DUNEDIN, FLA.—When Omar Vizquel made the cut for his first major-league team, the Seattle Mariners in 1989, Toronto Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos was an 11-year-old elementary school student.

Twenty-three years later, Vizquel has made enough of an impression on his 34-year-old boss to earn a spot as a backup infielder in the Jays’ opening-day lineup.

“He did everything we would have hoped for,” Anthopoulos said, after announcing the roster decision.

Vizquel himself was not available to speak to the media after the Jays’ 9-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles, the team’s 21st victory of the spring season.

A 44-year-old springy shortstop with Cooperstown credentials, Vizquel brings a veteran presence to a predominantly young and inexperienced roster. He is also expected to mentor the team’s emerging Spanish-speaking shortstops, Yunel Escobar and Adeiny Hechavarria.

The Venezuelan served a similar role in his last two major-league stops with the Texas Rangers and Chicago White Sox, where he aided the development of promising young infielders Elvis Andrus and Alexei Ramirez, respectively.

“Omar’s here as a player first and foremost,” Anthopoulos insisted. “Those other things are just an added bonus. . . . He had a very good camp and he deserved to be on the team.”

Only twice between 1993 and 2006 did Vizquel not win a Gold Glove as the top defensive player at his position. When he turns 45 on April 25, he will be the oldest player ever to play shortstop in the major leagues.

“He’s a winner,” Anthopoulos said. “He’s a pro.”

Though he has always been known more for his glove than his bat, Vizquel is a crafty contact hitter and the team hopes some of Vizquel’s small-ball prowess will rub off on its younger players.

He showed off his veteran wiles Wednesday, laying a perfect bunt down the third-base line for an infield hit and scoring later in the inning. So far this spring Vizquel is batting .433, but Anthopoulos said he doesn’t put much stock in those numbers and was always more concerned with his defensive abilities.

Vizquel’s main competition in camp came from Mike McCoy, a reliable bench player who plays both the infield and outfield, but whose versatility was made redundant by the presence of speedy Rajai Davis and Ben Francisco, a spare outfielder the Jays acquired this off-season.

McCoy had options left on his contract — meaning he did not have to clear waivers before being sent down to the minors — so he was sent to Triple-A Las Vegas. Luis Valbuena, another spare infielder, is out of options, so he will either be traded or put on waivers before being sent down.

“We’ll try to trade him before putting him on waivers,” Anthopoulos said.

BY THE NUMBERS

OMAR VIZQUEL

Major-league seasons: 23

Games: 2,908

Gold gloves, all at shortstop: 11

Hits: 2,841

Career on-base percentage: .337

DUNEDIN, FLA.—While one Blue Jays spring battle became crystal clear Sunday, with outfielder Travis Snider optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas after a 6-5 win over the Red Sox, a second competition for the final starting pitching role descended into head-scratching murkiness.

One day after his 30th birthday, pitcher Dustin McGowan took the short drive to the Jays’ minor-league camp to start against a team of Pirates farmhands on Sunday. He might have been asked to pitch against the Red Sox at the main stadium, but as has become common practice with the Jays, they would rather not have their starters pitch against AL East teams in the spring. The policy is debatable.

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McGowan, in distress after just four outs in what was slated to be a five-inning stint, called for help, slamming his glove to the ground in frustration as a trainer joined him. The star-crossed pitcher, whom Jays fans have become united behind with universal good wishes for a successful return, was taken off on a golf cart, suffering a right foot problem diagnosed by team podiatrist Dr. Len Copeland as plantar fasciitis. The Jays are downplaying the severity of the setback until proven otherwise, but that is to be expected.

“Dr. Copeland feels like it should end up being fine,” GM Alex Anthopoulos said. “He just needs to let it calm down. It might be a day or two not throwing and then see how it goes. Again, with Dustin, it’s more of getting him back, hopefully having him for the course of the season. Our biggest concern is obviously his overall health and this is a blip, if anything.”

McGowan’s blips have rarely been blips. He is attempting to complete an inspiring comeback by earning a spot on the opening-day roster for the first time since 2008. McGowan has had so many setbacks since he was forced from a start on July 8, 2008 that his frustration at not being able to complete Sunday’s work caught up with him. Maybe it was the recurring fear of never being able to come back that led him to refuse to talk to the media . . . but who could blame him.

