The Blue Jays will fly back home on Sunday night and I don’t think I’m going out on a limb by saying the last thing they want to be thinking about over the next 24 hours is just how poorly things went on this six-game road trip. Toronto entered games against Tampa Bay and Texas having won four of its past five, including a mini two-game sweep of the Yankees.

They now leave Arlington having lost five straight and the main reason can be found with the recent struggles in the starting rotation. The pitching staff had been the club’s biggest surprise for most of the season but at least for one week it has become their biggest weakness. That has all kinds of people on Twitter and other forms of social media claiming that the roof is now caving in on this team but there’s one important thing to remember: The club is never as good as it looks during a prolonged winning streak and it’s never as bad as it looks during a prolonged slump. The truth likely can be found somewhere in the middle.

Toronto possessed the second Wild Card as recently as last week but now sit one game out of last place in the competitive American League East. Things do need to turn around rather quickly and the walks currently being issued by the pithcers certainly need to reduced but it is far too early to write this team off.  Afterall, they’re just a small four-game winning streak away from everyone jumping back on the bandwagon and pronouncing this as a postseason contender.

There will be lots of highs and lows along the way and truth is we’re not going to see exactly what direction this club is headed in for quite awhile longer. Here are today’s leftovers from John Farrell, Jose Bautista and a very frustrated Kyle Drabek:

Jose Bautista:

On being swept…

“I wouldn’t dwell on it too much. It was just a bad road trip. It’s happened before and it will happen again. We just have to go home and focus on who we have coming in and try to beat them.”

On critics saying this road trip is an indication that the club is not a contender…

“Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, I don’t agree with that. To me, this road trip or any other road trip is no measuring stick for how the rest of the season is going to go. Again, those games are over, we can’t go back in time and change them. We just have to win tomorrow night.”

Indication of how good the Rangers are or how poorly Blue Jays are playing…

“We haven’t played bad baseball. We ran into a team that’s hitting the ball pretty good, not much we can do about that. All we have to do is keep doing what we’re doing, keep battling, we haven’t given up, we were putting some runs on the board except for the first day here and that’s all we can do. We’re playing good baseball, we just have to continue to do it, we can’t really think abotu these losses and let that affect the way we play the rest of the way.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with how good or bad we’re playing. We ran into a team that’s hitting the ball very, very well. The result of these three games is more a result of how they’re hitting the ball and not how we’re playing.”

On Darvish now versus his outing in Toronto…

“I didn’t think his velocity was the same. I didn’t think his pitches were moving as good but somehow he still managed to make a good pitch when he needed to and he got out of some jams. We managed to put up three runs but it could have been a lot worse for him and I think he got away with one today.”

John Farrell:

“We ran into a hot-hitting club. Seemingly, no matter who was on the mound if we made a pitch on the plate, made a mistake in the strike zone, they covered it, squared up a lot of balls. Then you find yourself down a number of runs, it takes away from our ability to be that much more aggressive on the basepaths to create some things and you have to swing your way back into it.

“This was a tough road trip. We go back kind of limping with Yunel banged up with his groin, Kelly with his hamstring situation. I think Jesse came in and did everything we asked to give us a number of innings. I thought he handled himself well, a good loose delivery, a lot of strikes, stayed out of the middle of the plate for the most part.”

On Yunel…

“He’s day-to-day at this point. He was examined, he’s got a groin issue going on. He felt that when he was going first to third early in the ballgame. We just have to be precautionary with what he’s got taken place right now.”

On Drabek…

“He found himself in a lot of hitters’ counts and then when he made a pitch on the plate, they’re swinging the bats so well right now there was really no room for error. A number of fastball counts to the pull side and the way the ball is flying here, the way they can hit, just a tough combination today.”

Rotation coming back down to earth after a strong start?

“We’ve gone through a turn through the rotation where it certainly has been less than we’ve pitched the previous 35 ballgames this season. It’s obviously taxed our bullpen a lot. We’ve got to get back to what has made this group of five successful and that’s pitching ahead in the count, not issuing the number of base-on-balls that we’ve gone through in this stretch and we’ve got to get back to playing the type of baseball that we’ve had. That’s the starters controlling it from the outset and giving our offense a chance to get on track.”

Entering this road trip on a good roll…

“We had some momentum going into this road trip, there’s no doubt about it. We played very well on the previous homestand, we ran up against two very good teams. We had a couple of tough losses late but we’ve got to re-group. We’ve got Baltimore coming in here tomorrow and it’s going to go back to anytime we’re in these type of stretches where wins have been tough to come by it’s going to point even further to the rotation to set the tone.

“It’s a turn through the rotation that has been bumpy. We’ve got to get back to the basics of controlling the count, attacking the strike zone with strikes and trying to eliminate the number of situations where we’re fighting back into the count.”

Kyle Drabek:

“Had to show up for the team and I didn’t do that.

“When I was throwing balls they weren’t swinging and when I was throwing strikes they were hitting them. It was as simple as that.”

A start you just want to forget about?

“I’ll forget about it but I need to learn from it. I need to go back from square one in spring training, maybe get the ropes back out there, figure something out because doing that is not going to help the team, any.”

Mechanical?

“I don’t think it was mechanical but it’s going back to where I’m cutting the ball and have to find that command I had in Spring Training.

“You can’t throw balls and then force yourself to throw a strike down the middle. When you do that any good hitter is going to hit it.”

Most frustrating part?

“We needed a big win, to go home with a win, we ended up getting some runs but I just wasn’t there for the team.”

Tuesday ended  up being a good day for right-hander Jesse Litsch. The oft-injured Blue Jays pitcher has been dealing with an injured shoulder that just won’t seem to heal but at least he now knows with complete certainty that the previously found infection is completely gone. You can find the full details in today’s notebook on the main site plus items on Edwin Encarnacion and Colby Rasmus.

I have posted the full transcript of today’s scrum with Litsch at the Bobby Mattick Training Center. I’ve also included a portion of the Q+A with newly signed Vladimir Guerrero while an accompanying article for that can also be found on the main site:

Jesse Litsch:

“I don’t have an infection. There’s no infection in my arm, it has been gone for about five weeks now, four weeks, the pain is still there. I still have a lot of pain but we’re still working with team doctors and trying to get it all figured out. It’s something that is very rare, hasn’t been caused much, hasn’t been done much, we’re trying to figure things out, work through it and it’s an every day grind but as far as the infection I’m not wearing a tube anymore. I just got word 20 minutes from Dr. Mirabello, we just had a blood test on Friday and that’s all gone.”

On the platelet-rich plasma injection, which caused the infection…

“It’s something that is routine, it has been done a lot. It’s newer within the past 10 years but it’s had a lot of success and they did it via ultrasound, which is something that was new and something along the way got messed up and it caused an infection in my arm. It has been a grind ever since.”

On his familiarity with the PRP…

“I had a couple of before that. I had one on my elbow when I had Tommy John, it’s routine, it’s something where we sit now, who knows what it came from. It could have come from anything but now it’s a process of getting over it and trying to come back.”

Must have been a relief getting the blood test results back today…

“Anytime you hear that you’re free, I’ve known that for about five weeks now, but I went and saw Dr. Yocum last week and he wanted me to have another one to make sure it’s still gone just in case if there’s another surgery, which might happen, we’re going to give it another month of rehab but if surgery is going to happen again you don’t want to go in there when there’s a bug in your arm and cause a bone infection.”

