CLEARWATER, Florida – Jose Bautista isnt getting worked up about his red hot spring training. Dante Exum Jersey . After all, established players dont concern themselves with Grapefruit League statistics. "Im just trying to make sure I keep working on my game plan and my mental preparation for each at-bat and the situation that I have in front of me," said Bautista, before offering a glimpse into the extent of his own expectations. "Its been a little bit inconsistent but thats to be expected in spring training." After Thursdays 3-1 win over the Phillies, which marked the first time this season Bautista had played into the eighth inning, hes hitting .304/.465/.717 (1.182 OPS) with five home runs and 11 RBI. Hes looking to regain the form from 2010 and 2011 that catapulted him to superstardom. He led baseball with 54 and 43 home runs, respectively, in those two seasons and in 2011 led baseball with an otherworldly 1.056 OPS. Those are lofty standards and Bautista has battled injuries (wrist, hip) since then but he feels he still can be a consistent threat. "Overall, I feel pretty good about camp and Im seeing the ball well and I think Im staying within the strike zone," said Bautista. "Any time Im doing that I normally do well." Bautista has had a strong start in the field, too. Showing no ill effects from a jammed hip that cost him the final six weeks of last season, he made a great sliding catch on a Jimmy Rollins shallow fly ball in the first inning of Thursdays game; then in the third was credited with his fourth outfield assist of the season on a play at second base. There is legitimate concern about the state of the starting pitching heading into the regular season but Bautista believes improved defence will help the rotation. "Im healthy. So is Colby. So is Melky and the little bit of games he played (last year) he was hurt the whole time. Same with Brett; he started the season on the DL. Jose (got hurt) in the third week of the season and we missed him a lot," said Bautista. "We had two new guys getting used to the turf in Maicer (Izturis) and Bonifacio who struggled a little bit at second. Now, Maicer is more used to it; Goins is really good defensively and the rest of the infield is healthy and ready to go. We have Dioner (Navarro) at catcher. Thats different than J.P. (Arencibia) and J.P. didnt have his best defensive year last year and thats no secret. Not that hes bad defensively, he just didnt have a good year defensively. Overall, we should be better but at the same time we cant just be complacent and think that its going to automatically happen." Earlier this spring, veteran knuckleballer R.A. Dickey told TSN.ca he believed this incarnation of the Blue Jays could be "blown up" if it underperforms for a second consecutive season. Bautista, about to begin what would be his sixth full season in Toronto, said he doesnt dwell on negative thoughts. "Plus, thats a question better suited for Alex Anthopoulos, not me, because I cant make decisions when it comes to anything like that," he said. Bautista hopes to be spending his 34th birthday, on October 19, in a playoff setting. Nobodys found the tonic to slow down Father Time but Bautista has no more a sense of urgency to win now, in his mid-30s, than he did in his younger days. "Its always your number one driver is wanting to win," said Bautista. "I feel that this team is capable of winning, this organization is pretty close to accomplishing that. Let me just say theres nowhere else Id rather be than on this team." Bautista is aware that fans are anxious after the clubs relatively quiet offseason. He reads his Twitter account. "They have to trust the team," he said. "They have to be not only fans but they also have to love their organization and love the team and love their players. Hopefully theyve created some sort of bond with us over the last couple of years because a lot of us have been here for a while. Hopefully they get to know us as people, as athletes and they believe in us as much as we believe in ourselves. Were going to go out and leave it out on the field every single day and hopefully they can do the same either at home or at the stadium when they come out to support us." McGOWAN TO LONG RELIEF Dustin McGowan has been saying since late last season hed like to take one more shot, likely a final shot, at returning to the starting rotation. Manager John Gibbons has been hesitant to embrace the idea and with time running out in spring training, the focus is on building up McGowan to be one of the long men out of the bullpen. "Hes kind of in limbo there," said Gibbons. "We want to be able to stretch him out anyway. If hes in the pen for multiple innings that would benefit us quite a bit down there. We know he can do two. If he can do three that would