Blue Jays' camp full of upper-level pitching

Team: Toronto Blue Jays
Location: Dunedin, Fla.
Date: March 13, 2007

Burning Question

With as many as 20 candidates for the Triple-A Syracuse pitching staff, when and how will it be narrowed down, and who are the leading candidates to be there?

Generally, when clubs come into Spring Training, they have a pretty good idea of who they will have at each full-season level. Sure, there are always some surprises, both good (a guy who plays himself right onto the next level) and bad (injuries or poor performances that force a more conservative approach).

And then, there are the trickle-down effect moves, as the bubble players come down from big-league camp ... or stay up there.

Still, even keeping those variables in mind, Toronto Blue Jays farm director Dick Scott estimates that most of the time, about 80 percent of the rosters are pretty much set in the front office's mind.

This year, though, he's faced with an unusual dilemma as, with camp games about to start, there are still at least 20 pitchers who realistically are factoring into just 12 spots on the Chiefs' staff.

"This is the first time in the six years that I've been here that there is that much competition for the spots there," Scott said. "It's something that we [Scott and pitching coordinator Dane Johnson] have been discussing since January."

The club signed some familiar names as six-year free agents, such as Jeremi Gonzalez and Blaine Neal. They also have several homegrown pitchers who are ready to move up there, notably Josh Banks, Ismael Ramirez, Ryan Houston and Tracy Thorpe, all of whom are on their 40-man roster.

"You have to mix the prospects that you have and the insurance guys you sign," he explained.

Then, of course, there are still a few top prospects still in camp who are very much in the big-league picture but are not locks for jobs there, meaning they too could wind up in Syracuse.

"Take a guy like Casey Janssen, who has great stuff and great makeup," Scott said. "He has a chance to make the club but there is also a chance he could come back down. And Dustin McGowan could make the club, but he's still got a fourth option because he had Tommy John surgery [a while back], so he could come down."

The math doesn't lie. There will be pitchers at Double-A New Hampshire that could have -- and perhaps should have -- been at Triple-A. Good news for New Hampshire, not so good for the pitchers in question.

"No, they're not going to feel good about being there but they have to trust us that we get the big picture," said Scott. "I can remember as a player that nobody buys into that. I think that's because over the years people aren't always told the truth. It's just a convenient answer for someone in my seat to give. But I hope the guys here have a pretty good idea that it's actually the case. It's coming from me, it's coming from [GM] J.P. [Ricciardi], and we all have the players' best interest in mind."

Other News of the Day

OF Ryan Patterson, whose right forearm was broken when he was hit by a pitch in big-league camp on March 8, had surgery on Monday to insert a plate in the arm, and the news was as good as could possibly be hoped for in this situation. "It went great," Scott said. "The doctor said 'If he was to break a bone in his forearm, he broke the right one because it heals quickly.'"

Patterson, a Florida State League All-Star in 2006, who was penciled in to start the season at Double-A New Hampshire before the injury, is about six weeks away from being able to begin throwing and may be able to resume play by the end of May. He'll remain in extended Spring Training with the club in Dunedin. ... RHP Chi-Hung Cheng, who had shoulder surgery in the offseason, will also be in Dunedin's extended camp to start the season, but he's already on a throwing program. The Jays were happy to have found a physical therapist in Taiwan that they were all happy with. ... OF Adam Lind is still in Major League camp but Scott believes he will start the season back at Syracuse, where he hit .394 in 34 games after batting .310 with 19 homers and 71 RBIs at New Hampshire, earning Eastern League MVP honors. That said, Scott also predicts that his stay in Syracuse won't be a long one. "I think he'll be back up shortly." Having seen him hit .367 in 18 games in his September debut, Jays fans no doubt hope that Lind is back soon as well.

Five Questions with Travis Snider

MiLB.com: How did you feel to be named the Appalachian League MVP in your professional debut?

TS:: On a personal level, it was a really good experience for me. I did what I believed I could do -- not necessarily to win the MVP but to come out and have a good year and try to contribute to the organization. I thank God every day for the ability to go out and win an award like that. I just am looking to build off of last season and not to live in the past, but to press harder to get better this year.

MiLB.com: Do you feel as a first-round pick that there is more pressure on you on or off the field?

TS:: I'd say there are responsibilities that come with being a professional baseball player, whether you're a first-rounder or 50th-rounder. At the same time, though, I've found there are more people who look at you, whether it's in the clubhouse or around the baseball field, and kind of watch what you do. For me, I don't feel that it's extra pressure. I feel like it's an honor. I'm happy to be in the position I've been put in. And I just want to go out there to play the way that I do and allow those other things to work themselves out.

MiLB.com: Which person in history would you most like to have dinner with and why?

