Brett Cecil Shines in His First Two Starts

5/5 vs Cleveland: 6 IP, 1 ER, 6 K, ND

5/10 vs Oakland: 8 IP, 0 ER, 6 K, 2 BB, Win

In two MLB starts, Brett Cecil has shown us a quality start, and a lights out start.

The quality start came in his major league debut versus the middle of the offensive pack Cleveland Indians. What I liked in this start was his ability to challenge hitters inside. He was truly fearless with his slider as he showed enough faith in it to throw it in any count.

The lights out start came versus the woeful Oakland Athletics. .236/.310/.340 you say?

Sounds like a good lineup to face in your second major league start. Brett made the Oakland Offense look like he was back wearing a Las Vegas 51’s uniform. It isn’t that base runners were at a premium. Oakland managed to get 5 hits and draw 2 walks. Cecil was simply lights out when throwing from the stretch, limiting Oakland to a familiar run total of 0.

Oakland has been struggling mightily versus left handers. The team batting average is a mere .205 when facing south paws.

Some notes of interest about Brett Cecil: coming out of the draft in 2007 many scouts had him tabbed as a reliever, and he was Maryland’s closer, despite the fact that many scouts thought he should have been a starter all along.

His 2007 draft report indicates that scouts thought that his lack of a change up would leave him with nothing to throw to right handed hitters. His AA numbers show a .210 opponent batting average versus right handers. This evaluation has clearly been tested and disproven.

These first two starts are quite the way to start a major league career. Blue Jay fans have reason to be quite optimistic about Cecil possibly being a solid number two starter behind Roy Halladay.

Brett Cecil and Alex Rios Are Great, Jays Beat A’s[Tom Dakers / Blue Bird Banter]