DUNEDIN, Fla. — The heavy rain that pounded Florida’s west coast washed out the Blue Jays’ scheduled game against Houston on Friday and put a decided damper on a number of anxious Blue Jays pitchers.
A total of nine pitchers were scheduled to throw Friday — not all in the game — which dramatically points out the high number of hurlers that are still in camp and in need of innings.
Casey Janssen was one of the nine, and like the others is champing at the bit to get into a game and show the brass that he has the goods to be part of their seven-man bullpen.
There is a minimum of seven solid candidates for the four spots considered open behind the certified trio of Jason Frasor, Scott Downs and Kevin Gregg. There’s another gaggle a step back.
To date, Janssen has appeared in one regular scheduled game with his other pitching assignments occurring at the minor-league camp in intrasquad or simulated games.
“I’m ready to go and I’ll throw in every single game they give me and if that means travelling on the bus every time out, it doesn’t matter with me,” Janssen said Friday. “I’ve got to show whoever is watching what I can do. Yeah, it’s been a little frustrating (not getting into games) but a lot of people are in the same boat as I am.”
So much has changed in a year, for both the Jays and Janssen.
At this time last year Janssen was being looked on as somewhat of a saviour, a guy who missed all of 2008 because of shoulder surgery, but was back on the mend and would be a capable body in the rotation.
The shoulder, though, proved to be problematic as Janssen pulled up lame in the spring, wasn’t activated until April 30 and reinjured his shoulder in June. His on-again, off-again season, where he was shuffled back to the bullpen, consisted of 21 appearances (five starts) a 2-4 record and a bloated 5.85 ERA.
A year later, he’s a bubble boy as far as entering the season as part of the bullpen. He knows he has to open eyes, pitch his way on to the team.
“Absolutely, I think a lot of us do,” he said. “After a less-than-stellar season last year, I’ve got to try and turn some heads. I don’t really think that last year was truly me but still you have to go out and prove to them you’re healthy and can be the pitcher you can be.”
The continuing problems with his shoulder last year seemed to wear him down, at least on the mental side of the game.
“It probably was the most frustrating season of my career,” Janssen said. “Not being able to go out there with all your bullets was tough. I took my lumps and it was no fun at times, a lot of no-fun times. I feel like somewhere down the road that’s going to help me.”
But even with last year’s spotty showing, he’s not discouraged looking forward.
“Right now it’s still somewhat early in camp and going back to the young guys, they’ve got to get their time and as camp moves on the guys that are really going to be competing are going to be more thrown into the spotlight,” he said of biding his time.
Despite the fact that he’s pitched in the bigs with the Blue Jays since 2006, Janssen was promised absolutely nothing for 2010.
“They said: ‘It’s going to be tough and go compete for a job,’ ” he said. “Being a competitive person, it doesn’t scare me at all.”
That’s half the battle.
mike.rutsey@sunmedia.ca
