One of the more interesting aspects of the past week was Blue Jays’ left-fielder Melky Cabrera finally playing against his former team, the Giants, for the first time since he was suspended last August for performance-enhancing-drugs, a charge he originally denied. Cabrera had been embarrassed and disgraced when one of his advisors linked to his agency ACES, run by the Levinson brothers, was discovered to have bought an existing website in an attempt to advertise a phony supplement with unlisted ingredients and claim ignorance. MLB investigators quickly solved the riddle.

Locally, out in the Bay Area among the Giants and their fans the feeling is that Cabrera, clearly with advance notice of his suspension from the players’ association, simply packed his bags and left the team without addressing coaches, the manager or his teammates to either explain himself or apologize. The majority feeling is that was dead wrong. So, when Cabrera was available to be reinstated after serving his 50-game suspension, the Giants chose to leave him off the roster for the NLCS and the rest of the post-season. Minus the league’s leading hitter, the resilient Giants went on to win the World Series. For many of the Giants, in fact, Tuesday was the first time they had seen their former teammate since last August. The Giants train in Arizona and the Jays, of course, stage their camp in Florida.

Veteran left-hander Jeremy Affeldt, one of the sublime voices of reason in the Giants clubhouse shrugged off any controversy surrounding Cabrera, explaining the view of many of his teammates.

“I don’t know if it was negative or not,” Affeldt said of the team’s view of Cabrera. “Everybody asks how come he didn’t address the team? The thing is he didn’t talk very much anyway. He was never one to talk. I liked him as a teammate but he never chatted with anybody. He was very quiet, stayed to himself, so when he left the way he did, was it out of his character, out of his normal? Even on the field he was very quiet, maybe crack a grin now and then, but it was just not in him, so for me, if he would have stood before the team and said something, what was he going to say?”

How about saying he was sorry for cheating, sorry for lying, sorry for leaving in a pennant race?

“Sorry, we probably know he was sorry,” Affeldt said. “You just cost yourself a lot of money. We already know that. It’s self-explained. For me, it didn’t bother me. When you see him . . . I gave him a hug in the weight room. I said, ‘Is it good.’ He said, ‘It’s great, man.’ Then we walked away.”

There were other Melky questions. For instance, in the field, when a player reaches base, often you will see friendly interaction, a little pat on the butt, some smiles and conversation between pitches, from runner to infielders and vice-versa. Cabrera reached base five times Tuesday night in the Jays’ 10-6 win and there was little if any interaction with what should have been old friends.

“We come out here, we’re trying to play games,” Affeldt continued. “The guys that are doing (butt) taps on the bases are probably outgoing guys. He’s not outgoing. It might have been more awkward for him than it was for us. The reality is that we were out there trying to win a game.”

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On to the Mailbag.

Q. Hi Richard,

Been reading your column/blog for years, enjoyed it immensely.

Question for the mailbag:

Is the decline of Ricky Romero unprecedented? In the sense that within the span of two seasons he went from having a 15-win/2.92ERA season in 2011 and in 2013 he has struggled in Single-A Dunedin and after two starts in Buffalo he seems to be overmatched in AAA ball.

How can someone so fundamentally lose the skills and talents that got them to the position to get a $30-million contract as a professional athlete. I know we’ve seen pitchers somewhat unexpectedly fall apart before but it’s mainly been relievers (Gagne, Axford, BJ Ryan, etc).

From a 15-win season to being barely able to strike the kids in A-ball out is mind blowing.

Thanks,

Mike

A. The closest parallel to what’s happening with Romero may have been Steve Blass of the Pittsburgh Pirates some 40 years ago in 1973. From 1968-72 Blass posted double-digit wins for five straight seasons, including 15-8, 2.85 ERA in 1971 and 19-8, 2.49 in 1972. The likeable right-hander was 2-0 in the 1971 World Series as the Pirates beat the Orioles. But in 1973, it all fell apart as Blass, then 31, could no longer throw strikes and fell apart. A 1972 all-star and second in Cy Young balloting, he saw his ERA jump to 9.85 in ’73, walking 84 batters in 88 2/3 innings, striking out just 27. He just couldn’t pitch and there was no physical reason to explain it.