But you’re still feeling a lot of pain…

“I’ve had numerous MRIs and no structural damage, it’s the same as it was prior to the injection. The infection, it made it hurt more in my arm, which is something that I’m not dealing with very well and it’s more pain than I’ve felt in my life but something they keep telling me you have to get through it. Me, I want to get back out there so I’m going to do what they say.”

Must be getting frustrating having to deal with this for such a long period of time…

“It’s the love of the game. You want to go back out there and play. It’s competitive, you want to stay out there and competitive. You want to get people out, that’s what I like doing, that’s something I’ve always liked doing since I was a kid. Not to be able to play sucks but it’s the grind to get back, it’s the fight to get back, you have to take that as a competition too and try and beat the odds on that.”

McGowan must also provide a strong example of perseverance…

“Definitely. Me and Dustin have been here for four years now together. We’ve become pretty good friends and I think he’s on his fifth year and I’m on my fourth year. We talk about it all the time, we help each other out and he’s a guy that has come through it and is still going through it. Back down, up, down, we’ve kind of had the same roller coaster ride and it’s a matter of staying at it and loving the game, which we both do.”

Post surgery…

“I got diagnosed with what they call frozen shoulder and that was basically because I didn’t move my shoulder because I had to have the emergency surgery. But really you weren’t allowed to move your shoulder after the surgery because they don’t want you to move all the stuff around and possibly rile up the infection … It took an extra week for me to come out and that may or may not have hurt me, who’s to say it wasn’t going to be froze regardless. This is something that is very rare and not many people have had it done and it’s tough for a pitcher, who relies on his arm for his livelihood, it really hasn’t been done.”

When was last time you were 100% healthy…

“Last year. I was good last year and May, I was good when I was out of the bullpen. I had good numbers out of the bullpen, it’s a weird game, it’s a frustrating game, it’s not a natural motion to throw overhand and things happen. I finished the year fine last year and then Spring Training it’s a whole new year.”

Vladimir Guerrero:

When do you think you might be ready…

“I’ve only played three games. Friday was the first. I want to do this as soon as I’m able to but right now I can’t predict.”

On the Blue Jays…

“There is lots of talent on the team. I believe it’s a very good team and they’re doing well right now. If I can contribute with giving any advice to the young guys, I will. The rest should take care of itself.”

But you can’t put a time frame on getting to the big leagues…

“I haven’t seen that many live pitches and I’d like to make sure that when I get there I am 100%. I don’t want to say a day, I don’t want to say I’ll be ready tomorrow. But I want to make sure that when I do show up I’m 100%.”

Off-season training program…

“I was running a lot and something I was doing plenty of was playing the outfield because that’s something I want to do and since I feel good, my body feels good, I’d like to play some left field if possible.”

Looked like you were moving a lot more freely out there than you were last season…

“That is the case. I feel a lot better. Last year I had some pain in my left knee. I’ve never had surgery on that one but I’ve had surgery on the right one and that would cause me to put a lot of stress on the left. But I feel very, very strong and right now, no pain. I feel really good about it.”

What did you like most about playing for the Expos…

“The people in Montreal, the fans, were very different. I felt like I could walk down the street like I was in the Dominican. Nobody would attack me or anything like that. They’d say hi and he felt very, very comfortable on the streets. Then again, when I got to the ballpark, then they became fans that’s what I really liked about it.”

What made you decide to pick the Blue Jays…

“Definitely going back to where it all started. I feel like this is where I started, it’s not the same city, but it’s Canada. I think going back there kind of like renewed. I feel like I’m going to be very, very comfortable.”

Difficulty a lot of DH’s had with signing deals this offseason, did that factor into you wanting to prove yourself in the OF?

“I think that showing that I can still play does help. I would love to play, even if it’s a couple of games a week. But if DH is my job, I’ll do it. I definitely want to play in the outfield.”

Was there a point you began to doubt whether you would receive an offer to play this year?

“I was obviously patiently waiting to see where I was going to go. I did have another agent in the past and then hired us a couple of weeks ago. We made this happen. But I was just going to keep working until something showed up but then when I heard Blue Jays, I’m excited to go to Toronto.”

How long do you expect to play for?

“My goal is those 51 home runs that I need to get to 500. I already have a great career but that’s what I want to do right now, that’s my immediate goal.”

Nine-time All-Star and 2004 American League MVP Award winner Vladimir Guerrero has signed a Minor League deal with the Toronto Blue Jays.

The deal is worth $1.3 million and will be prorated for Guerrero’s time in the Majors, FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal first reported Thursday, adding that Guerrero will enter Toronto’s extended spring camp in Dunedin, Fla.

Guerrero, 37, will be returning to Canada, where he began his career while playing eight seasons for the Montreal Expos. He then headed to Anaheim, where he won his MVP Award during six years with the Angels.

Known for his powerful swing, Guerrero is a lifetime .318 hitter with 449 home runs.

Guerrero spent last season with Baltimore, hitting .290 with 13 homers and 63 RBIs, exclusively as a designated hitter.

If Guerrero proves he is ready for a return to the Major Leagues, he could provide the club with another option for the heart of its lineup. 

Former cleanup hitter Adam Lind was dropped to eighth in the batting order on Wednesday following his continued struggles at the plate. Lind entered play on Thursday hitting just .198 with three home runs and 10 RBIs, and he is coming off a 2011 season in which he was plagued by back injuries.

Starting designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion has been the Blue Jays’ best hitter this season, but he also has the ability to play first base. That could create an opening for Guerrero, who would appear likely to start against left-handed pitching while also putting pressure on Lind for regular playing time.

On the main site you’ll find today’s notebook with items on Adam Lind and Jose Bautista’s continued struggles at the plate through the first month of the season. Several reporters talked to Lind prior to Saturday’s game against the Angels and since I wasn’t able to get all of into the note I wanted to post the remainder of the interview here. There’s also a lengthy transcript of Saturday’s pre-game scrum with John Farrell, who gave his thoughts on Lind/Bautista, the starting rotation, Rajai Davis and much more.

I found Lind’s interview particularly interesting because in many ways it was the exact opposite of what he said for most of last season. In 2011, most of the talk was about Lind needing to take a more patient approach at the plate and to limit the amount of times he chases balls out of the zone. Now it seems as though the club feels he has gone too far in the other direction and has become too passive at the plate.

The Blue Jays still don’t want Lind chasing bad pitches but they do want him to become more aggressive with pitches in the strikezone. It seems as though they’ve even gone as far to suggest he should stop worrying about walks and instead focus on one pitch that he can drive. That approach is more in line with what former manager Cito Gaston preached during his tenure in Toronto and was something the club got away from in 2011.

At least when it comes to Lind, the club wants him to re-visit that type of approach in the hopes that he can re-discover the 2009 form that saw him become a Silver Slugger Award winner in the American League. Here’s Lind, and also don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB

Adam Lind:

On his struggles this season…

“I’ve felt good and thought I’d been doing pretty well up until the Texas series and the first game here. Just staying positive, I’m always trying to get hits, I’ll never throw at-bats away, or not swing the bat in any at-bat.”

