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It rained here this morning, poured actually. I’ll have to work on my tan tomorrow.
The inclement weather forced many of the early bird Blue Jays’ players who have already arrived here in advance of Saturday’s official start of camp for pitchers and catchers indoors to the batting cages.
Others took the opportunity to crowd around a television in the weight room to watch live coverage of Roger Clemens sweating bullets as he gave testimony before a Congressional hearing of his alleged use of performance enhancing drugs.
As I am not allowed into the inner sanctum of the weight room I took refuge inside the batting cage to watch Gary Denbo, the personable new hitting coach for the Jays, put several players through their paces, including young outfielder Adam Lind.
“He’s got great potential,” Denbo said of Lind, who split time with the Jays and at Syracuse in Triple-A last season. In 89 games with the Jays Lind swatted 11 home runs.
“There’s a noticeable difference when he swings the bat, the sound that the ball makes when it comes off the bat,” Denbo continues. “And it’s a good sound. He’s able to generate tremendous bat speed and he does it easily which is something I think is a trade mark of a lot of great hitters, that they don’t require a lot of effort to generate bat speed.
"It's what I shot for all winter," Ryan said. "You bust your tail the whole time and put myself in a situation where you can break with the team."
Ryan said he thinks his elbow is nearly as good as it was before the season-ending surgery nine months ago.
"I'm probably a couple of bullpen (sessions) short of where I would have been if I didn't have the surgery," Ryan said. "It feels good right now, I am where I need to be."
Ryan signed a US$55-million, five-year contract with Toronto on Nov. 28, 2005. After saving 38 games with a 1.37 ERA in 2006, he appeared in just five games last season, blowing two opportunities and posting a 0-2 record with a 12.45 ERA.
He said he worked hard during the winter and has thrown off the mound five times, the last couple times throwing all his pitches.
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