In a three-start stretch from July 3 to Aug. 1, 1973 vs. the Cards, Giants and Mets, Blass totalled 4 1/3 innings, allowing 12 earned runs on two hits with 13 walks, 1 strikeout and a hit batter. Romero-esque. The Pirates lost his final 13 starts from June 6 on, as Blass went 0-6.

The perplexed Pirates sent their former star to the minors in 1974, where at AAA-Charleston, Blass walked 103 batters, hit 16 and threw 12 wild pitches in 61 innings. After another failed attempt to make a comeback in ’74, he retired before the 1975 season.

The condition is popularly known as Steve Blass Disease, although there has never been a case since then that has been quite like the original. Blass, 71, remains a popular TV broadcaster for the Pirates, working mostly home games at PNC Park. He was a friend of mine when I worked in the NL and rarely did he ever talk about his downfall, sometimes jokingly but never with any explanation. There hasn’t been anything quite that dramatic that did not involve a physical injury, but Romero has a chance.

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Q. Jose Reyes’ injury has thrown the entire lineup into a funk. Without an everyday leadoff hitter in his absence, why not insert Rajai Davis into that role? He has the highest batting average among active Jays and with his speed, is a constant threat to steal second and third, especially if he gets on base with less than two outs.

Thanks,

Justin, Richmond Hill ON

A. When Davis is healthy (DL-left oblique), when everyone else in the outfield is healthy, especially Jose Bautista, the situation has evolved to the point where Rajai has been platooning with Adam Lind as the DH and batting leadoff vs. left-handed starters. He’s not ideal for that role with a career on-base average of just .317, but without Reyes he is an acceptable option for leadoff. He is below major-league average as a defensive outfielder, although his speed allows him to sometimes make up for bad reads. He is an efficient base stealer which is his main weapon, very useful coming off the bench.

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Q. As a long, long-time fan, I have noticed a dramatic change in pitching. There never used to be pitch counts and radar guns. The starting rotation numbered 4, not 5. And complete games were much more common. As late as the ’80s, guys were pitching nine innings up to 20 times a year. Last year no one had more than six. Now the benchmark seems to be seven innings is a great success. And pitchers today seem much more fragile — the Blue Jays are a great example of that. Why have we seen such drastic changes?

Phil Ford, Ottawa

A. The four-man rotation basically disappeared with most teams during the ’70s, around the time of expansion in 1969, divisional play, artificial turf and more coast-to-coast travel . . . none of which, of course, explains the five-man rotation since expansion meant the dilution of starting pitching talent.

As for the dearth of complete games, the last season with more than one pitcher with 10-or-more complete games was 1998 with Curt Schilling, Roger Erickson and Randy Johnson. Since then, there have been 10 years in which the MLB leader had fewer than 10 complete games. I believe the trend starts in the minor leagues with teams trying to protect their investments by babying their starters, beginning the season at the lower levels with a pitch count around 50, piggy-backing two starters for the season’s first half, then stretching them out to 100 pitches as it progresses. By the time they reach the majors, they are brainwashed into thinking that 100 pitches and seven innings is the equivalent of a complete game. Does it work in protecting arms? It surely doesn’t look that way from the outside.

In 1979, the Montreal Expos set the franchise high of 95 wins and did not have a single pitcher on the disabled list all season. Not one. The ’79 Expos played 15 doubleheaders, including seven in September, using just 14 pitchers all year — seven of them making starts. Six Expos pitchers won 10 or more games, led by Bill Lee with 16. There were 33 complete games led by Steve Rogers with 13.