McGowan had season-ending surgery for fraying of the labrum in his right shoulder on July 31, 2008. After an accident on a stationary bike while rehabbing, he underwent cartilage surgery on his right knee the following July. Then, in June 2010, he had a second shoulder surgery to repair a torn right rotator cuff. He went more than three calendar years between major-league appearances, coming on in relief to a standing ovation at the Rogers Centre last September against the Red Sox. Every step forward and step back has been an emotional ride.

This spring, it was expected that a healthy McGowan would earn the fifth and final starting spot, and with just 10 days until the opener in Cleveland, the expectation was palpable and real.

The professional and emotional relationship between the Jays and McGowan has been a long one, with the Jays keeping the pitcher on the major-league roster and McGowan rehabbing for long, thankless hours with no promise he would ever be able to make it all the way back. They owe each other.

“The only locks were (Ricky) Romero and (Brandon) Morrow,” Anthopoulos said with professional detachment. “Dustin was competing with two other pitchers. We haven’t decided yet. It’s just another thing we’ll have to adjust, but we can’t make a decision today. We’ll know more over time.”

Earlier in the day, manager John Farrell discussed the rotation with reporters, suggesting McGowan’s spot was not, in fact, the one up for grabs. Farrell indicated he should have a better idea of the final plans by the end of Tuesday night’s game against the Yankees in Tampa. That would be Kyle Drabek’s start. Meanwhile, Brett Cecil’s next start is Wednesday, after being shelled his last time out against the Rays in Port Charlotte. Farrell critiqued Cecil’s recent lack of command. Aaron Laffey is the seventh candidate Farrell mentioned. His appearance Sunday against Boston was less than stellar, surrendering five runs on nine hits in five innings. He didn’t walk anyone. But now, with McGowan’s injury, the whole picture surrounding the final two spots in the rotation has become cloudy.

“Probably not as crisp as the last time out,” Farrell said of Laffey’s outing. “Yet he kept the big inning from happening. He doesn’t beat himself. He doesn’t create jams by avoiding the strike zone or pitching away from contact. Again, all this is still a work in progress.”

McGowan was to be re-examined Monday morning and while Anthopoulos seemed optimistic about the pitcher’s chances of resuming his routine in time to make his first start April 11, plantar fasciitis, an inflammation of the tendon in the arch of the foot, has different effects on different people. Stay tuned.

As for the hard-luck Snider, he was always on the outside looking in this spring and the decision to use his final option was expected. It became clear that as the incumbent in left field, Eric Thames had the inside track and his play this spring has been outstanding. The bat has always been there and he has made some nice plays in the outfield, including a running catch into left-centre off Darnell McDonald on Sunday. Thames had not yet been told he had won the left-field job, having left the park.

Snider had spoken about the inevitability of this day earlier in the week. He was asked about the sit-down meeting he had with Anthopoulos at the beginning of the spring, if that would ease the sting.

“I don’t know if that makes it any easier when decision day comes,” Snider had said about the eternal frankness of the GM. “You always appreciate the honesty. That’s what they pride themselves on, as being up front and honest with things. If somebody shoots straight and that’s the decision that’s made then you’ve got to deal with it.”

The Jays have 30 players remaining in camp, with three pitchers and three infielders needing to be pared. As a veteran non-roster player, Omar Vizquel must be told his fate by Friday.

DUNEDIN, FLA.—Blue Jays first baseman Adam Lind thrived under former manager Cito Gaston’s aggressive, find-your-best-pitch hitting style. On June 21, 2008, one day after Gaston’s return to the Jays’ dugout, the first move they made was to bring up Lind and install him as the left fielder. Gaston let him loose, encouraging him to swing early and often. The youngster thrived in ’08 and ’09, but the message has changed without Gaston around to nurture his student’s basic aggressiveness.

“I don’t want to become too timid in the box,” Lind said. “I want to be aggressive, but it’s definitely been a point brought up by you guys and (GM) Alex (Anthopoulos), especially the first-pitch percentage thing. I’ve heard a lot about that from everybody. I’m trying to just have quality at-bats.”

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After two dismal seasons as cleanup hitter, with only the home runs remaining respectable, Lind needs to respond to his critics, many of them within the organization. Already thoughts are to have Lind bat cleanup only against right-handers and to shuffle the lineup against opposing left-handers.

On Saturday morning, prior to the Jays’ 9-0 spanking of the Braves, manager John Farrell suggested the 4-5 batting spots against lefties in those situations may go to Edwin Encarnacion and Brett Lawrie.

