Left-hander Aaron Loup is set to become the 26th different pitcher used by the Blue Jays this season when he eventually makes his debut. Here’s what the 24-year-old rookie left-hander had to say about being called up from Double-A New Hampshire:

Aaron Loup:

Were you surprised by the call?

“Kind of surprised, but kind of not surprised, because unfortunately Luis (Perez) went down. Sso I just kind of thought I might have had a slight chance. Didn’t really know if I was going to get it for sure or not but I was pitching well so I thought I had a chance. Then, they called me in yesterday right when I got back from the All-Star Game and told me I was coming up. A little surprised, yeah shocked, excited, but overall ready to go.

So you obviously were paying attention to the injury woes up here…

“We pay close attention because if anybody goes down we get a shot. But it’s unfortunate that’s how we got to get it but we’ll take it, take our chance.”

Chance to talk to Farrell yet about role?

“I talked to him earlier today when I first got here. Basically, just come in, face left-handers for the most part and just contribute any way that I can.”

How would you describe yourself?

“Sidearm lefty, throw 90-93, big slider, changeup. That’s about it. Just try to go after guys and get people out however I can.”

Were you always sidearm?

“When I got drafted, I was kind of a mid three quarters and then they raised me up and that didn’t go so well. Then they just dropped me back down and ever since then that’s where it has been.”

Did you go down lower?

“Yeah, a little bit. I’m probably more sidearm now, lower three quarters sidearm, whereas before I was probably mid-to-high three quarters so a little bit lower than I was.”

Better command that way or better action that way?

“Just better stuff. The stuff on my ball got a lot more movement, a lot more life, better command too.”

How will you feel first time out?

“Probably a lot of nerves, lot of excitement, just probably real anxious. I actually got to experience it a little bit in Spring Training. They let me throw the night game against the Yankees. I got to close that game, and I was pretty nervous that day too. I had a little taste. Nothing like it’ll probably be tonight or the next night, whenever I get a chance to get in there. But I’m looking forward to it.”

What are your baseball roots?

“The people that influenced me were probably my grandpa and my dad. That’s ever been since I could walk, with a bat and ball in my hand. That’s basically all I ever did. Played a little football, but other than that, for the most part it was just all baseball all the time.”

Before the season, did you think this might be your year for callup?

“It was definitely a goal. I thought if I could pitch well consistently all season long that I could have a chance maybe for a September call-up or something. I wasn’t really expecting to be here this early. But I’ll definitely take it.”

In Reading, PA for Double-A All-Star Game when you found out?

“I found out yesterday right when we flew into Portland to meet the team, because we were playing the Sea Dogs. Sal called me in the office. I had just started unpacking my bag, and the pitching coach comes in and he says, ‘Don’t unpack. Come here for a second.’ I was like, ‘What’s going on? Hopefully it’s good.’ I was hoping it was good. Then they called me in and they told me, ‘You’re going up.’ I was like, ‘All right. It’s a good deal.’

John Farrell:

On Loup…

“He has adjusted his slot a little bit lower. In Spring Training when we had him he was more of a three quarter arm slot. I can’t say that he’s fully a side armer but it’s added to the sweep to his breaking ball against a left-hander and he has pitched very effectively not only the times we saw him in Spring Training but through the first two and a half, three months in New Hampshire.”

Situational kind of reliever or someone you’re looking to get multiple innings out of?

“He has gone up to two innings but given the arm slot, he has weapons to attack right-handers. He has been pitching 91-93 and I know velocity is not everything but just the arm slot and talking to the Double-A staff, we’ll pick some spots where those matchups might be a little bit more favorable to him right now.”

Sam Dyson:

How did you find out you were getting the call up?

“Kevin Howard hit a walk-off home run, and we were walking in the line after the game, and Sal [Fasano] told me to come to his office. I thought I was in trouble, but obviously I wasn’t.”

Was it surreal when you heard you were going to the big leagues?

“Yeah, I kind of asked him to repeat it. It was a good thing to hear from him”

John Farrell said you may have the best stuff in the organization … what does that mean to you?

“It means a great deal, especially coming off of Tommy John surgery in 2010. Just working hard to come back, hopefully I’ll be able to contribute up here.”

What expectations did you have after the Tommy John?

“Three months ago I was in Dunedin starting, so I thought I was going to be there most of the year. I thought I might eventually come up to New Hampshire in the second half of the season, but it happened after the first month. I was into a bullpen role, and it kind of blossomed from there.”

You thought starting was going to be the plan for you?

“That’s what I thought, yeah, because I would have more of a routine every five days, workout schedule, all that. Now it’s a little bit different.”

How was the adjustment to the bullpen?

“It has been pretty good. I haven’t been able to workout the same, as intense. But I mean, staying with the rehab kind of stuff, and all the maintenance programs, I did that pretty much everyday, so everything is fine.”

How did you respond to the order to move to bullpen?

“I think I responded pretty well. I mean, starting you can kind of, not cruise through a few innings, but you can kind of find it. In the ‘pen you can’t really find it — you either have it or you don’t. And if you don’t have it, you’re out of there in a few pitches. And if you have it, you’re out of there in a few pitches. One is better than the other.”

“Pound the fastball and hopefully they hit it on the ground somewhere. I’m not a big strikeout guy. I try to get people out early in the count.”

Why was the switch made?

“No idea. I think there was a need for it.”

Organizational need?

“No, a need in New Hampshire. I think one of the guys was injured or something, I’m not too sure.”

Long term, would you like to start?

“It doesn’t matter to me, as long as I’m playing. I’ll play outfield, who knows.”

Where did you think you would go in draft if you hadn’t suffered the injury?

“My nerve flipped in 2007 or 2006, one or the other. Then I had bone spurs, minor shoulder surgery.

“Same spot, I guess. I was a 19th-rounder out of high school, then a 10th-rounder, then a fourth-rounder. Pretty much the same thing all three times.”

Sink in?

“A little but when I was in the locker-room today but I don’t think it really will until Chicago, or tonight. It just happened all so fast and trying to soak it all up.

Nerve flipped?

 ”That’s just an ulnar nerve transposition where they take the nerve from your funny bone and flip it over. That’s all it is. It’s pretty minor

TJ Oct 2010

“I didn’t get back until instructs, I was set back in September right before instructs, so I didn’t participate in instructs until 2011, and I didn’t start throwing in games until spring training.

Low points?

