Blue Jays: Pitchers Performing in Spring Training

Pearson not the only talented young arm

Trent Thornton
When Spring Training opened most had Trent Thornton at best, in competition for the final spot in the rotation; however a combination of an injury to Ryan Borucki and Thornton’s performance he has put himself in a better stance.  As stated previously, Thornton leads the team with five innings pitched so far this year and has not yet surrendered a hit, although he has walked three.

Thornton received the ball for the opening game of Spring Training against J.A. Happ and the New York Yankees.  While you have to take into consideration that the batters he was facing were seeing opposing pitchers for the first time this year, you also have to also consider he faced batters like D.J. LeMahieu. Thornton pitched two innings that game and walked just one batter.

Thornton came in relief in Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fourth inning to pitch three innings.  Thornton faced just 10 batters to get through the three innings walking two and striking out two.

Thornton currently looks to be the leading for the fight for the fifth spot in the rotation.  Through five innings, Thornton has 2K and a 0.60 WHIP to go with a 0.00 ERA.

Anthony Kay
Anthony Kay started in Game 2 of the spring for the Blue Jays against the Minnesota Twins.  Kay had a relatively quick first inning but got into some troubles in the second inning when he allowed  a pair of runs.  The two runs were scored on a sacrifice fly and a single.  The positive was Kay wasn’t really hit that hard and did not allow a walk while striking out a pair.

Kay’s second performance was even stronger when he started against the Detroit Tigers this past Friday.  Kay threw two innings where he faced 10 batters.  Kay gave up a single, as well as a double to Austin Romine, however neither came around to score and he struck out three picking up the win.

Kay who was acquired last year as one of two prospects for Marcus Stroman got a small taste of the major leagues last September and is now in contention for that last spot in the rotation.  If we learned anything, especially from last year is that there are lots of injuries for a team in a baseball season and if he doesn’t crack the active roster he will be one of the first to be called up.