You lowered your leg kick, anything else you’ve been working on?

“That’s an on-going process that can change from at-bat to at-bat, or day to day. After my second strikeout (Friday) night I just decided I’m not going to think about anything, I’m just going to let my swing do what it does and I hit the ball in my last two at-bats.

“Obviously it’s been a pretty big struggle, but it’s just part of the game. For whatever reason I have to go through it.”

Approach at the plate…

“At the beginning of the year I wasn’t really swinging the bat the way I’m capable. I mean, I was having good at-bats, seeing pitches, being a bit passive I think, but I had a talk with the staff and they said we don’t care about walks anymore, go up there and swing hard.”

How will that help…

“It definitely makes it a lot easier to get the bat through the zone when you’re just thinking about making contact instead of shortening your leg (kick) or whatever is in your head. You’re not going to change your swing during games, you’ve just got to let it work and as experienced a baseball player as I am, I’ve played since I was five, six years old, it’s amazing how hitting can make you feel like you don’t know anything about it.”

John Farrell:

On rotation exceeding expectations after turmoil late in the spring…

“There was some uncertainty. We spoke in Spring Training and talked about the potential and the talent was clearly there and guys we felt confident in even though they were untested or some of the experiences some of the guys had previous, they were challenged by what they went through a year ago and at the time we were hopeful that through those challenges they learned some things about themselves along the way and through the first 27 games, the starting rotation has not only been consistent but you could point to it as being one of the strengths of this team so far.”

On Morrow and Alvarez…

“It’s rare to be on the road and throw back-to-back shutouts but you can’t take anything away from what guys have done. Those weren’t because of some fluke things that didn’t go their way, we played some very good defence behind both Brandon and Henderson but they pitched exceptionally well. They threw a lot of first-pitch strikes, they were down in the strikezone for the most part, extremely efficient. Against an aggressive swinging club and they forced the hand, they threw strikes early in the count and by doing that they were able to get through nine innings efficiently.”

On not having to face Pujols on Saturday…

“They have a very good lineup with or without Albert in there. Obviously he has been one of the best hitters in the game and maybe the best over the last 10 years. We can’t pitch just to one guy, we’ve got nine guys that we have to face but if Kyle goes out and repeats what the progression has been for him, I think he really took a step forward in his last outing against Texas, particularly with the timing in his delivery and when to get his velocity. It showed up in his increased command and as we’ve said, he is on a good path.”

How does heavy workload from starters help the bullpen?

“I think that’s a main contributor to having a good bullpen. When your starters go deep, guys that come to the mound out of the bullpen don’t come with short rest. They come hopefully more fresh. I don’t want to say it’s a challenge now to make sure guys get enough work because their time is coming again, soon … Anytime a starter walks out for the seventh inning I think we’re not only in a good area but sometimes positive territory in terms of what the rotation is doing.”

Lind starting versus left-handed C.J. Wilson…

“Looking at the matchups he has handled him … We’re not going to run away from Adam against left-handers in its entirety but we still need him to get on track and he’ll get his regular at-bats to do just that.”

What are you seeing lately…

“He went from a year ago being overly aggressive to, I think I mentioned it the other day, to where the pendulum has swung towards too passive with strikes early in the count in an attempt to see more pitches, raise the walk total, which he has. But there is a fine line there and I think a combination of aggressiveness with seeing pitches, we’re striving to get back to.”

Coaching staff telling Lind not to worry about walks…

“We want him to make an impact with the bat. That’s going to come through driving the baseball and that’s going to be aggressive particularly when he gets into leverage counts or advantage counts and that doesn’t mean to expand the zone, that means look at an area and turn the bat loose. We want guys to go in, hit first, slam on the brakes if a pitch is outside the zone and I think he has been a little bit in between a little bit of the times.”

Final two at-bats on Friday a positive?

“Yeah, hopefully those are something to build on. Early on in the season maybe you’re looking for a couple of at-bats where things might click a little bit. We’ve talked about Jose when he sees pitches, he takes a walk, and the next thing you know he feels a little bit better about himself and the bat is a little bit more free and not overswinging it and he drives the ball out of the ballpark. Hopefully the two at-bats last night for Adam puts him in a better frame of mind going into today.”

Jose seeing a lot of quality strikes…

“I think every pitcher that goes up against him is going to try to make quality strikes from the get go because of how aggressive he is and how dominant he has been. I don’t want to say it’s just from the perspective of maybe not having the results for the work being put in but when guys are going well, on the flip side of that you could take a look at Edwin and say, you now what when he gets that one pitch around the plate he’s not missing it because he’s confident, he’s seeing the ball well, the game is kind of slow for him right now and I think Jose will certainly get back to that point and we’re hopeful he picks up from last night.”

Turnaround in this series for Jose from Game 1 vs Game 2…

“There was some discussions throughout the course of Game 1 here, he’s seeing some things, we’re giving feedback to him and I’m not going to say that’s the only reason but the fact that he did something positive, even though it was a walk, it was okay I got on base, I saw some pitches and then he sees him for the first time in Santana last night and gets a first-pitch fastball that he hits out of the ballpark, I think the walk can really just make a guy exhale a little bit and get into the flow of the game.”

Drabek… How do the shutouts from Morrow and Alvarez help him out…

“I would think he has watched the last two games and has gained some confidence in knowing okay there are areas that our scouting reports say we can go to with some level of confidence and yet his style is going to be different from the previous two. He has a good starting point I think in visibly watching the last two games and yet he has a weapon or two that he can do some things a little bit differently than both Henderson or Brandon.

Kyle going back to the cutter vs Texas…

“He threw with a little bit more frequency. I think he found that with their right-handed hitting approach, where they’re trying to stay inside the ball and go the other way, he threw a number of cutters front door into righties to put some guys away. It was an area that kind of opened up, evident by their approach, and how he attacked guys early in the count. There might be a guy or two in this lineup that you might see a similar approach to.”

Rajai healthy..

“He is, he was available last night to pinch run or even go into the outfield. He has bounced back from the slight strain that he felt the other night.”

Does Rajai make Francisco redundant?

“I think Rajai is a very good defender and you look at his career numbers versus left-handers and it’s been solid, .280-.290 type of hitter, when you have five outfielders, there’s probably a skill-set that might matchup better in certain situations. I don’t want to say it’s redundant because I think Ben is a very good pinch-hitter and can sit and come off the bench and DH after four, five days down and produce a low maintenance type of swing. He’s done just that for us.”

Both Oliver and Cordero threw bullpens on Friday…

“If a guy goes three days without getting into a game we’ll get him on the mound for sure. That’s part of a touch-up type thing, could be a 20-25 pitch pen just to get back in touch with the mound and keep their arm-strength.”

When do you decide whether to give your relievers extra work on the side?

“If you get past a certain point in the game where you don’t think you’re going to use that guy on a given night and he hasn’t had those days of work, you’ll get it late in the game, particularly with Monday being an off-day and guys have gone four days now since getting to the mound.”

May give guys some work Sunday

On Omar…

“The thought coming in this series he’d be at shortstop (Sunday), that way it gives Yunel not only (tomorrow) but also Monday off to give him two days down. He’s gone every game for us and yet the last five games, he’s really started to swing the bat well and been in the middle of all our offence. He’ll probably fight me on it but we’ll have a conversation before the end of the day about (Sunday).”

