The On Deck Circle

This article has been submitted by lightning quick Erik Arnold.

A quick update from the ODC Baseball Bunker…

If you haven’t heard already, the news is pretty grim out of Dunedin – Casey Janssen is out for the entire season with a torn Labrum. First of all, props to JP for being a man this time and telling the media straight up what’s happened. We all remember his beat-around-the-bush approach to the BJ Ryan injury that left a bad taste in the mouths of Jay’s fans for the entire season. So good on you, JP, though Janssen’s injury probably won’t have the effect on ticket sales that Ryan’s would have.

I’m not going to lie – this hurts, it really hurts. Janssen was poised to play a big role for this club as either the 5th starter or as a key setup guy. Without him, the Jays lose starting pitching depth and a key piece of the bullpen. That said, this is the kind of injury that can be overcome. The Jays bullpen is clearly a strength of the team. With BJ Ryan back, Accardo and Downs can manage the setup roles and there are a bunch of solid arms that can still battle in the lower roles. Where this hurts the most is at the 5th starter spot. Gibbons has ruled out the sweet-smelling Gus Chacin outright, thereby guaranteeing this spot to Jesse Litsch. While I love and respect this guy for everything he did last season, his numbers are soft. He is a groundball pitcher with limited strikeout ability. In a division like the AL East, that can mean big danger if some of those ground balls start flying out of the infield. So, the Jays will need to find another option to back up Jesse. There are a few AAA arms that could do the job, but my guess is JP goes out and looks to move one of our left fielders (Reed Johnson most likely) for a starter, and the Mets are a possibility as they’re looking for a right-handed outfielder to platoon with Ryan Church. Or he can take a look at the free agents still available as a stop-gap option if Jesse struggles early. (Please God, no David Wells or Jeff Weaver)

As for Janssen, I wish him all the best in surgery and recovery. A torn labrum is a SERIOUS injury, one that very few players recover from. Gil Meche is really the only guy in the last few years who has been able to overcome an injury like this. Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus wrote this a few years ago about this type of injury:

[I]f pitchers with torn labrums were horses, they’d be destroyed. Of the 36 major-league hurlers diagnosed with labrum tears in the last five years, only midlevel reliever Rocky Biddle has returned to his previous level. Think about that when your favorite pitcher comes down with labrum trouble: He has a 3 percent chance of becoming Rocky Biddle.

Ouch. We’re still looking for someone to blame and I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to point the finger at John Gibbons who really rode Janssen to a lot of appearances last year when he was basically operating a 3-man ‘pen. However, looking at his total number of innings, it doesn’t look like anything to worry about. Maybe that’s just me looking for someone to blame.

Get well Casey, The ODC Baseball family wishes you all the best.

This article has been submitted by lightning quick Erik Arnold.