 ”Probably around 11 months, I had a setback and I didn’t feel the same, it took probably three or four months for it to get better. It obviously has.

First call?

 ”My parents actually flew up to Manchester on July 3, they were going to stay the week there and go to the all-star game in Reading the following week with me. They were there so I walked over to the hotel after the game and shared the news with them, my mom started jumping up and down.

Specific help?

“Pretty much all the staff, a lot of the coaches have had Tommy John surgery before, they know what to expect, they went through it and give you little advice here and there. The training staff has gone through hundreds of them, so they give you all the exercises to do and plenty of knowledge on it.”

John Farrell:

Why Dyson…

“All reports by development staff is that he’s ready to help at the Major League Level. Power stuff, maybe the best overall stuff in our organization.”

That’s high praise…

“Going into the Draft, his Draft year from South Carolina, he profiled and had the potential as a No. 1 pick but some injuries forced his Draft status to drop a little bit, evident by what we drafted him under the conditions and the need for Tommy John surgery at the time. He’s obviously come back healthy and the stuff has returned.”

Pitching at all last year or just recovery?

“All rehab last year.”

At extended Spring?

“He was in the extended all of last year. He was in Dunedin basically the whole year rehabbing and then was in the starting rotation in Dunedin as I’m sure you’ve seen and then in a controlled relief setting in New Hampshire. Two innings, two days off and then moved him into the closer’s role where he has been every other day. Has not gone back-to-back and we would hold off on doing that as well here for the time being.

“But he has the ability and the potential that many people feel that can come in and do what we’re looking for and that’s that seventh inning, down a run. Depending on who is available on a given day, has the stuff to pitch here and pitch successfully.”

Plan all along for him to relieve? Starting in Dunedin to stretch him out?

“Had him in the starting role for the added recovery days and a controlled pitch count. In addition to being able to work inbetween starts on his secondary stuff and more importantly to get him into a normal routine. But the four days of recovery inbetween are the primary reason. Once he passed all of those physical tests then we always had a view of him as a power arm reliever and then the conversion to the bullpen when he went to New Hampshire took place.”

When did he first come onto your personal radar?

“His name started to come up about four weeks ago in conversation when he moved to Double-A. In that timeframe, he has pitched very well with New Hampshire.”

What does his repertoire consist of?

“He has four pitches. A fastball that’s going to be 93-98 with some heavy sink. Some breaking balls that have good depth to them and sharpness to them. His slider is that 85-90, curveball 82-85. These are all numbers that are above Major-League average but he has pitched primarily with a sinking fastball and has been very efficient.”

Described as a bullpen Henderson Alvarez. Is that fair?

“Probably a better breaking ball and might have more sink at times. But, yeah, I think as a visual, good starting point.”

Is he a guy you’d bring in for a double play situation?

“In talking with him, I think to get his feet on the ground he would be coming in for some clean innings first. I’m sure he’s going to be vibrating when he walks onto the mound for the first couple of times.”

Saw him as a reliever… is that a long-term vision as well?

“I think initially his durability will indicate that but at least now in shorter stints that can potentially be controlled to make sure he gets proper rest, that’s the approach right now.”

I’ve been off for a few days so apologies for the lack of activity on the blog recently but as always the main articles from myself and associate reporter Chris Toman can be found on the main Blue Jays site even when there are periods of inactivity on here.

First-round pick Marcus Stroman officially signed with the Blue Jays on Tuesday — Toronto now has all of its draft picks taken in the first 10 rounds under contract. Here’s what Stroman said about becoming a Blue Jay:

Stroman:

“Just start off by saying how excited I am to have this opportunity. It has been awhile, happy that the process is now over and I can finally start my career as a Blue Jay. I’m looking forward to getting up to (Class-A) Vancouver pretty soon here, playing with that team and time to start my journey.”

Any reason for the delay in signing?

“I think it was the business of negotiations. I was out of it. It was something that was done by my agents who were taking care of. It was just them trying to get me the best deal that they could and it ended up working out earlier than expected. I’m kind of excited just to get going.”

Haven’t pitched in official games since May. Where are you at right now in terms of being ready to go?

“I’m in mid-season form. I’ve been long-tossing two or three times a week back home. Throwing two-to-three bullpens a week. I’m in the same shape as if I had been playing the whole time. So, I’m ready to go.”

Talked with Anthopoulos yet about the plan for you?

“I’ve had the opportunity to talk to him. It’s get to Vancouver pretty soon here, hopefully be there for a couple of weeks depending on how I pitch and then go to Manchester in Double-A and then it just depends on how I pitch from there on. We’ll see.”

Did they mention anything about a possible call-up later this year?

“They said that there’s a possibility. Throwing again, it’s just going to go off my success of how I pitch in these next couple of weeks in Vancouver and then Double-A but they definitely didn’t rule it out. They said it was a definite possibility to be up at some point this year with Toronto.”

Starting or bullpen?

“I think I’ll be working out of the bullpen in more of a relieving role. At least to start for this year.”

Your pitching coach said Atlanta’s Craig Kimbrel is someone you look up to. Why’s that?

“I think he’s one of the best closers in baseball and he’s considered undersized as well. He’s 5’10, he has a stocky build similar to me and I just love his stuff. He just comes at you with his fastball and he has a wipe-out slider. So I enjoy watching him come into games and kind of shut it down.”

What have they told you about future role as a starter or reliever?

“To be honest there wasn’t much discussion about it. It was kind of whatever the Blue Jays want me to do, and I’d be more than happy to do. It just so happened that it worked out to be relieving at first and they haven’t ruled out starting down the road but for now, for this year, it’s going to be in more of a relief role.”

Which role do you prefer?

“That’s tough. I enjoy doing both. I think my personality is kind of geared towards coming in and shutting games down in the late innings. But I started at Duke and I kind of got used to that. But either or, whatever they want me to do, I’m more than willing to do.”

What part of your personality makes you a suitable fit for late relief?

“Confident, bulldog, swagger that I think will just work in late innings, which can also be applied to starting, but I think late innings fits the way I pitch.”

At 5’9, have you been told you were too short to make it as a big leaguer?

“My whole life. Ever since I started playing. So, I kind of just use that, I always keep it in the back of my head, play with a chip on my shoulder knowing I have to continually prove people wrong. I kind of live by the motto, ‘height doesn’t measure heart,’ something I’ve branded within the last year. I truly don’t believe in the whole height thing. I think that if you have it, no matter what your height is, you can pitch at whatever level as long as you have the ability and drive. It’s definitely something that’s in the back of my head always and it drives me to be even better.”