Escobar responding to flipping spots with Johnson…

“There are probably a number of factors that play into it, and it could very well be he was just starting to come out of what he was going through at time. If Kelly gets on we can open some holes for him by putting Kelly in motion, but more importantly we’re starting to see the line drives to centre field, to right-centre field a little bit more frequently. The ground balls are going to be there, that’s the type of hitter he is. I don’t want to over think it, he’s been in the middle of it the last five days.”

Escobar hitting to all fields…

“The one thing the last three games it looks like is he’s not forcing the issue as much. When guys are kind of scuffling a little bit, they might try to make it happen a little too much, or force the issue maybe. He’s been more relaxed and gotten some production, that’s going to slow a guy down and not think he’s got to swing at everything.

Have to make this one quick because tonight’s game is entering its later stages… but here are some comments from manager John Farrell regarding his thoughts on the Blue Jays’ offence.

John Farrell:

Offence starting to click…

“We’re not all the way there yet. Whether we will be nightly during the course of the season remains to be seen. Guys are going to ebb and flow but fortunately we have enough guys in our lineup that if someone certain slots is not up to par we’ve got other guys that can drive the ball out of the ballpark or drive in runs in key spots. We like our team. We like our offense and yet we’ve still got some areas of improvement.”

Club seems to be more aggressive at the plate since team meeting following the Baltimore series. Coincidence?

“We talked about staying with our strengths. They were more reminders, not so much a specific message. Some of the things we talked about in Spring Training, we dealt with some frustration during those three-games in Baltimore. We acknowledged those in Spring Training and how do we deal with those? How we remain aware of them, not let those frustrations take us out of our game?

“If there’s a guy that’s not performing to his ability, we don’t want other guys to think they have to do more to make up for someone else. I think that’s what we fell into a little bit during the Baltimore series and I thought we did a better job of just executing the game situations in the two series that followed.”

Edwin in the fifth spot…

“You can look at the numbers and his performance in the five hole is substantial. Maybe there are times when guys take on a different mindset because of the spot they are at in the lineup. But I still like  a left-hander between he and Jose. We’ve got a couple of options that we can go with in that alignment, it’s Adam for right now and fortunately Edwin has come up in some key spots with men on base. A year ago, where there was talk he’s missing some RBI opportunities well he has cashed in on just about every one this year.”

Pujols… are you concerned that he might be due for a big series?

“We still have to pitch to strengths. We have scouting reports about what guys are currently doing. We’ll factor that it but to be fearful of tonight’s the night, we can’t pitch like that.

“He’s had 10 years of pretty good production. It’s going to happen sooner or later.”

Johnson/Escobar flipping spots in the batting order..

“At the end of that five days (in Spring Training), it looked really good. I didn’t want to just completely turn my back on what Yunel did a year ago. But it was something that showed a lot of promise and felt like at least in Spring Training we made both guys aware that we may look to do this if the need arose. When you break it down, the styles of both guys, Yunel is more of a prototypical two-hole hitter because of his bat control.

Added level of comfort because you’ve had them hit in those spots during Spring Training?

“I think there was more comfort on everyone’s part, mine included, but most importantly theirs. When we did it in Spring Training, both guys were like, you know what we’ve hit at the top of the order, so whatever. They were both good with it.”

Yunel’s ability to go the opposite way with a runner on first…

“He has the ability to shoot that hole, yes. But to say he is going to go up and solely look to do that, you’re still going to have to hit pitches where they’re pitched, or located. Last year, to get the most out of Corey Patterson who is a dead-pull hitter, with nobody on first base he’s hitting it right at the first baseman so it was a more logical move. Kelly’s not a dead-pull hitter, but he gets on base so this alignment gives us some flexibility to do some of the smaller things.”

Sergio Santos re-joined the Blue Jays on Thursday afternoon in Anaheim after being away for almost two weeks because of inflammation in his right shoulder. Santos initially left the team on April 21 to be examined by Dr. Lewis Yocum and since that required him to travel to California he also spent some time with his family that lives in the area.

It was with mixed emotions that Santos went to the Anaheim area. On one hand, he got to visit his wife and children — including a newborn baby that is less than a month old. On the other, it required Santos to spend time away from a team that he is trying to make a good impression with in his first year with the organization.

Below you’ll find today’s Q+A with Santos. On the main site, you’ll also find a notebook with items on Santos, Rajai Davis and Jeff Mathis. Later on, tonight’s game story will be posted as well. Don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB.

The one positive thing that you could take away from this injury is that it allowed you to spend some more time at home with your wife and newborn baby…

“It’s bittersweet. I wanted to be at home to spend some time with my family but I want to be out with the guys, playing baseball with them. I’ve been watching them, following them, on the MLB Network and my baseball package. It was nice but just being back in the clubhouse feels good, and it feels good to put your stuff back on and I’m feeling a lot better so I’m excited about that.”

Seems like you are receiving a lot of support from teammates and the organization. Not much pressure to return from injury until you’re completely healthy…

“It was more me trying to do more. I want to come back as quickly as I can just because whenever you come to a new team you want to show what you’ve got. So that’s the hard part, the hard part is kind of holding the reins back and not letting me go. I thought I was ready to play catch, I called (trainer) George Poulis, I think five days after I was on the DL and I said okay, can I start playing catch now? I feel better can we get going? He said no.

“They are taking their time and it kind of shows that they care about me. They want me to get healthy and help this team because me being injured obviously doesn’t help the team and me trying to play while I’m injured doesn’t help much either.”

What has been the most difficult aspect of this…

“I think just the mental part of it. Just kind of knowing that you’re going to be the same guy as soon as your arm feels good. That’s what I’m looking forward to, that’s what I’m working hard to get healthy.”

Where are you at right now in terms of your rehab?

“I haven’t started throwing yet. I’ll start this weekend. I’ll do some shoulder program stuff and kind of strengthen the muscles around my shoulder and then start playing catch.”

And what about your timeframe for a return?

“I don’t know but it shouldn’t be too long. I’m assuming it should probably be a couple of weeks of getting my arm strength back to game form. Hopefully within the next 12-14 days that would be perfect.”

First time you’ve had an injury as a pitcher?

“I went on the DL once in 2009 for a strained hamstring, my left hamstring. But first time it’s arm-related stuff.”

Can you just run us through when you first realized you were hurt and what was going through your mind at that time?

“It was that night, letting a couple of pitches go. I just felt kind of aching in my shoulder, kind of warming up. That night was a little difficult trying to get loose and then just that following day it just felt kind of too painful to play catch. It was like, okay, my arm should feel sore but not this sore. With a precautionary thought, I came in and told them, got the MRIs done, and their best assumption was to just shut it down, let the inflammation calm down and luckily that’s all that it was.”

What made you decide to visit Dr. Yocum? The fact that he was close to your family in California?

“Our team doctor was going to be away for a couple of weeks and it was either going to be Dr. Andrews or Dr. Yocum. Another three-hour flight, two-hour flight, so I said it might as well be Yocum and get a couple of days here. I’ve met with Dr. Yocum quite a few times before so we’ve had kind of a rapport already, we’ve talked already.”

