Snakebit

So, it starts. Both Scott Downs and Mike Maroth have been knocked out of training for the next few days. Maroth's left knee decided that even he couldn't support such a shitty pitcher and gave up during a workout. Downs, unfortunately, has hit stiffness in the same elbow which he had Tommy John surgery on.

Last year, Downs really hit a rough patch coming down the stretch in last August and September, posting an ERA of 5 from Aug 30th to Sept 13th, with the opposition nearly hitting .300 against him. The most worrying part was his lack of control, running up 6BB over just 9 innings pitched, as well as a couple of hit batters thrown on top of that.

Downs' sinker, slider, curve combination relies on the whipping motion on his elbow to get enough rotation on the ball so it will break sharply. By the end of last season, he was far from getting the movement on the ball he intended, which was a feast for opposing hitters, as he regularly missed his spots, or hung pitches in the zone.

The MRI revealed nothing, which doesn't mean it's time to expect Snakeface to be dustbinned yet for 2009. Assuming Ricciardi can be trusted, the official word was:

"Downs had a little twinge in his elbow," Ricciardi said. "Everything was good. It was a good MRI, but when they inject you with the dye, it takes five to six days -- some people a little longer -- to get the dye out. He's getting closer to getting it out, but I'd say in the next four or five days, he'll be throwing."

If the worst happens and we lose Downs, it will effect the entire pitching staff, including the starting rotation. Without Downs, Tallet and Carlson start as your left handed options for setup men, and it's very possible that Janssen will be moved back to the bullpen to serve as mid-relief in order to save them both in situations that you'd normally use a lefty earlier in the game. While the bullpen is the one place the Jays have plenty of depth to survive an injury, Downs was a linchpin last year for the Jays. Losing him even for a few months will significantly increase the pressure for the relief corp.

Your Future Rotation: Part Eight

If there's anything that helps fuel the sense of bleak desperation leading into 2009, it's the fact that the Jays have signed Mike Maroth to a minor league contract. Unlike Matt Clement, who was a very effective starter prior to his injuries and has the potential, however slight, to rebound to middle of the rotation effectiveness, Maroth doesn't even come close. The Josh Towers of the Detroit Tigers, Maroth's career has been littered with control issues and a tendency to give opposing teams runs better than the ropa vieja stand outside of Dunedin Stadium.

Maroth brings a career ERA of 5.05 and WHIP of 1.46 to the Jays. To continue the Josh Towers comparison, that's about ten points higher in both areas than Towers career numbers, which does not inspire a great deal of confidence about his abilities. Prior to his injuries in 2006, Maroth did eat a lot of innings, which is likely the motivation behind this signing, to provide some AAA depth and maybe give some of the real prospects like Mills, Cecil and Romero someone who can provide some experience about what it's like to get shelled in the majors.

Maroth brings four pitches to the mound; a four seam fastball that hovers in the high 80s, a cutter, a curveball and a decent changeup that he uses for an out pitch. Maroth is successful when he works the edges of the plater, but as a result, his walk rate is higher than you want from a control pitcher, and he is very susceptible to the home run. When he can get ahead in the count early, his changeup and cutter can be tough on right handed batters. But he's got a tendency to hang pitches later in the count, especially when behind, which is why he's been so feasted on by AL batters.

Obviously Maroth is not meant to be anything other than insurance in case of a total implosion, so the Jays are forced to use top pitching prospects to plug the gaps. There's an outside chance that if Maroth can imitate Parrish's 2008 in the minors that he might see some spot starts during the season. While he's not good, he does have some experience with the league's lineups, and taking all that into account, might get a handful of starts to see if a possible strong AAA season translates into anything more. Most likely Maroth will show the same shitacular stuff in the minors, and end up getting cut by the end of the season.

There is one bright spot to this signing; Maroth's wife is seriously hot. Word to the wise, Mike. Update your badly out of date website with a pay section for private webcam parties for the missus, since I doubt that minor league paycheck is going to last very long.