do wonders for us." McGowan, who turns 32 on Monday, threw three scoreless innings against the Phillies in Clearwater on Thursday. He considered the accomplishment a milestone. "It felt good to finally go three innings," said McGowan. "Its been quite a few years since I reached that mark." After multiple shoulder surgeries which cost him the entirety of the 2009 and 2010 seasons, most of 2011 and all of 2012, McGowan returned in 2013 as a reliever, posting a 2.45 ERA in 25 appearances. "Im kind of interested to see how Im going to feel tomorrow," said McGowan. "The way I feel right now I think Im going to be just fine. I can usually tell right after I come out of the game how Im going to feel. Its one of those days I feel good." He won 12 games for the Blue Jays back in 2007. Gibbons managed that team. "We think hes beyond that kind of stuff and I thought he thrived in the bullpen," said Gibbons. "I thought that was a good role for him." McGowan was set back this spring by a stomach virus that kept him away for the club for a couple of days and resulted in him dropping eight pounds. The calendar isnt his friend. "He had desire to do it," said Gibbons of McGowan starting. "A lot of people had desire to see if he could do it but myself, personally, kind of had some reservations." THE RUNNING GAME The Blue Jays stole 112 bases last season, which tied the club for ninth with Colorado. More than half of those stolen bases, a combined 57, are gone with the departures of Rajai Davis (45) via free agency and Emilio Bonifacio (12), who was traded last August. Anthony Gose stole four bases last year and is expected to begin the season with Triple-A Buffalo. "Thats not one of our strengths," said manager John Gibbons. "Our speed has definitely dropped off. Thats now how the team is built." Toronto was fourth in the major leagues in home runs (185) last season, a number which figures to climb if the club gets injury-free seasons from Jose Bautista, Colby Rasmus and Brett Lawrie. "The teams built for those guys in the middle to drive in a bunch of runs, hit some home runs and Reyes to get things going. We think were strong. Weve got some pop. Weve got some guys that can produce some runs, top to bottom in the lineup." Still, Gibbons wants to mitigate the all-or-nothing approach he feels his team had too often last season. "Well cut down on the strikeouts a little bit I think will definitely help us and (hitting coach Kevin) Seitzers really good about that and hes working some game plans but that takes time," said Gibbons. "I think these guys have all been receptive to him." ROTATION JUGGLING Drew Hutchison has been dropped from his major league start on Saturday in favour of Todd Redmond. Redmond was scheduled to pitch against the Rays on Friday in Port Charlotte but has been pushed back a day. Aaron Sanchez will start on Friday, while Hutchison will pitch on Saturday but in a Triple-A game. While the Blue Jays havent confirmed publicly that Hutchison has made the team, the fact the coaching staff doesnt feel the need to see him versus major league talent this close to opening day bodes well for the 23-year-old. Rudy Gobert Jersey . To be fair, the celebrations are already anything but tame. Nerf ball tricks shots are just the tip of the iceberg for a group that has performed in zero gravity, faced pro-skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and an assembled team on the MTV series "Fantasy Factory", and even hit a basketball trick shot from a passing blimp. Adrian Dantley Jersey .C. - Phoenix Suns coach Jeff Hornacek says guard Goran Dragic will return to the starting lineup against the Charlotte Hornets after missing the last two games with a strained back. http://www.jazzauthentic.com/kids-karl-malone-jazz-jersey/ .Y. -- First, Ryan Miller.TORONTO – Watching Brett Cecil pitch, its difficult to imagine that just a little more than a year ago, a group of reporters approached his locker stall in Dunedin to ask if hed cracked the 2013 lineup. Whats happened since - an All-Star appearance and a 2.82 ERA in 60 appearances last season and a perfect run over his first 10 outings (eight-and-two-thirds innings) this season - is special. There was Cecil on Tuesday, called upon by manager John Gibbons in the seventh inning of a 3-3 game with the Blue Jays in a jam, bailing out his team once again. The Orioles had runners on second and third with one out. Cecil walked slugging left-hander Chris Davis before striking out Adam Jones and Steve Clevenger. The clutch performance paved the way to a six-run eighth and Toronto beat the Orioles 9-3, winning the opening game of a fourth-consecutive series. “Just trying to make good pitches,” said Cecil. Cecil is a native of Dunkirk, Maryland. He went to the University of Maryland and