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The Toronto Blue Jays placed starter Jesse Litsch on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with a right forearm strain and recalled left-hander Bill Murphy from triple-A Las Vegas.

Litsch left Monday's 8-6 win over the Minnesota Twins with tightness in the forearm after allowing seven hits and four runs over three innings.

The 24-year-old gave up five runs and seven hits – including a career-high three homers – in six innings of a loss to Detroit last week.

Reliever Brian Tallet will come out of the bullpen and start in Litsch's place Saturday at home versus Oakland.

http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/618291

It's now official.

how do you get this info so fast? LOL at least we have a guy starting who is good and has a cool moustache.

hey guys...
i've been following the raptors board for a longtime but have never really posted before and now that the jays have been off to such a great start i've been following this board too
after snider hit that 2-run shot last night there wasn't enough people in the world i could have called to discuss the amazingness of such an event...so i figured the best way to do that would be to finally start posting here

anyways now that litsch is on the DL I really feel that we should attempt to make a move to bolster our starting rotation...if we want any chance of competing for a playoff spot come september/october than we need to right this hot start for as long as possible until we can get back janssen, accardo and mcgowan (whenever that is???)

my question is...would you guys welcome a trade that involved one of our big bats (v-dub, rios, lind, or snider) for a legitimate 2-3 rotation guy with experience to help this pitching staff as much as possible...i think right now it has to be looked at (imagine if we had traded rios for lincecum a little while back)
our bats are on fire now but when they cool off this team is going to struggle without pitching

let me know!

so mustache man gets the start... hmm we'll see how that goes... so i guess this is our first call-up from Vegas?

btw, welcome to the board woolf

Tallet looked pretty solid last night, but could anyone tell me what his pitches are? Does he have enough variety and endurance to get through 6-7 innings?

woolf wrote:hey guys...
i've been following the raptors board for a longtime but have never really posted before and now that the jays have been off to such a great start i've been following this board too
after snider hit that 2-run shot last night there wasn't enough people in the world i could have called to discuss the amazingness of such an event...so i figured the best way to do that would be to finally start posting here

anyways now that litsch is on the DL I really feel that we should attempt to make a move to bolster our starting rotation...if we want any chance of competing for a playoff spot come september/october than we need to right this hot start for as long as possible until we can get back janssen, accardo and mcgowan (whenever that is???)

my question is...would you guys welcome a trade that involved one of our big bats (v-dub, rios, lind, or snider) for a legitimate 2-3 rotation guy with experience to help this pitching staff as much as possible...i think right now it has to be looked at (imagine if we had traded rios for lincecum a little while back)
our bats are on fire now but when they cool off this team is going to struggle without pitching

let me know!

#1: A baseball season is a marathon and a good stretch of 8 games is basically meaningless. Competing for a playoff spot isn't and shouldn't be this team's concern right now.
#2: Yes, I'd trade Vernon Wells for anybody in baseball. He has a horrible contract that will hurt this team for years.
#3: We tried to trade Rios for Lincecum, and Sabean chose not to do it.

I'm not too familiar with Bill Murphy, anyone have any basic scouting info on him?

-n

Alfred wrote:Tallet looked pretty solid last night, but could anyone tell me what his pitches are? Does he have enough variety and endurance to get through 6-7 innings?

Probably not. He basically throws 2 pitchers, a fastball and a change-up...with a slider sometimes thrown in.

nnnwt wrote:I'm not too familiar with Bill Murphy, anyone have any basic scouting info on him?

