Eagle-Tribune Blogs: Burt Talks Sports

Some noteworthy happenings as we await The Who concert … I mean the spring training game pitting Daisuke Matsuzaka against Boston College. But before I forget, have to pass along line from Providence-Journal Bulletin’s Sean McAdam to official scorer Mike Petraglia - “Careful Mike, (Matsuzaka) could have a perfect game through 1 2/3 innings.” (Matsuzaka, of course, is only going two frames or 35 pitches).

Kyle Snyder went two innings, allowing one hit, four walks, while striking out four. Some notable items from his post-game media get-together:

- Body and stuff feels good.

- He realizes might be pitching for future with other teams since he is out of options.

- Last year he developed his curveball to the point where it has become his No. 2 pitch, supplanting his change-up.

- Healthy enough to pitch back-to-back days. Gave his arm more of rest this offseason after pitching a career high in innings. Focused more on strengthening his core, which has helped some back problems he suffered through last season.

Over his career Snyder has been much more effective as a reliever than as a starter. He has faced 149 batters as a reliever, limiting hitters to a .268 batting average, while walking just 11. As a starter batters are hitting .325.

Lefty reliever Hideki Okajima pitched a 1-2-3 inning and looked good. Curve is clearly his best pitch, as lefty-hitter Adam Lind found out after he popped up one of the curves weakly.

Alberto Castillo hit a three-run home run. We know Castillo can speak a bit of Japanese, has caught a knuckleball (having done so with Jared Fernandez in the winter leagues), and can go deep against Gustavo Chacin. But Toronto manager John Gibbons just happened to be telling the story of when Castillo first showed up in pro ball as a 16-year-old with the Mets.

“He showed up with a small duffel bag,” Gibbons remembered, “with every single one of his personal belongings in it. He didn’t have much.” Castillo has been in pro ball since 1987 after coming from the Dominican Republic.

If you’re interested from the second-place Blue Jays perspective, here is some insights to their club thus far:

- Frank Thomas is pretty much on his own schedule right now and won’t gear it up for games until later in spring training. He is part of an interesting dynamic in regards to the Jays, who seem to either have the wily veteran types (Thomas, Matt Stairs, John Thomson, Royce Clayton) or the young and energetic types (Alexis Rios, Adam Lind, Brandon League).

- League is slated to be the set-up man for closer B.J. Ryan, with Jason Frasor as another option.

- Fourth and fifth starters are still up for grabs. John Thomson and Tomo Ohka are the favorites, but a group of younger guys (Casey Janssen, Shawn Marcum, Dustin McGowan) are in the mix. One darkhorse who the Toronto people are raving about is former Devil Ray and Met Victor Zambrano (otherwise known as the man NY traded for in exchange for Scott Kazmir). After a rash of injuries, the Jays say that he is totally healthy and as impressive as anybody. (Of course, they immediately held their breath after uttering the last word.) Believe or not Josh Towers, perhaps the worst pitcher in the early part of last season, could be back in that No. 5 spot. Gibbons said that the confidence and control he had in ‘05 has been rediscovered.

- Vernon Wells clearly wanted to get his new deal done, closing out the negotiations with a personal phone call to the Jays.

- Corey Koskie, the former Jay, subscribed to the same “Maker’s Diet” that J.D. Drew implemented. In case you don’t remember, the diet is based on precepts from the Bible.

- A.J. Burnett, the Jays said, is like a different person this spring. The pressure of the five-year, $55 million has been put on the back-burner.

- The rumors that Roy Halladay was injured just before spring training were totally unfounded, the Jays said. It was an Internet report that was rooted in Cleveland.

Answers to some questions:
- John Farrell does have a lot on his plate, which hasn’t gone unnoticed among media types. It is one of the most eclectic pitching staffs in baseball, and he seems to be very involved in all the intricacies each hurler has to offer. In terms of help, there is new bullpen coach Gary Tuck, along with roving minor league instructors Goose Gregson and Ralph Truel. Al Nipper has been up in the press box, as he still serves as scout and minor league pitching evaluator for the Red Sox.

- It is estimated that there will be between 225-250 media members here tonight for Daisuke Matsuzaka, with potentially more than half of the count coming from Japanese media. It should be a challenge next Tuesday when Matsuzaka pitches in Jupiter, as that press box normally seats just 24.

- Curt Schilling has gone on record as saying that his weight became a challenge because of a vastly different offseason schedule, in which he often worked at Green Monster Games from 8:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. He stay on top of his throwing program religiously, using his lunch break to get his work in.

- In terms of the catching situation, George Kottaras will start in Triple A, although Gibbons was raving about his performance in Dunedin yesterday. The manager, and former catcher, really liked the way he received the ball. Doug Mirabelli lost some weight coming in this year, which can only help. Castillo seems to be the only competition, which might have picked up a bit today with the 36-year-old’s three-run homer. His strength is as a defender. But I would say Mirabelli has the upper-hand right now because of his previous work with Wakefield and ability to perhaps supply some pop off the bench.

Will be back for Matsuzaka mania later today …

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