When did you first realize you could make it in baseball?

“To be honest, I’d say after my Cape Cod summer. Going into college, I was a two-way. I played shortstop, middle infield and pitched, I was kind of in the relief role but I never really focused on pitching until after my freshman year in the summer at the Cape when I had a pretty good summer. After that, playing against that high level of competition I kind of knew that I could do something more with my abilities on the mound.”

As a reliever do you cut down on the number of pitches you use?

“To be honest, that’s a good question. In the past when I relieved for Team USA and for the Cape Cod, I used two pitches because that was before I developed my other two pitches in the previous years as a starter. I think if I was going to close now, I definitely think you’ll see a four-pitch mix. I don’t see why not. I would definitely throw all four, I could throw two but I think I would be more effective using all four.”

Which pitches are you most confident in?

“All of them. I’d say definitely my fastball, that’s what I pitch off of and then I’d say slider, cutter, changeup in that order. But I have just as much confidence in my changeup as any pitch and that’s the last pitch in that order so I’m pretty confident in all of them.”

Do you think you’ll be able to make it to the big leagues this year?

“I’m going to find out in the next couple of weeks but I definitely think I can pitch at that level and that’s my ultimate goal, my dream. So I’m definitely going to pursue that and do everything I can to get there this year because that would be unbelievable.”

Alex Anthopoulos made a rare appearance on the road this weekend in Miami. The main purpose of the trip wasn’t to make any major announcements but instead to help show Andrew Tinnish the ropes. Tinnish was recently promoted from director of scouting to assistant general manager where he joins Tony LaCava and Jay Sartori.

Below, you’ll find the full transcript of Anthopoulos’ scrum with the media yesterday. He touches on everything from the current state of affairs in the starting rotation, to explaining Tinnish’s promotion and updates on Draft pick signings. Make sure to check out the main site for an article on the starters along with full details on Drew Hutchison not requiring surgery.

Also, don’t forget to give me a follow on Twitter @gregorMLB

Alex Anthopoulos:

Working the waiver wire?

“Right now, what’s clearly happened is that we’ve taken everybody from Las Vegas. It’s hard to replace those guys during the season. We’re not in a position to be selective. There’s no question from a trade standpoint we can be but, for example, the Sean O’Sullivan deal was a minor-league deal. We need somebody for New Hampshire or Las Vegas.

“With all these injuries in a short period of time, it’s hard to replace all those innings. It impacts the minors at every level. Everyone starts to move.”

Settled in short term?

“I hope so. If it’s ongoing, it’s not ideal because that means our starters are unable to go deep into games. I think in Milwaukee was tough because starters weren’t going deep and it taxed out bullpen, having to make the changes we made. Until you start getting stability from those starters, it’s going to be the same. Hopefully we can find someone to get hot and stay in the rotation for awhile.”

Chavez No. 4?

“Right now the way we have it lined up is for Chavez to start on Sunday, Alvarez on Monday and Laffey on Tuesday. That’s the way it’s going right now but as we have all seen, things can change. If something happens in a game and we need someone, we have to adjust.”

Brandon Morrow timeline?

“The problem with it is has to completely heal. The tough thing  with a starter is that you can’t really do much until it does heal. You can’t throw or play catch or keep the arm in shape … you have to start all over again. It’s like spring training all over. Until that pain is completely gone. I would expect the pain to be gone in the next few weeks. At that point he could start a throwing program. But, again, that isn’t going to be forced. Things are slow to heal at times.”

Hutchison — is the ball in his court right now with regards to potential surgery?

“We have an update on that. We had our doctors in Florida finally take a look at him. We sent the tests to Dr. Andrews and everything was confirmed that it’s a sprain. He’s on a no-throwing program for four to six weeks. If he’s feeling unbelievably well in four weeks, but it may go to six, and then he could start a throwing program.

“That being said, if it’s six weeks before he throws, then starts up again and get ready, we’re probably looking at September. The good part  about it is that when you’re talking about a UCL (ulnar collateral ligament), you’re usually talking about Tommy John surgery, because you lose a year. In Drew’s case it’s not going to happen. At least we know he’s not going to be out that long, but it is going to be the bulk of ‘12 that he’s gone.

“Drew did a good job in that he said he wanted to be smart about this. He didn’t feel right and you often see guys try to throw through things and then hurt themselves way worse. Thankfully, he let the trainers know sooner rather than later and possibly avoided something a lot worse.”

Will you be getting a 100% Hutch back?

“Everyone has some sort of partial tear. The percentages vary. There are guys that pitch with 60% tears and 40% tears and 20% tears. It comes down to how severe they are and what are the symptoms being experienced by the player. I’ve always been told that you treat the symptoms not the MRI.

“That’s exactly what I asked: will we get 100% of Drew or will we get 90% or 80%? He’ll be the same. It’ll be 100%. Too many people feel strongly about it. Nothing is guaranteed, of course. There can always be a setback. But we think Drew will be fine.”

Could you make a buyers deal rather than a sellers deal?

“I think so. The way the roster is constructed we have, for the most part, control over our players. We have a core in place. Ideally you’d love to make a transaction for a player you’d have beyond 2012 that will allow you to do your best to win in 2012 but also have opportunities beyond that. That being said, we wouldn’t rule out a good player who was only under control for 2012. In a perfect world, I would always prefer to take on a player with more control. It just fits more with what we’re doing. But we aren’t ruling out short-term players as well.”

Other GMs trying to take advantage of your current situation?

“It’s challenging there’s no doubt about it. But I’m sure if you sit with the other 29 GMs and they have their own challenges. Other teams have had their position players go down. At the end of the day you just put your head down and accept the challenge and do what you can.

“We can’t get it fixed overnight. We’re going to continue to try. I don’t know when the next transaction will take place but you have to continue to move forward.”

Time frame for making a deal and have you started expanded your options?

“The timeframe – I don’t know that there’s ever a specific timeframe, I know some people believe July is when we’ll look at it, I personally have never felt that way, if there’s the right deal with the right player you go ahead and jump at it. Expanded the pool? I say yes, there’s no doubt, because we have more opportunities, there are more players down. There are certain players we would have committed to in that rotation either way, a lot of these guys because they’re so young they certainly have options, we’d get someone and option them to the minor-leagues, but there’s no question with these guys being out, it definitely opens up the pool a little bit. There may be some players that we would have looked at but not been as serious about.