As for radar guns, it seems in my memory that some stadiums started displaying the speed readings in the early to mid-90s and now all of them do. Television networks used to only occasionally refer to fastball velocities until their TV screens became busy with info — score, base runners, counts and number of outs posted continuously onscreen in the ’90s. It was at that time a pitcher’s velocity became incorporated as part of the pitch-to-pitch discussion in the booth and then shortly velocity became an obsession. Roger Clemens when he came to the Jays had enough clout to make the Jays take his speed readings down when he pitched.

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Q. Hi Rich,

Love the mailbag, on to the questions: all spring training we heard about how the veteran players were being allowed to progress at their own rate and get themselves ready as they saw fit. Now it seems as if none of the veterans did manage to get themselves ready, as evidenced not only by the poor results, but also by the types of muscle strain injuries which keep occurring.

Brandon Morrow pitches eight innings, and his unprepared body spasms, for example. I wasn’t at spring training, but was there a lack of discipline and preparation for which the new manager should be held accountable? Or was it the WBC and its interruption of the regular spring training schedule that messed everything up? Finally, a lot of these injuries seem to be about muscles not being warmed up properly and stretched out well — not a necessity when you are 19, but definitely one by your mid-20s. Watching the players stretch on the field, they all use a terrible bouncing technique rather than a slow and steady stretch as physical therapists recommend. Is there no one to teach these guys how to stretch properly? Surely if Brett Lawrie had been well stretched out he wouldn’t have hurt himself with the sudden action of, well, stretching for a ball in WBC pre-competition!

Thanks for all you do! You truly are a wonderful source of information on the ins and outs of baseball!

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Allan C. Lane

A. Modern spring trainings are a pet peeve of mine. It’s as if teams don’t want to annoy their veterans by having them make bus trips to play on the road and even play full games when they are at home, until the final week. At home, you may get four or five starting position players in a game, log their three at-bats then pack up and head back to the clubhouse where they work out in the weight room, have a bite to eat, shower and call it a day. Sure, many players get early work in before 9 a.m. in the batting tunnels or throwing in the bullpen, but if they’re not pitching in the game, they don’t have to hang around beyond 11 a.m.

On most days before the start of the Grapefruit League season, the formal portion of the spring training day is over by noon, with others hanging around a little later for extra batting practice. By opening day, many of the newcomers are still strangers to their teammates and, of course, in April the Jays played like it. I recall Mark Buehrle being asked about Ricky Romero when he was struggling in his starts, asked if he been able to mentor him yet. Buehrle said he had not been able because their schedules hadn’t meshed and he hadn’t seen much of him. That was late March. I believe that players are coddled too much at spring training because they all come to camp in shape and ready to go. Never in March do you get a sense of “team.”

The presence of the WBC didn’t help as you had an elite group of players competing hard for their country playing nine innings and then they returned to camp and for the final 20 days were back to the shortened, pressure-free schedules. I’m not saying it should be boot camp, but especially in a case where there aren’t that many question marks with position players or pitchers like the ’13 Jays, there should be an effort to enter the season with a solid final week of your lineup playing nine innings together as a team before opening for real. Pitchers you could still have on their pitch or inning counts. The Jays in April showed an appalling lack of defensive fundamentals.

As for the issue of players stretching pre-game, fans don’t see the early warm-ups at around 4 p.m. for home games that are extensive and well supervised. The stretching that you see when you are in the seats is just basically a re-warming of muscles because they have been in the clubhouse for an hour and a half after their own batting practice. MLB teams all have quality and qualified strength and conditioning coordinators that supervise the early team stretching.

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Q-In the last 2-3yrs the jays have picked up –traded for –released –traded I believe 12-13 catchers even trading Buck twice? could you detail the chorology of this and how come we ended with Blanco? Thanks,

r woods

A. The list of Blue Jays catchers in the past 10 years, since the start of the 2004 season includes an amazing total 24 names, 22 of them that have played in the majors with the Jays. The two catchers obtained from the Mets this winter, Mike Nickeas and Josh Thole are at AAA-Buffalo right now.

