FORT MYERS, Fla. – It was a rather non-descript game, which is likely to happen when you only bring two players who will be on the Opening Day roster, as the Blue Jays did for their tilt with the Red Sox.

The Blue Jays have six players still out at the World Baseball Classic and none of the three who have returned are either able to play or in big-league camp at all and that fact, combined with the three-hour bus trip south, made the roster more than a little light.

Jose Bautista and Colby Rasmus were here, and they combined to go 1-for-6, the hit being a screaming Bautista double that one-hopped the wall in left-centre.

On the pitching side, it was Brandon Morrow’s day to start, but he didn’t get on the bus, instead throwing in a minor-league game while Justin Germano led the Blue Jays onto the field in Fort Myers and looked great his first time through the Red Sox’ lineup, but got knocked around the second time through, allowing three straight hits to end his third and final inning of work.

Chad Beck had as much of an up-and-down day as one can have. He threw just five pitches in a three-up, three-down sixth inning — all strikes — getting outs on each of his first two pitches. Beck came back out for the seventh and walked the first hitter he faced — on four pitches — then gave up a line single, threw a wild pitch and after a run-scoring groundout completely forgot about his runner at second, allowing Mitch Maier to steal third, from whence he scored on a sac fly by Lyle Overbay.

Jim Negrych had another big day at the plate — the Buffalo native, signed to a minor-league deal so that he be the Bisons’ hometown hero, went 2-for-2 with a single and a two-run homer, lefty-lefty off tough Andrew Miller. Negrych is now hitting .444/.500/.833 in 20 plate appearances this spring. Negrych has played a flawless second base and has thoroughly outplayed both Maicer Izturis and Emilio Bonifacio to this point.

If it were an open competition, or if spring numbers decided who did and didn’t make the team, Negrych would have a spot all but secured. He doesn’t, because it isn’t and they don’t.

Which kind of brings us back to the whole Ricky Romero vs. J.A. Happ for the final spot in the Blue Jays’ rotation debate. There is no debate, Romero is the fifth starter.

That’s not to say that Romero has a position nailed down for the season no matter how he pitches, but it is to say that he deserves to be in the Blue Jays’ rotation to start the year.

Over the off-day Monday, there was much debate on my Twitter feed as to the merits of Happ taking that final spot, based on the way he’s outpitched Romero this spring. It’s as though so many Blue Jays observers have completely forgotten what Romero did his first three years in the majors, before stubbing his toe hard last season, and it’s as though those same people have let this spring overshadow what Happ has done the last three years in the big leagues.

Yes, Romero was awful last season. But it’s not as though the Blue Jays are holding back a much better pitcher to give him a spot. Happ can pitch in the majors, and could be in the rotation of almost every other team in the bigs beside the Blue Jays and probably the Tigers and Nationals, but he would be in all those rotations as the fourth starter — third at absolute best.

Romero was terrible in 2012, but an all-star in 2011. Happ’s last good year was 2009. Since then, Happ has posted an ERA of 4.70, a 1.450 WHIP and has struck out 8.1 batters per nine innings while allowing 4.3 walks. His WAR, for those who believe deeply in that metric, is 0.1 over that time. Not a guy for whom a team should be moving heaven and earth to make a spot.

Over the same time period, Romero has a 4.03 ERA, a WHIP of 1.347 and has struck out an even seven batters per nine innings against 3.9 walks. His WAR is 7.4.

It honestly boggles the mind how some can see Happ as a better option, let alone a better enough option to pull the plug on a guy who has started Opening Day for you the last two seasons.

The Blue Jays take their 7-9-1 spring record to Bradenton Wednesday for an afternoon date against Travis Snider and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Mark Buehrle will make the start against James McDonald. The veteran lefty is scheduled to throw four innings – don’t blink or you’ll miss them. Dirk Hayhurst and I will have the call for you on the interwebs, you can find us at www.sportsnet590.ca beginning at 1:00 p.m. ET. Tune in, won’t you?