Cecil out, Carreno in as Jays pack rotation with power arms

‘I really gave them no choice,’ Cecil says

DUNEDIN, FLA. • By early May, t he list will likely change. Seldom does a team go far with its opening-day rotation intact. But the Toronto Blue Jays certainly shook things up Tuesday, opting to start the season with five power pitchers and sending soft-tossing Brett Cecil to Double-a.

Cecil and hard-throwing Joel Carreno swapped jobs, with Carreno — who has never started a big-league game — coming up from New Hampshire. The fifth starter will be Kyle Drabek.

“I really gave them no choice. I really didn’t help myself out any,” Cecil said, referring to his last two spring starts, in which opponents pummelled him.

Behind Ricky Romero and Brandon Morrow, Carreno is slotted at No. 3 and Drabek at No. 5, at least for the moment. Henderson Alvarez is at No. 4 and will start the home opener next Monday night.

All five throw hard. Cecil does not, nor has he been able to locate his pitches well, especially in his past two starts, in which he surrendered 11 runs, 15 hits and six walks in 6 2 ⁄ 3 innings.

Carreno and Drabek complete a quintet which, according to manager John Farrell, sets up the Blue Jays to contend effectively against American East lineups.

“In our division, we feel power is needed,” Farrell said.

At the same time, Farrell stressed that the current alignment could be shortlived. Owing to off-days in the schedule, Toronto needs only four starters from April 11 through April 20.

“We have many, many options going forward after the first six games of the season on who remains, who doesn’t,” he said. “We will go back to four. Who those four will be, will be determined at that time.”

One possibility is that Carreno would become an eighth man in the bullpen for a while. He posted a 1.15 ERA in 11 relief appearances for the Jays at the end of last season. Before that, he was a Double-a starter, and he was earmarked for the same role before Tuesday’s shuffle.

Almost lost in the immediacy of that announcement was Dustin Mcgowan, who lined up as the fifth starter before a foot injury put him on the disabled list to open the season. The Jays hope the oft-injured right-hander can return by early May, but nothing is certain.

As late as last week, Farrell indicated Cecil would be his third starter. But on Tuesday, the manager said only Romero and Morrow entered camp with guaranteed jobs and Cecil’s inconsistent command caused mounting concern as opening day approached.

Cecil’s fate was sealed Monday when he gave up nine runs (seven earned) in one inning against the Detroit Tigers.

“[Monday’s] outing made it increasingly clear that Brett needs a few more starts to gain the consistency required to compete against lineups

that he’s going to face at the major-league level,” Farrell said.

Carreno, 25, competed for a bullpen job early in spring training before the Jays sent him to rejoin the DoubleA rotation. The Dominican right-hander signed at 17 as a non-drafted free agent.

Drabek made the team last season as a rookie but struggled mightily and spent three months at Triple-a. He said the lessons of that experience “helped me out a bunch.”

Cecil won 15 games two years ago, then fell from grace last spring, along with his velocity and command. He said the Jays gave him the choice of going to New Hampshire or Triple-a Las Vegas, a sinkhole for pitchers, as he learned during a two-month stay last year.

“I appreciate it very much that they gave me a choice to go to New Hampshire instead of Vegas,” Cecil said. “It’s more of a true environment to pitch in, and you get true results when you’re there.”

He said he needs to return to the mechanics he used in 2010 when he became Toronto’s leading winner after starting the season in TripleA. The required adjustments are “very small,” he said.

“Very easily I can repeat them,” he said. “I know those mechanics very well. It’s just a matter of getting the ball down.”

He said his demotion to New Hampshire, where he last pitched in 2008, was no surprise.

“I’ve had a month to figure it out,” he said. “Any pitcher should be able to figure it out then. Some take a little bit longer, like I have. I’m not disappointed at anything at this point.”

Except, of course, that he didn’t figure it out during spring training.