Since this is the first time you experienced that type of injury… when you first felt the discomfort was there a concern on your part that it could be a major injury?

“You can’t help but let the wheels start turning and start thinking about what it could be. That’s kind of why I wanted to get an MRI done too, to put that fear and put all the bad thoughts whatever it could be out of mind and just say, look it is what it is. It’s just inflammation in the shoulder, no tears, so it’s good.

“I was fighting myself kind of all day if I should say something or not. It hurt warming up, just achy I guess, and once I got loose it was fine … Then you start thinking can I make it worse? Can this get worse? And since it wasn’t that bad I’d rather just nip it in the bud rather than have to worry about it again.”

Alex Anthopoulos sat down with a group of writers before today’s victory over the Mariners. Not surprisingly, most of the talk centred around Yu Darvish, who is set to pitch against Toronto in Monday’s series opener.

On the main site, you’ll find a game preview for Darvish vs. Drabek and you’ll also find my piece on Anthopoulos denying any interest in making a move for a big bat or frontline starter this early in the season. For the rest of your Yu-mania I’m attaching a full transcript from today’s scrum.

Don’t forget, you can follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB

Alex Anthopoulos:

On what might not gone as expected so far this year…

“Like you said, it’s an eighth of the year. It’s not to defer the question but you know that over six months you expect the numbers to be there for certain players, and you know how fast it changes.

“Remember John Buck two years ago, the first month he had been hitting .170 or something, and then he made the All-Star team. There’s a lot of guys. I remember years ago, Scott Schoeneweis, first two months was getting hit and then he went nuts and then he had a great season.

“Edwin Encarnacion last year didn’ t have his first home run for what, two months in and then he still ended up putting together a pretty good year, close to an .800 OPS.

“You know what, we’re 11-10. Obviously you always look and say, well, we could have won a few more games here-there. But it will balance out. And I don’t dwell on those because I know we’re going to steal some games down the road. We all do that – sit there, these are games we could have won and you forget the games you should have lost.

“So it will balance out. Same cliches I’ll use every year — a long season. It goes with the way you expect it to. I think, once again, after another month, we get through May we’ll have a bit more of a sense where guys are going to be.”

Any player jumped up so far and surprised him in a positive fashion?

“I’ve always though Eddie was going to be a good hitter and player. He has, he’s just been inconsistent. And he’s had a bit of a stronger start than I would have expected. But I’ve always expected him to do well. But it’s one month. But other than that — the bullpen, the starters.  Again, the starters have thrown well but they’re all capable of this.

“I don’t know that I look at anybody and say they’re over their heads. If anything I think there’s more upside, a lot of guys can play better. I don’t think you sit there and say, like when Jose Bautista had that season … no one saw that. But the talent level with the guys that are playing well we don’t sit there and say, ‘Wow, we never thought he had the talent to do that.

“So that’s all the starters as well.”

How concerned are you with McGowan, just because all he’s gone through?

“I’m not because I base it on the trainers and the doctors and so on. I always go off them. We’ve relied on them throughout the process and they’ve done a great job. It’s just like anything else, and I’m probably more at fault with this than anything else, I’m ultra conservative when it comes to the health of our players, especially guys on the mound. That’s why you’ll see us shut guys down, whether it’s prematurely or early. The smallest sign of anything I’ll err on the side of caution, whether it’s DL-ing a guy.”

With Chavez emerging and guys like Carreno, Jenkins, are you content with the depth in the event anything were to happen at the big league level?

“I don’t know that you’re ever satisfied. You can always do better. And the fact that there’s not a lot of experience. Chavez is a little older but it’s not like he’s got a lot of time up here. He’s throwing the ball great. But again he hasn’t proved it here. I give a lot of credit to our staff, to John and Bruce Walton and Pete Walker. It was there idea to put him in the rotation at the end of spring.

“But you’re always looking to get more depth. But every team is and that’s why during the winter you really need to try to build as much depth as you can, whether it’s claiming guys on waivers, signing minor league free agents. I know there’s moves that the fan base or whatever, they don’t look like they’re all that important. But if you need to get that depth during the season it’s hard to get because no one’s going to really give anything up in trade.”

What are you hearing about Darvish?

“It’s early. We’re not really scouting him. He’s not a guy I expect to be available in trades,” he said with a smile. “I’ve just seen the highlights and you see the stats like everyone else. Sounds like he had an unbelievable game against New York. But other than that it’s just, three weeks into the season, four weeks into the season, the same way if you were to ask me about Albert Pujols. We’re just not really scouting him now.”

Was it wrong to suggest that the acquisition of Darvish was risky because he wasn’t a major league player?

“Oh, sure. I think when you’re spending over $100-million on a player, no matter who it is, there’s always an element of risk there. But like anything else, obviously very talented, great stuff, good athlete. From everything that everyone knows about him, the makeup is outstanding. But again, when you’re spending that kind of money, whether it’s a player from here or a player from Japan or anywhere else, there’s always an element of risk no matter how good the players are. We’ve seen it a lot — $100-million plus deals for established players that guys get hurt, guys don’t pan out.

“So no matter how good you are there’s always an element of risk.”

Was it correct that many people started drawing comparisons to a lot of other Japanese players, like Dice-K.

“I don’t think anybody compared…we didn’t scout Dice-K when I was here. I’d never seen him, I don’t think we had anybody in the organization at the time. But even seeing him in North America. I mean it’s like saying two players from California are the same. It doesn’t mean anything. Body types, deliveries, they’re just night and day.

“I think Dice-K was a point of reference because that was another player that went through the same process, the same way that you get a guy in the draft, and a guy that went one overall or four overall or five overall. They may not be the same player whether it be college or high school. But the signing bonuses are about the same because they’re slotted in the same way.

“So Dice-K was at the time the highest ranked player, front-line starter potential. That was going to be the case no matter what. He was the only one.

“It’s the same way when we signed Adeiny Hechavarria Jose Iglesias was the comparable from the Red Sox. They’re not the same player at all. They’re bodies are different, their games are different. But they were two high-profile, Cuban shortstops. How do you come up with a price? It’s all a game of comparisons.

‘For us, we knew that Iglesias was the number going in. We knew we were going to be competing. And if you want him you’re going to have to above it to guarantee you get him. So when I think ultimately that’s what happened with Darvish, that makes all the sense in the world. If you wanted to give yourself the best chance to acquire him, you’re going to have to go over that number. It doesn’t mean you think he’s the same player.”

The cultural differences for players coming over to North America. Is that overstated?

“You know what I can’t say because we’ve never had a Japanese player. I don’t have enough experience with it.”

What about the Cuban players?

“It hasn’t been a topic. At least in our market I’ve never been asked about it. There’s some adjustments but it’s just like any kid coming from Latin America, there is a period. I don’t know that it’s been overblown because I don’t know that it’s been a story so much so. It hasn’t been a problem for us.”

Darvish – what was going through your mind about fans expectations?

“It’s like anything else. I’m following what’s going on, I’m at the winter meetings, I see TV reports on MLB Network and obviously seeing things on the internet that the Blue Jays’ payroll is going to skyrocket, and we’re going to be players for all the big free agents. I think that’s when I talked about payroll and things like that when we did the Santos trade. I think I explained it even after the fact. I felt like the train had left the station a little bit and it had gone too far out of control, and I felt like I needed to come out and say something, just to maybe – I don’t want to say temper expectations – but I always talk about wanting, as best we can, the fans to think along with us.

