Jays wait as Hill deals with hamstring injury
Posted April 22, 2011 9:25 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Toronto Blue Jays second baseman Aaron Hill remains day-to-day with a strain in the lower part of his right hamstring, and it sounds like his healing progresses will help determine who takes Brett Cecil’s spot in the starting rotation.
Manager John Farrell said Friday that Hill had “no real significant improvements” in the injury and that the team was going to wait another day or two before making a call on whether to place him on the disabled list.
If he does indeed go on the DL the Blue Jays could bring back right-hander Jesse Litsch, who was optioned to triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday and must stay there for 10 days before being recalled unless he replaces an injured player.
If Hill does not need a stint on the DL, Carlos Villanueva could come out of the bullpen to start Tuesday in Texas. That may be a stop-gap move, allowing Litsch to come back and make the next outing after that once his 10 days are up.
An indicator of which way they’re leaning comes Friday night, when Litsch was scheduled to start for Las Vegas.
“A number of things are playing into this,” said Farrell. “We’ve got to protect against (overusing Litsch) so we’ve got to either limit him tonight to keep him as a viable option, or we’ve got to make that call before tonight even begins for Las Vegas.”
Hill hurt his hamstring while stealing a base Tuesday night and the Blue Jays have been hoping to avoid the DL with him. But time is running out.
“I think at some point as we get through the weekend here we’ll have to make a more clear determination,” said Farrell. “If there’s improvement we’d certainly stay the course, if we feel like it is just plateauing, then we’ve got do what’s right and what’s best for him.”
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PARTING WORDS FOR CECIL
Blue Jays manager John Farrell says Brett Cecil’s mechanical issues started in the spring, and by the time he was sent down to triple-A Las Vegas on Thursday, had begun to eat away at the young left-hander.
“Certainly there is some frustration that comes into play here with him when the results weren’t quite there,” said Farrell. “We felt it got to the point he was fighting himself, fighting the fact that the results weren’t quite there.”
Cecil’s attempts to increase his velocity only added to his troubles, and Farrell would like to see him correct his mechanics in the minors.
“What we really focused on between his last three starts was to make sure he stayed over the rubber, gave himself a chance to stay a little bit more tall, and gather his weight and his power over the rubber than a little bit of a leak or a drift towards homeplate,” said Farrell. “I think it’s important for him to get back to that good solid base of gathering himself over the rubber and driving the ball downhill.”
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NO MORE MORROW
The last time the Tampa Bay Rays faced Brandon Morrow, the Blue Jays right-hander struck out 17 batters and lost a no-hitter with two out in the ninth on Evan Longoria’s dribbler to the hole between first and second.
So Rays manager Joe Maddon was being facetious when he said it was good of the Blue Jays to activate him from the disabled list in time for a start Saturday.
“Listen this guy is good, very good, he’s pitched well against us, one of the better young pitchers in baseball,” said Maddon. “That was very kind of them.”
Dallas Braden threw a perfect game against the Rays last year while Edwin Jackson no-hit them, and Maddon said Morrow may have been even better.
“Absolutely, that was totally in control,” said Maddon. “Longo, a 20-hopper to the right side gets the knock with two outs in the ninth inning, unbelievable stuff that day. He probably did have the best stuff that we saw on that particular day.”
Morrow is set to make his season debut after three rehab starts in the minors. He experienced some forearm soreness late in spring training and was shut down as a precaution, and feels he’s right where he wants to be.
“Looking on paper the results weren’t great but I thought that I improved each time out getting my arm slot back,” said Morrow. “When you’re down there you’re working on a lot of things, it’s almost like you’re trying to throw a bullpen with guys in the box.
“I felt good and by the end of the third game, I felt like I was ready to be back.”
Morrow says he’s been completely pain-free for a month, and though initial projections only had him missing one start, he sees now that was wishful thinking.
“I guess I hadn’t really done the math in my head,” said Morrow. “When you think about it, you can’t get right back into it, you need those two or three starts, so it didn’t really take much longer than it should have.”
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RAJAI REHAB
Blue Jays centre-fielder Rajai Davis (right ankle) was to begin a rehab assignment at double-A New Hampshire on Friday night.
He’s eligible to be activated off the DL early next week and when he does return he may not be back atop the Toronto lineup right away.
Yunel Escobar has excelled in the leadoff spot during Davis’s absence, and manager John Farrell says, “he’s definitely given us something to think about. It does give us some flexibility when Rajai returns to ease him back in some other spot.”
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ACCOUNT CLOSED
The Blue Jays sent minor-league second baseman Brad Emaus to the Colorado Rockies for pitcher Chris Malone and a player to be named or cash, completing a complicated series of transactions.
Emaus was claimed by the New York Mets in last December’s Rule 5 draft but was returned to the Blue Jays on Friday for US$25,000.
Sending him to the Rockies completes a November deal that sent catcher Miguel Olivo to Toronto. Olivo’s option was declined for US$500,000 two hours later but he was offered arbitration and the Blue Jays received a compensatory draft pick when he signed with Seattle.
So essentially, the Blue Jays landed the 57th pick in this summer’s draft plus Malone for Emaus and US$500,000 to Olivo.