McGuire/Jenkins — any reasons behind their struggles in New Hamsphire?

 ”They just haven’t thrown well, velocity has been similar, for both guys it’s been command, that’s been the overriding theme and it’s interesting because both guys pitched well in New Hampshire at the end of last year, I saw them both, and they did very well and that’s what is so surprising, to see them go back, and even though they weren’t there the whole year last year, to repeat the level and struggle the way they have. It’s hard to explain, I know the staff is working very hard to get them on track, I’m sure both players would tell you the same thing, but the number one thing is it’s not stuff, it’s command. They’re just not commanding the ball the way they have.”

Thinned out in the rotation by their struggles?

“There’s no question, that’s why you never have enough. Going into spring training we felt like Deck, Jenkins, Litsch and McGowan were going to be options for us, but we felt like Jenkins and Deck, the way they pitched at the end of last year at New Hampshire, would have been options for a callup. How well they would have done or to what success, who knows? They’d definitely thrown well enough to be candidates to come up here and pitch, so really you’re looking at four guys, on average you’re going to need 11 guys to make starts, sometimes it can get up to 13, but we felt like we had that 11 one way or another. But when guys go down, guys don’t have good years, it changes fast. It’s funny, all it does is re-emphasize for me you can never had enough depth.”

Review situation every five days?

 ”I think at this point you have to, we just don’t have that many mainstays in the rotation, so really I think it’s start to start. You can argue if Joel Carreno had gone six innings or a little deeper, we probably would have given him a start again. It’s not necessarily fair the players entirely, it’s the position we’re in, we need fresh arms, we don’t want more guys getting hurt, we’ve already taxed the bullpen enough, to protect everybody we have to bring in as many options as we can. Once the rotation can hopefully stabilize a little bit, that will get us back on track.

Lull with the signing of the rest of your Draft picks?

 ”We’re getting close on pretty much everybody. Right now … (Chase) DeJong I think we’re going to get close on, I hope we’re going to get him done soon, Stroman, he’s probably the one guy I don’t at this time the way that one’s going to go.”

Enough money lef to make the signings?

 ”If everyone is willing to take slot, we’ll have them all signed from the top 10 rounds. If there’s problems or concerns with slot, there’s a good chance we won’t have them all signed.

Kellogg?

“That’s another guy we’d like to get done. I know Andrew’s working on that. Again, that’s just dialogue and trying to see what we’ll have available because we are limited, the one thing we won’t do is lose a draft pick the following year. We have a few players in that mix with guys like Kellogg, that we like. We’ll probably have a certain amount that we can afford and we’ll probably go down the list. First guy we want, we’ll offer it to, if he doesn’t want it, we’ll go to the next guy.”

On signing remaining picks..

“It’s not as much negotiation right now to be honest with you. Unless someone wants to try to negotiate and convince us to lose our draft pick, it’s a non-negotiable item. So, what we have is pretty straight forward. … It’s not a game because everyone can start doing the math.”

On Tinnish…

“When I first got the job, I actually thought about making him an assistant GM right then and there. But knowing all of the changes I wanted to make to the amateur scouting side, the system, the staffing, things like that, we had worked together for awhile, I felt he was a strong evaluator but he also has done so many things in the office. He has done arbitration briefs, he has done negotiations, he has run our pro scouting department before … he has done it all in every capacity. He has done the evaluation, the contracts.

“I remember we were going to a hearing, we were planning on going to a hearing for Pete Walker and Andrew’s the one who put together the brief. He’s unbelievable, as good of an evaluator as he is, he has great administrative skills as well. I think Andrew’s just another guy that brings a baseball element to the office because the two guys that I lean on for evaluations quite a bit are Perry Minasian and Tony LaCava, and they don’t live in Toronto, they’re out scouting, they’re evaluating players, and in the office right now it’s more administrative based. Jay Sartori is more of an administrator obviously, than an evaluator, that’s his background from the commissioner’s office.

“Andrew brings another evaluator into the office with administrative abilities. I found that we lacked that and I found that there were times in the office when I needed a little bit more of an evaluator around a little bit more often.”

Insurance in case LaCava gets courted by another team during the offseason?

“No, we’re always at risk that Tony could leave because he’s sought after. But there’s no question that it can’t hurt from that standpoint but their jobs aren’t the same at all. Tony’s not in the office, he’s an evaluator first and foremost. He oversees the Minor Leagues as well, it’s not his day-to-day job. From that standpoint, Andrew’s going to be a little bit more — I don’t want to say on the frontlines — but he’s going to be in the office every day that I would.”

Back to roster moves… do you have money available to add players between now and the deadline?

“Depends who it is. We’ve added bodies. We’ve added a lot of bodies. It all depends on who it is, it has to make sense. Just like anything else, add a body for the sake of adding a body, I’d have to explain why. But obviously the guys we’ve added, we clearly have needs, depth, and so on. If it’s a big trade and a big transaction for an impact player, especially someone that we control beyond this year, I don’t see there being any problems at all from that standpoint.

“But I don’t think it’s just anybody. It has to be someone that makes sense. I think that’s what it’s going to come down to. That’s the conversation I’d have with Paul and that’s the conversation he has with ownership.”

Tony Rasmus was among the 13 fathers of Blue Jays players to make the trip to Toronto on Sunday afternoon. He spoke with the media prior to Toronto’s 6-2 victory over Philadelphia and this is what he had to say about Colby’s resurgence at the plate, his overall state of mind and last year’s controversy in St. Louis:

Knowing where Colby was last year … must be pretty gratifying seeing him happy here

“You know what I’ll tell you this, I told somebody else today: I hadn’t watched a baseball game in two years that he’s played in St. Louis, because when I watched him I feel like I was watching a funeral procession. It just wasn’t fun anymore. And it was painful to watch and I didn’t think he was playing to his capabilities much of the time.

“I’ve watched every game this year, just to show you that’s the kind of difference a year’s made in his life as far as baseball goes – to watch him smile, I watched him out there do a couple of out [makes hand gesture] things. I’m like, ‘Wow, look at that: It looks like it’s fun again.’ And you see the last month or so he’s kind of picked it up and played a lot better. So it’s been super for us.

“As a family, unfortunately, our lives revolved around Colby’s baseball career. I have two other kids who play minor-league baseball, but all the other brothers and everybody always pulls for him. And to watch him have fun this year, all my kids call me every day, like ‘Hey Dad, Colby looks like he’s having a good time. He’s playing better, this, that and the other.’ So it’s been fun this year.”

