Spring Has Sprung

How good is it to see baseball on TV again?

For those of you who missed it, The Rogers Corporation was kind enough to give us a (free) sample of the 2011 Blue Jays this afternoon on the regional networks. FANTASTIC! I forgot how much I missed baseball.

As for the game, The Jays walloped the Pittsbugh Pirates (who may never have another winning season, ever) I watched most of the game, until the starters left, and I mostly liked what I saw. Bautista is still in-the-zone, and Ricky Romero looked ready to start the season. Travis Snider got to hit 4th, and looked good in doing so. Speaking of looking good, he is growing a moustache. It is LEGEND- wait for it... also JP Arecibia is trying to grow a beard, mostly failing. DARY!!!! LEGENDARY! Here it is, so you don't have to search for it:



Meats don't clash, and neither do awesome moustaches and a semi-mullett. Looking forward to seeing Travis bring that bad boy to the Rogers Dome.

5th Starter Favourites Eric Thames and Edwin Encarnacion had diometrically opposite days. Thames looked amazing, working counts deep, and taking the ball to all fields. Encarnacion looked abysmal, striking out 3 times. If he could have seen less pitches, he probably would have. For all my campaigning for him, he sure has a funny way of repaying me...

All that said: Sample size, sample size, sample size. None of this stuff matters much until the final few weeks. Still hard not to be excited about Thames, and fellow prospect Brett Lawrie, who both look ready to come north (though likely neither will) Both are hitting over .300 (Thames is closer to .400) and hitting the ball with A-THORA-TAH! I hope they can carry this success into the regular season, as both will move significantly higher on the Jays depth chart, and get the league-wide recognition they deserve.

In other baseball-related news: It's fantasy time! the 5th Starter (me!) is very much excited about some of his upcoming drafts (and smug and satisfied over the already completed ones. And on that note: League owners, stop scheduling drafts during the first week of spring training. It's rude. Position battles are nowhere near decided, and injuries can ruin a season. But I digress...) I will post some fantasy predictions here once all my drafts have been completed. I don't want anyone stealing players from me in my upcoming drafts. You know who you are.

I'm glad to be back. I'll try to keep semi-regular posts going through spring, at least when something relevant happens. 'Till then...