“With the roster the way it is, we have the ability to stack some right-handers in there,” Farrell said. “We might also have the ability against a tough left-hander if that’s a day that we have Adam on the bench, to be able to pinch-hit him late in the game. We’re certainly not running from him by any means, but we have a lot more flexibility.”

The gauntlet has been thrown down and even if not directly told of Farrell’s opinions before Saturday’s game, Lind responded with the bat. Coming in with a .226 average, Lind hammered his first home run of the spring, then tripled in his next at-bat and drew a hard-earned 10-pitch walk in his final plate appearance. The home run also came on a 10th pitch, but Lind impressed himself more on the walk by taking ball four on what he called a “back-leg slider” from right-hander Chris Martinez.

“It’s good for the team, it’s good for me,” Lind said. “Just to show the staff that I’m trying to have long at-bats. Coming from the Cito Gaston era, where it’s like, ‘What’re you doing?’ if you have 10-pitch at-bats, to this staff. The expression that they’ve used with me is ‘controlled aggression.’”

That concerted effort at controlled aggression and that ability to take a dirty full-count slider from a pitcher he had never seen also impressed Farrell.

“I thought . . . there was much more freedom in his swing,” Farrell said. “There was less tension. He fouled off a number of quality pitches. Equally impressive to the two balls he squared up to right field was laying off the tough 3-2 pitch to take the walk. When he swings at balls inside the strike zone, he’s a very dangerous hitter.”

Lind, after a second straight down season, came to camp anticipating a much more settled year. His Canadian wife has finally become an American citizen, so she and their 6-month-old daughter will be able to join him in Toronto. She was not allowed to leave the U.S. until the application was completed. Lind will also be playing first base for the second year and his workout routines and conditioning reflect a new awareness of the challenge. However, until Saturday, his spring has not been a reflection of that more settled life.

“I’m not exactly where I’d like to be,” Lind said before the game. “As far as how I feel physically, I feel good. Guys are starting to clear out of here, so we get more one-on-one time with the coaches, more time in the cages. I’ve got to work on consistency.

“I’ve kind of always been okay in the first half. I think it’s on me to keep my stamina, my endurance up to stay strong in the second half. Definitely now I’m more about endurance, cardio, instead of doing sprints. Longer bike rides, just everything was longer.”

It’s been a tough transition from Gaston and his aggressive hitting approach to Anthopoulos and Farrell and the team concept of getting the starter’s pitch count up early so you can get to the bullpen. One consistent voice Lind hears every day is that of hitting coach Dwayne Murphy, who bridged the Gaston and Farrell eras. Even though some of Murphy’s lessons have changed, the coach knows Lind well.

“He’s just said to make sure I keep my aggressiveness,” Lind said. “In this game and at this level, sometimes that (first) pitch is the best pitch you’re going to see and you can’t take it.”

Lind entered Saturday’s tilt with no homers, nine total bases and three RBIs in 11 spring games. Against the Braves, he totalled seven bases on the triple and homer and drove in four runs. The 28-year-old will need to step it up and stay consistent for the final 10 days of spring training or he could see his playing time slip as the season unfolds.

With his two 10-pitch appearances on Saturday and his determination to only attack balls within the strike zone, he made a good start. But Lind still has work to do.

DUNEDIN, FLA—For the Blue Jays to be successful this season, Ricky Romero needs to continue his development into an elite major-league ace and build upon his 15 wins from last season.

He was very good in 2011, posting an ERA of 2.92 over 225 innings, and was the undisputed leader of the Jays’ rotation. But he will have to be even better for the team to contend in the American League East.

So far this spring, Romero has pitched with surgical efficiency. Prior to Wednesday’s simulated game with Jays’ minor-leaguers — arranged specifically to keep Romero on schedule — he had pitched nine innings, giving up two hits and no runs.

“I’m right where I want to be,” the 27-year-old left-hander said, after breezing through six scoreless innings Wednesday in Dunedin while the rest of the team travelled to Sarasota to take on Baltimore.

He faced only 21 batters Wednesday, striking out six and walking one, while giving up two hits. He retired the last nine batters in a row, and only twice in the game did he let a ball get past the infield.

“We’re getting closer to the season and we just want to throw strikes, stay down in the zone,” Romero said. “We preach it every day, just pound down, pound down and get those groundball outs.”

Romero worked on all of his pitches Wednesday — his fastball, cutter, curveball, changeup and sinker — and he said they all felt good.

