Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos held a scrum with the media it’s documented by the Toronto Sun’s Ken Fidlin and talked about how Spring Training has gone so far and some of the players with an inside track on a roster spot when the Jays start the season on March 31st in Tampa.

When asked about Drew Hutchison AA says that he is surprised by the velocity that Hutch has shown this Spring, “We saw that velocity at the end of his time in 2012 before he got hurt. When I went to the Arizona Fall League, it was so encouraging to see him pitch that way. He really started to come into his own in 2012 before he got hurt so I’m not surprised. I think I said it before, he’s a guy I expected to really impress. He’s off to a great start, he’s definitely opened some eyes, he’s a strong candidate to make the rotation but he’s got to make it. But I love what I see.” says Anthopoulos. AA compared Hutch’s situation to that of Shaun Marcum the year he came back from TJ surgery and threw 195 innings. AA also added that Hutch and Marcus Stroman will not have inning limits placed on them.

Speaking of Stroman, AA says this of him, “The results matter, but at times you’re looking at stuff. (His one outing) was promising overall because he looked good. He got out of some jams. We say sometimes somebody pitched better than his line. It’s a limited, limited look but I expect Marcus to continue to impress throughout spring. I think he’ll just continue to get better.

“It’s not like the decision gets made tomorrow, but every outing for him is important. He has a chance. I can’t give you percentages but there’s a reason he’s getting stretched out. There’s a reason we’re giving him the innings.

“I haven’t seen anybody blow bubbles on the mound while throwing a pitch. I don’t think that’s being arrogant or cocky. I just think he’s very calm and composed. He does a lot of things to help himself, by holding runners, by working on his change-up. There is a reason he was a consensus first-round talent. He’s always had success … Team USA, success at a Division 1 school, success in the minors. Success everywhere he’s been, as much as people doubt him because of his size. What comes out of his arm is great. We’ve talked about the Sonny Gray comparisons. I think they’re fair. I think Marcus is ready to be up here. Do we have a spot? Is he performing better than some of the other options? Those are some of the things we have to look at and make a decision”.

So it sounds like there is a possibility that Hutch and Stroman both make the club out of Spring training if they keep impressing and J.A Happ’s back keeps flaring up, which is why he has supposedly struggled according to both AA and John Gibbons. like I’ve said all along the Jays should take the best team north with them regardless of starting the clock on Stroman’s service time.

It also looks like Erik Kratz night have the inside track on the back-up catchers job because of the power in his bat according to AA, “Still early. We’re giving Kratz the reps simply because we know Josh can do it. Josh has almost 800 innings with R.A. (Dickey) back there. Biggest thing we want to see from him is to swing the bat the way he did with the Mets earlier in his career. With Erik, we think he has upside with the bat. He has power. It’s about how he can handle R.A. The only way you find out is to continue to see him in games. We already know Josh has done a great job with (Dickey).”

With Thursday’s rain out of the Jays exhibition game against the Pirates, the Jays reworked their rotation pushing Mark Buehrle’s start till Friday when they face Tampa Bay, Marcus Stroman and Ricky Romero are both scheduled to pitch as well on Friday. Hutchison is the scheduled starter for Saturday when the Jays face the Twins and R.A Dickey gets the ball on Sunday against the Astros. J.A Happ gets bumped from his Sunday start. The Jays did not announce when Happ will pitch again, with Monday being an off day for the Blue Jays before two split squad games on Tuesday, one against the Tigers and one against the Canadian Junior National team.

And finally a sad note to end off this Thursday night, Dr. Frank Jobe who was the doctor who performed the first ever surgery that is now called Tommy John surgery in 1974, has passed away, he was 88.