Toronto Blue Jays @ Bare Baseball - Baseball MLB Blog

Notes: Speier braced for recovery

03/01/2006
DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Justin Speier was spotted throwing at camp on Wednesday, wearing a Blue Jays hat, some Blue Jays warmups and a blue splint on his right middle finger. It was the second time that the reliever played catch since returning from seeing a hand specialist last week.
"It's a little awkward to throw with that splint on," Speier said. "But the reason I have that on there is so I don't push the finger back too far, to let it heal in there a little more."
Speier, 32, began feeling pain in his middle finger on Feb. 22 during the first live batting practice session, and he said he felt a "very minor" pop before cutting his workout short. Speier suffered a strained tendon in the same finger on Sept. 27 in Boston, an injury that put him on the shelf for the remainder of the year.
On March 9, Speier will throw without the splint, and if he doesn't experience any more setbacks, he anticipates appearing in seven or eight games during Spring Training. He said that amount would have him prepared to join the bullpen by Opening Day.
If Speier develops lingering pain from next Wednesday's bullpen session, he'll receive a cortisone shot and probably won't be ready for the start of the season. If that's the case, Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said Shaun Marcum, Dustin McGowan, Ben Weber or James Baldwin could be possible replacements.
Speier, who went 3-2 with a 2.56 ERA last year, is optimistic about his chances of recovering without any problems, though.
"[My doctor] gives me a 70 percent chance of breaking with the team, and I'll take those odds," Speier said. "But we're going to take it slow."
Last week, Speier flew to Baltimore, where Dr. Thomas J. Graham examined the finger. The diagnosis was that the injury shouldn't develop into a major concern and that surgery would be highly unlikely, but Speier has still been frustrated that his offseason rehabilitation didn't prevent the injury from flaring up this spring.
"I had the whole winter, so I really had four months," Speier said. "I took every precaution this winter. I was shaking peoples' hands with my left hand, I wasn't lifting anything heavy, I wasn't playing any golf or anything like that. It's just one of those fluke, freak things.
"John Thomson had the same injury last year with the Braves and he missed three months of the season and came back to pitch in the playoffs," he added. "I talked to him the other day and he said, 'You just have to give it time.' I gave it time this whole winter. He was lucky and didn't have a setback. I've had a setback and it's frustrating."
We are the world: Center fielder Vernon Wells announced on Tuesday that his left leg was 100 percent and that he had made up his mind to play for Team USA in the World Baseball Classic. Wells just needed to discuss it with Gibbons and Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi on Wednesday before the official decision.
"Yeah, he's fine," Ricciardi said. "We weren't going to let him go unless he was healthy and he's healthy. I think it's great -- it's awesome. He's looking forward to it, too. It's a great honor."
Wells, who injured his left quadriceps while lifting weights on Feb. 19, will catch a flight to meet up with Team USA in Arizona on Friday morning.
Alex Rios (Puerto Rico), Gustavo Chacin (Venezuela), Frank Catalanotto (Italy), Vince Perkins (Canada) and Adrian Burnside (Australia) will all be with the Jays for their spring opener against Tampa Bay on Thursday. Rios will play center field, Chacin will pitch a couple innings and Catalanotto may play in left field so Gibbons can see them in a game before they leave to join their Classic teams after the contest.
"I'm kind of curious to see how it goes. It'll probably be exciting," Gibbons said. "The only [concern] is if Chacin gets enough work to get himself ready. ... [Pitching coach Brad] Arnsberg will talk to the [Team Venezuela coaching staff] to make sure he is [getting his work done]."
Catcher Guillermo Quiroz originally planned on trying to play for Venezuela, but said on Wednesday that he decided against participating. Catchers Victor Martinez, Ramon Hernandez and Henry Blanco are already on the Venezuelan roster and Quiroz said he felt he would get more work done with the Blue Jays than during the tournament.
Burnside will be joining the Australian team later this week.
Setting up: Speier's injury raises an important question about the late-inning relievers. If Speier's situation turns into the worst-case scenario, where he wouldn't be ready for Opening Day, who would be the setup man for closer B.J. Ryan?
"We've got some flexibility. We've got [Jason] Frasor and [Vinnie] Chulk that can [handle the setup role], and [Scott] Schoeneweis is the specialist down there," Gibbons said. "We really haven't locked [Speier] into that setup role. We can be flexible with all three of them.
"Speier was kind of signed for that role, but with Chulk and Frasor coming along, they kind of took that a little bit, too."

Source: http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/

posted by David @ 8:50 AM