Get to know your Blue Jays
STARTING ROTATION R.A. Dickey, RHP Hometown: Nashville, Tenn. Age: 38 He writes books, climbs mountains and is now the ace of the Jays’ revamped rotation. R.A. Dickey, the reigning NL Cy Young winner and the Most Interesting Man in Baseball, will take the ball on opening day in front of a sold-out Rogers Centre crowd to lead the Jays in this most highly anticipated season. The 38-yearold knuckleballer led the majors in strikeouts last season, punching out 230 batters, almost one an inning, with his fluttering, unpredictable pitch. On his way to being named the senior circuit’s finest hurler last season, he became the first pitcher to record back-to-back completegame one-hitters since Dave Stieb did it for the Jays in 1988 — how’s that for a local connection? — and he set a Mets record by pitching 441⁄3 consecutive scoreless innings. After he was traded to Toronto, Dickey signed a two-year $24million contract extension (with a $12million club option third year), which will keep him in a Jays uniform at least through 2015.
Brandon Morrow, RHP Hometown: Santa Rosa, Calif. Age: 28 Last season looked like it would be Brandon Morrow’s long-predicted breakout. Through his first 12 starts he had three complete games, two of them three-hit shutouts, while posting a 2.90 ERA. It looked like everything was coming together for the former first-round pick with the live arm and incredible swing-and-miss stuff. Then came June 11, when after six pitches against the Washington Nationals, Morrow bent over in pain and called for a trainer. He would be out the next two-and-a-half months with a strained oblique muscle. Four days later, two other starting pitchers were injured and the season began its tailspin. Morrow came back in August and made nine starts to end the season, maintaining his sub-3.00 ERA. He is the hardest thrower in the rotation, which is why he is slotted after Dickey. Manager John Gibbons is hoping to unsettle the timing of opposing hitters. If he can stay healthy and follow through on his all-star potential, it could make for a potent 1-2 punch at the top of the Jays’ rotation.
Mark Buehrle, LHP Hometown: St. Charles, Mo. Age: 34 Major League Baseball’s quintessential workhorse, Mark Buehrle has thrown more innings than any other pitcher since his first full season in 2002. A model of consistency, he has pitched at least 200 frames for 12 straight seasons. Nobody on the Jays’ staff made it through 200 last season, part of the reason why the team fared so poorly. The finesse lefty, who works fast and lives off his fastball command, doesn’t throw very hard and he doesn’t strike many batters out, but he eats innings and finds a way to get out of jams. He’s also a four-time all-star, has two no-hitters to his name (including one perfect game) and has won four straight Gold Gloves. He won the World Series in 2005 as a member of the Chicago White Sox, who swept the Houston Astros. After pitching seven innings as the starter in Game 2, Buehrle returned to the mound two days later in the 14th inning of Game 3 to earn the save. It’s almost as if he’s paid by the inning, though, as he’s owed $51 million over the next three seasons.
Josh Johnson, RHP Hometown: Minneapolis Age: 29 When Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos was looking for starting pitching upgrades this off-season he targeted Johnson, the Miami Marlins’ 6-foot-7, 250-pound ace. From that initial inquiry grew the eventual 12-player megadeal that has completely reshaped the Jays’ lineup and rotation. Johnson, who spent the first eight years of his career with the Marlins, is due to become a free agent at the end of this season. The two-time all-star, who was the Marlins’ opening-day starter a year ago, led the NL with a 2.30 ERA in 2010. He has battled injuries throughout his career — he had Tommy John surgery to repair his elbow in 2007 and was limited to nine starts in 2011 due to shoulder inflammation — but stayed healthy throughout all of last season and pitched well in the second half. Since the shoulder trouble arose at the end of 2010, his fastball has shown decreased velocity. As such, he relied more on his curveball and slider as an out pitch in 2012 rather than simply blowing his fastball by hitters.
Ricky Romero, LHP Hometown: Los Angeles Age: 28 Last season was an unmitigated disaster for Ricky Romero, who led the league in walks while posting a major-league worst 5.77 ERA. He struggled to locate all of his pitches and he posted among the lowest first-pitch strike rates of any big-league starter. A year ago, he was the Jays’ opening day starter, fresh off his 2011 all-star season and expected to lead a young Jays pitching staff. Now he is relegated to the final spot in the rotation, flipped from the top to bottom. He may benefit from being out of the spotlight, but the pressure is still on Romero to show that last year was a fluke and not the year before. With so much more depth in the Jays’ rotation this season, his leash will be shorter.
J.A. Happ, LHP Hometown: Peru, Ill. Age: 30 The biggest loser of the Jays’ off-season upgrade, J.A. Happ may be the best sixth starter in the majors. The towering lefthander will begin the season either at the front of the starting rotation in Triple-A Buffalo or as the long reliever in the Jays’ bullpen. Either way, he’ll be counted upon to step into the starting rotation at the first need, and there will almost certainly be a need at some point during the season. Happ, who was acquired by the Jays from Houston midway through last July, has minor-league options available so he wouldn’t have to clear waivers to be sent down.
Dustin McGowan, RHP Hometown: Savannah, Ga. Age: 31 The oft-injured right-hander is once again looking to resume his star-crossed career after missing all of last season with shoulder inflammation. McGowan, who has spent nearly four of the last five years on the disabled list, is still a long shot to make the team out of camp. But if he can stay healthy he’ll compete to be the long reliever in the Jays’ bullpen, which would be a remarkable comeback for the likeable former first-round pick whose oncepromising career as a starter has been all but derailed by injury. The real tragedy would be if after 13 years in the Jays organization McGowan is healthy but not pitching well enough to make the team. He’s out of options, so he would have to be exposed on waivers.
THE BULLPEN
Casey Janssen, RHP Hometown: Orange, Calif. Age: 31 Casey Janssen, now the longest-tenured Blue Jay, begins the season with the closer’s job to lose. He stepped into the role admirably last season when Sergio Santos went down with injury and Francisco Cordero flamed out. He converted 22 of 24 save opportunities, struck out more than a batter an inning while posting a paltry 2.03 ERA. Janssen underwent what was described as “minor” off-season surgery to relieve discomfort in his shoulder by shaving down part of his collarbone. He is scheduled to be ready for opening day. If he is delayed in any way, Santos will assume the role.
Sergio Santos, RHP Age: 29 Hometown: Los Angeles A year ago, Jays fans only got to know Santos long enough to boo him off the field when he blew a save in the home opener. His shoulder was “barking” then and he ended up spending almost the entire season on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation. Following arthro----