Carson on Jays: Much to learn for all

First of all, let’s reiterate that this is not the season where the Jays would contend. Paul Beeston, Alex Anthopoulos and John Farrell have all said as much. The president has given his young general manager the mandate to rebuild the farm system (well on his way). The new manager is in place and everyone is being evaluated to see where they fit in the grand scheme of things going forward. And if the 3-7 trip through Anaheim, Seattle and Boston is any indicator, he is realizing quickly what he has – and hasn’t.

Let’s trisect the trip, shall we?

They flew west to Anaheim brimming with confidence after an opening homestand that saw them take two of three from the Twins and Athletics thanks to equal parts of clutch hitting, aggression on the base paths and solid relief pitching. They opened the road portion of their schedule with a come-from-behind win over a tough Ervin Santana thanks to an eighth-inning solo home run by Jayson Nix, who used the road trip to wrestle the third base job away from Edwin Encarnacion.

The next night, Brett Cecil gave up 10 hits in just five innings, but the relievers held the fort for the next eight innings and the Jays appeared to pull in front in the top of the 13th until a ridiculous obstruction call by umpire Bob Davidson on Yunel Escobar cost them the go-ahead run. They lost an inning later on a walk-off single surrendered by Jon Rauch.

In the series finale, Jo-Jo Reyes looked like the spring version that made the team. Unfortunately, the Jays ran into a buzz saw named Jered Weaver, who set a career high with 15 strikeouts. The 3-1 score was flattering as they really didn’t have a sniff at Weaver all afternoon.

In Seattle, the Jays came out swinging against reigning Cy Young award winner Felix Hernandez, blasting out to a 7-0 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh. Carlos Villanueva gave a up a solo home run to Milton Bradley and then in the eighth, David Purcey – on his final appearance as a Blue Jay – allowed three of the four hitters he faced to reach base. Octavio Dotel and Marc Rzepczynski surrendered bases loaded walks – gulp – three times before Shawn Camp, already running on fumes in just the 11th game of the season, finally quelled the rally with a first pitch, double-play grounder. But in the ninth, Camp gave up a lead-off double, a much-debated two out intentional walk to Ichiro and a walk-off single by light-hitting Luis Rodriguez. The epic collapse rocked the foundation of the young team.

The next night, Ricky Romero acted like an ace, giving the panting bullpen a powder but was outdueled by the impressive Michael Pineda and the Jays found themselves on their first extended losing streak of the young season at four games.

In the finale, the offence sleepwalked through the first seven innings against an underwhelming Jason Vargas, but in the eighth, Jose Bautista keyed a six-run rally against a suspect Mariners bullpen with a three-run bomb, making the five-plus hour flight to Boston at least palatable.

Their first foray into the A.L. East started well enough. Against a Red Sox team in the throes of a 2-9 start, the Jays overcame a wild start by Cecil to hang a four spot on Bobby Jenks in the seventh and then held on for an 8-7 win after Rzepczynski gave back three after another bout of wildness.

Over the next three afternoons the Jays offence was non-existent in three straight losses to close out the trip. They were outscored 21-3, outhit 30-14 and outhomered 5-1. Even worse than the losses is the fact the slumbering Red Sox were awakened and now head back out on the road – where they opened the season 0-6 – with a returned sense of confidence.

So what did manager Farrell learn about his team during his first road trip? Firstly, unless his starters, considered a strength heading into the season, begin going deeper into games, his bullpen is going to be burned out before the first of May. The starters averaged just 5 2/3 innings on the road, causing Farrell to make 33 pitching changes. Perhaps the imminent return of Brandon Morrow will remedy that.

As a whole, his pitching staff walked far too many batters – 31 by the starters, 22 by the bullpen – and has given up home runs in seven straight games (10 total). His worst fears about Purcey were realized (seven base runners in 2 1/3 innings) and he was designated for assignment and then traded to Oakland for minor league reliever Danny Farquhar, who the Jays sent west in the Rajai Davis trade back in November.

While his hitters have faced some pretty tough starting pitching to date, this once-powerful line-up hit just four home runs on the trip and had a well below average .621 OPS. While they run the bases with abandon and have manufactured more runs to start this season than in all of last, they have run into some outs. And when the offence is struggling, that can keep some rallies from manifesting.

Now the New York Yankees roll into T-dot for a two-game quickie, muscles in full flex after blasting a staggering 27 home runs over their first 14 games. This is by far the most in the Majors, as they’re on pace to become the first MLB team to hit over 300 HR in a season.

Fan favourite (sic) A.J. Burnett will bring an eight-game-winning April streak – against no losses – as a Yankee into his former haunting grounds to face Jays impressive rookie Kyle Drabek to get it started. Perhaps this will kick start the Jays who have battered Burnett in his three previous appearances at the Rogers Centre, since he opted out of his contract after 2008. The numbers aren’t pretty – 0-3, 10.13 ERA, 6 HR, 20 hits, 18 ER in 16 innings – but the Yankees have given him an average of 10.4 runs of support this season, so this may well turn into an old-school slugfest.

Perhaps John Farrell will find out a little more about his charges over the next two days. It appears all involved are still in the learning mode.