served as the Terrapins closer in his sophomore year of 2006, saving 13 games to set a school record. His success as a reliever in college prepared him for the role hes tasked with now. “I knew right off the bat once I moved to the ‘pen that it wouldnt take long,” said Cecil. “Ive done it before and it worked out in the past and it sure has now.” GIBBONS APPROACH TO BULLPEN Entering Tuesdays action, the Blue Jays had received 103 2/3 innings in 19 games from their starting pitchers, an average of between five-and-a-third and five and two-thirds innings per outing. Toronto will need more from its starting five and the sooner the better. After this coming Mondays off day, the Blue Jays will begin a stretch in which they have one day off between April 29 and June 1. Manager John Gibbons tries to balance the short-term and long-term consequences of each decision. “I mean, youve got to think long-term, but youre trying to win that game, too,” said Gibbons. “If theyre fresh you go to them … You want (starters) to go deeper into the game, but if they start to lose it or start to tire out because of the pitches or whatever it is, you look at the lineup or what youre facing, youre trying to hold that game in check.” Youll start to see more of J.A. Happ, Esmil Rogers and Todd Redmond in the fifth and sixth innings in games if the starters dont get deep. The specialists at the back-end of the bullpen cant be the daily option. “If you wear them down too much, those guys arent going to be probably effective later, anyway,” said Gibbons. “Thats why youre going to need some other guys to step up and get some big outs in the sixth, maybe the seventh.” In the last two seasons, 13 of the 20 playoff teams have had staffs that averaged six or more innings per start. The worst, Cleveland, averaged just better than five-and-two-thirds innings per start last season. The Blue Jays, in the earlly going of 2014, are averaging about an out fewer per start than the Indians of last year. Pete Maravich Jazz Jersey. If that doesnt seem like much, prorate that stat over 162 games. Youre asking your bullpen to get 162 more outs over the course of the season. INJURED JANSSEN IN TORONTO Casey Janssen rejoined his teammates in Toronto on Tuesday after his minor-league rehab assignment was halted. The strain in his abdominal/back area, near his oblique, hasnt improved to the point where Janssen is comfortable continuing to appear in games. He threw an inning for Single-A Dunedin a week ago Tuesday, allowing a hit and striking out one. “To be clear, it wasnt a setback,” said Janssen. “We realized it wasnt going to heal doing what I was doing. So instead of putting our foot on the gas, we had to take it off a bit and listen to my body a little bit more.” Janssen played catch before Tuesdays game with the Orioles. The plan is to throw a bullpen session in Toronto later this week and, if hes feeling better, Janssen will go back out on a rehab assignment. “Thats the frustrating part. Im not in pain,” said Janssen. “I mean theres a little bit of annoyance in there and the thing was, as long as you werent in pain, to keep progressing. So I didnt have symptoms of pain, but realizing that the swelling wasnt going to go away and Im in more jeopardy of maybe reinjuring, either that or somewhere else because Im compensating, we added it all up and it didnt make sense.” The Blue Jays bullpen, usually reliable, had two hiccups toward the end of the just-completed road trip through Baltimore, Minnesota and Cleveland. A six-run, eight-walk eighth inning turned a 5-3 lead into a 9-5 deficit in Thursday nights loss to the Twins. On Sunday, three walks and a bases-clearing double in the sixth turned a 4-2 lead into a 5-4 deficit in a loss to the Indians. Janssen is confident his mates will get back on track. “Those guys are still one of the best in the game,” said Janssen. “I dont care what a game or two happened or didnt happen. Basically, these guys are really, really good. Its a strength of our team and it will be a strength of our team.” ROGERS REBUILDING CONFIDENCE Esmil Rogers pitched two scoreless innings to mop up Saturdays shutout win in Cleveland. After a tough start, he needed it. “I know that I can do that more than one time,” said Rogers. “Anytime they need me, Im going to be there. If Im healthy, Im going to be great.” Rogers has allowed a staff-high four home runs on the season in just 10 1/3 innings pitched. Watching balls fly out of the park, he admits, rattled his confidence. “Sometimes you get a little frustrated about that because people can see you and you want to do the best you can,” said Rogers. “I think about it and I dont want it to happen again, but this is baseball. You dont know when youre going to be good and when youre going to be bad.” ' ' '