Spring Training Tea Leaves

We've got nothing better to do than fret over the coming season, so join us as we read entirely too much into the handful of stories emerging from Super Awesome Truck Parts and Lube Stadium¹ in Dunedin.

Snider's Ribs, Early Edition: Sure, we could devolve the conversation into a smoking, saucy pile of nonsense. But for a guy who grips-it-and-rips-it like Snider, a rib cage injury (Whole Lott of NatPost!) can be a nagging, long-term issue, and it's enough to have us balancing out worry over how soon he can return, or whether if he should.

Scotty Pods' Podiatrical Problems: Recent signee and new Jays fan favorite Scott Podsednik (who you clearly love more than we do) has the plantar faciatis troubles (via The Star) once again. Having once struggled through similar issues, we can attest that it is a painful problem. Also, it seems to strike old tubby guys who are trying to be more active than they should. So our recommendation to Podsednik is to take it easy, do lots of foot stretching and don't scamper about too fast. And if it means that you have to stay off the active roster for the bulk of the season, so be it.²

Johnny Mac and the Tools of Ignorance: We've known for years that John McDonald was the Jays' emergency (he prefers "safety valve") option behind the plate should both catchers go down within the span of nine innings. But after seeing some pics of McDonald in full backstop's regalia, we couldn't help but wonder: Could a guy with his baseball IQ but middling offensive skills actually extend his career by serving as a backup catcher? Imagine that we're coming into the season, and we've got J.P. Arencibia and John McDonald as our catchers: Is that any worse that JPA and Random Molina³?

Snider's Ribs, Late Edition: Catching up later, looking for links, we notice that Snider hurt himself while golfing (Gregor, via msnbc).⁴ Seriously, what the fucking fuck. We're beginning to think that they should hold early workouts at the Rogers Centre so as to avoid this sort of monkeyshines-induced infirmity. And as a sidenote to our good pal the Lunchbox: Take it easy on the links, dude. You don't need to impress anyone with your golf game. Use a three-iron off the tee, and keep it in the fairway.

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1. Likely not the actual name, though we'll never remember what the real one is. This seems close enough. Or certainly not much more comical than the actual one.

2. Oddly, we'd just started to warm to Podsednik as bench depth. This joke is our subconscious way of getting ourselves back to slappy-hating.

3. 2010 OPS: McDonald - .727 in 163 PAs; Molina - .681 in 183 PAs.

4. And yeah, we realize that the fact of the golfing was right there in the lede of the Lott piece. We went back afterward to find the links, so we were in the dark as of the writing of that initial item. Now you know.

Five things, while we have a quick moment

We're dreadfully late for a tea party, but since you're here, we'll offer you five quick things which may be nothing at all.

The Roof: For the love of baseball, and for the love of fresh air, someone crack the lid on the Rogers Centre, for goodness sakes. Yeah, some people might complain about the cold, and maybe the players prefer the controlled environment under the roof. But people can bring a jacket, and the players should maybe consider getting a job at an Orange Julius stand in the mall if the brisk air is an impediment. We've attended ball games where we had to stop keep score because our pen froze. And we lived to tell the tale. A 10 degree night in April is something to be savoured and enjoyed.

The Catchers: One day after throwing out four baserunners, some folks started questioning Jose Molina's defensive abilities because he backhanded a ball in the dirt. Have we all lost our minds? Molina's been great behind the plate. John Buck's been okay, too, though not great. But don't let all the fetishizing of Rod Barajas' giant belly and thighs and their ball blocking abilities get you all sentimental.

The Next Catcher: J.P. Arencibia is on a roll in Vegas, posting an OPS of .914 and looking (in the boxscores, at least) like he's back in the form that he demonstrated in 2008. He's caught only 14% of baserunners so far and he's allowed four passed balls - Ohhh! Rod! Come back! - so those numbers may be worth tracking. Maybe most important is how the Jays' pitching prospects like throwing to him, because if they dislike him now, they're going to hate him like every Yankee pitcher hated Jorge Posada and loved Jose Molina last year.

The Bullpen: Sorry, we take it back. We have nothing to say about the bullpen.

Shaun Marcum: North of Steeles is the unluckiest bastard of them all, having pitched five games pretty well so far this year, with nothing in the win column to show for it. Which just goes to show you that wins and losses are the most important pitching stat, and a sub -.500 pitcher like Marcum has no business being the ace of this rotation. (Wait...it doesn't show that at all! What? Are you telling us...Nah. Couldn't be.)

Oh dear! I'm late!