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SARASOTA, Fla. — Brett Cecil finally hit the promised land of 90 m.p.h.
The Jays left-hander, who has been velocity challenged this spring, even humped it up to 91 in the second inning.
But proving that velocity means little and command means everything, Cecil was banged around by the Baltimore Orioles Tuesday afternoon as he allowed four runs on nine hits over four innings.
Cecil came into the game distressed about the missing velocity on his fastball, which up until Tuesday was in the 86-88 range. He left with peace of mind and looking forward to the regular season when he will make his first start April 3 in the finale against the Twins.
“I felt really good, the velocity was there,” Cecil said of his outing. “I’m happy with where I’m at right now as far as going into the season regardless of how many runs I gave up.”
It’s been a trying spring for Cecil who admitted that he may have placed too much stress on worrying about his velocity.
“Just frustration with the velocity and stuff,” he said. “It may just have been in my head that velocity was a problem and I finally figured it out. But I’m happy with where I’m at and my head’s in the right place and I’m excited to get the season started finally.”
