TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips answers three questions each week. [url=https://www.cheapcubs.com/3100t-dennis-eckersley-jersey-cubs.html]D ennis Eckersley Cubs Jersey[/url] . This week, topics cover the Blue Jays rotation, the futures John Gibbons and Alex Anthopoulos, protecting pitchers and a

TSN Baseball Insider Steve Phillips answers three questions each week. Dennis Eckersley Cubs Jersey . This week, topics cover the Blue Jays rotation, the futures John Gibbons and Alex Anthopoulos, protecting pitchers and a bonus question on his predictions for the MLB playoffs. 1) With J.A. Happ heading to the DL, the Toronto Blue Jays have announced a starting rotation of R.A. Dickey, Drew Hutchison, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow and Dustin McGowan. Should the Blue Jays feel confident with that group or even this early in the season, should they be looking outside the organization for an upgrade? Or should they have kept a prospect like Aaron Sanchez or Marcus Stroman with the big club? The Blue Jays are starting the season with exact rotation they should be using. Aaron Sanchez and Marcus Stroman both need more development but at some point they may be called upon to help. Certainly there are big questions for three-fifths of the starters but there is definitely upside. RA Dickey is just a year removed from his NL Cy Young Award and is predictable and dependable. I cant believe I am saying that about a knuckleballer but it is true. Mark Buerhle is a more than serviceable innings-eater who gives his team a chance to win start after start. After these two though the questions are significant. Brandon Morrow has suffered injuries in each of the past two seasons after looking like a number one starter at times in 2012. Dustin McGowan is throwing in the mid-nineties and is working on a curve ball to go with his devastating slider, but he has thrown just 46 2/3 innings since 2008 because of recurrent shoulder injuries. Drew Hutchison hasnt pitched in the Major Leagues for the past year and a half due to Tommy John surgery but prior to that he looked like he could be a long-term answer for the rotation. Before the season begins players, front office personnel and fans close their eyes and dream about what could be. I can close my eyes and see RA Dickey commanding his dancing knuckler that will baffle hitter. I can envision Buerhle getting a ton of grounders and working quickly getting the powerhouse offense back in the dugout and scoring a ton of runs. I can picture Brandon Morrow rifling his fastball by the games biggest sluggers and logging a ton of strikeouts. I can imagine McGowan and Hutchison fulfilling the potential that they once had as well. It could happen just that way. But it probably wont. My experience is that the more questions you enter with the more things that will likely go wrong. There is a bunch of unpredictability in this rotation. Depth will be important. It is safe to assume that health will be an issue at some point because it has been an issue in the past. Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond may make starts if necessary. But Alex Anthopolous is going to have to keep working the phones to look for upgrades. Early in the season other clubs arent typically trading good pitchers but he will need to be ready for when they do become available. So when you close your eyes and dream just hope it is not a nightmare. 2) Is manager John Gibbons on the hot seat with the Blue Jays? If the team is slow out of the gate again this year, will he be replaced? Are his and Alex Anthopouloss future tied together (if one goes, the other follows him out the door)? I dont think John Gibbons is on the hot seat during the season this year. I know there were big expectations last year but the collapse wasnt Gibbons fault. The starting rotation just fell apart on him as Morrow and Josh Johnson got hurt and Ricky Romero imploded. Jose Reyes injury crushed the offense early in the season and more injuries followed. The expectations are less this year than a year ago. It certainly behooves the Jays to get off to a good start so they can start to believe in themselves but Gibbons cant pitch for his team and the staff will be the key. I have never been a believer that managers and general managers are tied at the hip. The manager needs to look at the GM as his boss. Clearly Gibbons was brought back to the Jays because of his relationship with Anthopolous but if Anthopolous thinks a change needs to be made he will have to make it. If ownership gets to a point where they believe the roster is flawed and they decide to make a decision on the general manager it is unlikely Gibbons would survive a change in regime. Anthoplous can possibly survive the firing of Gibbons but I dont believe Gibbons would survive the firing of Anthopolous. As it stands today both the manager and general manager are on firm ground as they should be. They just need to be honest with themselves and their bosses about what the expectations are with the roster they have. The owners can hope to be competitive in the tough AL East but if they expect to win it then both Anthopolous and Gibbons are in trouble. This is a roster for which you can hope but not expect great things. 3) With Reds starter Aroldis Chapman and Rays starter Matt Moore both being hit in the head by comebackers to the mound in spring training, is it time for Major League Baseball and/or the players union to implement mandatory pitcher protection? It seems that pitchers have become more and more vulnerable over the past few seasons. Fortunately, we have avoided major catastrophe but we shouldnt be shocked if a pitcher were to be killed by a hit ball. We have just been lucky so far. I am a firm believer that we should never wait for someone to be killed to make a change. Baseball already did that once. Base coaches wear helmets now because a minor league first base coach was hit in the head by a line drive and killed. If protecting pitchers is being considered then protect them. Lets not wait for a tragedy. It is currently optional for pitchers to wear the new protective headgear that was developed by MLB for this year. The feedback so far is that the hats look funny and are not overly comfortable. MLB needs to keep refining the protective hats to make them functional. This needs to be a priority for the Players Association as well. Protective hats for pitchers need to be made mandatory at the minor league level initially. Let the kids get comfortable with them so by the time they are big leaguers it is commonplace. Once the hat is advanced enough make it mandatory for major league pitchers to wear. There is no clock in baseball but we need to put a clock on this. Every pitch thrown puts a pitcher at risk. Please hurry. 