What has been the difference this year?

“Looking back on it, maybe the fact that he was such a big prospect and they expected him to be Albert Pujols in St. Louis and not too many people are going to be Albert Pujols. Maybe the expectations they had for him were just hard for him to live up to. Maybe that pressure just wore him down. Obviously Tony wore on him a little bit, but Tony’s a Hall of Fame manager, you know. Maybe everybody can’t play for him. Maybe it’s just a better fit here. He really loves John; John’s a more positive-type guy and that’s probably what he responded to better than all the negative stuff he dealt with there.”

During the offseason you and him talked about your involvement…

“That’s really uncomfortable to hear a lot of that stuff, to be honest with you, because my involvements really basically a batting practice pitcher. It’s not like I get in there and go, ‘Hey, move your hands up here, do this.’ I’m not really a technical— But the fact is, I’m 46, but I can still throw about 90. So I can back up 60 feet and throw BP versus having to soft toss to him. And I can throw breaking balls and changeups and that kind of stuff.

“Now, don’t get me wrong, I’ve coached him since he was in coach-pitch and if he goes 3-for-4, I’m like, ‘That fourth at-bat there you threw that thing away.’ That guy laid one across, there. He said, ‘You know, I’m not going to be perfect, can you cut me some slack?’ And that’s kind of been the difference. As far as me calling him on Friday and saying, ‘Hey, you know what your weight’s not over the plate,’ the technical stuff like that – that’s never been me. Don’t get me wrong, you’ve read the newspapers and that’s what they all made it out to be. But I was never that type of batting instructor for him; I’m just a good BP arm.”

Where did all of that talk about interference come from?

 ”I’m not going to say it to make it back to St. Louis in the newspapers. I was just a BP guy and the thing is, I throw pretty good BP, if I want to throw outside edge BP, I can throw it, if I want to bust you in, so we would go through scenarios, no balls, no strikes, this guy’s throwing today, he throws a lot of first-pitch fastballs, that’s how we do.

“One June two years ago, I spent the whole month doing that, he hit nine home runs that month. I always told somebody, if your kid believes he has to chop off a chicken’s head to hit, if he believes that’s what makes him hit, then by God, chop one off every day. He for some reason believed me throwing batting practice to him was helpful for him. If he believed it was helpful for him, it was helpful.”

During season in StL?

 ”Two years ago, last year I didn’t do it any, because Tony didn’t want me involved because he was wanting Mark (McGwire) to get this kind of credit or whatever. And obviously Colby had a hard time, I always told Colby, ‘Don’t mention my name, let me go ahead and throw to you, man, and go in the newspapers and say Mark McGwire is my man, he’s the reason I’m hitting.’ But he doesn’t know how to lie and I think that’s a key to making it in this business, being able to not tell the truth a lot of the time. I was just a BP arm and he felt comfortable with me throwing to him and he felt like it helped him, and if he felt like it helped him, it helped him.”

Relief for both of you this year?

“Oh, John called me early on, it was really funny, I was like star struck. I was in chemistry class, I teach chemistry and physics, I was in chemistry class, my phone went off, I answered the phone, he’s like, ‘This is John Farrell.’ I was like (gasps), good gracious. He said, ‘You know what, we want Colby to hit, we want him to be comfortable, whatever we have to do.’ And I went through the same story I just told you, ‘I don’t care what you’ve heard, it’s not like I’m going to be working on Xs and Os as far as hitting goes with him, I just throw to him, he likes me throwing batting practice, been throwing it to him forever.’ John made it known that whatever we needed to do to have him hit or playing good that he was all for it.

Differences in his voice?

“He’s just happy man. Having not gone through it you wouldn’t understand, he was just miserable. This is the thing, you can motivate most people in this life by money, I’ll give you $20 to cut the grass, whatever, anybody has a number. He’s one kid that doesn’t live by money, so you can’t bribe him. We’d always say, ‘Man, you’re making huge money, why would you want to quit?’ He goes, ‘I don’t care about the money, I’m sick of it.’ That was how the general conversation went every time you’d speak with him. ‘I hate it, I don’t like playing anymore.’

“And we were trying to keep him to stay in a little longer, maybe something will happen, a trade comes up, and then finally it did and that saved him. He may have been at the house working construction if he had to go through that much longer. You could see it, he was just going downhill, getting worse and worse and worse. It’s been a good thing for him, this move.”

What was your reaction to the trade?

“Well, some stuff came out in the newspaper that wasn’t accurate from Tony and we called his agent and said, ‘Man, he’s not going to keep saying all that stuff without somebody responding to it, so y’all need to get him out of there.’ That was about the way it went. So whenever they called and told me, I was dancing the jig around the house. I called him first thing and he was like, ‘That’s an answer to a prayer. Thank goodness.’ Everything since that day has been absolutely awesome here, we’ve been happy ever since the trade.”

The current situation facing the Blue Jays starting rotation couldn’t be much worse. The biggest blow came earlier this week when Brandon Morrow suffered a strained left oblique. Things went from bad to worse on Friday, though, when it was revealed that doctors found a tear in Kyle Drabek’s UCL and right-hander Drew Hutchison left his start later that night with right elbow soreness.

Brett Cecil was en route to Toronto as of late Friday afternoon but with the pitchers seemingly dropping like flies there’s going to be a need for more recruits in the near future. Deck McGuire and Chad Jenkins entered this season as the prospects likely the closest to being Major League ready but both have seen more than their fair share of struggles at Double-A New Hampshire.

Neither right-hander is expected to receive consideration for a promotion to the Major Leagues at this time. Instead, the vacancies — assuming Hutchison is headed or the disabled list — will go to Jesse Chavez, Robert Coello, Aaron Laffey or Joel Carreno. Carlos Villanueva also made a case for himself with a strong performance out of the bullpen on Friday night but would require a lot of patience if he needed to be stretched out as a starter. Chavez has enjoyed a great season in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League but as a whole those aren’t the type of names that are going to strike fear into the hearts of the opposition.

The timetable on Morrow is still unclear while Drabek could be forced to undergo Tommy John surgery. There still wasn’t any word on Hutchison at the time of this post but the club will have to hope for the best because there aren’t a lot of viable options left in the tank.

