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Old 12-08-2012, 01:12 AM   #9797
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut View Post
If Johnson can take the bump, he's a very good pitcher, but it's hard to say what you're going to get in him.
If he gets back to being 2009-2011 Josh Johnson, it should be fun to watch. I'd take a repeat of what he did last year, though.

Quote:
I fully expect Buehrle to literally die on the mound at the Rogers centre (that is how they spell it up there, yes?). He's a bad fit for that division and a worse fit for that ballpark. Buehrle is an NL pitcher; he needs that chance to face the pitcher, regroup and continue to 'bend but don't break' as he goes back through the order. The waves of hitters he'll face in the AL will really hurt him, IMO.
I'm not so sure myself. To call him a NL pitcher ignores the fact that he spent pretty much the entirety of his career succeeding in the AL (and doing it in an even tougher offensive ballpark than the Rogers Centre at U.S. Cellular). I'm obviously wary about the superior lineups and offensive ballparks, but I could see him posting a low 4 ERA with his usual 200 innings. He's also pitched well in that dome before (granted, he's only pitched like 40 innings there). Getting even a league average year would be a big upgrade over the shit all they got out of his spot in the rotation last year.

Quote:
The only thing that will fix the pitcher shittiness issue from last season is 200+ innings from Morrow, Ricky Romero discovering the strike zone and maybe Dustin McGowan getting a shoulder transplant. They'll need to get more of a boost internally than they'll get from Johnson/Buehrle if they hope to move forward.
I think how good the rotation is will likely come down to Ricky Romero. I don't know what his problem was last season that led to his control issues (an injury perhaps or lost confidence), but he was not the same guy. If he can get back to what he was before last season, the Jays will have three above average starters (Johnson, Morrow, Romero), a league average innings eater (Buerhle), and a decent enough #5 (Happ and whatever they get out of guys like Hutchison and Drabek; Dustin McGowan just doesn't exist in my mind anymore). That combined with the lineup could lead the Jays to the best team they've had in quite some time.
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