saskjayfan

ground ball single erased by a ground ball double play....three up three down...1 hit no strikeouts no walks

decent lineup for Ricky to face considering the Tigers are using a split squad...I'm assuming no streams today.

the Yankees just spent 175 mil on a number 4 pitcher. Must be nice to have that kind of dough.

yeah, because the number 1 gets so many more starts than the number 2, 3, 4 or 5 for that matter. Numbers are for fans. The way the 5 rotation guys start the season does not matter. The opening day is for the guy who is your top dog you are rewarding with the start of the season to set the tone. The next time numbers become relevant are when you enter the post season. No one believes we are headed to the playoffs, so why does this thread get so much traction in spring training?

why don't you enlighten us with the qualities that a number 2 should possess.

While Sanchez isn't rotation bound this year, I've read lots about how he really isn't that good. It's good to see him getting some positive results and showing some dominating stuff in camp. I hope he has a good year and even gets a September call up. It's nice to think he might have a shot at the rotation next year if all goes well.

melky delivers...EE avoids the tag at home

lindy crushes rhp

Redmond should be a long man in the bullpen...not a starter.

I think he's clearly going to be 2009 go 2011 self. We've had 25 sporadic at bats in spring training. It seems pretty clear to me.

nice to see rasmus with a hit

fighting for the number 4 position! Morrow is the new number 5!

bad...morrow struggling with his command. Rogers, happ, drabek and Redmond not stepping up. Goins not really inspiring confidence with the bat. Janssen hurt. Good...hutch looking like could provide a huge boost. Dickey looking very good. Melky looking like a huge boost. Lawrie showing well. Bats, EE and Lind looking like solid guys to repeat. Romero showing a pulse.

They didn't claim they were trying to get him back to the motion when he was successful. They tried to completely change his motion. It's like a golfer with a flat swing plane and completely changing the steepness of the swing plane and trying to get him to a much higher point at the top of his back swing. They were making dramatic changes, not working within the framework of what he did working on his timing, balance, or changing his arm slot slightly....they made big changes. Romero also had elbow surgery following the 2012 season as well as having bad knees. They didn't think this was totally to blame for his woes....they tried to rebuild him. It didn't work. He's reverted back to what he did in 2010 to 2012 when he was both successful and unsuccessful. He's working on his timing and motion. Gibby mentioned his windup was slow and not fluid...you can't be thinking mechanics when you are delivering the pitch...you just have to let it go. Ricky's overthinking things. He has to get his mind right. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130327&content_id=43382674&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb For all my posts, I'm not suggesting he's back at all. I'm seeing signs of hope that he may be turning the corner and that he could get back to being a good enough pitcher to add value to the team. Time will tell. I am looking forward to his start on Tuesday. I am cheering for him. He may do terrible, great or somewhere in between.

yeah lackey's 6.41 ERA in 2011 was delicious and he didn't pitch in 2012r. Ricky had one bad year in the majors and he had health issues. Last year the organization tried to completely reinvent him altering his mechanics. Did you ever consider his results would have been better had they not gone this route? Are you only capable of looking at statistics or can you have any depth of thought to think beyond the numbers.

fine, bartolo colon, Edwin Encrancion, adam lind, john lackey. There are more examples than you would think and it comes down to whether or not you have talent. I don't have Ricky in my rotation right now. I have him with the opportunity to make the rotation if he pitches well his next two times out. If he pitches 5 plus innings in the next two starts with positive results he's in. If he blows up he's in AAA to further his progress.

no but Kasmir did. In 2009 Kasmir posted s 4.89 ERA in 147 innings in the mlb. In 2010 he poste a 5.94 ERA in 150 innings. In 2011 he only pitched 1.2 innings but gave up 5 runs. He also posted a 17.02 ERA in 15.1 minor league innings in 2011. In 2012 he posted a 5.34 ERA in 64 innings in the minors. In 2013 he posted a 4.04 ERA in 158 innings and received a 22 million dollar contract.

That's why I said he has two starts to show his stuff. I know it hasn't been perfect, but the ball darts of our Romero's hands. He does things Rogers can't. Rogers doesn't have the movement on his pitches..he doesn't have Romero's change up. Ricky needs to tighten up his command, but if he goes into Detroit and pitches strong and follows that up with another decent performance I disagree about Romero. I think they will roll the dice and bring him North.

Quit worrying about protecting s*** players. I'll bet you 100 bucks McGowan makes the team and is at least in the bullpen this year.

I don't get why the label of being number 1 2 3 4 or 5 matters. If you're in the rotation then you're in the rotation. Your not going to get significantly less innings if you are the 5th to start at the beginning of the season. Your place in the rotation is meaningless until you get to the playoffs. All they have to say is Morrow is getting used to his bigger body and needs a little extra time to get his command down, so we're going to give him the time in spring training and we'll treat the fans in Montreal with him starting a game, and we're going to have him start the home opener. The media makes it into a "Shocking news, Brandon Morrow now considered the number 5 starter!"

Ricky has not spent the last 2 years getting destroyed in AAA. He had a tough year in the mlb in 2012, but also pitched through pain and had surgery at the end of the season. Last season he came in and was struggling and they tried to completely change his mechanics which was not to his benefit. He abandoned these changes mid season and went back to his old mechanics. Last season was a write off, and partly because they tried to make him do things that did not work for him. In an effort to help him, they may have actually delayed a process of getting Ricky right. Ricky has amazing movement and solid velocity. He has to throw more strikes, but he's starting to do that. He has two more starts to show his stuff. Kasmir can do what he did and get 2 years 22 mil and Ricky has no chance....sorry I don't buy it.

What did Jose Bautista's track record prior to 2009 suggest? Players can and do make meaningful adjustments, whether mental or physical. Spring training gives you opportunities to watch players. Pitchers are being watched in spring training, and in all their side sessions. Players are watched in the batting cages, on the field and in games. Evaluating guys in a short span with limited opportunities is not easy, but if you have seen meaningful adjustments from a player there's no reason not to trust your judgements and make decisions. Redmond and Rogers are middle of the road pitchers. If you feel Romero has turned the corner, you don't hold him back to protect to middle relievers. Acquiring Redmond from other teams, should a need arise, is not a costly thing. The drop of from Redmond and what you may have in the minors in not significant.

how was hutch's velocity today?

They are kind of the same pitcher. They both have good arms, but struggle with the mental side of things. Ricky has done it before though. Drabek will start in AAA. Ricky has a realistic chance of winning a spot in the rotation. He was scheduled to pitch 3 yesterday and they sent him out for a fourth to see how he would respond. Now he's scheduled to start a game next week. The plans for Ricky have changed. I think the odds of him winning a spot in the rotation before camp started were 5%. Now if he pitches 6 innings next start with a reasonable result the spot is his imo. If he blows up he probably starts in buffalo.

Romero still has all the physical tools that made him successful in the past. The issue is confidence and what's going on between his ears. Trying to figure out if a guy can turn the corner on the mental side of the game is difficult to tell, but I believe it's within the realm of what is possible. If he had lost the physical tools that would be one thing, but he hasn't. I don't think we have any sports psychologists on the board, so most of the arguments about the potential success of Romero are based on conjecture. Time will tell.