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SI at Spring Training: Blue Jays
Posted: Wednesday February 23, 2000 02:03 PM On Feb. 22, CNNSI.com caught up with Sports Illustrated staff writer Jeff Pearlman in Dunedin, Fla., where he's covering the Blue Jays. CNNSI.com: How will the pitching staff survive over the long grind of the season? And how much does losing Pat Hentgen hurt? Jeff Pearlman: The Blue Jays probably have a better bullpen than they had last year. They had a lot of injuries and they had a lot of turnover. This year they're pretty solid and they have Paul Quantrill back for the entire season. They brought in Lance Painter -- he's a pretty good pitcher in relief. They have Billy Koch as a secure closer now, so that's good. Losing Hentgen won't be devastating. He really wasn't a good pitcher last year.
The thing about this year, David Wells is healthy and so is Chris Carpenter . If Carpenter stays healthy, he's really going to be unbelievable I think. Roy Halladay has really good stuff and he now has a year under his belt. He knows he's going to be starting every day. Kelvim Escobar has really good stuff and pitched pretty well last year. And Joey Hamilton , he was one of the worst pitchers last year. But he was hurt, too. He's starting to throw this week. If he comes back healthy, I think they have a very competent starting five. CNNSI.com: Is this staff too young? Are they ready to go head-to-head with the Yankees? Pearlman: It depends. Halladay, for one, is a smart pitcher already. He's only 22. Escobar, from all reports, is a guy with great stuff and tremendous command. Carpenter by all accounts is a veteran, and he's very poised. If you take Wells, Carpenter, hopefully a healthy Hamilton, then you take Halladay and Escobar and put those two between them, suddenly the starters aren't so young anymore. They're not as good as the Yankees, but they may have the second-best staff in the division. CNNSI.com: Will Koch, who missed time with arm problems last year, be the closer? Pearlman: He's totally healthy. He is the closer no question. He's already got the shaved head again. This year everyone knows who he is. Last year I remember being at the Blue Jays' camp and this guy was walking around and everyone was asking, Who's the freak? This year people are, The freak is Billy Koch. And he's really good. CNNSI.com: David Wells made some unflattering remarks in the offseason about some of the Blue Jays' moves, especially the acquistion of Raul Mondesi . Is he backing down from those statements? Pearlman: Wells isn't talking actually. Funny thing is that Mondesi was asked about that today. He said it doesn't bother him and that he wasn't going to say anything about Wells. A guy like Wells, he says so much stuff, and he's so off the wall, that it doesn't stick anymore. It wasn't like Homer Bush said it, or Carlos Delgado , both of whom pick their spots. I don't think it'll have any impact. I think it came and went. CNNSI.com: How will the loss of Shawn Green affect the ballclub? Pearlman: There's a really good point that the players bring up here. If you look at what the Rangers got for Gonzalez and what the Mariners got for Griffey, the Blue Jays really made, potentially, a good deal. I think Mondesi is every bit the player, as far as talent, as Green. They both have great arms, they both can run. Mondesi, in a full season, probably has more power and Green hits for a little higher average. But they're both really good players. The only question mark is: Green is a pretty mature 26-year-old and Mondesi has sometimes been a pretty immature 29-year-old. So if Mondesi behaves I think it's possible that he has a better year than Green. CNNSI.com: How much better? Pearlman: The guy is a five-tool superstar. He didn't have a bad year last year. He drove in 99 runs. He hit 33 homers. He stole 36 bases! But his average was down. The funny thing about him is that he looks like a catcher. He's really fast, has a gun, hits for power and can hit for average. I think he'll definitely be more comfortable in Toronto than he was in Los Angeles. He was a little overwhelmed by all the attention there. He was saying that today. Yeah, I think he'll have a really good year. He's protected pretty well in that lineup: Delgado, [David] Segui, Bush and Shannon Stewart . He's very talented and he's in his prime. CNNSI.com: How do you see the roster shaping up before Opening Day? Pearlman: I don't think they're going to make too many moves. They've been talking a little about Alex Gonzalez being traded. Right now they're playing Tony Batista at third and Gonzalez at shortstop. But Batista is a shortstop. The talk is if they can find a third baseman in a package, then they'll make a deal. But that probably wouldn't happen until during the season because Gonzalez has to prove that he's recovered from his shoulder injury. CNNSI.com: Batista had a phenomenal season last year, but not many people know of him. Is he for real? Pearlman: He had 31 homers and 100 RBIs last year. No one knows Tony
Batista did that. That was astounding. The funny thing is that the year before,
nobody in Arizona knew who Tony Batista was. He had like 17, 18 homers. I don't
know that he'll hit 30 home runs again, but he's good for 25. And he's got a
good glove,
too.
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