“I had a little trouble last time with my sinker, so I threw a lot of sinkers today and some were really good,” he said. “We’re starting to get to that point where the season is almost here, so you want to just make sure you have all those weapons ready.”

The only thing that seems to be giving Romero trouble this spring is his decision on what song to use as his walk-on entrance music at the Rogers Centre.

Some teammates have suggested he appeal to his Mexican heritage by choosing mariachi music. He quickly turned down that idea, but has been wrestling with his song choice for weeks now.

But even that he seems to have now got under control.

“I’m pretty sure I know what I’m going with,” he said, but refused to divulge his decision. “You’ll have to come to the stadium to check it out.”

Sergio Santos, the new closer of the Jays’ revamped bullpen, also continued to get himself into game shape Wednesday, facing off against Romero for one inning of the makeshift intra-squad game.

The simulated game — Team Santos vs. Team Romero — had the feel of a Mr. Baseball dream sequence: it started before the umpires arrived and Santos struck out his first batter with catcher Carlos Perez calling balls and strikes. Three batters later, after his third strikeout of the inning, Santos told his team to stay on the field and called for another batter. He retired three of the first four batters with only 14 pitches and wanted to get a little more work in.

He ended his day having thrown 12 strikes and three balls in 17 pitches, allowing one hit while forcing his last batter to fly out.

Wednesday’s game was simply to keep Romero and Santos on schedule in their progression towards the season opener in Cleveland on April 5.

“We’re just staying online,” said Jays’ pitching coach Bruce Walton, who said both Romero and Santos are right on schedule.

Like many prospects drafted out of high school, Jake Marisnick found it tough to switch from aluminum to wood bats. But last year, after experimenting with various models, he tried a bat discarded by Marcus Knecht, a Toronto native and fellow outfielder for the Class A Lansing Lugnuts.

The experiment seemed to work. Using Knecht’s bat and a couple of others, Marisnick torched Midwest League pitching and vaulted into the company of Travis d’Arnaud and Anthony Gose as the consensus top prospects in the Toronto Blue Jays’ system.

“In high school, all the bats felt the same,” Marisnick said after a recent workout at the Jays minor-league camp in Dunedin, Fla. “I guess I’ve tried 20 or so different models, trying to find the right proportions, the right knob. I’m still using three that I’m kind of feeling out.”

One can only imagine the results when Marisnick finds a bat that feels just right. In his first full pro season last year, he batted .320 with a gaudy .888 OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage). He hit 14 homers, drove in 77 runs and stole 37 bases. And he played stellar defence in centre field, complementing his speed with a powerful arm.

He did all that at age 20. The league average was 21.6.

Much was expected of Marisnick when the Jays drafted him in the third round in 2009 and paid him US$1-million to sign. He did not start his pro career until the summer of 2010, playing well in a rookie league before hitting .220 after a promotion to Lansing.

The difference between 2010 and 2011?

“A lot of hard work,” said Marisnick, who stands 6-foot-4 and weighs 220, roughly 20 pounds more than when he was drafted.

He calmed his body movement in the batter’s box, but his biggest advance came in plate discipline and pitch recognition, he said.

“I was always ‘see ball, hit ball,’ ” he said. “The main difference last year was in my mental approach.”

Marisnick wowed the Jays (and everybody else) with his performance at the 2008 Area Code Games, which showcases top players before their senior year in high school. Among all the prospects, Marisnick graded highest in the SPARQ test, which measures speed, power, agility, reaction and quickness.

“We knew he was a very good athlete, good size, good tools,” said Tony LaCava, the Jays’ assistant general manager who oversees the farm system. “The question coming out of high school was that he didn’t have a great senior year with the bat. We happened to see him when he was good.”

Since then, the California native has added pounds, muscle and polish. Success in low Class A guarantees nothing, but success at age 20 opens a lot of eyes, and scouts rave about his future.

“Marisnick has the upside of a five-tool center fielder,” Baseball America observed in its scouting report. “He has strength in his frame and swing, producing plenty of backspin and solid raw power. A hitch in his swing previously had scouts concerned about his ability to hit, but he has ironed out his mechanics and is less susceptible to off-speed stuff.”

Echoed Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com: “Marisnick’s plentiful tools should allow him to hit for average and more power as he matures. He’s an excellent baserunner who should also continue to be a threat on the basepaths. Marisnick can play centre field now, but an outfield with Gose in centre and Marisnick in right should have Blue Jays fans excited.”