-n

Don't concern yourself with him...just a mediocre AAA reliever. He won't be on the team long.

one thing i don't understand is tht cito used litsch at #3 coz he wanted to separate the lefties...and now were gonna 3 lefties in a row in the rotation...i don't think this will work out...i hope this is a stop-gap measure till casey janssen is activated...i don't like him too much but i'd rather him in between 2 lefties than 3 in a row...makes it too easy for opponents since they don't have to adjust as much

Mustard_Tiger wrote:

woolf wrote:hey guys...
i've been following the raptors board for a longtime but have never really posted before and now that the jays have been off to such a great start i've been following this board too
after snider hit that 2-run shot last night there wasn't enough people in the world i could have called to discuss the amazingness of such an event...so i figured the best way to do that would be to finally start posting here

anyways now that litsch is on the DL I really feel that we should attempt to make a move to bolster our starting rotation...if we want any chance of competing for a playoff spot come september/october than we need to right this hot start for as long as possible until we can get back janssen, accardo and mcgowan (whenever that is???)

my question is...would you guys welcome a trade that involved one of our big bats (v-dub, rios, lind, or snider) for a legitimate 2-3 rotation guy with experience to help this pitching staff as much as possible...i think right now it has to be looked at (imagine if we had traded rios for lincecum a little while back)
our bats are on fire now but when they cool off this team is going to struggle without pitching

let me know!

#1: A baseball season is a marathon and a good stretch of 8 games is basically meaningless. Competing for a playoff spot isn't and shouldn't be this team's concern right now.
#2: Yes, I'd trade Vernon Wells for anybody in baseball. He has a horrible contract that will hurt this team for years.
#3: We tried to trade Rios for Lincecum, and Sabean chose not to do it.

I think we 100% should be focused on the playoffs...what should be this team's concern right now? They signed Hill and Rios last year to multiyear deals and we have Vern locked up for a while too...so what should we focus on? We have a great mix of youth and vets on offense and so far (granted it is in a short time span) this year it actually looks to be working out...I don't think we should be rebuilding unless a new GM is brought in but that isn't going to happen any time soon especially if the team succeeds in the first couple of months...so if we aren't rebuilding then isnt the playoffs a logical choice...use what we have now plus a trade (potential) to fight for a shot this year as long as it doesnt hurt the future as well...unless we continue the tradition of Toronto sports mediocrity what would be the point in not making a push for the playoffs this year...

evilRyu wrote:so mustache man gets the start... hmm we'll see how that goes... so i guess this is our first call-up from Vegas?

btw, welcome to the board woolf

he looked OK last night in long relief...our bullpen is being tested very early on this year and the injuries have not helped at all...

and thanks for the warm welcome evilRyu

woolf wrote:I think we 100% should be focused on the playoffs...what should be this team's concern right now?

Developing young players. They don't have a good enough roster to beat the Red Sox or Yankees this season. 6 wins in 8 games doesn't change the plan for this season.

We have a great mix of youth and vets on offense and so far (granted it is in a short time span) this year it actually looks to be working out...I don't think we should be rebuilding unless a new GM is brought in but that isn't going to happen any time soon especially if the team succeeds in the first couple of months...so if we aren't rebuilding then isnt the playoffs a logical choice...use what we have now plus a trade (potential) to fight for a shot this year as long as it doesnt hurt the future as well...unless we continue the tradition of Toronto sports mediocrity what would be the point in not making a push for the playoffs this year...

First of all, who cares whether it appears to be working out right now? They've played 8 games in a 162 game season. It's meaningless.

Secondly, I never said they should rebuild. If you can trade Overbay or Rolen away, then yeah, you do that, though.

Don't move away from the plan of the season just to attempt to make the playoffs with a team that isn't as talented as their competition.

Mustard_Tiger wrote:

woolf wrote:I think we 100% should be focused on the playoffs...what should be this team's concern right now?

Developing young players. They don't have a good enough roster to beat the Red Sox or Yankees this season. 6 wins in 8 games doesn't change the plan for this season.

Mustard_Tiger wrote:First of all, who cares whether it appears to be working out right now? They've played 8 games in a 162 game season. It's meaningless.

Secondly, I never said they should rebuild. If you can trade Overbay or Rolen away, then yeah, you do that, though.

Don't move away from the plan of the season just to attempt to make the playoffs with a team that isn't as talented as their competition.

