DUNEDIN -- A.J. Burnett breezed through his batting practice session Friday afternoon, punctuating his outing with a stylish fist knock with bullpen coach Bruce Walton. Burnett didn't throw much over the winter, so he's behind the rest of the teams Major League pitchers.
"When he came in, we had the plan that he wanted to go a little bit slower and usual, so that's what we decided to do," said pitching coach Brad Arnsberg. "He's really two days behind the group he was supposed to be with. He'll be off (Saturday) and then go Sunday. He won't go into the intra-squad games (on the 25th and 26th) but he'll be on line to give us an inning or two once we open our (Grapefruiut League) games so he really isn't all that far behind.
"He just wanted to take it a little bit slower than the rest of the guys."
Burnett threw effortlessly and showed good control.
Meanwhile, two other Blue Jays pitchers who are also behind had good days. Gustavo Chacin's session was such that manager John Gibbons has pencilled him in for an inning in an inter-squad game on Feb. 26. B.J. Ryan threw in the bullpen and has another bullpen session on Monday, after which the Blue Jays hope he'll meet with Dr. Timothy Kremchek, the Cincinnati-based surgeon who performed Ryan's Tommy John tendon transplant surgery. Kremchek's recovery plan for Ryan called for 10-12 bullpen sessions before he could throw batting practice. Monday's bullpen will be his 10th.
"He's still lacking a little feel for the ball," said Arnsberg. "It's his arm arm slot. Last year when we came into camp, he couldn't keep it up and now at times he's too high and missing the lower half of the zone. All indications are he's making good strides and we have to protect
him from himself."
It was a late start for the Blue Jays because of picture day. That's the day early in spring training when players in uniform shuttle between station to station to pose for photographers for the Topps folks and other still photographers and camera men. Other than Burnett's outing, the highlight was probably former first-round pick David Purcey, a left-hander who was chosen in the first round of the 2004 draft and could very easily be this year's Jesse Litsch. Litsch, incidentally, will throw out of the No. 5 starters spot when the Grapefruit League games get going, although don't read too much into that.
