Who's #2? Morrow or Johnson???

[armchairgm]

Dickey
JJ
Beurhle
Morrow
Romero

Not saying JJ is better then Morrow but out of respect you put him at 2 both of their game is about the same. However JJ is the more polished and senior player.

[bartron_44]

I think the bigger question is who will be the #3 starter. Sure Buerhle is going to give you 200 innings, but so can Romero. In 2011 he had an ERA of 2.92 and deserved to win 20+ games the way he threw the ball that season. Everyone keep penciling in MB as our #3, but if we get back that Romero after this elbow cleanup surgery that he had in the off season, then I would say that spot should belong to him.

[riderfan60]

I think the bigger question is who will be the #3 starter. Sure Buerhle is going to give you 200 innings, but so can Romero. In 2011 he had an ERA of 2.92 and deserved to win 20+ games the way he threw the ball that season. Everyone keep penciling in MB as our #3, but if we get back that Romero after this elbow cleanup surgery that he had in the off season, then I would say that spot should belong to him.

There is no question. Buerhle was a 3.2 WAR pitcher in 2012, and is an innings eater. Romero was -1.7 WAR. Who do you want as our #3?

[nirvana235]

There is no question. Buerhle was a 3.2 WAR pitcher in 2012, and is an innings eater. Romero was -1.7 WAR. Who do you want as our #3?

Doesn't really matter but I have a feeling Romero will get back to his 2010 level and Buerhle's going to get crushed in the east.

[wagnall]

Not worth it. In that scenario you will still have 2 righties back to back 5 and 1. With the knuckler going 1, then a righty next doesn't matter as its night and day as far a the look and timing of pitchers.

I love the mix of styles and l/r, from knuckle to RH power to LH back to RH power to another LH to knuckle. If there's any real benefit to staggering types of pitcher from day to day (not sure if it really makes any difference, kinda like overblown myth of lineup protection IMO.)
Damn April can't come fast enough.

I agree with that. Having a knuckleballer makes it more interesting and slotting a R H power after him makes sence. Dickey, Morrow/Johnson, Buerhle, Johnson/Morrow, Romero...

[wagnall]

Buerhle should be #3 and Romero #5. Romero throws harder and is a better lead in to Dickey. Buerlhe is a light thrower, can't imagine his fastball is much over 88. Better to have him between the 2 hard throwers. Can't see putting 2 guys back to back that basically throw the same speed, to me lessens the effect of Dickey's knuckleball speed wise.

[Bombtista]

I think the bigger question is who will be the #3 starter. Sure Buerhle is going to give you 200 innings, but so can Romero. In 2011 he had an ERA of 2.92 and deserved to win 20+ games the way he threw the ball that season. Everyone keep penciling in MB as our #3, but if we get back that Romero after this elbow cleanup surgery that he had in the off season, then I would say that spot should belong to him.

There is no question if we get that Romero back he should be our number 3. Buerhle is going to get his 200 innings no matter what he is in the rotation

[bartron_44]

There is no question. Buerhle was a 3.2 WAR pitcher in 2012, and is an innings eater. Romero was -1.7 WAR. Who do you want as our #3?

I agree that Buerhle was better last season. But if you didn't know this, Romero was pitching through injury, and had off season surgery to fix his arm. Buerhle has been healthy, and his WAR has gradually gotten lower and lower each of the past 3 seasons (from 3.6, to 3.5, to 3.2.) As much as I love having him in the rotation, but I don't see him putting up a WAR much over 3.0 in the AL East.

Ricky was a 6.2 WAR pitcher in 2011. That is better then any season Buerhle has ever had in the major leagues. I like his chances of putting up a better WAR then Buerhle if he is 100% again in 2013.

[bartron_44]

There is no question if we get that Romero back he should be our number 3. Buerhle is going to get his 200 innings no matter what he is in the rotation

exactly.

[nithanyo]

Romero needs to throw more fastballs for strikes and use the changeup as his out pitch. What let him down was his inability throw strikes last season and hence his changeup wasn't effective.

If he can regain his control then we will have a lot of fun watching Romero pitch. I remember his changeup was compared to the likes of Johan Santana in his prime.

[leafswin2011]

when the jays make the playoffs i wonder if they go with 4 or 5 starters...i guess it depends on how romero and buerhle pitch in the reg season.

[Halladay]

There is no question. Buerhle was a 3.2 WAR pitcher in 2012, and is an innings eater. Romero was -1.7 WAR. Who do you want as our #3?

I think it's a pretty safe bet that Romero won't be nearly as bad as he was last season. He's not a negative WAR player and we all know that. I like Buehrle, he's a reliable innings eater who can keep you in games but Romero likely outperforms him next year.

[TRIUMPHATOR]

when the jays make the playoffs i wonder if they go with 4 or 5 starters...i guess it depends on how romero and buerhle pitch in the reg season.

If they make the playoffs, then they will use 4 or maybe even 3. No need to go 5 unless they have to play the one-off wild card, and even then the following series would only see 4.

Nothing better to go knuckleballer, hard righty, followed by a lefty. The other two become stand aside starters(bullpen) just in case someone has not brought their A game.

[Kenny_Powers]

when the jays make the playoffs i wonder if they go with 4 or 5 starters...i guess it depends on how romero and buerhle pitch in the reg season.

I love how some of our own fans are picking us for World Series/playoffs. It's great to be optimistic, but we still have to play 162 games and **** like this usually blows up in your face.

[TRIUMPHATOR]

I love how some of our own fans are picking us for World Series/playoffs. It's great to be optimistic, but we still have to play 162 games and **** like this usually blows up in your face.

If you've been following my posts, you'll see I'm optimistic but I am tempering that optimism because I agree.

They have to play the games. IMHO though, lots has to go wrong for this team not to at least compete for a playoff spot. The rotation is comparable to the best in the majors, and the lineup is as well.

Not too many holes, but a lot of ifs. Conversely, there are always unexpected positives, see EE and Jansen.

Is it ST yet?