If our plan this season is to develop young players then isn't that essentially rebuilding? If we stumble until June then Doc is sure to be gone and then that would signify our rebuilding phase would it not? I would assume a new GM would be brought in...we would try to trade vern and Doc and our older players to teams competing for a playoff spot.
We have youth coming up but with the offense we have right now, with the mix it is of youth and vets, it has a chance to compete. Sure its only been a "meaningless" 8 games and I guess I'm jumping the gun thinking of October...but I wouldn't right this team off yet...(at least I'm not going to since its too much fun thinking of the possibilities right now...especially after a terrible raps season )

The problem is whether or not to make some moves now or wait. I guess the plan will be to wait until this team is either out of it or competing through June. If we are competing, then I don't see a problem in trading some offense for pitching to put us over the edge.

Why didn't they call up Brad Mills? Wasn't he impressive during spring training?

I am surprised that Mills, Cecil or Accardo weren't brought up. Murphy is a little out of left field if you ask me. I don't mind the 'stache pitching as a starter but I would have rather seen Accardo up here especially if BJ continues his scary innings.

Mills sucked in his last ST outting, and his first outing down in Vegas was brutal. So I don't think they are going to call him up off of that. Plus the rotation spots don't line up at all. Cecil's spot lines up perfectly, but I think they want to give them both more time in the minors, both for experience and to limit their innings.

Tallet isn't going to be expected to get through 6 or 7. I would expect him to go twice through the order, for about 4, maybe 5 innings, and then get yanked, even if he's doing alright.

woolf wrote:

Mustard_Tiger wrote:

woolf wrote:I think we 100% should be focused on the playoffs...what should be this team's concern right now?

Developing young players. They don't have a good enough roster to beat the Red Sox or Yankees this season. 6 wins in 8 games doesn't change the plan for this season.

Mustard_Tiger wrote:First of all, who cares whether it appears to be working out right now? They've played 8 games in a 162 game season. It's meaningless.

Secondly, I never said they should rebuild. If you can trade Overbay or Rolen away, then yeah, you do that, though.

Don't move away from the plan of the season just to attempt to make the playoffs with a team that isn't as talented as their competition.

If our plan this season is to develop young players then isn't that essentially rebuilding? If we stumble until June then Doc is sure to be gone and then that would signify our rebuilding phase would it not? I would assume a new GM would be brought in...we would try to trade vern and Doc and our older players to teams competing for a playoff spot.
We have youth coming up but with the offense we have right now, with the mix it is of youth and vets, it has a chance to compete. Sure its only been a "meaningless" 8 games and I guess I'm jumping the gun thinking of October...but I wouldn't right this team off yet...(at least I'm not going to since its too much fun thinking of the possibilities right now...especially after a terrible raps season )

The problem is whether or not to make some moves now or wait. I guess the plan will be to wait until this team is either out of it or competing through June. If we are competing, then I don't see a problem in trading some offense for pitching to put us over the edge.

Rebuilding in baseball is not the same as in basketball.

In baseball, because players generally spend so long in the minors, they are expected to be productive players within a year of their call up, really. Most won't hit their peak for a few years after that, but they are never expected to go through the slower development you see in all but the highest picks in basketball. So playing the Jays young guys this year is gearing them up for next year. Rebuilding a baseball team happens through the draft and acquiring minor leaguers, and is probably a minimum 3 or 4 year process.

And since both Cito and JP have said about 800 times that they plan to contend next year, there is no reason from that perspective to deal Roy this season. (And so really almost no reason at all, as the most recent noises coming out of the team say there is money to be spent if they think it would be worthwhile.) As for Vernon, nobody is taking him off our hands any time soon even if we wanted to deal him. Which we don't, again because he will be useful next year.

I'm not saying here that they Jays don't have some shot at competing this year. The point I am trying to make, as I think MT also is, would be that if you get the young guys their playing time this year, the team has a better chance at being a contender next year and in years beyond.

Modern_epic wrote:I'm not saying here that they Jays don't have some shot at competing this year. The point I am trying to make, as I think MT also is, would be that if you get the young guys their playing time this year, the team has a better chance at being a contender next year and in years beyond.

Exactly, this is the goal for the Jays this season. If they play well and make the playoffs, then great, but I don't think they have the experience or the talent to do anything like that this year.