DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Whoa boy! We have a horse race.
Right-hander Brandon Morrow broke first and was impressive in a 55-pitch outing on Monday morning against minor leaguers at the Bobby Mattick facility.
And lefty Dana Eveland was more impressive pitching six scoreless against a Detroit Tigers lineup featuring regulars Brandon Inge, Adam Everett, Scott Sizemore, Miguel Cabrera and Gerald Laird.
Now what?
Shaun Marcum starts opening day, Ricky Romero goes next and Morrow, as long as he wakes up today and he can raise his right shoulder after his first outing in two weeks, goes next.
Manager Cito Gaston said all along that lefty Brian Tallet had a spot in the starting rotation, but either changed direction or cast doubt to throw the puzzle seekers off the track, saying:
"The way (Tallet) pitched, he's a guy you could put in the bullpen, too."
Of course, the Seattle Mariners, with Cliff Lee and Erik Bedard injured, could make a run at Tallet, as has been reported.
If Tallet stays, three starters -- Marc Rzepczynski, Brett Cecil and Eveland -- are circling one chair hoping to be in the best position when the spring training music stops.
"The theme of this camp, unlike other years, is that we have guys competing," said Vernon Wells, who evaluated previous starts by all three from centre. "Making the trade allows pitchers to establish themselves in the big leagues. We'll never replace Roy Halladay. He was the best there is, the best there was."
Halladay was good on the mound, but no Brett Hart off that top rope.
"Eveland had really good command, ran his fastball in and his two seamer in to right-handed hitters. The only guy he struggled with was Miguel Cabrera," Wells said. "In Cecil's five innings (Friday in Fort Myers) he allowed one hard hit ball for an out. Bill Hall hit it right at me, almost wanted to get out of the way.
"Rzepczynski made some mistakes in the first (Thursday in Lakeland) and Cabrera was in the middle of it, part of the learning process. He learned last year pitching at Yankee Stadium."
Rzepczynski made 11 starts and Cecil 17 with the Jays in 2009, while Eveland has made 44 careers starts, nine with the Oakland A's last season and 29 the year before.
"This was one of those days when all five pitches worked," Eveland said. "It happens maybe 10% of the time. A year ago, I came in over confident and cocky. I struggled in the minors, struggled in the majors. I'd never struggled before. I've talked to Ricky Romero, he went through the same thing and said it was the best thing that ever happened to him."
Eveland says Romero now has a killer instinct when on the mound.
Does Eveland have the killer instinct?
"I'm not jumping off the mound fist-pumping like Ricky," said Eveland who had the sinker, four-seam fastball, changeup, curve ball and slider working.
'MY HOMAGE'
"You start the sinker out at the hip of a left-handed hitter -- he's not going to swing -- and the ball breaks over the plate," said Eveland, who allowed three doubles and a single, while striking out eight. "It's my homage to Greg Maddux and Brandon Webb."
We've heard some words in the clubhouse over the years ... But homage?
Maddux and Webb have won five Cy Young awards combined. Anyone who uses a word like homage ought to make the roster.
"He's pitched well enough to be on this club," Gaston said. "We want to wait and see where we're going to put (Eveland), if he's going to be a starter or someone we bring out of the bullpen."
Rzepczynski pitches Tuesday night in Tampa against the New York Yankees.
And Cecil goes against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday afternoon.
The race continues as they head out of the final turn into the stretch.
Paging Woodbine's Ken Middleton.
BOB.ELLIOTT@SUNMEDA.CA
