginal gain at best.

We do need a 4th outfielder and it would be best if he hit right-handed and could play center field, I think that leaves us with two possibilities Pillar or Mastroianni.

3. Put Marcus Stroman in the rotation

Let's see how J.A. Happ does tonight, but yes I'm in.

4. Make some changes in the pen

Yeah yeah I'm all for that. Fewer long men. Getting Janssen back would be a big deal. Stroman in the short term, I'm good with. Bring back Neil Wagner. John Stilson had a great game yesterday, 3 innings, 0 hits, 0 walks and 6 strikeouts. He's had a bad start to his season, but if he has 3 or 4 more outings, I'd much much rather him over Redmond or Rogers or Happ, I think it is time to give up on at least two of those three. 'Beyond that, if we really want a long man, let's give Sean Nolin the job. Swydan does point out that Santos has a 3.50 xFIP, he should be better in the future. Or I'm hoping he has to be.

The bullpen has to do better. Somebody is going to have to gain Gibby's confidence so he doesn't have to use Loup, Cecil and Delabar in every close game.

What do you think? Is there a move or two you'd like to make?

Gary Sanchez

Chris Mellen at Baseball Prospectus believes that the best way to tell how good top prospects are is to watch them against other top prospects. Many players in the lower minors might not make it much further up the ladder, so the better players tend to feast on lesser talent. Seeing how two talented players respond to each other can be very informative during the evaluation process. Mellen saw just that when Gary Sanchez faced off against Aaron Sanchez of the Blue Jays organization.

Gary Sanchez is having a great season so far, hitting .286/.375/.495 and four home runs with the Double-A Trenton Thunder. Aaron Sanchez was blowing Trenton hitters away all day, but our Sanchez adjusted. After falling behind in the count, "rather than try to do too much or unleash on the pitch, he put a nice, easy swing on the ball by guiding the head with his hands, and laced a hard line drive to right field for a single." Such an approach shows his understanding of the art of hitting and the maturity to know when to make adjustments.

After seeing the matchup, Mellen felt he had a solid takeaway on Gary Sanchez as a prospect and future major leaguer:

He has the physical ability to compete against the competition in the majors. The bat speed, hands, strength, and swing fluidity are there. It's the development of the secondary skills in the upper minors, along with his level of engagement, that will determine whether this is a regular in the big leagues over the long run.

Shane Greene

Josh Norris of Baseball America recently saw Shane Greene pitch for the Scranton-Wilkes/Barre RailRiders. The right-hander has spent time traveling between the major league team and Triple-A this season, only managing to pitch 6.1 innings all year.

During Greene's one and only start of the season, Norris observed that he was throwing four average-to-above average pitches. That day his fastball was sitting 92-96 mph, while his slider was averaging 87 mph and his changeup was hitting 84-85 mph. Though he was apparently reaching deeper in a later start:

That's easily as good as I've seen Greene for an inning. 93-95 heater. Slider as hard as 90, saw another at 79.

— Donnie Collins (@RailRidersTT) May 5, 2014

Norris asked a scout about how he was pitching:

Scout here noting that Greene has excellent stuff but really needs to mix and match more. Durham sitting on FBs and hitting on screws.

— Josh Norris (@jnorris427) April 29, 2014

Greene throws a fastball, two different sliders (as he described it in our October interview with him), changeup, and sinker, however, his fastball and slider are believed to be his best pitches. He might not have the weapons to keep hitters off balance for several innings. If his career leads to the big league bullpen, he might have to give up on his lesser pitches in order to become a fastball-slider pitcher, like he did in his big league debut.

Morrow may have thrown his last pitch for the Blue Jays.

Blue Jays starter Brandon Morrow will be placed on the 60-day disabled list with a torn tendon sheath in his index finger. Morrow will have his finger immobilized and rest the injury, but surgery could become an option as well, as the Toronto Star's Richard Griffin reports.

Griffin also points out that Morrow may have already thrown his last pitch for the club. The 29-year-old earns $8 million this season and the Jays hold a $10 million option -- $1 million buyout -- on him for 2015. His regular trips to the disabled list and mixed results on the mound could lead the team to move on after the season.

Morrow's type 1 diabetes could also have played a role in his struggles. While some athletes have excelled despite the disease, it's a substantial obstacle to overcome, limiting stamina, strength, and speed among other things.

Morrow has managed just 16 starts sine 2012, posting a 5.73 ERA and a 1.57 WHIP over that stretch. However in 2012, he was excellent. Although he only started 21 games that season, he posted a 2.96 ERA and began to show the promise that caused Toronto to trade for him in 2009.

His absence will likely keep him from suiting up for the Jays again in 2014, and in his place, the club could turn to top prospect Marcus Stroman, who is currently pitching out of the bullpen.

With all the understandable negativity around the Jays, it is a surprise to wake up this morning just 1.5 games back of first. We complain a lot, but we have a pretty good team. Anyway, last night:

• Apparently Brett Lawrie has been dealing with the tight hamstring for a few days now. I do always worry about guys that are full out all the time. I love guys that go hard down the line on every ball, but then they do do that they tend to have these little problems. Vernon Well was full out every on every ground ball, and had continuous hamstring troubles too. Maybe picking spots is the right plan.
• I'm wondering if Happ's start buys him another start. It is hard to complain about 5 shutout innings, but then, if we are giving him more starts, I would rather Marcus Stroman have stayed in the minors and continued to get starter innings, but he could be useful in the pen. Maybe we can have a poll.
• Yesterday's Jays of the Day were Happ (.244 WPA), Loup (101), and lets give one to Bautista, because that throw to the plate was a big moment.  No Suckage Jays, though Edwin came close at a -.090 WPA.
• In case you think it is only Blue Jays relievers that walk people, last night the Yankees reliever Shawn Kelley walked four batters in the 8th inning, including a bases load walk to bring in the go ahead run. Then Matt Thornton came in and walked another run in. Then Girardi brought in Preston Claiborne and he walked in another run. Three runs score and the Angels didn't get a hit. So it does happen to other teams.
• Casey Janssen started the Fisher Cats game last night. 1 inning, 2 hits, no runs, no strikeouts. First step, I'm sure he wasn't throwing all out yet.
• Adam Lind was 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, leading off for the Dunedin Blue Jays.  He was 0 for 2 today...and came out of the game after two at bats, but they are playing a doubleheader today, he was scheduled for 4 innings in the first game.
• Kevin Pillar went 3 for 3 with a triple and 2 walks. He's hitting .419/.468/.581 over his last 10 games. I'd be glad to see the Jays carry a fourth outfielder and Pillar might be the best choice at the moment.

Here is the leader board from last night's GameThread. We had a healthy 953 comments. Kraemer_17 led the way, great job Mr. 17.