Some Joe Castiglione Blue Jays notes from today's game

Joe Castiglione notes Blue Jays' starter Shaun Marcum was sent to AAA Syracuse after yesterday's game. Which Marcum didn't win but Joe thought it worth mentioning because Marcum has nevertheless pitched well this year compared to other AL pitchers (he named some stats other than W-L). Then says today's pitcher, Jesse Litsch (engaged in a shutout) was also sent down to the minors by the Blue Jays in July. They wanted him to work on his fastball, not throw so many cutters. I wondered if one of the secrets to the Blue Jays' pitching success is perhaps in Syracuse. Also on Litsch, Joe said he wrote an essay to win a job as bat boy for the Tampa Bay Rays when he was 16.

• Joe described the last pitch of the game by BJ Ryan as a strike
• "in the expanded strike zone."

From MLB.com on Shaun Marcum, 8/23/08: "Marcum, 26, has made seven starts for the Jays since returning from a month-long stint on the disabled list on July 22 following a bout with a right elbow injury. In those outings, he has gone 3-2 with an uncharacteristic 6.19 ERA and a .295 opponents' batting average. Along the way, Marcum has compiled 23 strikeouts and 16 walks across 36 1/3 innings.

• Prior to landing on the DL, Marcum was one of the top starter's in the AL, posting a 2.65 ERA while limiting hitters to a .198 average over 15 starts. He struck out 86 and walked just 27 over 98 2/3 innings and logged at least six innings in each of his starts, with the exception of a rain-shortened outing on May 18."...

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