“That doesn’t mean they’re going to agree with us, but they understand the thought process and why, based on the information that we can give them. So that payroll component I put out there because it was talked about so much that there were no limits on payroll. We were just going to spend like drunken sailors and the payroll was going to skyrocket. That was not the case. That was not going to happen. There were parameters and so on. So that’s why I said that at the time. That was my way of trying to control it to the best of my ability without being specific about a player, because there are other competitive components to all this stuff too – negotiating with other players, trades with teams. And even, I think, at our luncheon at St. Louis, again without laying it out there, I think Paul and I both said it was highly improbable you’ll see us go after big free agents, $100-million-plus contracts and so on.

“Most likely it’ll be the trade route is what we’re going to explore first. You never know if you’re going to make a trade but I think we pretty much said it’s unlikely you’re going to see us in on big free agents. Even though I said that at St. Louis in October or November, even though I talked about payroll parameters at the winter meetings, no one believed me – which is fine. As GMs, maybe not every one is candid at times, I don’t know, but everyone I guess felt I wasn’t telling the truth, or was spinning. I’ve always tried to the best of my ability to say I’d rather not say anything than lie, and I think if I do say something, I’m pretty adamant about it or pretty accurate with it. Otherwise I won’t say anything at all, or I won’t divulge anything.

“I think I did the best of my ability to come out and say it. Whether people chose to believe it or not, that’s their right and I don’t blame them, because there are a lot of examples in sports where GMs and front office executives will send the media one way because they’re doing something else from a competitive standpoint. I haven’t needed to do that yet. I hope I don’t have to do it. I don’t plan on doing it.”

You were thinking fans would be disappointed?

“The same way we’re linked to every player, we’re linked to every trade, I’ve just become numb to it, I just accept it. This is just part of the way we do things. These are the unfortunate things that are going to happen. There are other components that I’mk trying to work through as well from a strategy standpoint – negotiations, trades. We read what every other club is quoted as saying. We try to use that to our advantage. I think clubs do the same with us. So I don’t want to lie, but I also don’t want to mislead. Sometimes I’m better off not saying anything at all, because I think lying is worse.

“I tried to say what I could. Maybe I should’ve repeated it 40 times. Maybe I should’ve reminded everybody more often. Maybe it was on me. Maybe I wasn’t emphatic enough.”

Awkward that expectations were high and you knew parameters?

“I had a GM ask me about the Darvish scenario before it was done. I said I don’t see us being really big on free agents, fitting everything into our payroll and so on. I think the comment was, ‘You’re a worse sandbagger than I am.’ I’m not sandbagging. That’s just the way it is.”

On Bautista…

“I wouldn’t say I’m worried because the bat speed is still unbelieveable. It’s just timing, mechanics, he’s hitting underneath balls, just off, but he’s hitting some balls hard too. The guy is so good and you know it’s just the way the game is. You have a lot of good players, you look at what Jeter went through last year, how well he’s doing this year, I remember Paul Konerko years ago through the All-Star Break didn’t do so well, it happens with a lot of great players. If Jose’s skills were eroding, that’s when you have a concern, but they’re not. He’s in great shape, the bat speed is unbelieveable.

“He’s a smart player, he’s going to work as hard as anybody, at some point he’s going to come out of it but I don’t know when. At some point it will click because it’s all there.”

Way you measure bat speed?

“No, I think your eyes. I don’t know. You guys can watch you, you watch him around the cage, have everybody step in and then watch Jose and watch the ball come off the bat, the speed, everything else. He’s in tremendous shape. He had a good spring but it’s like anything, some guys have bad springs and so on. I think even the year he had the huge year, in April he hit .214. There are so many examples, David Wright a few years ago had a rough first month, Mark Teixeira’s first year in New York, the list goes on and on. If there was something with his skills that’s where it would (be concerning). He’ll be fine, I just do’t know when. It’s the way the game is, you wait it out, you wait it out.”

Talk of adding another bat… a priority?

“No, and that’s how something gets blown out of proportion. I was asked on the radio in a hypothetical — which you’re always told not to answer hypotheticals — well I decided to answer it just to be a good guy so they said, you know, it was like two weeks into the season, if you think you had to add anything between now and July, if you had to predict and guess, if you’re going to look at add anything between now and July what do you think it would be?

“I’m sitting there a week into the season, my answer I believe was ‘I want to be optimistic about our rotation because we have a lot of young starters. So, being optimistic about our starters, hoping we don’t have a need for a starter, well if you don’t have a need for a starter maybe you go out and get a big bat to grind out the lineup. It wasn’t, hey we’re out there.

“I’ll give you a great one, I just read this a day ago. That we are actively and diligently out looking under every rock for a front of the rotation starter and a big bat. I’ve had zero dialogue with GMs right now on anything remotely resembling that. That’s no knock against the report but it just goes to show you how many things, it’s beyond way out there.

“That got blown out of proportion but that’s where you take a snippet of what was said and the context of the question. I probably should have just answered and said, you know what, we’re happy with our team, we’ll deal with it in July.”

Trade market stagnant because it’s so early in the season?

“Exactly. I think it’s very hard. Any dialogue that we would have had earlier, first week or two of the season, would have been a carry-over from spring. You always have talks at the end of spring on certain guys. But now until I’d say the beginning of June at the earliest, noone is really motivated. They have their teams, they want to give everybody a chance, unless somebody gets hurt and they’re out for the season for someone. But noone’s really motivated, it won’t really start until after the draft.”

Starting pitching and particular Drabek…

“Yeah, he has and they’ve all thrown really well. But I don’t know that, again, it’s a small period of time and we’ve seen this before with a lot of guys. I’m not trying to take anything away from those guys but I’m not ready to say okay, our rotation’s set. It’s going to pitch like this the whole year, it won’t, it’s just the reality of it. Kyle was top 10 in ERA leaders or top five, something like that, it’s very of hard to maintain that no matter who you are.

“I’m encouraged, he’s made strides, he’s getting a lot better, he’s not all the way there yet, his strike percentage still needs to get better. But obviously the stuff and everything else is outstanding, his composure. He’s made strides and he’s starting to evolve but with all of our starters I don’t get overly excited or overly concerned. Just same thing with Morrow, he had some rough starts, he had a great start last night, it’s going to be the body of work but overall they’re off to a great start.”

Edwin Encarnacion has always been known as a streaky hitter but for the first time in his career the Dominican native is enjoying a prolonged period of success. The numbers this year are impressive but they get even better when you go all the way back to last season’s All-Star Break. Since that time, Encarnacion is batting .294 (94-for-320) with an OBP of .370 to go along with 17 homers, 55 RBIs and 25 doubles.

Since that time, he’s been the clubs best hitter. Need more evidence? Compare those numbers to what Jose Bautista has done since last year’s All-Star Break. The face of Toronto’s franchise is hitting .239 with 15 home runs, 47 RBIs and a .396 on-base percentage over that same period of time. Last year on this exact date, Encarnacion was hitting just .269 with zero home runs and eight extra-base hits. This season, he’s batting .302 with six homers, 19 RBIs and eight doubles.

