Stuff: PTS, Romero

 

 Holy shit, there were a lot of people on Prime Time Sports today.  Which is both good and bad, I suppose.  On one hand, we get some useful interviews with some familiar faces, but on the other hand, we need to listen to Bob McCown and Stephen Brunt speak.  It could be worse, but it could sure be a lot better.

I haven't found a version (2 parts) of it online (yet, at least), but at this present moment,; Paul Beeston is speaking on my television internet.  If I owned an external drive capable of doing so, I'd just DVR it and send it straight to the internet, but alas...

Beeston's highlights include:

• Wants grass, and has been "given the green light to come up with a plan" to fire some grass in there.  It's gonna happen.  '16, '17 or '18.  Gonna happen.  Big issue is that there needs to be drainage systems implemented.  Can't just lay an inch of dirt and throw grass in-- gotta dig and create drainage.  Grass is going to happen though.
• The complex formerly known as Windows is going to be accessible from 100s and 500s.  Walk around, have a chili dog or something, and go back to your seat.  Concession stands, maybe some kiddie attractions.  Brunt says that PTS will shoot from there sometimes?
• Beeston says that a player or two have asked specifically to have the roof closed on a day where it was otherwise nice enough outside to have it open, or vice versa.  It depends on the pitcher asking.  So yeah, maybe we'll get Dickey requesting a closed roof to get some knucklers going, but for the most part, if it's a nice day out, the roof is going to be open.
• The word "collegiality" was used not fewer than two times.  Atmosphere!  Teamwork!  Chemisty!  So much for the only excuse that old people have for the Jays this year.
• Marcus Stroman is, apparently, the kind of guy that everybody just lines up to watch.  More on him later.
• Big cudos to scouts and development staff of the organization, and the trade wouldn't have come without them.
• Beeston expects fewer than three million fans this season, still expects there to be extra cash available at the deadline if there's a need.
• Probably won't be able to get an extension done with Josh Johnson in-season, regardless of how badly they (i.e. the organization) would like to get it done.  Wait 'til after.
• McCown ask his trademark troll question-- Would the offseason overhaul of the big league club have occurred if Farrell stayed?  As if the Jays improved this year because of spite for John Fucking Farrell.  What the fuck kind of answer were you expecting?  Christ.

Stroman's interview is actually pretty good, and is linked above.

His highlights:

• He plans on going back to school to finish things up.  Me too buddy.
• He measures in at 5'7''.  Me too buddy.  As long as you can create the downward angle, he says, height is no big deal.
• He's throwing four pitches (Fastball, Curve, Slider, Change).  That sounds to me like he's starting moving forward.  Says he isn't sure what the end goal is-- he's got the mindset to close, or so he says, but he'll start if need be.
• An over-the-counter stimulant led to his suspension.  Apparently he wouldn't have been suspended if he was on the 40-man, for some reason.  Either way, the plan is extended spring training, and then New Hampshire, after the suspension is served.

Arash Madani gave us a break from McCown, as he interviewed Adam Lind, who, as Madani pointed out, is batting OVER .400!!! this spring.

Lind highlights:

• Yoga and a lot of reps with low-mass weights, was the fitness plan this past offseason.  Madani points out that Lind has been a weak link in the lineup in each of the last three seasons, to which Lind replies that he's had two bad half seasons over the past two years.  Sort of, yeah.
• Lind acknowledges that he could be out of town at the end of the year (or sooner) if he doesn't improve.
• Lind plans on pretending that lefty pitchers are righty pitchers... and just letting everything take care of itself, I guess.
• Arash Madani is certainly not Bob McCown.  Don't confuse that for a compliment.

Finally, Ricky Romero got hit pretty hard against a minor-league version of the Pirates today.  Two innings, and something like 62 pitches, 5 walks and 4 hits.

I'm not sure why this particular spring training start means something, when we all know that no spring training start means anything, but hey, gotta get them pageviews.  In fact, I would submit that this start probably means less than each of his other spring starts, given the widely publicized tweaks to his delivery.

I don't know if everybody expected Romero to just make a little adjustment and start mowing people down, or what, but I mean...  I dunno, you look at a guy like Tiger Woods, who makes a pretty dramatic change in his swing and he sucks (as far as his standards go) for upwards of two years before things get awesome.  Maybe this is something that we shouldn't shit our pants about just because it didn't work out overnight.

Anyway, by the sounds of things, Romero isn't certain to have the 5th starter's job right out of the gate.  It's certainly possible that he stays in Florida with some fake injury or something, but he's also really unlikely to get claimed if the Jays decided that they'd like to send him through waivers to work on some stuff in the minors, given his salary and contract.

I'm probably going to read this Q&A with Alex Anthopoulos now.