Lyle Overbay got some extra work in the batting cage and said Saturday that he has not experienced any uncomfortable vibrations in his
right hand during batting practice so far - an area of concern for him heading into spring training.
Overbay, incidentally, is selling an anti-oxidant called 'Monavie' (http://www.clubmonavie.ca/) and he's found willing consumers in his
teammates.
"Had a glass this morning and felt like running to the ballpark," John McDonald said, winking.
The drink, based on the acai berry, comes in what looks like a wine bottle, and when I first saw it I broke up Overbay by asking him if he'd
opened a vineyard or something.
Manager John Gibbons said that Overbay has looked fine in batting practice - and that's a start for a guy whose hand was so sore last year
that he was putting his fingers underneath the bat instead of wrapping them around it. It's Overbay's glove hand, and Gibbons noted that the discomfort also cut down on Overbay's trademark aggressiveness at first base.
Gibbons said that Roy Halladay will start the Blue Jays Grapefruit League home opener on Friday against the Detroit Tigers. That would put
him on track to start the Season Opener at Yankee Stadium. Jesse Litsch will start the Grapefruit Opener in Lakeland on Thursday. Dustin McGowan will make the fourth start ahead of A.J. Burnett to take into account the off-day in the second day of the season.
Gibbons believes that the veteran pitchers in here on minor league contracts, such as John Parrish (who has looked really good), Lance
Carter and Kane Davis, are better than last year's crew of Victor Zambrano. Parrish, Davis and Camp will all pitch in Monday's intrasquad
game along with Josh Banks, Mike Gosling, Tracy (Tree) Thorpe, David Purcey, Jamie Vermilyea, Jesse Carlson, Ryan Ketchner and
Jeremy Cummings.