It is a remarkable turnaround for a player that partway through last season didn’t even know if he would be with the Blue Jays in 2012. Toronto GM Alex Anthopoulos liked enough of what he saw from Encarnacion in the second half to pick up the designated hitters $3.5 million option for 2012 and as of right now that’s looking like one of the better bargains in baseball.

Encarnacion believes one of the keys to his recent success has been a revamped swing. In the past, Encarnacion possessed a long swing that took too long to get through the zone and he often had a tendency to try and pull every pitch. This year, he’s  driving the ball to centre and right field more consistently and the quicker swing path is obviously enabling him to get to pitches that he would have been unable to hit in the past.

Below, you’ll find what Encarnacion had to say after Toronto’s 7-0 victory over the Mariners. I’ve also included some other leftovers from today’s post-game scrums and on the main site you’ll find the notebook (items on Jose Bautista, Travis Snider’s wrist injury and J.P. Arencibia’s error from Friday night) plus associate reporter Chris Toman has today’s game story on an impressive outing by Brandon Morrow, who didn’t walk a batter for the first time in his career as a starting pitcher.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB.

Edwin Encarnacion:

Going back to last year’s All-Star Break you’ve had a lot of consistent success at the plate. Is this the most comfortable you’ve felt for a prolonged period of time since being in the Majors?

“Yeah, I feel great from the All-Star Break last year to now. I’ve been working hard in the offseason to have a great season this year. I feel comfortable, I’m going to keep working hard, keep helping my team, keep doing my work.”

What’s been the key to your success?

“I think being consistent. That’s the one thing, concentrate on every pitch, in every inning and every game.”

The new swing must be helping as well…

“That’s No. 1, that’s the key. Working in the offseason to get my swing shorter.

“That’s what happens when you get experience, year after year, you get more experience and I think that has made me feel a lot better at the plate.”

Is that what you felt the previous problem was? Your swing was too long?

“That’s what I think. The guy I worked with in the offseason told me that too, that I had my swing too long. On the outside corner I was pulling a lot so now I try more to the middle and get my swing shorter with two hands, swinging with two hands.”

Brandon Morrow:

“When you get in a rut like that you need something to spark you. Also, I hadn’t pitched well at home this year and didn’t pitch well at home last year, I needed to get it going here at the Rogers Centre, too.”

On mix between breaking balls and fastball/slider…

“It was mainly fastball/slider but in those games where I don’t have my good fastball or my good slider I think the focus in spring training on those other off-speed pitches is really going to help me out. Like last time in Kansas City, I relied a lot on my changeup.”

On confidence with breaking stuff…

“I think once you see the guys two or three times through, especially when they get some guys on, to be able to slow them down a little bit that’s when I started using my changeup more. Seager singled on one but I ended up striking out Smoak on a couple of changeups.”

On change in approach because of stuff…

“I went out with the same game plan that we had before, just today I had my good stuff so we went with what was working. If I was missing location with some fastballs, or if I didn’t have as good of a slider as I did, we probably would have went with some more changeups and some curveballs.”

Focus more on strikeouts today?

“We’re going to with our strengths on that day. Today, obviously, it was the strikeout, in Kansas City it was the ground ball, and really mixing it up and changing speeds.

John Farrell:

On Morrow…

“He has this capability everytime he steps to the mound. When you combine a well-above average fastball with the command that he showed today in addition to three other offspeed pitches, he has the ability to not only take over the game, but dominate the opposition. When the strikeouts come, the pitch count might run up a little bit and that was the case today, but we will take six-shutout innings every time he takes the mound.”

“I thought Brandon came out and set the tone for us today, he was powerful and threw a lot of strikes. He made a number of big pitches to get a strikeout with men in scoring position and less than two outs and kept the game under control and in-check.”

Adam Lind:

On dropped fly ball…

“I was there, (Johnson’s) got priority, he called it so I tried to get out of the way and didn’t get out of the way, he tripped, then I saw him stumble and I was like, ‘Oh God.’ Then he caught himself and I thought he was going to catch it and then I looked back and it popped out, just one of those freak things where he tripped over my leg.

On Encarnacion…

“He’s carried this offence pretty much the whole month.

This is going to have to be a quick hitter because I need to go back to my hotel and pack for an early-morning flight back to Toronto. But I wanted to pass along a brief interview with Jose Bautista after the Blue Jays were swept by Baltimore for the first time since 2010.

On the main site, you’ll find full details in the game story on Toronto’s offensive woes. There’s also a notebook outlining yet another setback to the oft-injured Dustin McGowan, item on the starting rotation and Brett Lawrie in the No. 2 spot of the order. Also, don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB.

Here’s Bautista:

On the offense seemingly grinding to a halt…

“It’s no secret we didn’t score many runs but we’re going to keep plugging away. It’s a long season, we’re still falling right around .500 and the most encouraging thing is that our pitchers are doing a great job so that’s excellent news and hopefully they can continue to do that. I’m not really worried about our offense, I know we’re going to pick it up. I just hope we do it sooner than later.

“It’s a little bit surprising but I’m not going to dwell on it. We have more important games ahead of us and our pitchers are doing awesome. On the offensive side we’d like to give them better support.”

Farrell said there’s going to be a team meeting before tomorrow’s game against Seattle. Anything in particular you need to say during that meeting as the leader of this group?

“There’s always a meeting, we always prepare on the first day of a series. So, I don’t think there’s going to be anything that’s any different than any other series. Other than just playing hard, trying to lead by example and doing things like that I don’t think I have to do anything extraordinary. If I started doing stuff like that when things are not going great, it’s not going to come natural. I’m not going to go out of my way to do anything to try to bring the team up or anything. I just have to play hard, hopefully these guys do too like they have been doing. It has been a tough last three games, I’m not going to lie to you. We didn’t score many runs and that’s the only reason we didn’t win.”

Was this series a sign that the Orioles have improved from last year?

“It’s too early in the season to know that but I know their pitchers are really hitting their spots and they’re getting us to swing at their pitch. From what we played them last year and how we played them this year, they’ve beat us more than we’ve beaten them … But it’s 162 games, we’re not going to dwell on these three lost games and I’m sure they’re not going to dwell on these three wins. There’s a long road ahead of us and that’s what we’re focused on.”

Do you think guys on this team are pressing at the plate?

“Not at all. I think everybody is going out there trying to have good at-bats. We’re laying off a lot of borderline pitches, we’re hoping that some of these calls go our way eventually and just keep grinding. We’ve never given up in any single game this year so I’m very proud of that.”

And what do you need to do to turn things around?

“Keep grinding at-bats and swinging at good pitches. I’ve got myself out three times today by swinging at bad pitches. I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again, swing at strikes, that’s all I have to do.”

The Blue Jays offense has gone quiet against the unlikeliest of opponents: The Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore hasn’t been known for its pitching — or winning for that matter — during the past few years but so far against Toronto the club has done a pretty good job. The Orioles are 4-1 against the Blue Jays this season and in those four wins have limited Toronto to an average of 2.5 runs.

The results on Tuesday and Wednesday looked similar but in reality were much different. On Tuesday, Baltimore’s Tommy Hunter should never have been able to limit the Blue Jays to just one run. He left a lot of pitches up in the zone and seemed incapable of locating outside of harms way. But Toronto wasn’t able to take advantage as they consistently popped out or made weak contact and as a result Hunter was able to escape with a seemingly dominant win.

