Wells out 4-6 weeks

If there was any remaining sliver of hope for this season, the twin injuries to McGowan and Wells have now sealed the fate of the 2008 Jays. McLeod at The Globe & Mail reports that Wells has a "grade 2 strain" of his left hamstring. In the same post he reports that Dustin McGowan has no NEW tearing in his shoulder so there is much more hope that it is simply inflamed and with rest he can return, but that would still be at least a month away.

Hopefully the Jays take that as a warning shot regarding pitch counts, as Twitchy has pointed to, but it's still also good news that he doesn't, apparently, have a major issue. In the mean time, it seems almost certain now that David Purcey and John Parrish will both get regular turns over the next month (assuming an AJ deal coincides more or less with Marcum's hoped-for return). Should Marcum's injury keep him out longer, there will be a very interesting discussion of who else might join the team - and you can bet Brett Cecil's name will come up a lot.


The Jays have not revealed who they will add in Vernon's absence, but, interestingly, McLeod asks the following question:

Why not bring up Travis Snider, their No. 1 pick in the draft in 2006? He's hitting .286 in Triple A at Syracuse and leading the team with 13 home runs.

With the way this season is turning for Toronto why not bring him up and start him in the outfield like the Jays are doing with Adam Lind?

At the very least it would give the fans something to cheer about.

I'm not at all sure JP is willing to do that yet - especially given that Snider is not, in point of fact, in AAA Syracuse but in AA New Hampshire - and as anxious as I am to see Snider in the bigs it is legitimate to question his how his strikeout total would translate over such a jump. Conversely, unless you are pining for the return of Shannon Stewart, Kevin Mench or Buck Coats, there's not an obvious stopgap alternative.

My guess is that we WON'T be seeing Snider yet.

~WillRain