Toronto

Throughout this whole miserable start to the overly-hyped 2013 Blue Jays season, there is one topic that needs to be touched upon. While most people are trying to figure out why the Blue Jays have streaky bats and have gotten more from the bullpen than from the starters, that topic lingers around our brains, and once the time comes, someone will need to make a decision. Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison, both on the Jays rotation last season, underwent Tommy John surgery. They are both on schedule to return from their injuries after the all-star break. Drabek underwent his surgery a bit earlier, but according to Drabek, he and Hutchison are on the same schedule, so both will probably have very similar return dates. Dustin McGowan, who has seemingly been fighting injuries ever since 2008, was recently called up to play for the Buffalo Bisons (AAA) after a good start for the Dunedin Blue Jays (A). So perhaps, against all odds, McGowan may return after all. Blue Jays closer Sergio Santos has been transferred onto the 60 day DL, and relief pitcher Luis Perez is set to return a bit before Drabek and Hutchison. So, for the most part, this seems good, right? I mean, all of our injured pitchers are on the comeback trail! Even McGowan! The negative? What happens to all the pitchers on the Jays right now? After acquiring Buehrle, Johnson, and Dickey, will they fit into the rotation? Once they come back, Johnson and Happ will be back as well (most likely), and Morrow should be completely healthy, meaning Drabek and Hutchison could not replace Ramon Ortiz and/or Chad Jenkins as starters, unless of course, there are more injuries. And the same goes for McGowan! While he did relief (very well(1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 R, 1 K)) in his first AAA game of the season, he is a starting pitcher. So what happens then? Can we just kick them out? Or do the Jays just keep these players in the minors until Buehrle gets really old and Johnson becomes officially bad? And then do the Jays have to turn some starters into relievers? Also, Sergio Santos' situation has really escalated over the past couple of weeks, and I'm beginning to lose all hope of him coming back any time soon. The only situation for a pitcher that looks fine is that of relief pitcher Luis Perez, recovering from Tommy John surgery. Only time will tell, but hopefully something will be figured out. Throughout this whole miserable start to the overly-hyped 2013 Blue Jays season, there is one topic that needs to be touched upon. While most people are trying to figure out why the Blue Jays have streaky bats and have gotten more from the bullpen than from the starters, that topic lingers around our brains, and once the time comes, someone will need to make a decision. Kyle Drabek and Drew Hutchison, both on the Jays rotation last season, underwent Tommy John surgery. They are both on schedule to return from their injuries after the all-star break. Drabek underwent his surgery a bit earlier, but according to Drabek, he and Hutchison are on the same schedule, so both will probably have very similar return dates. Dustin McGowan, who has seemingly been fighting injuries ever since 2008, was recently called up to play for the Buffalo Bisons (AAA) after a good start for the Dunedin Blue Jays (A). So perhaps, against all odds, McGowan may return after all. Blue Jays closer Sergio Santos has been transferred onto the 60 day DL, and relief pitcher Luis Perez is set to return a bit before Drabek and Hutchison. So, for the most part, this seems good, right? I mean, all of our injured pitchers are on the comeback trail! Even McGowan! The negative? What happens to all the pitchers on the Jays right now? After acquiring Buehrle, Johnson, and Dickey, will they fit into the rotation? Once they come back, Johnson and Happ will be back as well (most likely), and Morrow should be completely healthy, meaning Drabek and Hutchison could not replace Ramon Ortiz and/or Chad Jenkins as starters, unless of course, th

Photo by Scott Irving in the blogTO Flickr pool.

Taylor Swift ruled the 2013 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, taking home eight top honours, including the prestigious Artist of the Year.

Don’t lower those Senators flags to half-mast just yet.

Tonight was the long awaited debut of Jays Pitcher Marcus Stroman, and he did not disappoint in his first outing of the year. As well, today was a good day for the farm going 4-0. Buffalo 11 - Charlotte 6The Bisons were swing hot bats again versus former Jays pitchers in Zach Stewart and David Purcey. Jim Negrych, and Moises Sierra had 3 hits, Luiz Jimenez, Josh Thole and Ryan Langerhans had 2 hits to help the Bisons Offense that put up 11 runs.Todd Redmon was not sharp in his 2013 debut giving up 5 earned runs over 3.1 innings pitched. John Stilson in his first outing in Buffalo, since being promoted from New Hampshire pitched well with 2 innings with 3 strikeouts.New Hampshire 7 - New Britain 4Marcus Stroman was fantastic in his 2013 debut going 5 innings(89 pitches) of 4 hit ball with 0 earned runs, 1 walk, and 6 strikeouts. Matt Wright gave up 3 earned runs over an inning and two thirds.Brad Glenn, Kevin Nolan and Ricardo Nanita each had a home run help powering the Fisher Cats offense which put up 11 hits, and 7 runs.Dunedin 3 - Brevard County 1Dunedin starter Scott Copeland was fantastic tonight going 8 innings of 3 hit ball, with 1 earned run, 1 walk and 7 strikeouts.Dunedin's offense had 4 runs tonight on 3 hits, with RBI's from Jon Talley, Markus Knecht and KC Hobson.Lansing 7 - Great Lakes 3Lansing hit well across the board tonight, including 3 hits from Dwight Smith, and Gustavo Pierre. Carlos Ramirez and Balbino Fuenmayor had 2 rbi's in today's game.Javier Avendano started for Lansing today and was ok, going 5 innings giving up 7 hits and 2 earned runs. Efran Nieves, Wil Browning, and Ian Kadish pitched well in relief to hold onto the Lugnut lead.Three Stars3-Brad Glenn2-Scott Copeland1-Marcus Stroman

The week begins slowly but ends with a heck of a bang down at Echo Beach.  Here's what to expect: The Boxer Rebellion, Opera House, May 24 UK shoegaze-ish outfit comes to town to support their new album Promises (review). CBC Music Festival, Echo Beach, May 25 A stellar line-up of Canadian talent includes Corb Lund, Sam Roberts, Kathleen Edwards, and Sloan among others. ...also this week: Continue reading »

Los Angeles Kings forward Jarret Stoll is unlikely to return during the second-round series against the San Jose Sharks, TSN reported Sunday.