Jason Hammel, on the other hand, was impressive. He located well, mixed in two very solid offspeed pitches with a mid-90s fastball that seemed to overpower the Blue Jays’ offense for most of the game. On Tuesday, Baltimore got away with one but on Wednesday the club earned the victory with an impressive performance on the mound. That will happen from time to time but now the Blue Jays need to bounceback on Thursday to avoid the sweep and salvage what started off as an impressive 4-0 road trip against Kansas City.

Those are my two cents… now here are today’s leftovers. Also, don’t forget you can follow me on Twitter @gregorMLB

John Farrell (pre-game):

Thames pressing a little bit too much?

“That’s an ongoing conversation whether it’s early in the day, inbetween innings in the dugout, young players I think a lot of time are going to press maybe a little bit sooner than guys who have been through some spells during the course of their career. Most important thing is we’ve got to continue to express our belief and trust in their abilities and they as players. I think Eric can count on the fact that we’re going to be consistent with him and know that along the way he’s learning, he’s got less than a full season at the Major League level, and he’s learning what it takes to play at this level day in and day out. We haven’t lost faith in him, we know there are areas of work that are ongoing and that’s the case with everybody whether you’re an eight-year vet or a first-year player.”

How would you rate his defense?

“Overall, it continues to improve. His work is certainly committed to doing that and my reference point is a year ago at this time, where he was then and where he is now, and I think he is vastly improved because of the time spent with Torey Lovullo and we fully trust him in left field.”

Teaching opportunities for young players…

“They’re learning what their abilities are in given situations, what’s the energy level either at the plate or from the mound and that comes through experience and the more we can objective with our feedback, hopefully that learning curve is shortened.

“The greatest teacher that any of them have is right out there between those lines. Yeah, there is more of an urgency to win, we feel that, we want that and we’re going to battle with some guys that are on the short end of the experience stick. So there might be some growing pain with that but still they’re athletic, they’re energetic and they’re very talented.”

With all the young starters, can you compete at the same time as delivering those lessons?

“Yes, we can compete. Our challenges are to keep things in their proper perspective … Yeah we feel the urgency to win and compete and that’s no greater than the group that’s in the clubhouse and if we didn’t feel they had the talent and the ability we might not have that same optimistic view but all possess the ability to compete and contend in this division. They’re going to experience some first, there’s no doubt.

“Even coming out of the game the other night, Hutchison faced Chris Getz four times in that game. That’s the first time in his professional career that he’s faced one hitter four times. So a lot of these firsts are going to take place at the Major League level and it also provides teaching opportunities for all of us.”

Difference from last year…

“We’ve gone through a lot of change. Eighteen new names from a year ago at this time with an expanding group of core players, we’ve improved in a number of areas and through 17 games our starting rotation has done what we’ve asked and that’s work deep into games on a nightly basis. Our defense, particularly our infield defense, I think has improved drastically. So defense and pitching wise, we’re still finding out rhythm offensively yet we’re four in the leage in runs scored and we haven’t even yet, I think, clicked for any stretch of games.”

Pressing too much at the plate?

“It ebbs and flows a little bit. I think there are times when guys come to the plate, we’re in a one-run game and one swing of the bat can turn the scoreboard over, you might see that become a little bit bigger with the swing at times. But I think the fact is that we’ve drawn the third most walks in the American Legaue, we’re doing some things to build innings and create opportunities. Runs are still the most important thing and yet I’d like to think when the middle of the order becomes a little bit more consistent in the overall production we’ve got a chance to make some additional noise.”

Does that make you contemplate bigger changes to the lineup?

“I’m not going to say no but I think it’s important to know that we’re roughly 60 at-bats in for all of our regular players. By no means is it looking to create wholesale changes at this point, no. Guys have earned the right to be where they are in the lineup and while some guys creep up a little bit it’s not so much riding the hot hand, it’s looking at matchups and where guys have put themselves in the position to climb in the order somewhat.”

But you really need more from Bautista/Lind…

“It would be great for everyone to play to their capabilities. Sure, you’d like it to all happen all at once for 162 days, for 162 games, I wish it were like turning that microphone on and off but they’re human and things, like I said, ebb and flow.”

John Farrell (post-game):

“Hammel was outstanding tonight. He had three pitches for strike. He located well. We had the one opportunity in the fourth inning and it seems like now when we’ve been able to cash in some opportunities it has been the two-out hit and tonight in the fourth and again in the ninth we’re missing some opportunities but we’re not creating a whole lot either. They pitched very good again in the second game of this series.”

Drabek…

“Two solo home runs, typically you’re not going to say that that’s going to beat you but when you run up against the pitching that we have, it does. But I thought for the most part he threw the ball on the plate.”

Was it a matter of getting beat the pitcher or the bats going cold?

“You get a pitcher that’s 94-95 with two breaking balls for strikes. We’ll tip our hat to him tonight. We’re in a little bit of a dry patch right now, the last two nights. Not going to take anything away from their ability to pitch and how they’ve executed in these first two games.”

Drabek getting around the leadoff walks…

“When he missed, he didn’t try to do too much. He relied on his two-seamer to get a groundball double play on a couple of occasions. Again, he continues to be a work in progress but he’s doing some good things on the mound.”

Kyle Drabek:

“I let them back in the count on some of them and you have to make even a better pitch when you’re behind in the count. They just happened to get enough of them to get it out of here.”

Were you using the two-seamer for the double plays?

“Most of them, yeah. I have to give it to our guys again, they were in the right spots at the right times. Some of them were harder than others and they were able to make them.”

You threw the two-seamer last year as well, right? Did you just refine it in the offseason?

“I threw it last year. I tweaked it here and there in the offseason and it got a little bit better. I tend to use it a little bit more when I neeed it.”

More comfortable wth it now?

“I’m real comfortable with all of my pitches. It’s just trying to make sure you can get ahead and that was a key for me last start against them and kind of just let them back in it this time.”

Lack of offense putting more pressure on you guys?

“No, absolutely not. We have a great hitting club, today just happened not to score any but I’m not worried about them at all.”

Kelly Johnson:

Getting beat by pitching or bats going cold?

“Tonight was pitching. Hammel just had it, sometimes you don’t know what that is but it was coming out of his hand well, he was obviously very confident and feeling good and I think I can say it was his night.”

And last night?

“That was a tough travel. I’m not going to make that excuse all of the time but I think it felt like that a little bit. But, shoot, we won four games in Kansas City, we played really well, haven’t been blown out here just haven’t scored any runs or gotten any hits. But offenses do that and I think it’s just as important to look at positives like Kyle I thought threw the ball great. I think last night our pitching was phenomenal. That’s going to have to be consistent the whole year for us to compete and even when we’re not scoring runs it has been there.”

So you don’t think guys are pressing?

“It’s early in the year so you always want to get some hits and look up there and see good numbers and everything. But I think guys have been around long enough to kind of understand that’s baseball. It doesn’t take much, it takes a really good game, a couple of good games in a row and all of a sudden everything looks better. Batting averages fluctuate, it’s a pretty overrated stat anyways, but we’ll get our hits. ”