Indeed, Baseball America projects that very alignment for the 2015 Blue Jays, with Colby Rasmus in left field and Jose Bautista as the designated hitter.

Marisnick and Gose still have a lot to prove before they form an outfield tandem at the Rogers Centre. But both are getting a look in early exhibition games this spring, and the brass have been impressed.

Gose, also just 21, is expected to open the season at Triple-A Las Vegas, Marisnick at high Class A Dunedin. If Marisnick prospers in the tough Florida State League, he could earn a mid-season call-up to Double-A.

“Each year he’s gotten better and he looks like he’s hitting his stride right now,” LaCava said. “He came into camp in great shape. Watching him take batting practice, it sounds loud. We think he’s ready to have another strong season.”

But Marisnick might well spend the whole season in Florida. General manager Alex Anthopoulos is not inclined to rush a prospect, as he showed with Brett Lawrie early last year

“When Alex took over, we kind of decided were going to slow it down a little bit and be a little more patient with our players,” LaCava said. “We weren’t going to take a chance on rushing a player. So we won’t rush Jake. He’s coming along fine. He’ll tell us by his performance when he’s ready to move to the next level.”

Marisnick, an outgoing sort with a ready smile, says he is patient. Confident too. Even during his struggles in Lansing two years ago, he says he could see the player he became last year, and the major-leaguer he expects to become soon.

“I’ve always seen it,” he said. “I see it in myself every day.”

Now, if he can only find the right bat.

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KISSIMMEE, FLA.—Usually in baseball, established veterans are pushed in the spring by hot-shot youngsters eager to find major league work.

Not with the 2012 Blue Jays. Kids push kids.

At catcher, for example, 26-year-old J.P. Arencibia has slightly more than a year’s major league service and is already feeling the hot breath of the team’s top hitting prospect, 23-year-old Travis d’Arnaud, on his heels.

At short, Yunel Escobar has established himself as an everyday player, but youngster Adeiny Hechavarria is drawing raves with his glove and hit his first home run of the spring Friday against the Houston Astros.

Travis Snider and Eric Thames are neck-and-neck for the left field job. Even in centre field where Colby Rasmus might become a long-term fixture, 21-year-old Anthony Gose is serving notice with his wheels and big arm that he might not be that far away.

None of Arencibia, Escobar or Rasmus are in any immediate danger. But an organization with layers of young talent is seeing these kind of positional battles everywhere, surely a strength.

The scenario at catcher is arguably the most intriguing, if only because most agree that Arencibia and d’Arnaud, both right-hand power hitters destined to be front-line receivers, aren’t likely to co-exist with the Jays.

If that makes them rivals, Arencibia doesn’t see it that way.

“I’ve told him from day one. We’re both going to be major league catchers, and I want to help you,” said Arencibia. “I’m very secure. I feel like I bring a lot to the table and I’m a starter in the major leagues.

“He’s a Blue Jay and I’m a Blue Jay. I’m here to win as a Blue Jay.”

D’Arnaud got his second start of the Grapefruit league season Friday in an 11-2 Jays victory. He was, of course, a key acquisition in the December, 2009 Roy Halladay deal along with Kyle Drabek, and as such undoubtedly holds a special place in the heart of GM Alex Anthopoulos, who engineered the trade.

“I try not to think about that,” said d’Arnaud of the big trade. “I try to think about things I can control, like my swing. But I am honoured that I got traded for (Halladay), even considered in a trade for him.”

D’Arnaud says he hasn’t felt any freeze-out from Arencibia, just willingness to help and teach.

“That’s 100 per cent true. He’s a great catcher and I’m feeding off him,” said the stocky d’Arnaud, whose brother Chase is a pitcher in the Pittsburgh system.

Having already been traded once, d’Arnaud seems to understand and accept the fact he and Arencibia aren’t ever likely to play on the same Jays squad.

“There is a competitive part, but you have to keep in mind that neither of us have a big contract so we’re playing for every team and to help each other,” he said.

Arencibia hit 23 homers last season, setting a new Jays record for four-baggers by a catcher despite hitting only .219. At Double-A New Hampshire, meanwhile, d’Arnaud hit 21 homers with 75 RBIs along with a .311 average.

He was voted the best defensive catcher by Eastern League managers.

