Major League Baseball announced the workout dates for Major League clubs yesterday that will precede the Spring Training schedule.

Here are the dates:

AL Workout Dates

(Team) (Pitchers & Catchers) (Full Squad)
BAL, Feb. 18 ,Feb. 23
BOS ,Feb. 20, Feb. 24
CWS, Feb. 21, Feb. 26
CLE, Feb. 23, Feb. 26
DET, Feb. 19 ,Feb. 23
KC ,Feb. 18, Feb. 23
LAA, Feb. 18 ,Feb. 23
MIN, Feb. 22, Feb. 27
NYY, Feb. 18, Feb. 24
OAK, Feb. 21, Feb. 26
SEA, Feb. 18, Feb. 23
TB, Feb. 19, Feb. 24
TEX, Feb. 19, Feb. 24
TOR, Feb. 22, Feb. 26

NL Workout Dates

(Team) (Pitchers & Catchers)( Full Squad)
ARI, Feb. 20, Feb. 24
ATL, Feb. 20, Feb. 23
CHC, Feb. 18, Feb. 23
CIN, Feb. 18, Feb. 23
COL, Feb. 18, Feb. 26
FLA, Feb. 20, Feb. 24
HOU, Feb. 20, Feb. 24
LAD,Feb. 21, Feb. 26
MIL, Feb. 22, Feb. 27
NYM, Feb. 20, Feb. 25
PHI, Feb. 18, Feb. 23
PIT, Feb. 18, Feb. 23
STL, Feb. 18, Feb. 23
SD, Feb. 19, Feb. 25
SF, Feb. 18, Feb. 23
WAS, Feb. 21, Feb. 26

As you can see from my bolded lettering above the Toronto Blue Jays will be the last team to have pitchers and catchers report on February 22nd 2010 and will also share as the last team that has its full squad workouts begin February 26th 2010 along with the Washington Nationals.

The Blue Jays will head into the pitching/catching segment of the spring workouts with some questions that need to be answered, most notably the starting rotation.

The Jays are set at catcher with newly acquired free agent pickup John Buck seemingly the starter with last season’s backup Raul Chavez returning to his role from a year ago.

One of Toronto’s biggest surprises from a season ago Ricky Romero is almost guaranteed a shot in the starting rotation.

Shaun Marcum will return after missing all of last season with injury and if healthy should grab one of the rotation sports.

That leaves newly acquired fireballer Brandon Morrow, Canadian born Scott Richmond, talented left handers Brett Cecil & Marc Rzepczynski, young right hander Robert Ray & question marks Brad Mills & David Purcey to all vie for the remaining three rotation spots.

Also, do not count out the idea of Brian Tallet and Casey Janssen competing as well, although I see them as potential long men out of the bullpen for manager Cito Gaston.

In my opinion I would like to see a rotation featuring Marcum as our number one followed by Romero, Morrow, Cecil & Rzepczynski with Richmond as insurance in case Cecil or Rzepczynski falter as they are still young and had innings limitations set by the ballclub last season.

Until Marcum’s season long surgery he was aces in my book.

In 2007, Marcum was converted from a reliever to a starter and answered the call.

Marcum was 12-6 with an earned run average of 4.13 in his first season of starting work. In 159 innings pitched Marcum struck out 122 batters while walking 49 and opposing hitters batted .249 against him.

In 2008, Marcum worked 151 innings logging a record of 9-7 with a decreased earned run average of 3.39 striking out 123 hitters while walking 50. Opposing hitters batted .222 off the right hander.

Marcum is also adept at keeping the ball in the ballpark only allowing 13 home runs across those two seasons.

With Roy Halladay gone will Shaun Marcum be the new ace?

Marcum is also notable because of his cool demeanor along with his ability to pitch out of jams while remaining focused. He rarely gets shaken up on the mound and this is the main reason why I see him as Toronto’s number one next season.

Ricky Romero was a pleasant surprise in his rookie season last year.

After initially having a tough start to his spring where he was thought to have been left out of the race for the rotation he recovered well and came out of Spring Training with a spot in Toronto’s rotation.

Romero immediately created an impact and spent much of last season as Toronto’s number two behind Roy Halladay.

Last season Romero was in the race for American League Rookie of the Year putting up outstanding rookie numbers of 13-9 with an earned run average of 4.30 pitching most of his games in the tough American League East.

Romero pitched a total of 178 innings striking out 141 hitters while walking 79. Opposing hitters batted .284 against the young left hander.

