ON THE MARK.

SPRINGTIME IN TORONTO AND (ALMOST) ALL IS WELL.

In this space a few weeks ago I was concerned for Brett Lawrie's health.  This was after he had to take a pass on Team Canada at the WBC because of a ribcage injury.  In fact, he hasn't played since March 6th, and now he'll begin the season on the DL.   What this does is create an opportunity at third base.  With Lawrie out for an extended period, Jays manager John Gibbons must determine who the best bet is at the hot corner.    Here now is my projected starting lineup for Opening Day, Tuesday April 2nd.

6-Reyes
4-Bonifacio
7-M. Cabrera
9-Bautista
3-Encarnacion
D-Lind
8-Rasmus
2-Arencibia
5-Izturis

What do you think?  Tons of speed at the top of the order, major RBI guys in the middle, and if Lind can show some of the form he flashed after being recalled from Las Vegas, it makes for a pretty formidable lineup.    Sure, there are questions surrounding Romero, and, to a lesser extent, the bullpen, but look at that offensive firepower.   I'd like to see a foot race between Reyes, Bonifacio, Rajai Davis and Anthony Gose, who will start the year in Buffalo.  I'd like to see a Homerun Derby involving Bautista and Encarnacion, and maybe even Lind.   And I'd like to see a pitch-off between Dickey, Buehrle, Johnson and Morrow.    I'll tell you one thing.  2013 is going to be a FUN year for Bluejays fans.

And it looks like a great spring for Maple Leaf supporters as well (easy now, don't get ahead of yourself.)
All the bitching and moaning last week about "only" getting a point against teams like Pittsburgh, Winnipeg and Buffalo turned out to be foolish, as those three points were enough to keep the Leafs in the playoff race, and rather comfortably at that.   I'm sure they would have "settled" for just a point against Boston on Saturday night, but they earned two.  Jake Gardiner seems to have graduated from the Marlies for good; James Reimer is, as Brian Burke once proclaimed "the real deal", and if the #1 line of Bozak, Kessel and JVR starts playing up to their potential, the Leafs are a legitimate threat in the East.  Seriously, they've proven they can beat the Bruins, the Habs and even the Penguins.   The teams they have trouble with are the Jets and Hurricanes, and to a lesser extent, the Senators.   The Leafs can physically beat up on their opponents, and if they do happen to commit infractions, it's not as bad as in previous years because Toronto's penalty killing is at 85.3%, good for 5th in the league.   Do you know how good that is?   In the previous 7 seasons, the Leafs PK was 28th, 27th, 30th, 30th, 29th, 28th, 24th, and averaged somewhere in the neighbourhood of 75% success rate.  No wonder they haven't been able to make the playoffs. 
     I'm not saying that their ability to kill off a two minute minor is going to be the difference between making the playoffs and not.   What I AM saying is this:  Special teams win or lose in the playoffs.   The Leafs PP has a ways to go, but being able to kill off a penalty at a key time provides a tremendous boost to the morale of a team and allows a player to be more aggressive without worrying about taking a penalty and costing his team the game.   The 5th best PK in the entire league?   That could go a long way in determining the Leafs post-season success.   And yes, they WILL make the post-season.