David Purcey's return to the Blue Jays is bittersweet in many ways. He began the season as one of the surefire starting pitchers, then quickly fizzled out and was sent to work on his stuff down in the minor leagues.
That's why it comes as a surprise that Purcey was "promoted" and called up to the Blue Jays when there were arguably much better potions in Triple A Las Vegas. Last season and earlier this year, Purcey showed moments of brilliance. Most notably his start on Aug. 27, 2008, versus Matt Garza in which he basically matched him pitch for pitch.
That gem of a game was overshadowed by his knack for missing the strike zone when it counted most. The fellas at Mop Up Duty touched on this earlier this year, but Purcey hasn't really improved his control down in the minor leagues. His BB/9 was 6.31 with the Blue Jays and is still hovering around 5.04 with the Las Vegas 51's. Brad Arnsberg must have a master plan here and is hoping that he can do the same for David Purcey that he did with Ricky Romero.
I would have much rather seen Fabio Castro called up, alas there is only one way to find out if Purcey can cut it in the big leagues once again. It's just unfortunate that in his September callup, Purcey's team mates will be going up against Justin Verlander. Good luck with that one, boys.
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