Below, I’ve included full reaction from Alex Anthopoulos, John Farrell and Kyle Drabek. Please note, I am posting this during Friday’s game so while Hutchison is injured there is still available update on his status at this time. Don’t forget to give me a follow on Twitter @gregorMLB

Alex Anthopoulos:

Why Cecil for Sunday’s start?

“Tony LaCava was just there and one, it lines up with just in terms of start days for him, but Brett deserves it. He pitched very well in New Hampshire. The reports we got from the staff down there were very strong. We wanted to see again — it was just one start in Las Vegas — but how that was going carry over and Tony was there and said he looked very good. So, he has worked hard, he has maintained his approach and we think he’s going to be able to help the team.”

Ever find a reason behind the drop in velocity?

“I don’t know to be honest with you. I think, one of the things is he lost all that weight in Spring Training, adjusted his body, got back onto a long toss program. This kind of happened last year as well, where he went down and got his arm strength back. Maybe we’ll just have to change his offseason routine somehow but it just seems like it takes him a little bit longer to get the arm strength going. I wish I knew exactly what it was but either way he’s throwing the ball well.”

Have you made any decisions on who will start Tuesday?

“We have an idea. We haven’t made the decision yet but we know that Tuesday will be the day we line the rotation so we can set it up that way. But we still want to see what’s going to happen the next three days. We make a decision today and something happens in the next three days we’d have to make a change.”

He seemed to be over throwing during Spring Training to compensate for a lack of velocity. Is he comfortable with the velocity he currently has?

“I think so … I think in Spring Training it wasn’t velocity as much as it was command. He just wasn’t commanding the ball the way he has in the past. He has a plus changeup, throws strikes, that’s one thing he has always done so if he’s not throwing strikes he’s not the same guy. I think spring obviously he started out well and then got into a funk trying to make the team, worked so hard in the offseason, expectations all of those things. I think he’s in a great place right now, understood going down, needed to get himself right and sounds like he did get himself right.”

Update on Drabek?

“We got MRIs done here, they did show a tear of his UCL. So, right now we’re going to send him to Dr. Andrews to be 100% sure on Monday just to lay his hands on him, examine him. The odd thing about it is that he doesn’t have any pain. That’s just a part of, guys have tears, there are guys all over the game that have tears that can throw with it. From that standpoint, we just have to make 100% sure, we’ll know more on Monday after Andrews sees him.”

Not a lot of guys have had Tommy John twice…

“I talked to Jason Frasor about it, he had it twice and he has never been on the DL since. He’s mid-30s right now and he’s had it twice. It’s hard to say, could be the way it was done. I know in terms of Frasor, when they did it the first time it may not have been done exactly the way it needed to be done. There’s just no way to tell. It’s certainly a occurred to a few other guys before, the recovery rate is fine, but the odd part about it is that he doesn’t have any pain. It’s not what you’d expect it to be. That’s why, I asked our guys, is it 100% and they said no, that’s why we’re going to send him down to Andrews just to see.”

Do you think he might have been injured for awhile and didn’t notice it until Wednesday?

“I don’t know. I talked to Kyle about it a day ago and I just asked him, he felt pretty good the whole way. He was a little sore, a little more sore than normal but not anything to be alarmed about. Even today, he’s not, even on the mound he felt fine, he just felt that pop and he got scared. It’s not like there’s a lot of pain or anything like that at all so that’s the odd part about it. In terms of the loss of control, I thought his velocity was a little bit down, not much, maybe a mile or two, it’s really hard to pinpoint it one way or the other. It’s just an odd case but there’s no question he might have to end up going down that path.”

Any update on Morrow?

“No, with the oblique, I remember Romero had it in 2009, it’s one of those things where you need it to rest. The tough part about it is that you can’t really do a whole lot. If you’re a starter, you can’t throw, you can’t keep your arm in shape, all those kind of things. I think it’s just going to take time and we don’t know how quickly he’s going to heal but at least it’s going to be the two weeks as a minimum and then we’ll see where he’s at. But to get him on a throwing program to get him built back up to start is going to take a little bit of time but he needs to make sure it’s completely healed first.”

This has to be a major blow to lose two starts in three games…

“It’s always tough but I don’t think you go into any year, you realize it can happen, whether it’s a position player, a reliever, so on. It happens. No one’s going to feel sorry for you. We’ve seen injuries across the game, they finally hit us in the middle of June, but hopefully we have some guys that come up and do a good job for us. But it happens, it happens each year to all of the clubs.

“There’s no question, you lose two of your starters it’s not a good thing. But at that point there are opportunities for some of these other guys. Maybe a guy like Brett can come up and do a good job for us and whoever ends up getting that next start for us can do a good job for us as well. You can’t overreact, it happens, it’s part of the game, you don’t want it to happen to you but at the same time we still have games to play and we’re still going to try to take a run at this thing.”

Make or break for Brett?

“No, I don’t think at any point with any players you can look at it that way. You can go through all the rosters and players that have gone up and down, been out of options, and things finally clicked. Encarnacion, Jose Bautista. Until we don’t have the player we’re always going to try to give them an opportunity to do well for us.”

You say try to make a run at this thing but that’s going to be tough after losing two starters and your offense still struggling…

“I’m not sitting here, I’m not making any projections … I haven’t claimed any win totals. I’ve said we plan on continuing to be competitive and to compete. We’re never going to just lay down and not compete. This club top to bottom. I don’t think I’ve said anything to the contrary of that but there are 25 guys on this team and we have three and a half months left and guys can still do well for us and hopefully we can get on a run starting tonight.”

Who are the candidates for Tuesday’s start?

“Obviously a guy like Laffey has been solid down there. Coello has been stretched out to start. Those are probably the guys on the short list that have done well for us down there. Those are probably the main guys.

“Carreno’s getting moved up there. He’s just getting moved up to Vegas, the guys that are in Vegas right probably have a leg up but he certainly could be a candidate as well.”

What does Snider need to do to get back up to the big leagues now that he’s healthy?

“Play well. He just has to play well, get back in Las Vegas, get hot, start playing well to put himself into the mix. But he’s going to need some at-bats, obviously more than a game or two just to show he’s locked in and playing as well as he did before he got hurt.”

John Farrell:

Why Cecil for Sunday?

“Continued his progression coming out of Spring Training. Overall better command, increased arm strength. Combination of those two in addition to success at this level previously. He’s the guy for Sunday.”

He was clearly frustrated at the end of Spring Training. Where is he now, compared to where he was back then?

