Manchester, NH- The Toronto Blue Jays, parent club
of the Double-A
New Hampshire Fisher Cats, today announced that pitchers Casey
Janssen and Ricky
Romero will both make rehabilitation starts for the Fisher
Cats at
Merchantsauto.com Stadium during the upcoming homestand. Janssen will get the nod
on Tuesday night,
May 12, at 6:35pm against the Binghamton Mets, and Romero is slated to
start on
Wednesday night, May 13, when the Fisher Cats and B-Mets play a 6:35pm
game. Tickets are
available for both
games at www.nhfishercats.com,
in
person at the stadium Ticket Office and by calling (603)
641-2005.
"What a treat for our fans to see a
couple of current
Blue Jays pitchers make back-to-back starts here in Manchester,"
said Fisher Cats
President/General Manager Rick Brenner. "Casey and Ricky were very
popular when they
were Fisher Cats, and we look forward to seeing them return to our
first-place
team on their road back to Toronto."
Janssen, 27, made nine starts for
the Fisher Cats in
2005, posting a record of 3-3 with a 2.93 ERA.
The Blue Jays' fourth-round draft pick out of UCLA in 2004
made his
Major League debut for Toronto
on April 27, 2006. Janssen
went 6-10
with a 5.07 ERA for the Jays in 19 games, including 17 starts, that
season. The
right-hander was converted to the bullpen
in 2007, where he went 2-3 with six saves and a 2.35 ERA in 70
appearances. Janssen
missed all of the
2008 season after suffering a torn labrum, and he hasn't pitched for
the Blue
Jays since September 24, 2007.
In three rehab starts with the
Advanced-A Dunedin Blue
Jays of the Florida State League, Janssen has yielded only one run on
five hits
in 12 innings for a 0.75 ERA. He's
fanned nine and walked two.
Romero, 24, spent parts of three
seasons with the
Fisher Cats, making a franchise-record 51 starts between 2006 and 2008. The Blue Jays' first-round
draft choice out
of Cal-State Fullerton in 2005 won 10 career games for New Hampshire,
and his 199 strikeouts rank
fourth on the Fishers' all-time list.
Romero earned a spot in Toronto's
starting rotation this season and notched a victory in his Major League
debut
on April 9 when he allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings of the
Blue
Jays' 6-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers at the Rogers Centre. Romero improved to 2-0
with seven scoreless
innings in Toronto's
1-0 win over Oakland
on April 19. In
three starts, Romero posted a 1.71 ERA,
allowing only four runs in 21 innings with 13 strikeouts and four walks. He was placed on the
15-day disabled list on
April 23 with a right oblique muscle strain.
Romero made his first rehabilitation start with Dunedin
last night,
allowing six runs on six hits in four innings.
The Fisher Cats wrap up a
three-game series against
the Connecticut Defenders on Sunday afternoon, May 10, at 1:05pm. All moms get in free on
Mother's Day,
courtesy of Catholic Medical Center,
and the first 1,000 mothers in attendance will receive a free Catholic Medical Center Pink Tote. Moms can redeem their free
tickets in person
at the Merchantsauto.com Stadium Ticket Office on Sunday morning
beginning at
9:30am.
-Fisher
Cats-