SASKATOON – The Saskatoon Blades no longer have to hang their heads.

Saskatoon-based jazz singer Alexis Normand stumbled to find the words for the Star-Spangled Banner before the Memorial Cup game Saturday. “I’m embarrassed and deeply sorry. I wish I’d had more time to learn the American anthem,” Normand tweeted after the game between the Halifax Mooseheads and the Portland Winterhawks.Normand said she was asked the morning before the game to learn the national anthem.“I was asked (Saturday) morning and I agreed,” she said.“I’m usually a quick study and I’ve been learning songs for a long time. I had learned all the lyrics, but nerves just got the best of me and I got really nervous and it all unwound from there,” Normand said. Normand said she was confident when she first when out onto the ice, but it wasn’t until the end of the second line that things went wrong. She said she took a deep breath and despite groans from the crowd at the Credit Union Centre continued singing. The crowd would then come to her rescue by helping her finish the rest of the anthem.

With the Jays rained out today, lets look at how our minor league affiliates did today. Hmmm, really good, 4 games, 4 wins. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (22-22) beat New Britain Rock Cats 7-4 The start we were waiting for, Marcus Stroman pitches for the first time, after serving his suspension and he was very good: 5.0, 4 hits, 0 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts and he got the win. He threw 87 pitches, 57 strikes. Dustin Antolin: 1.0, 3 hits, 1 earned, 1 walk. 3.86. Joel Carreno: 1.1, 1 walk, 2 k, 4th save. 1.99. Kevin Pillar: 1 for 5. .337/.380/.476. Ricardo Nanita: 1 for 5, HR. .254/.313/.366. Kevin Nolan: 2 for 4, HR. .286/.377/.448. Clint Robinson: 3 for 5, double. .297/.396/.441. Brad Glenn: 1 for 4, HR, walk. .256/.351/.419. Buffalo Bisons (25-17) beat Charlotte Knights 11-6 The Bisons beat our old friend Zach Stewart. Zach gave up 11 hits and 7 earned runs, with 1 strikeout in 5 innings. He has a 4.61 ERA. Todd Redmond: 3.1, 6 hits, 5 earned, 2 walks, 3 k. 13.50. Chad Beck: 1.2, 2 hits, 1 earned, 2 walks, 1 k. 9.45. John Stilson: 2.0, 0 hits, 1 walks, 3 k. His first action for the Bisons after being moved up the other day. Juan Perez: 1.0, 1 k. 0.96. Neil Wagner: 1.0, 2 k. 1.02. Anthony Gose: 1 for 4, walk. .227/.343/.325. Jim Negrych: 3 for 5, double, k. .398/.462/.602. Moises Sierra: 3 for 5, k. .326/.377/.496. Nice numbers. We have 9 guys in the bullpen and 3 on the bench, and Moises would be good for being a defensive replacement for Melky, if nothing else. Luis Jimenez: 2 for 3, walk. .371/.447/.636. Josh Thole: 2 for 4. .340/.417/.509. I think we can safely say that he has recovered from his concussion troubles. Ryan Langerhans: 2 for 3, HR, walk. .248/.352/.533. Ryan Goins: 0 for 4, k. .272/.318/.350. Dunedin Blue Jays (24-15) beat Brevard County 3-1 Scott Copland: 8.0, 3 hits, 1 earned, 1 walk, 7 k. Win. 4-1, 2.59. He's having a good start to the season, 9 starts, 59 innings, 54 hits, 9 walks, 36 strikeouts. But he is 25 and in A-Ball. John Anderson: 1.0, 1 k. Save. His first action of the year. Matt Newman: 2 for 4, double. .291/..376/.393. The Jays only had 4 hits. Matt had 2 of them. Marcus Knecht: 1 for 4, k. .241/.287/.369. K.C. Hobson: 1 for 3. .212/.238/.424. Lansing Lugnuts (17-23) beat Great Lakes Loons 7-3 Javier Avendano: 5.0, 7 hits, 2 earned, 1 walk, 2 k. Win. 4-2, 5.19. Efrain Nieves: 2.0, 1 k. 0.00. Moved down from Dunedin this week. Wil Browning: 1.0, 1 walk, 3 k. 0.38. 23 innings, 11 hits, 10 walks, 39 strikeouts. He is 24. Dwight Smith, Jr: 3 for 5. .295/.375/.423. Gustavo Pierre: 3 for 5, double, k. .270/.268/.467. How many guys have batting averages higher than their OBP. He also has 14 errors at 3B in 31 games. He was an error machine at SS, so they moved him last year. Christian Lopes: 1 for 4, k. .303/.333/.381. Balbino Fuenmayor: 2 for 4, double, k. .196/.279/.391.