TS:: Babe Ruth. You grow up as a kid and learn about the history of baseball and the game and the way it's changed so much from back then, the body styles, the level of talent. And for a guy who didn't have millions of dollars worth of equipment and drills and everything that has been developed over the last century, I think it would be cool to sit down with a guy who just went out there with real talent and dominated the league the way he did. It would be an honor to just be in the same room with a guy like that.

MiLB.com: What is your proudest accomplishment, on or off the field?

TS:: Our high school baseball team won the state championship and we were ranked No. 2 in the nation. Over the course of the last 8 to 10 years of playing baseball I've won some championships, but for me this was really special because I was playing with all my best friends I grew up with. It was cool just to go out, knowing I wasn't going to college after I got drafted, to end my amateur career the best way I could have ended it as a personal and team accomplishment.

MiLB.com: What is your favorite aspect of being in the Toronto organization?

TS:: From top to bottom, from the GM all the way to the clubbies in Pulaski, where I played last year. The organization, all the coaches, the players, the front office, everybody has been so warm, so receptive to me. I see how they treat all the players. You feel like they actually care about you. There is great experience throughout the coaching staff, so many good guys that you wish they were your age so you could hang out with them. Guys that make the atmosphere so personable, we have such a great time.

Lasting Impression

Shortstop Ryan Klosterman is not a name that is generally mentioned right away with the top prospects, but when it comes to consistent run producers, he's always right up there. That kind of success coming from a middle infielder has not gone unnoticed by Scott and company.

"He's just one of those guys who keeps getting better," Scott said. "He has some power for a middle infielder, he's driven in a lot of runs for us two years in a row, he plays second and short and he's made a good impression when he's gone over to (big-league) camp to fill in. People over there have had some discussions about him. He just keeps improving. He's one of those sleeper guys who I think is going to get to the Major Leagues at some point and have a productive career."

Klosterman, a fifth-rounder from 2004, was a Florida State League All-Star Game participant last year, as well as an entrant in the Home Run Derby (which was won by his teammate Patterson), before moving up to New Hampshire for the last few weeks of the summer.

Between the two stops, he combined to hit 16 homers, drive in 80 runs and steal 25 bases. The year before, at Lansing, he had 13 home runs, 69 RBIs and 30 steals. He'd spent all of his career at shortstop before splitting his time between short and second at New Hampshire, where he'll returns to start 2007.

Off the Beaten Path

The coaches love it.

The players hate it.

They do it once a year at Minor League Spring Training, and Tuesday was the day.

Welcome to the Tempo Games.

After a morning of fundamental drills, including pitchers fielding practice, "Introduction to Pickoff Moves" and an early classroom session called Baseball 101 for the younger players, the four work groups convened on two adjacent fields (Syracuse vs. New Hampshire working groups on one field, Dunedin vs. Lansing on the other) for the annual Tempo Games.

The games, which last an hour, move quickly. Their purpose? To make sure the players put into practice all of the fundamentals and "little things" they've been learning. Things like running the bases all-out, hitting the cutoff man, clearing the bat from the baseline.

The pitchers themselves do not actually throw -- a pitching coach takes care of that from behind a screen -- but the pitchers stand right behind them ready to field their positions.

So what happens when a player doesn't hit the cutoff man, doesn't run full-out, or commits any of the no-no's?

A coach throws a weighted yellow flag, just like football officials use, and the player and his entire team has to run from the dugout to the center-field wall and back.

You would think that the two Class A clubs would spend more time doing those sprints than the two higher-level clubs, since they have less experience on the fundamentals. But in this case, it was the older players who were running and running and running.

Okay, maybe their coaches and managers were calling a few more "fouls" as well. But the players were definitely learning their lessons.

At one point, Syracuse catcher Robinzon Diaz, over from big-league camp for the day, hit a towering home run and trotted the bases.

Uh uh. You don't trot the bases -- you run them. It was out to center field for Diaz and company.

The next batter, outfielder David Smith, followed Diaz's at-bat with a home run of his own. You would have thought he was being chased by a mad dog, he ran those bases so fast.

Parting Shots

Spending this particular day in Blue Jays camp, you might think you were in a track-and-field camp rather than a baseball camp, there were so many athletes running everywhere. Players don't amble from one workout field to another, they run (and yes, the coaches run with them). Add in the madness of the annual Tempo Games on adjacent fields, and it's no surprise when the players leave the fields for the clubhouse a little winded (okay, a lot winded). But the day's tough love is rewarded by an afternoon off, on a beautiful, sunny, just about perfect 80-degree day by the ocean. It's no surprise that everyone is smiling as they walk out the door of the complex to the parking lot.