“I don’t think you can say one mirrors the other,” said manager John Farrell. “Travis has got more pure arm strength. He can get away with some inconsistencies in his transfer and make it up with his arm strength.

“J.P. has to be a little more technically sound. To get the appropriate carry and accuracy his footwork has to be a little more in sync than Travis.

“There’s still some work to do on the receiving end for (d’Arnaud). The consistency of blocking balls, the consistency of receiving, those are areas that can look outstanding at times, but there can be occasional lapses. We’re doing everything we can to tighten that up.”

This season, light-hitting Jeff Mathis will be Arencibia’s backup. The only immediate decision facing the Jays is whether to send d’Arnaud back to New Hampshire or have him at Triple-A Las Vegas, not a perfect setting for top prospects and a location from which the Jays are likely looking to relocate.

On Friday, d’Arnaud caught five innings and lifted his first home run of the spring, a two-run shot to left. Day by day, he’s getting closer. With the Jays, there’s future in the players of today and in those on the way.

BRADENTON, Fla. — Right about now, some baseball genius is probably devising a statistical formula that will tell us, on a daily basis, who is winning the Battle for Left Field.

By the end of spring training, the Toronto Blue Jays will award the prize to Eric Thames or Travis Snider. And so far, with no science to rely on, one might say the race appears to be dead even.

Unless you award points for quotes. Then Snider would have the edge, simply for managing to use “dump-truckin’ ” as a verb.

In the Jays’ 8-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday, Snider had a double, a single and three RBIs. He also stole third base.

And he threw out former teammate Rod Barajas at second. Two speedy Pirates were running ahead of the lead-footed Barajas, so Snider knew where his priority lay.

Afterward, he also knew how to spice up his clichés.

“I knew Rod was going to be dump-truckin’ around first base, so I was able to back-door him and catch him sleeping a little bit,” Snider said.

Early in camp, manager John Farrell acknowledged that he expects daily media questions about the left-field derby. After two exhibition games, he could easily call it a tie.

In Saturday’s exhibition opener, Thames hit a home run and an RBI single. But Farrell lifted him mid-game along with his other regulars, and Thames was gone before reporters arrived, thus depriving himself of the chance to score points in the quote sweepstakes.

“Both guys are playing well, getting their hits,” Farrell said after Sunday’s game. “I thought Travis did an excellent job of running the bases today.”

Both Snider and Thames are young left-handed batters. Thames finished last season as the incumbent. Snider is the better defender.

“On the field and even away from the field, I’ve got to concentrate on what I can control,” Snider said. “I don’t ever go out there rooting for Eric to do bad. It’s a spirit of competition that drives both of us.”

About those three RBIs. One was legitimate, a sharp single up the middle that scored Rajai Davis. The other two came on an odd play in the sixth when Snider hit a comebacker to pitcher Evan Meek with runners on second and third.

With no one covering first, Meek outran Snider to the bag as one run scored. The pitcher was obviously unfamiliar with the other runner, speedy prospect Anthony Gose, who came all the way from second and beat Meek’s throw to the plate.

This was also the debut date for the heavily hyped back end of Toronto’s bullpen. New closer Sergio Santos worked a scoreless inning, as did his setup man, Francisco Cordero, and the putative seventh-inning reliever, Casey Janssen.

Only left-hander Darren Oliver took his lumps (two runs, three hits, one walk), but he was unfazed.

“It was good to get out there, man,” Oliver said. “It’d been so long. It was good to get out there and finally get some game action in at game speed.”

That pretty well summed up the reaction of the other relievers. They agreed with the 41-year-old Oliver, who observed that even for a veteran, the first spring game always stirs up a few butterflies.

As Janssen observed: “If you don’t feel something, you probably should stop playing. It’s always fun to compete.”

Cordero, who breezed through a perfect inning, said he spent Saturday night imagining his Jays’ debut.

“I was thinking about it since yesterday,” he said. “What am I going to do tomorrow? How is it going to be? I hope it’s a good inning, quick inning, get out of there and call family and say, ‘I pitched my first spring training inning with the Blue Jays. It was fun. It was quick.’ ”

It was exactly that: two ground balls and a strikeout. And afterward, Cordero was talking about maybe playing for a World Series.

“You never know,” he said.

You never do. And at this time of year, you hear that sort of thing a lot. Nobody thinks twice about it.

But “dump-truckin’ ”? That will earn points from the judges. And in the Battle for Left Field, Travis Snider will take all the points he can get.

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