4) With the second and third opening days approaching for Major League Baseball it is time to make predictions. Here is how I see the American League:AL East AL Central AL West 1) Boston Detroit Oakland2) Tampa Bay* Kansas City** LA Angels3) Baltimore Cleveland Texas4) Blue Jays Minnesota Seattle5) New York Yankees Chicago Houston * first Wild Card ** second Wild Card AL CHAMPION: Oakland As defeat Detroit AL AWARDS AL MVP: Miguel Cabrera, DetroitAL MVP: Justin Verlander, DetroitAL Rookie of Year: Yordano Ventura, Kansas CityAL Manager of Year: Ned Yost, Kansas City Here are my predictions for the NL:NL East NL Central NL West1) Washington St Louis LA Dodgers 2) Atlanta** Milwaukee SF Giants*3) NY Mets Cincinnati Arizona4) Philadelphia Pittsburgh Colorado5) Miami Chicago San Diego* first Wild Card ** second Wild Card NL CHAMPION: Washington Nationals defeat Dodgers NL AWARDS NL MVP: Freddie Freeman, Atlanta BravesNL CY Young: Stephen Strasburg, Washington NationalsNL Rookie of Year: Gregory Polanco, Pittsburgh Pirates Manager of the Year: Mike Matheny, St Louis Cardinals WORLD SERIES CHAMPION: Washington Nationals defeat Oakland As LET THE GAMES BEGIN…..PLAY BALL!!! Kyle Schwarber Cubs Jersey . Curlings version of the Ryder Cup will introduce a new format beginning with the 2015 event, set for Jan. 8 to 11 in Calgary, as itll be Team Canada taking on Team Europe this season and in the 2017 event, while itll be Team Canada against Team World (including the U. Shawon Dunston Jersey . Moments after his Brooklyn Nets teammates ran out onto the court to congratulate him following their 100-98 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, Johnson could only shake his head at scoring only 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting. https://www.cheapcubs.com/3030t-jonathan-lucroy-jersey-cubs.html .com) - On a night the Bulls played without Derrick Rose, it was time for Pau Gasol to take charge.NEW YORK, N.Y. - The way this season is going for Hiroki Kuroda, hell happily take a win on a day when he laboured through six innings. Mark Teixeira hit a two-run single, Brett Gardner added an RBI double and the New York Yankees held on for a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday in the opener of a single-admission doubleheader. "As a pitcher, the win is always a good thing," Kuroda said through a translator. "Even though you may not have perfect stuff, to get the win is very encouraging." It had been quite some time since Kuroda (3-3) came out a winner. He was 0-2 with three no-decisions since beating Boston on April 12. Kuroda allowed a homer in the first Sunday to Neil Walker — his ninth — but then retired nine in a row before walking Andrew McCutcheon in the fourth. The right-hander was hurt by the home run again in the fifth, when Tony Sanchez led off with a drive to left field. Kuroda was lifted after throwing 98 pitches and allowing five hits and two walks. He struck out seven in lowering his ERA to 4.61. The former Los Angeles Dodger improved to 6-1 against Pittsburgh. "The mechanics, the command are not as good as last year," said Kuroda, who was 6-2 at this point last season. New York needed four relievers to finish the opener of the first traditional twinbill at Yankee Stadium since 2004. David Robertson got four outs for his eighth save. Brian McCann had an RBI single and New York scored all its runs in the first two innings on five hits after belting five homers in a 7-1 victory Saturday. The Yankees improved to 8-0 in interleague home games against Pittsburgh and will try for their third three-game sweep of the Pirates, along with 2005 and 07, in the finale. Pittsburghs Gerrit Cole faces Vidal Nuno. With the second game scheduled to begin about 30 minutes after the end of the first, Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Derek Jeter would only start the opener. Girardi also said Jacoby Ellsbury would not start in centre field both games after sitting out Saturday with flu-like symptoms. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said to expect lineup changes for the finale. His main concern, though, was protecting his bullpen for the second game, and Charlie Morton (0-6) diid just that with seven solid innings after a shaky start. Duane Underwood Jr. Cubs Jersey. Morton walked Gardner to open the first. Jeter then bunted down the third base line for a hit and Ellsbury was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Teixeira, who homered Saturday. The hot-hitting first baseman lined his single to right-centre. McCann followed with a single for a 3-1 lead. "Well, I walked Gardner to lead off the game, the bunts a hit, I hit Ellsbury, bases loaded, no outs," Morton said. "I backed myself in a corner and they took advantage." Gardner doubled in the second but Morton settled down after that. He allowed just one baserunner the rest of his outing, and Zoilo Almonte, who singled with two outs in the fourth, was picked off first base — after a replay overturned an original safe call. Walkers RBI single in the fifth cut the lead to 4-3. "We had some opportunities again," Hurdle said. "We pushed (Kuroda), pushed the pitch limit. He found outs when he had to to stay in the game and complete the innings that he pitched." The Pirates scored three runs for Morton after giving him only three runs of support in his previous four starts. He gave up six hits and walked one with six strikeouts. NOTES: The doubleheader was scheduled to make up Friday nights rainout. ... Starling Marte struck out in each of his four at-bats. ... Yankees RF Carlos Beltran (right elbow) had a second cortisone shot to try to ease the discomfort in his right elbow from a bone spur. He will get a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews on Tuesday. Girardi said Beltran had planned on getting the second opinion but Andrews wasnt available sooner. Girardi said Beltran is getting better. ... Girardi also acknowledged that LHP CC Sabathia might need surgery someday on his right knee because the condition is degenerative. Sabathia was returning from a visit to Andrews office, where he had his knee drained and was given a cortisone shot. ... The Pirates streak of the leadoff batter reaching in eight straight games ended when Travis Snider struck out looking. ... The Pirates recalled RHP Brandon Cumpton from Triple-A Indianapolis as the 26th man for the doubleheader. The Yankees brought up RHP Jose Ramirez from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. ' ' '