At the mid-way point of spring training Jays’ GM Alex Anthopolous is all smiles.

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays are about halfway through its first spring training under rookie manager John Farrell, and GM Alex Anthopoulos is pleased with what he’s seen so far.

There have been some minor glitches in camp, like the quad injury that’s slowed down second baseman Aaron Hill or the nasty flu that sidelined third base coach Brian Butterfield, but otherwise progress can be reported on multiple fronts.

Farrell and the revamped coaching staff are meshing well together, catcher J.P. Arencibia and first baseman Adam Lind have both looked solid in the field, enthusiasm is high and the clubhouse, and competition for available roster spots has been fierce.

So as Anthopoulos went about his business during Monday’s off day, he was mostly content about the state of affairs with the club.

“All the feedback I’ve gotten has been that camp has run very smoothly,” he says. “John’s been outstanding, the (coaching staff) has been great, and the players have certainly had a big impact in setting the culture as well.

“We’re coming off a much stronger season (this spring as opposed to last), there’s renewed excitement, it’s a younger team, there’s a lot of energy a lot of excitement, there’s a lot of competition … it’s been a very positive, productive camp.”

For what’s it worth, the Blue Jays take a 4-5 record (not counting an exhibition drubbing of the Canadian national junior team) into Tuesday’s contest with the Tampa Bay Rays at Port Charlotte, Fla. While at this point of the spring it’s unwise to read very much into the since many established players are focused more on their process than production, some important trends are emerging.

Lind’s transition to first base from left field is going quite smoothly and he is quickly easing some of the pre-spring questions about his ability in the field. The same goes for Arencibia behind the plate, as his hard work with bench coach Don Wakamatsu is starting to pay off and the pitchers appear to be gaining comfort throwing to him.

Starter Jesse Litsch, finally healthy after being hampered by elbow and hip injuries the past two seasons, is throwing extremely well and Anthopoulos believes he has a chance to match the 13 wins and 195 innings posted by Shaun Marcum last year.

And the top prospect the Blue Jays obtained from Milwaukee in exchange for Marcum, Canadian Brett Lawrie, has been one of the buzz stories at camp, acclimating well to third base after moving from second, and impressing at the plate.

“He’s looked very good,” Anthopoulos says of Lawrie. “He does work every day, he’s been receptive to instruction, he wants to get better. Part of the appeal of Brett, he’s obviously got a lot of ability and tools, but he’s got this unbelievable desire and drive to be great at whatever he does. Everyone talks about his offence and that his defence needed work, well, he’s applied that same work ethic to his defence.”

It’s too early to say whether or not that’s going to be enough to earn him an opening day roster spot with the big-league club, but he’s clearly making an impression and showing he’s not as far away as his age and experience level might suggest.

During the early spring meetings Anthopoulos and the manager hold with each player, Lawrie was told the initial plan was for the Blue Jays to open 2011 with Jose Bautista at third, Juan Rivera in right field, Rajai Davis in centre and Travis Snider in left. But he was also told they wouldn’t rule out him breaking with the team, either.

“He understood,” says Anthopoulos. “He knows he’s in a new organization, he obviously wants to impress and do a good job. He’s done everything we’ve asked him to do.”

Litsch, meanwhile, looks to be returning to the form with which he closed out the 2008 season. He’s regained all the lost arm speed after ligament-replacement surgery on his right elbow in the summer of 2008, and the hip surgically repaired last summer is back to normal, too.

Anthopoulos called Litsch’s last outing March 4 against Atlanta, when he allowed one hit, struck out four and got up to 92 m.p.h., in three innings, “very, very good.”

“The one thing I’ve always said is when Jesse’s been healthy, he’s been very productive. He’s not Shaun Marcum, they’re not the same style, but he certainly has a chance for the results to be similar in terms of win totals and innings pitched. It’s up to him and he’s still competing for a job, but we tend to forget he’s only 25.

“If he’s healthy you pretty much know what you’re going to get.”

Litsch is fighting for one of the two available spots in the starting rotation behind Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow and Brett Cecil. Kyle Drabek, Marc Rzepczynski and Jo-Jo Reyes appear to be his primary opponents, with Zach Stewart, Brad Mills and Canadian Scott Richmond also in the mix to one degree or another.

Reyes is a name to watch on that front, as the once touted left-hander is out of options, meaning the Blue Jays can not send him to the minors without passing him through waivers first.

The 25-year-old came over from the Braves in the Yunel Escobar trade last July, and after a rough spring debut looked better March 5 against Detroit, throwing three hitless innings.

“His fastball was up to 92, he was down in the zone, and showed some very good changeups and sliders,” says Anthopoulos. “He showed us a glimpse of why he was a highly touted prospect. I’ve always liked Jo-Jo, I’ve always kept an eye on him.

“He was a secondary piece in that trade but he was an important piece because from my standpoint, a young left-handed starter with some upside certainly makes all the sense in the world for us to take a chance on.”

There is plenty of competition in the bullpen as well and Frank Francisco helped ease any concern that may have existed about his shoulder with a shutout inning in Sunday’s 5-0 win over Pittsburgh. The outing marked the right-hander’s belated spring debut and he came out of it fine.

“Frankie was up to 93 throwing a ton of strikes,” says Anthopoulos. “He’s always notoriously been a slow starter, him and Octavio Dotel (two games, two innings, five runs) told us before camp started they never do well in spring training, so we expected that. They know what they need to do.

“We’re obviously going to continue to watch their stuff but we aren’t going to be so reliant on the stats, more so we might be a little bit more reliant on the execution and the way their stuff looks.”

Just some of the many judgments still to be made with three-plus weeks of camp remaining.