The list includes J.P. Arencibia, Henry Blanco, Nickeas, Thole, Jeff Mathis, Yorvit Torrealba, Yan Gomes, Jose Molina, John Buck, Rod Barajas, Raul Chavez, Michael Barrett, Kyle Phillips, Gregg Zaun, Curtis Thigpen, Jason Phillips, Sal Fasano, Bengie Molina, Ken Huckaby, Guillermo Quiroz, Greg Myers, Andy Dominique, Kevin Cash and Bobby Estalella. Then there’s Miguel Olivo.

The Blanco signing is because he had previously worked with R.A. Dickey and is a better defender than Thole at this point. A backup catcher is often the final piece to be put in place. The off-season free agent list of reserve catchers is always long and filled with competent veterans that can be signed for one or two years at a reasonable price. That’s why the Jays have had so many different names.

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Q. When will the Jays decide it is over for this year and retool for next year? Do you think they will be sellers at trade deadline?

A. What would you suggest as a Jays retool? The ultimate Jays retool was this past winter. There is no longer draft pick compensation as incentive for acquiring expiring contracts, so the Jays really would only deal away players that do not fit into the 2014 equation. They have to make a decision on Josh Johnson and could make a couple of relievers available, while also gauging the NL market for Mark Buehrle. Guys like Adam Lind were available last year as a DFA but nobody took him when it was for free, just pick up the contract, but no. There is no market for Ricky Romero. Maybe Rajai Davis and a couple of bench players but if you’re GM Alex Anthopoulos, these deals can be made next winter.

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Q. Hi Richard

I’ve recently moved to Toronto from the U.K. and am fascinated by the similarities between baseball and our bat and ball sport, cricket. Baseball is somewhat looked down upon as glorified rounders, and I know cricket is seen here as somewhat mysterious and convoluted given the length of games (five days is the max). I’m surprised there hasn’t been a bigger ‘sell’ by MLB of the game in the U.K. as there has with NFL — do you know if there are plans to play games in London?

In terms of the role of batter, I don’t understand why ‘shortening the swing’ is not a default for all players at the plate. I would have thought what you lose in power is made up for in accuracy, and given the large empty areas of the park where you can easily hit a single it seems a logical move. Also, why don’t players foul off intentionally to build the pitch count?

As for the umpires, I think they are horrible in MLB. Aside from the wrong calls this week and as you mentioned the ludicrous decision to play on as J.A. Happ was injured, they seem to have vastly different views of the strike zone. Surely the league could install a HawkEye style setup at the plate (as in tennis) to judge the strike zone? Whether you like or dislike the batter for arguing calls should have no bearing on the next call.

Sorry these are quite long — I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Best regards

John

A. I believe that European MLB games are in the near future, but as for England, I think the fact that other European nations are further advanced in terms of their baseball associations and player development, as per the WBC success of the Netherlands and Italy, puts Britain down the line in terms of future exhibitions or regular season contests. The thing about the NFL is that you can comfortably fit the field on a soccer pitch by just painting lines. On the other hand baseball has a specific configuration that requires safety measures and seating with good sightlines.

As for the advice of players shortening swings and hitting the ball to open spaces, there was an old-time player named Wee Willie Keeler (5-4, 140 lbs) who famously said “Hit ’em where they ain’t.” Wee Willie played from 1892 to 1910, had a .341 career average and in 8561 at-bats struck out just 136 times. That’s the equivalent of one disciplined season for Colby Rasmus. But the game has changed.

It’s not as easy to guide the ball, to find open spaces as it seems and to make contact as fresh relievers are ready from the seventh inning on with new repertoires, changing speeds, and fielders with greater running speed and bigger gloves that shrink the available real estate. Keeler had 145 triples and 33 career home runs and as Greg Maddux famously observed, “Chicks dig the long ball.”

As for the umpires, I believe that TV technology has made umpires look horrible as much as anything else. There’s on-screen strike boxes, super-slo-mo replays of batted balls and foul poles, replays of missed swipe tags and bang-bang plays at first. For umpires it’s a no-win situation, but I would never think of replacing them with robot calls of strikes and outs at first. I love creative ejections.