The Mockingbird

Well, baseball is back…sort of. The Jays held back their starters for another day of training, so a team consisting entirely of backups and minor leaguers lost 4-1 to the Detroit Tigers’ opening day lineup sans Gary Sheffield (who’s probably still in court with Boras).

Nothing of interest except Jesse Litsch was tagged for 4 runs in two innings off a Magglio Ordonez Double and a 2-run shot by Curtis Granderson. Litsch says he was just trying to throw strikes, and it’s probably true. His first 2 innings mean squat. (Remember the media frenzy last year over how amazingly fantastic Josh Towers was looking all through spring training?)

Still, prepare yourself for at least a couple of articles about how he’s “fading fast” or “behind the 8-ball” in the 5th starter competition (or even better- “Chacin back on the mound and throwing bullets past the heart of the Detroit lineup. I dare you guys!). Which is probably a good thing because as long as B.J. is healthy Jesse probably belongs in AAA, that’s probably already been decided already, and anyone who can’t see past his 2007 ERA needs this sort of thing to get over it.