DUNEDIN, Fla. — The way right-hander Brandon Morrow pitches could be a big factor in how good the Toronto Blue Jays are this season. They need him to pitch effectively and avoid injury for a full season.
If physical appearances mean anything, he is up to the challenge after arriving at camp bigger and stronger after an offseason of going heavier with the weights.
“I hope it helps,” Morrow said. “I feel stronger. I never felt fatigue during a game, like my legs were tired, but it can’t hurt.”
They need him to pitch better than he did in his second start of spring training against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday. He allowed five runs in three innings on six hits, including a two-run home run, one walk and one hit batter in a 6-4 loss. But he was happy with just about everything but the results and his command of the fastball.
“I felt good,” Morrow said. “My fastball command wasn’t great obviously. I was falling behind some guys. I was one pitch away from a scoreless inning in the third but they smacked it into left and then a couple of bad pitches later they had three runs. It wasn’t terrible but obviously the further I get along those mistakes are going to turn into good pitches. The important thing is that I felt good again.”
The right-hander with outstanding stuff spent long stretches on the disabled list the past two seasons. In 2012, it was an oblique injury. Last season, it was an entrapped radial nerve. He made 21 starts (10-7, 2.97 ERA) in 2012 and 10 (2-3, 5.63) last season.
“The forearm is feeling really good,” Morrow said. “I felt loose again. I thought the ball was coming out really well.”
“He’s big,” manager John Gibbons said. “In a lot of ways he’s probably the most important guy simply because we expected a lot out of him last year. He’s got as good an arm as anybody, when he’s on and when he’s healthy he’s been a good big-league pitcher. If he can fill that void and bounce back and have a full season out there and doesn’t go on the DL and makes 30 starts, 30-plus starts, that’s going to be big for us.”
“My goal is to make 34-35 starts, to make every start, that’s my goal,” Morrow said. “I felt really loose and good both times out. My windup and mechanics have felt really smooth and on time with everything.”
NOTES, QUOTES
–RHP Casey Janssen has been sitting out with a sore right shoulder but it does not seem related to the shoulder problems that the closer had last season after offseason shoulder surgery. It is in the back part of the shoulder and not the top and it was not expected to keep him out long. “I think it’s just the inflammation, it’s going to subside,” Janssen said. “Just take a couple of days off and get right back on and throwing again.” “It’s just inflamed,” manager John Gibbons said. “There’s a lot of wear and tear on a guy over the years. He’s smart, backed off and we’ll give him a little breather. There’s still a full month (of spring training) left. He’ll be ready to go.” Janssen made only two appearances in spring training games last year and went on to record 34 saves in 36 opportunities in 56 outings.
–CF Colby Rasmus missed some games early in the spring training schedule with a stiff neck. He said he probably would have played a regular-season game with it when he was scratched from a March 2 game against the Yankees. “I feel all right, just woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Rasmus said. “I have a little crick in my neck.”
–RHP Marcus Walden led the Eastern League with 162 1/3 innings pitched in a career-high 26 starts in 2013 while going 6-14 with a 3.71 ERA after winning 14 games between Class A Lansing and Class A Dunedin in 2012. But his future would seem to be in the bullpen and that is where he has been pitching during major league spring training after being re-signed by the organization as a minor league free agent. The ninth-round draft pick in 2007 picked up a save against the Philadelphia Phillies in his first spring training outing with two strikeouts in a clean inning. The eventual move to the bullpen is not a surprise. “They’ve told me that for a long time now,” the 25-year-old said. “I think starting was more about getting innings and getting my repetitions in and I kind of see myself going to the bullpen and I like the idea and I’m not going to hesitate to go out there and be ready to pitch every day.”
–INF Ryan Goins, who did a solid job at second base for 35 games to close out last season, has been given the starting job to begin the season. “Goins is our guy right now,” manager John Gibbons said. “We want to see him do his thing.” Goins is a left-handed hitter so he may not get the start on Opening Day on March 31 when the Tampa Bay Rays are expected to start left-hander David Price. “So maybe you’d rather have a righty facing him and that could always be a possibility,” Gibbons said. “But we’re giving Goins every opportunity to be the guy.” That means INF Maicer Izturis will be in a backup role. Goins came up through the minor league system as a shortstop but made a smooth transition to second base, making only one error while pulling off some spectacular plays after being promoted from Triple-A Buffalo on Aug. 22. Hitting is the big question about him. After starting his major league career with an eight-game hitting streak, he batted .252 with two home runs and eight RBIs and had an on-base percentage of .264. But early in spring training he has shown an ability to do some of the small things that will be needed from him such as a bunt he put down for a single in a game against the Philadelphia Phillies on March 4. “The defense knows he’s going to bunt, so those guys are going to play pretty tight so it’s not a surprise play and you have to put it in the right place spot. If you so that you’ve got a chance. He’s been working hard and his placement was perfect. He’s got to play the little guy’s game, advance runners, lay own bunts when you have to…and he’s fully capable of it.”
–RHP R.A. Dickey threw 65 pitches over four innings in his second start of spring training against the Philadelphia Phillies. The knuckleball pitcher would like to reach 100 pitches or more at least twice before the end of spring trainings. “I may err on the side of more because I like that,” he said. “It’s nice mentally to go out there for a couple of clean innings after an inning where you give up a two-run homer. You have to simulate some of those things that may happen to you during the season. … One of the things that you have to be able to do in the AL East is after having a couple of rough innings to come back and right the ship for a few innings so that your bullpen doesn’t get crushed.”
–LHP Luis Perez has been sent to the minor league complex to continue his rehabilitation while still on the 40-man roster as he continues to come back from Tommy John surgery performed in 2012. He was 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in six outings with Toronto after rejoining the team late last season. But during the offseason he had a procedure to clean up scar tissue in the left elbow and he has some numbness in a couple of fingers in the left hand as the nerves are still regenerating.
–RHP Tomo Ohka, a former major-leaguer who is working on a knuckleball and was signed to a minor league contract was reassigned to the minor league camp in one of the first moves made during spring training. Three other players who were at the major league camp as non-roster players also were reassigned to the minor league complex — LHP Juan Perez, C Jack Murphy and C Derrick Chung. Perez was 1-2 with a 3.69 ERA in 19 games with Toronto but his season ended in August when he suffered a partial tear to the ulnar collateral ligament in his left elbow but he avoided surgery.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “There’s nothing easy in this game. This game is crazy. But I don’t feel pressure to put up the same numbers I’ve put up the last two years. I know what I’ve got. I know what I can do. I just need to be healthy and to play the game hard on the field. I know I’ll be successful.” — Blue Jays 1B Edwin Encarnacion, who has hit 78 home runs over the past two seasons.