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With Morrow out, Drabek's slotted to be the #3-5 starter (arguably #4 or #5). Based on last year's big-league starts and his spring training, not sure how comfy I am with him being up with the club.

am i far off by asking this?

Agreed. Before Morrow's injury, I was assuming Drabek would go down for a little more seasoning. I haven't watched any ST games, but it's not like he showed that much in September. His FB was a bit flat.

I'm a bit concerned about the pitching staff, to be honest. Romero looks a bit dodgy. Jesse the same. Jo Jo may be a revelation, but you can't always tell in spring training. I think the Marcum trade was the right move to make in isolation, but was assuming it would be in conjunction with bringing in at least a solid #3 guy (if not Greinke).

Chisholm mentioned yesterday that he's going to start as the #2 with Morrow out.

"The one thing that we're seeing is that even when he's not as sharp with his overall command, he's still been efficient," said Farrell of Drabek, who opens the year as the club's No. 2 starter. "He's making very good strides to start on Saturday and beyond."

http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110328&content_id=17158286&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=tor#

I would believe he's the #2 to split the lefties (Romero and Cecil)

Drabek's a competitor, and the K:BB is excellent. Not concerned at all. Romero's looked dodgy, but apparently has tacked on some velocity to that fastball, so not concerned either.

yes i think he's ready. Sending him to AAA at this point will totally destroy his confidence especially how Vegas is a bigger launching pad than the Dome. He performed like a 5th starter last year when he got called up, now just some big league seasoning to improve upon that.

As long as the AAA team is in Vegas, I don't mind the Double-A to MLB promotions (even for hitters), as long as the players are viewed as ready for the jump. I think if the AAA team were still in Syracuse I would be in favor of keeping Drabek down, but at this point with injuries and lack of depth having him in the MLB rotation probably doesn't make a world of difference to his development. It may actually help him working with Farrell and Walton the entire year.

LBJSeizedMyID wrote:Drabek's a competitor, and the K:BB is excellent. Not concerned at all. Romero's looked dodgy, but apparently has tacked on some velocity to that fastball, so not concerned either.

Maybe he stole Cecil's velocity the way Reggie steals Bargs' rebounds (not to derail the thread).

I dunno, the whole thing seems duct-taped together. I'm in complete agreeance with AA's strategy and moves, but maybe I'm just not emotionally ready to wholeheartedly back a team which looks to be taking a (short-term) step back season this year. I wanna see some wins, and dominating ones at that!

We'll see how he makes out. Morrow's setback give the team a bit more time to look him along with Jojo and Litsch. Eventually one will have to move along either sent down (not jojo) or traded (Litsch).

Likely between Drabek and Litsch which is a 5th starter so either would likely be fine. Drabek didn't look as polished as i thought he would last fall. Pitching coach says they have been working with him on his trajectory and things like that, so he is a work in progress....but a good one!

Let's get it started!!!!!!!

This team is going to take a big step back its inevitable we just are not as good as our record last year indicated. I would much rather see Drabek in AAA even if it is in Vegas but with the injury to Morrow we need him up here, hopefully it will just be for a start and he can go down and work in LV for a bit get used to pitching at a higher level.

Sure, his stuff will play fine at this level.

I would say he is. He showed above average major league pitches during his brief stint last year, and enough control of them to warrant a full-time spot. He has room for improvement, but he's far enough along that growing at the major league level should not harm his developement.

I expect Romero to be fine. He's had two consecutive solid seasons, and I see no reason for him to take a step back. I also expect Cecil to be fine. The velocity issue most likely just a temporary problem with his mechanics or a psychological issue, either of which can be worked out.

People often overlook Litsch, but consider that in his only two big league seasons of 100IP or more, he's had a sub-4.00 ERA. Sure he doesn't strike a tonne of people out, but I'll take that kind of performance from a 5-starter any day of the week. Jo-Jo looks to be a capable 5-guy too in case the post-injury Litsch isn't the pre-injury Litsch, and Stewart who has a much higher upside could be knocking on the door as early as mid-year.

My only real concern with the rotation at the moment is Morrow's injury, although we keep being assured it's a minor thing and that Morow insists he feels fine now and could pitch to open the season. I like that they're being extra careful, but it's still cause for some concern. I expect Morrow to be a beast this year, and be the ace of the staff by the end of the season.

Next year the projected rotation is:
Morrow
Romero
Drabek
Cecil
Stewart

All those guys are arguably 3-type or higher guys... there's a lot of reason to be excited about the rotation going forward...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?topic_id=7417714

9th video in the slide show they predict ROY and Cy Young

Surprised with there predictions for ROY.

well.. looks like this question has been answered

Shows you what some people know in the baseball circles, comments that his pitches were average. If you have good location, change of speeds with good movement, you will succeed.

ItsDanger wrote:Shows you what some people know in the baseball circles, comments that his pitches were average. If you have good location, change of speeds with good movement, you will succeed.

Well, of course. But one of the questions raised has been how much movement is on Drabek's pitches. I didn't see today's game, but can someone tell me?

And it's just one game. There is such a thing as advance scouting at the major league level. But so far, so great!

The movement was fantastic.

His 4 seamer seemed to be as straight as a dart last season, but I don't know. I can't tell. Pitch fx is way over my head, too.

Apparently he doesn't throw it that often. That's good, then. Go go cutter/2 seamer.

Wow, based on what I saw of him last year, I thought his movement was amazing. If he can locate his pitches with the kind of movement he has, his future is extremely bright.

Lateral Quicks wrote:Wow, based on what I saw of him last year, I thought his movement was amazing. If he can locate his pitches with the kind of movement he has, his future is extremely bright.

I have a feeling that fatigue may have been a factor on some of his starts, which lead to some control issues mid-game