Anyways.....To start off I want to preface that heading into spring training I was totally on board the Ricky Romero band wagon. I even drafted him as a late round sleeper in my Fantasy league convinced I pulled the wool over the eyes of all the other owners in my league. I was sure that Romero would be able to bounce back from last year's adversity and turn the page on what was a black mark on his relatively young career.
Neither good nor bad, it's been well documented that no matter what happens (a +7 ERA in the spring, Walking way too many, not throwing enough strikes..etc) in Spring training for Ricky he's pretty much going to still be the 5th starter for the Toronto Blue Jays when they break camp at the end of March. This vote of confidence from the Jays front office seems to have given Romero a chance to forget about results and just work on getting himself ready for April 2nd. I mean that must be what he's thinking cause he's been God awful.
Naturally when there's a pitcher not living up to his potential like Ricky has been so far this Spring, the Media, Fans, Bloggers will all gravitate to the story and try to come up with the best possible options for the team......Enter JA Happ!
Happ joined the team last year in the huge (only huge by volume of players traded) trade with the Houston Astros. He made a couple starts, but ended up fracturing his foot and was forced to miss the last month or so of the season. It actually looked pretty good that Happ was going to be a part of the 2013 starting rotation, but the Jays went out re-built their rotation with the additions of Johnson, Buehrle, & Dickey, and pretty much gave Happ a one way ticket to Buffalo.
Yes I know pitching in Spring Training is nothing to be measured on, but Happ has been great so far this year. He's pitched 9.1 innings and only given up 2 runs, walked 1 & K'd 5. Quite the contrast to Romero's lackluster showing so far.
Happ has been vocal about his desire to be in the Majors and starting, and Romero continues to claim that he's just getting himself ready for Opening Day and he isn't worrying about results, but as I see it the Blue Jays have committed to 2013 as a year that they want to win and they need to ensure they put that best foot forward to do so.
So what does that mean Guy? Well I would be sending JA Happ to the bump every 5th day right now. Ricky has some options left and a lot of questions marks surrounding his abilities. I would much rather go into the 2013 season with the hot hand and ensure the team doesn't get off to a slow start.
Right now JA Happ is the better of the two options to make that happen! The hard throwing south paw could make be very nice complimentary piece to this rotation and with how Romero's been pitching for the better part of 8 months I can't say that for him anymore.
Here's hoping I'm wrong! Go Jays Go!
**If you want to read some more on this whole situation check out the link below for an interesting POV from one of Romero's former teammates Dirk Hayhurst
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/hayhurst-on-blue-jays-woe-is-romero/
*** UPDATE: Well it looks like Ricky will be starting the year in Dunedin. I hope this will give Ricky some time to work out all the things he's had to work on this spring training.
The more I think about it it makes more and more sense for all parties involved.....
Ricky Romero will be able to work on all the himself as a pitcher. I think due to the off season surgery he and the team didn't focus on the real issue...his mechanics. They put him through his normal routine and when it was too late they realized that it wasn't the physical issue that was the problem really....it was delivery. I do think he'll turn it around...he just needs the time to put it all together.
JA Happ will be able to prove himself, which is especially important as he's in a contract year....and I love contract years! Players are extremely motivated and hopefully this leads to more W's for him and the Jays.
The Jays now have the opportunity to put there best team on the field come opening day! Right now Happ is the best option for the rotation and in a year when they are all in you can only have your best going. Also having a healthy and confident Ricky Romero as your 6th starter isn't a bad thing.
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