Romero’s consistency was a factor last season.

Aside from some very rough starts against the Boston Red Sox, whom Romero had a hard time figuring out, Romero was solid all year and was Toronto’s go to guy when Roy Halladay went down with a hip injury in June.

Romero matured at the Major League level quickly and has the makings of a top of the rotation starter for Toronto far into the future. He easily deserves the number two spot.

Brandon Morrow, Brett Cecil & Marc Rzepczynski are all wild cards in the Jays rotation.

The potential, as well as talent are definitely there, but are the three pitchers ready for a full season in a starting role at the Major League level?

Last season, Morrow as part of the Seattle Mariners, started just 10 games and before that had been flip flopped between a starting role and the bullpen for three big league seasons.

After Seattle drafted Morrow in the 2006 MLB Draft with the number five selection overall, many within baseball felt Seattle rushed the pitcher to the Major League level as he was already in the league less than a year after being drafted out of UC Berkeley.

Morrow has had flashes of brilliance on the mound, but has mainly underachieved in most people’s eyes. Could this have been due to a lack of development? Was Morrow rushed?

Well the Jays think the addition of Morrow could impact the future of the ballclub and have even compared Morrow to a young AJ Burnett at times as he features a power fastball that is clocked between 90-96mph and a power spike curveball similar to Burnett’s.

Is Brandon Morrow ready for the starting rotation?

The potential for Morrow to be great is there, but I doubt his impact will be felt immediately.

Consider Morrow a work in progress, but with the youth of Toronto’s rotation I’d say he grabs the number three spot on the rotation.

Brett Cecil and Marc Rzepczynski were both unexpectedly put into Major League action last season when the Jays rotation was in dire need after numerous injuries.

The two left handers surprised many in baseball circles in their first cracks in the big leagues.

Cecil, a 23 year old left hander out of Maryland pitched 93.1 innings last season allowing 116 hits across 17 started games. Cecil also struck out 69 batters while walking 38 and allowed opposing hitters to bat .308. Cecil was also prone to the long ball allowing 17 home runs in his 17 starts.

Although the numbers do not look exceptional, Cecil did in fact pitch well for the Jays at times.

Cecil was prone to inconsistency on the mound as he was easily shaken up when he got off to a bad start hence the low number of innings across 17 starts. That can also be attributed to the inning limitations I had mentioned above as well.

With time and experience Cecil has the stuff, talent and ability to become a quality starting pitcher in the big leagues, but he will need more time at the Major League level to prove that.

I expect the Jays to use him in the number four spot as he has a little more experience (not by much) than Rzepczynski.

If Cecil struggles early in the season than expect him to be returned to Triple A Las Vegas similar to the way the Jays handled David Purcey after he got off to a bad start last season.

Filling out the rotation could be Marc Rzepczynski, pronounced ZEP-CHIN-SKI.

The sneaky left hander came out of nowhere for the Jays leaving a lasting impression on the fans with his odd name as well as pitching talent.

Rzepczynski is nothing of a power pitcher like Morrow.

Rzepczynski relies on his odd delivery and control to get batters out and has tallied some high strikeout games based solely on his ability to fool batters.

Last season in limited work, Rzepczynski had a record of 2-4 with an earned run average of 3.67 across 61.1 innings pitched.

Across 11 starts Rzepczynski struck out 60 batters while walking 30, allowing one home run and opposing hitters to bat a measly .225 average.

Like Cecil, Rzepzcynski was on an innings limitation last season, but look for Rzepczynski to make the rotation as the number five this season as he certainly got on manager Cito Gaston’s good side and Cito made sure to let the Toronto media know that.

Look for Canadian born Scott Richmond along with big left hander Brian Tallet and right hander Casey Janssen to make runs at the rotation as well, but with the youth movement in place I foresee all three gentlemen in bullpen roles this season.

I did not like what I saw from Mills or Purcey last season and Ray looked to be unpolished so I expect them to start out the season with Triple A Las Vegas, but come spring time you never know what will happen, especially with pitching.

Also on the radar but nothing more than a blip are the Jays newest acquisition Zach Jackson, who has started in the past and injury plagued Dustin McGowan, who could be help for the rotation midway through the season. 

That is my overview of the Toronto Blue Jays possible rotation; I hope you enjoyed reading it.

I would like to hear your opinions on who you think will be in the rotation and why, so leave a comment in the comments section below so we can gladly discuss.