“It was clear that he was frustrated with the way Spring Training progressed. He got off to a good start from a results standpoint and I think he was a little, like I said, frustrated with maybe the inconsistencies and the velocity not getting to where I think he or others intended, or envisioned as Opening Day neared. I think at that point it was very clear that he needed more time, he needed more starts and innings pitched to pitch with a revamped physique and has done just that.”

Why Sunday for Cecil instead of Monday?

“There’s, I don’t want to say the need, but wanted to give an extra day to Henderson. When you look at the performances of both teams that we’re facing back-to-back days, how left-handers have fared and right-handers have fared against both teams, that was part of it. So, we had options on Sunday.”

How did Drabek take the news of a tear in his UCL?

“In talking with him a couple of times yesterday, he was down. This is someone that has already experienced a Tommy John surgery previous and the rehab that follows that. What’s unique about this one, is that even when he felt the sensation on the mound he had good strength and he has good range of motion in here today with little discomfort at all. So, the need for a second opinion is there but as a pitcher and what he went through, it’s natural to assume the worst and that had him, dejected.”

Is this a bizarre case?

“Yeah, because the MRI shows an injured ligament and yet at the same time his symptoms are not consistent with a tear. You would have a guy that either would have swelling or he would very sore when you go through a range of motion or you place some stress on the elbow to test the ligament. That could speak to the overall strength of the muscles that support the elbow. But, still, there’s something that’s definitive in there and with respect to Kyle, we’ve got to make sure that we expose him to the best available to determine the extent of the injury and what the next steps are.”

Kyle Drabek:

“I was down because they said they saw a little tear and right when they said that I flashed back to when I had it previously. Hated going through it, you miss a year of baseball, you miss a year of hanging out with the guys. Today it’s a little different because it doesn’t feel the same way it did the first time, I still have mobility in my arm and when I had it before, everything was pained.”

Last MRI when he was traded, possible there for a while?

 ”He was wondering the same thing, we don’t know. Up until the past week it’s felt great. I’m hoping what they saw might have been there and it’s just a little rehab. I’ll wait to see.

“Haven’t really talked much about best-case, worst-case. The best case is it’s a month, two months of rehab, worst case is that it’s completely torn and I have to miss a full year.”

Not many guys have gone through it twice…

“I don’t know that many guys who have gone through two. Talking with Frasor, after his second one he said he’s felt great ever since. It’s tough. If I have to have it again, it’s going to be hard rehab because it was hard the first time, and I’m sure it’s going to be even harder the second time.”

Talk to your dad?

“He knows as much as you all do. He’s pretty much in the same boat as me, hoping it’s a best-case scenario, rehab a little bit, he’s going to be coming up here, either (Saturday) or the next one, he’s having trouble with his passport, so I don’t know? He’s in Cali but he left it in Houston. We’ll see how that works out.

Silver-lining be that he’s 25, with big-league time behind him?

“If I have to have it again, take my year, rehab real hard and try to get back here as soon as possible healthy.”

Reason to think might be wrong since no pain?

 ”A little bit, in the case that I can move my arm a lot better than I normally would and really the pain is just in the forearm and behind the elbow. It’s what I’m hoping for. It’s either a year thing or a few months thing.”

Pain in weeks before?

 ”Not really, it was normal soreness, maybe a little bit more, but at game-time I felt great. It was getting a little sore in the game, but nothing that I wouldn’t be able to pitch through and then the pop happened.”

First tear…

 ”I didn’t really feel anything the first time, I was just throwing, threw a fastball and it kind of ached a little bit, didn’t think anything, threw a curveball, felt fine, then I threw another fastball and the pain started happening. I don’t hear or feel anything, it was just pain. This time I could feel the pop. It was in the back of the elbow so it was almost like I extended it more, almost like a shot-gun feeling.”

On the main site you’ll find updated information on Vladimir Guerrero’s release from the Blue Jays and the latest injury news on right-hander Brandon Morrow. General manager Alex Anthopoulos held court with reporters this afternoon. Below, I’ve posted the full transcript for those that are interested:

What happened with Guerrero? 

“Obviously we never had a date. But we always told him throughout the process that anytime he felt that he didn’t want to be here, he had the ability to leave any time. Even though we don’t have out clauses, we had a handshake agreement that any time he could indicate to us that if you wanted to go that we would grant him his release.

 “I talked to his agent Monday morning. At first we talked a week ago and said we would just reevaluate things after the road trip, after Sunday’s game. He got hit in the hand, missed Saturday and Sunday’s game. His agent and I spoke on Monday morning and we said obviously we were going to reevaluate.

 “I told him look, if have to make a decision right now, we’re not prepared to call him up. So if he wants his release right now we certainly would do it. If not, I said Tony LaCava, he’s going to be there tonight (Tuesday night) and for the next three or four games. If you’d like we can just strictly go day to day when he has obviously he has the ability to control the process and he can go whenever he likes.

 “But I said if the decision needs to be right now we’ll certainly grant him his release.

 ”From that standpoint, he played last night and he decided that that was going to be enough for him. He felt that he was certainly worthy of a call up. We’re just not prepared to do that right now.”

 Update on Morrow?

“Not yet. He’s obviously sore today. We’re going to have some exams done around 4:30 so hopefully we’ll get the results around game time. So highly-probable we’re going to DL-him but we’re going to at least wait to get the results so we know exactly what the severity of all of it is. From there we’ll make a decision.

 “Right now I would expect him to go on the DL, but it’s not 100 per cent for sure.”

For Guerrero, was it just not enough time for a proper evaluation? 

“I think really we go off our staff. Our staff just felt like right now, for us — and again, he’s obviously a Hall of Famer, he was a tremendous teammate, great guy across the board. But our staff are the ones we’re relying on to make the evaluation for us. And they felt we needed some more games. And we obviously felt that as well.

 “But he had the right at any time to go and he made that decision.”

 Did Guerrero not put up enough numbers to justify a promotion?

“The stats are there. He was slowly starting to get better — and obviously last night he had a very good night. In all fairness to the team, we had 20 hits or something and we scored a lot of runs. So the entire team did very well. But that’s not to take anything away from him. It was a good game for him and I would have liked to have seen more games.

 “But at the same time, he knows himself better than anybody, he felt like he’s done enough there and he was prepared to come up here. But we didn’t necessarily agree with that.”

