Yup! You're reading that properly--it's already a black and blue beginning of the Blue Jays season and we're only one week away with Brandon Morrow, Frank Francisco and Octavio Dotel all bound to start the season on the 15-day DL [disabled list].
It's not often I have too many concerns going into the season, but a healthy bullpen really does concern me considering the "bullpen arms" are often the ones bitten by the injury bug (so to speak). I'm not sure what to expect out of Dotel and Francisco, but I do hope Morrow finds his form from last year when he managed to record 17 strikeouts in a single game--against the base stealing happy Tampa Bay Rays of all teams and winning that game 1-0.
So...what does all this mean? Here's the answer as told by Scott Carson (sportsnet.ca MLB analyst/insider):
"Those two injuries mean that Jon Rauch, who saved 21 games last season with Minnesota while replacing injured closer Joe Nathan, will open the season as Toronto’s ninth-inning option. This is where the depth of the bullpen that Alex Anthopoulos built this off-season will come in handy.
What are you worried about going into this season? Pitching? Bullpen? ERAs? Offense? write us back and let us know!
It's not often I have too many concerns going into the season, but a healthy bullpen really does concern me considering the "bullpen arms" are often the ones bitten by the injury bug (so to speak). I'm not sure what to expect out of Dotel and Francisco, but I do hope Morrow finds his form from last year when he managed to record 17 strikeouts in a single game--against the base stealing happy Tampa Bay Rays of all teams and winning that game 1-0.
So...what does all this mean? Here's the answer as told by Scott Carson (sportsnet.ca MLB analyst/insider):
"Those two injuries mean that Jon Rauch, who saved 21 games last season with Minnesota while replacing injured closer Joe Nathan, will open the season as Toronto’s ninth-inning option. This is where the depth of the bullpen that Alex Anthopoulos built this off-season will come in handy.
I realize the last thing that the Blue Jays brass and their fans wanted to hear on Wednesday was that Brandon Morrow was going on the DL to start the season. After a dominating performance against the Yankees on Mar. 18 (6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K), the big right-hander felt some tightness in the forearm/elbow of his pitching arm.
"We had a nice program going, our pitch counts were perfect, everything was going the right way," pitching coach Bruce (Pappy) Walton told Buck Martinez and Pat Tabler during the fourth inning of Wednesday's telecast. "I think it's just a minor setback. I don't want to read anything into it, but I think he'll be back sooner than you guys think."
Everyone associated with the team believes that this is just a minor setback for Morrow and he should be able to make his 2011 season debut on Apr. 6 against the Oakland Athletics after coming off the disabled list. For now, Morrow will take five days off to let the arm settle down and then should be able to make a minor-league appearance next week."
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