Jays Watch: Cecil lit up
By MIKE RUTSEY, QMI Agency
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KANSAS CITY - Don’t expect Brett Cecil to arrive from Las Vegas any time soon.
The lefty who had a tremendous outing six days ago when he went the distance and was hitting 94 regularly on the gun, took a step backwards on Tuesday night. Facing Fresno, Cecil got lit up as he allowed eight runs on 10 hits in just 3 1/3 innings.
“Last night he had a rough outing,” Jays manager John Farrell reported. “He showed good arm strength, not as strong as the previous time but he had a lot of mislocated pitches up in the strike zone and gave up a lot of hits and a lot of runs.”
There are times where giving up a lot of hits and runs isn’t as important as the arm strength shown but that wasn’t the case with Cecil. The Jays would have liked him to build on the good showing, not take a step backwards.
“He’s gradually building up arm strength, that’s the first sign and he’s doing that,” Farrell said. “When a player shows you he’s ready to come to the big leagues, he’s handling the level he’s at fairly routinely. So while it’s a work in progress, the body of work going forward has improved.”
Run to glory
With a .246 average, one home run and 26 RBIs, Aaron Hill isn’t having what you’d call a banner year. But there is one offensive category where he has zoomed ahead of his usual pace — stolen bases.
Coming into Wednesday’s game, Hill has stolen eight bases — a career high and two more than his previous best of six set in 2009. He also has not been caught.
When it was pointed out he had already set a career high, Hill beamed.
“I like it,” he said of the running philosophy implemented by Farrell. “We’ve always been kind of base-to-base. It’s kind of nice. It always was a part of my game when I was younger, coming up, college, minor leagues. So it’s fun to swipe some bags and see what happens.
“I love it. It’s being more active in the game. It may get something going a little bit, spark something.”
