Pirate Galaxy » doing. Its definitely something I

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida - When Ramon Ortiz throws a pitch in the first inning of Fridays game in Boston, he will become the oldest player (39 years and 352 days) to start a game for the Blue Jays since Dave Stieb (41 years, 55 days) on September 15, 1998. Its not how general manager Alex Anthoupolos drew it up. The rotation was supposed to be a strength coming in to the season, but injuries to Josh Johnson, J.A. Happ and Brandon Morrow mean Ortiz will take the ball at Fenway Park. "I think any time you lose members of your rotation, you can never replace those guys otherwise those guys would be in the rotation to begin with," said Anthopoulos. "You know youre not the first team to go through it, you know youre not going to go through a season using five starters, thats just reality." Compounding matters is the plight of Ricky Romero, who stood at his locker after Wednesday nights disastrous start and insisted he belonged in the major leagues. The Blue Jays clearly dont agree, having optioned the left-hander to Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday morning. Romero, working through a mechanical overhaul of his delivery, had but one minor league start prior to his recall last Friday. While the outing for class-A Dunedin was effective, it seemed unreasonable to expect Romero to perform at a high level so soon. In the wake of the Johnson arm injury was Romero recalled too soon? "Hindsight is 20-20, I dont know if we would have brought him up two weeks later, three weeks later, would this have occurred," said Anthopoulos. You look at other players, weve had Travis Snider go down and I know he doesnt pitch, but weve had position players go down for months, come back and have to go back down again. Sometimes it takes time." "Its easy to say now, but under the circumstances, I know Danes been working with him hard," said pitching coach Pete Walker. "The reports have been great – even the side sessions, bullpens, simulated games, extended games, Dunedin. Looking back, I guess thats easy to say from the outside but I know the reports that Dane had and the people that have seen him down there were all very positive. I can see why. I see some good results in what hes done, but they just didnt translate on the field." So Romero will pitch for Buffalo, for an unspecified amount of time, under the tutelage of Bisons pitching coach Bob Stanley. Roving pitching instructor Dane Johnson, whos worked with Romero since March, will continue to consult but is expected to be less hands-on. The rotation for the series at Fenway Park is expected to be Ortiz on Friday, Mark Buehrle on Saturday and Morrow on Sunday, health permitting. Then comes an unusual scheduling quirk. The Jays have Monday off and play a two-game series against the Giants on Tuesday and Wednesday before another off day on Thursday. The club will be able to work a four-man starting rotation until May 21, the next time a fifth starter will be needed. Its unlikely Johnson, whos just started playing catch as he works through triceps inflammation, would be ready to pitch by then. In fact, the Blue Jays have pegged the 21st as the day of Johnsons first minor league rehab start. In the meantime, J.A. Happ is expected to need four to six weeks of recovery time after suffering a skull fracture and sprained right knee when he was hit in the head by a line drive on Tuesday night. DOWN ON THE FARM Right-hander Roberto Osuna, 18, one of the Blue Jays top pitching prospects may be headed for Tommy John Surgery. Osuna, who has pitching for class-A Lansing, left his last start with discomfort in his elbow. "He went and got examined by Dr. Andrews and right now they said just to give him a few days and start playing catch," said Anthopoulos. "Hes going to throw to 60-feet (on Friday.) Right now its basically rest and rehab. But there is a scenario if he does have a flare up again in the next few weeks that ultimately he may need Tommy John." Marcus Stroman, 22, is eligible to be reinstated from a 50-game drug-related suspension on May 19. Anthopoulos says Stroman, who the Blue Jays took with the 22nd overall pick in last Junes draft, was topping out at 96-mph on his fastball in an extended spring training start earlier this week. Expect Stroman to be assigned to Double-A New Hampshire when his suspension ends.Jim Kelly Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Cody Ford Youth Jersey . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. http://www.authenticbillsfanaticfootball.com/authentic-oj-simpson-bills-jersey/ . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. TreDavious White Youth Jersey . -- Lou Brocks shoulder-to-shoulder collision with Bill Freehan during the 1968 World Series and Pete Roses bruising hit on Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game could become relics of baseball history, like the dead-ball era. Bruce Smith Bills Jersey . LOUIS -- Cardinals cleanup hitter Allen Craig says hes recovered from a foot injury and ready to be put on St.It was the State of Origin selection gamble that could change the course of Matt Moylans career.As NSW celebrated their 18-14 win over Queensland in game three, Moylan revealed how he is now eyeing a career move into the halves after ensuring Laurie Daleys five-eighth experiment paid big dividends on Wednesday night.Daleys decision to play Moylan alongside James Maloney came despite the NSW coach insisting during Origin build-up that Jack Bird would start the game.But Moylan admitted he knew that he was going to be in the run-on side from the moment he joined the training camp.I told a few people, told family that I was playing six. I just had to keep it under wraps from you guys (the media), Moylan said.Queensland tested Moylan from the kick-off, forcing him to make four successive tackles in the first set of six.Its something I was expecting, Moylan said.Having not played there for a while I was expecting a bit of traffic down our edge. I just had to get in front and make my tackles.But the extra workload failed to blunt his attack as he came up with two crucial line-break assists to offset two turnovers despite never playing an NRL game at pivot.I really enjoyed it. You get a bit more involved there and get your hands on the ball a bit earlier in a different sort of situation, Moylan said.ddddddddddddMoylans five-eighth role for NSW could now force the hand of Panthers coach Anthony Griffin.Griffin toyed with moving Moylan to the halves in the pre-season before shelving the idea after two trial games.Now Moylan is warming to a permanent move to five-eighth.Its something that I enjoy doing. Its definitely something I want to keep doing and consider playing there, he said.Its up to those back at the club, where they want me to play, and what `Loz, the coaching staff and selectors are thinking here.Having played fullback for all of my career in grade, and having got the opportunity to play six here tonight, Im not too sure there whether its just a one-off or if Im playing fullback.Daley was satisfied with Moylans contribution.Hes a player, and footy players can handle whatever. Obviously there was a couple of things there that he couldve done better, but for his first crack in this arena, hes pretty good, he said. ' ' '