 Do you feel that you guys treated Guerrero fairly? There are some comments out there that indicate he felt otherwise…

“I talked to his agent and it was great communication with his agent. I never spoke to Vlady directly. But with his agent great communication.”

 Any idea why Guerrero would say some of the things he was quoted as saying?

“I can’t. All I can say is we had great dialogue with his agent. From that standpoint best ask his agent what happened. But we had great communication and great dialogue. Again, we always told him he had the ability to go whenever he wanted to. I think from that standpoint, he’s a great player, a Hall of Famer, and he was a great teammate for us, handled himself extremely well. Everybody said he was a tremendous guy. And from that standpoint we just weren’t ready to call him up at this time.”

 With respect to Brandon, does this press you into making some additional moves?

“We have time because of the off-day to reevaluate it. So we’ve really got a lot more time because of the off-day on Thursday.

 “We don’t have to make the decision right now. We’ve obviously got a lot of ideas and things like that. We’ll know the severity of it, again, probably a DL stint but we don’t need to make the decision right now. We can wait until tomorrow and just see what the results are tonight.”

Considering how well he has pitched it must be frustrating…

“There’s no question you lose a guy like that, he has a good chance to make the all-star team. He’s pitched great, but it happens. And we’re certainly not the first team to go through it. A lot of other teams do. It’s a long year and you just have to fight through it. And hopefully we can get him back soon and we can make up some ground while he’s away.”

 

TORONTO — Blue Jays third-rounder Anthony Alford confirmed to MLB.com on Friday that he will sign with Toronto.

The deal, which was first reported by Baseball America, will allow Alford to continue playing football at Southern Mississippi University, but he will join one of Toronto’s Minor League affiliates this summer.

Alford, who was considered a difficult sign because of his commit to Southern Mississippi, will fly to Florida on Saturday to meet with the Blue Jays.

“I will play football and I will play baseball,” said Alford in a brief phone interview.

Alford wouldn’t reveal the details of the contract but expects to sign by Monday.

He will likely be paid well over the recommended slot of $424,400 for the No. 112 overall pick.

Alford reportedly told teams prior to the Draft to not select him because of his desire to continue playing football, which is the only reason he dropped to the third round. The center fielder was considered a first-round talent and was ranked by MLB.com as the No. 56 prospect entering the Draft.

Larry Watkins, Alford’s high school coach, told MLB.com earlier in the week that Toronto scouted him heavily all season long.

Blue Jays amateur scouting director Andrew Tinnish raved about Alford in a conference call with reporters on Wednesday.

“Obviously he’s a very good athlete and a very good kid, with a very short and quick compact swing,” Tinnish said. “He’s probably a seven runner on our two-to-eight scale. He’s very explosive. He’s a guy that we’d love to have as part of our organization.”

The toolsy outfielder has already started taking classes at Southern Mississippi, where he is studying business.

Alford started all four years he played at Petal High School, and helped the team win state championships in his sophomore and junior years.

Last season, in his senior year, Alford hit .483/.569/.793 with four home runs while stealing 14 bases in as many attempts.

– Chris Toman 

TORONTO — Matt Smoral, who the Blue Jays selected in compensation round A of the First-Year Player Draft, would not reveal the details of his negotiation process with Toronto but confirmed that he will likely reach an agreement with the club.

“I have not signed yet,” said Smoral, who is a North Carolina commit. “We are just going through the normal post-draft negotiations. I’m looking forward to hopefully being a member of the Blue Jays family. I’m excited.

“We are still working on it but it will be over-slot. Right now, we are trying to keep the money confidential.”

Toronto has already saved over $200,000 by signing 10th-rounder Alex Azor and sixth-round pick Eric Phillips well below slot value. That money can now be used to pay some of the team’s marquee Draft selections like Smoral, whose recommended bonus is $1 million, over-slot.

Smoral, a high school senior from Ohio, was tabbed to be a high first-round pick heading into 2012 but missed the majority of the season after undergoing right foot surgery to repair a stress fracture.

The left-hander said his foot is progressing well and he found ways to continue throwing despite the injury.

Smoral wasn’t sure where he was going in the Draft but said many teams showed interest throughout the year.

“The Blue Jays were definitely one of those teams,” Smoral said.

He took a physical in Dunedin on Wednesday but won’t be participating in Toronto’s mini-camp workout this weekend.

Smoral will see a doctor next Thursday for a follow-up visit on his foot.

– Chris Toman 

TORONTO — Duke pitching coach Sean Snedeker spoke with MLB.com about right-hander Marcus Stroman, who the Blue Jays selected at No. 22 overall in the First-Year Player Draft on Monday.

Below are some of the highlights.

On whether he thinks Stroman should start or come out of the bullpen:

“Here’s the thing with Marcus, and I would not have said this prior to this year — he can literally do whatever the Blue Jays would like him to do. He is capable and equipped to be a starter or reliever. I think he projects more as a back of the bullpen-type of guy because his velocity will increase and he will be more aggressive.”

On his pitching arsenal:

“The quality of his pitches are Major League ready. Stroman has the complete package. He has four pitches that he throws all for strikes, with plus velocity. If you are grading these pitches out, they are all Major League average to plus pitches. To find that in one package is extremely rare, when you are talking about being able to do it and do it consistently in the strike zone. He showed all season long that he was capable of doing that.”

On Stroman’s progression over his three years in college:

“He had good stuff coming into Duke. The thing we really worked on was to be able to command a fastball, number one. When he came in he was used to overpowering guys with a fastball without much thought to command and locate. That, obviously, evolved and the emphasis was put on him right away to be down in the zone.”

On where he stacks up to others he has coached:

“I think the Blue Jays are in for quite a treat. The kid competes, he’s athletic and he’s as close to Major League ready right now as anybody I’ve ever had his age, and I’ve had roughly 40 Major League pitchers on my pitching staff in one shape or form. He’s a good one. He has a huge heart. He is singularly focused on playing in the big leagues.”

Snedeker thought Stroman would be taken higher in the Draft and believes a potential stigma exists in baseball about smaller guys. Stroman is listed at 5-foot-9, 185 pounds.

“The thing that drives him is, he wants to show that he can do it despite his size. His stuff will so overshadow his size. If you doubt the guy, it fuels his fire. I’m very confident he can make a rapid rise to the big leagues.

“I couldn’t be happier for him, personally. I’m extremely proud of him, a very good worker and he was an unbelievably consistent performer. He’s a special kid.”

– Chris Toman