DL getting a tad crowded

Even by the Blue Jays' hard luck standard of players on the disabled list, it was a devastating day. Three top pitchers - ace Roy Halladay, closer Scott Downs and starter Casey Janssen - were filed onto a disabled list that already harboured three other starters. The obvious question, regarding the club's maintenance of its pitchers, focused on the Jays' pitching coaches to trainers and strength and conditioning specialists. But in spite of an abnormally busy day on the DL, the organization remains firm in the belief that the collective health of its pitchers is being maintained to the most effective and exacting standards. "That's a fair question," Jays GM J.P. Ricciardi said yesterday when asked if there are any organizational concerns over the fact that injuries have claimed five starters this season and hampered several other pitchers. "And we always do look at it ... we look at it from a strength and conditioning standpoint, we look at it from a training standpoint; what are we doing from those standpoints and more. "And I can't say we've done anything that would lead me to believe we're putting players in harm's way. We will get Janssen back, we will get (Shaun) Marcum back, we will get (Jesse) Litsch back. But when you're dealing with (injuries), they're all individual." Meanwhile, yesterday afternoon, Major League Baseball named Jays trainer George Poulis as one of two trainers for the American League all-star team. The Jays took a cautious approach with their ace, shutting Halladay down for 15 days, retroactive to June 13, the day after he suffered a strain to his groin muscles in a game against the Florida Marlins. Halladay, a 10-game winner and widely regarded as the game's best pitcher, is eligible to return June 28 when the Jays play host to the defending World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies. The Jays ace tested his injury in Philadelphia yesterday, but was placed on the shelf after feeling discomfort in the injured area. "I feel a lot better," Halladay said after his bullpen session. "It's just that I still feel a little bit of tightness. It's terrible timing but sometimes you have to swallow your pride. A couple of extra days (off) might save me a lot of time (later)." In the meantime, the team also placed Downs on the DL due to a strained toe. Downs suffered the injury running out a ground ball in Tuesday's interleague game in Philadelphia, where AL pitchers must make like their NL counterparts and take part in the offence. Downs apparently strained his toe on the first step he took out of the box, and manager Cito Gaston was furious afterwards, calling for a moratorium on interleague games if Major League Baseball continues with the practice of having AL pitchers take at-bats in NL parks. The Jays have recalled former closer Jeremy Accardo from Triple-A Las Vegas to fill Downs' roster spot. Toronto also placed Janssen on the 15-day DL due to inflammation in his right shoulder. That made for a hectic day of scrambling to fill in the rotation and bullpen. The first step was to summon lefty Brad Mills from Las Vegas to take Janssen's start today in Philadelphia. With Downs out of the closer's role until early July, Gaston mentioned Jason Frasor, Brandon League and Jesse Carlson as possible replacements. Deposed ninth-inning man B.J. Ryan was not named. Mills' start today will mark the fifth time this season a Jays pitcher has made his major-league debut due to injury. He will also be the 11th starter used by the Jays this season. While the injuries keep piling up, the club entered yesterday's game with 311 man-games lost to injury, nowhere near the 951 lost in 2007, or the 781 lost last season. In Janssen's case, this marks the second time this season the right-hander has bowed out due to a setback from shoulder surgery that kept him sidelined for the entire 2008 season. Litsch underwent season-ending elbow surgery last Friday. Marcum (elbow) and Dustin McGowan (shoulder) were already lost - possibly for the entire 2009 season - after surgical procedures last fall. That's four-fifths of the projected starting rotation for 2009. And that's not counting other problems sidelining Ricky Romero, Ryan and Robert Ray. "We've looked at our DL time ... and we rank 17th in all of Baseball, so it's not like we're top five," Ricciardi noted. "There's not any one thing that is telling us we're doing something wrong or that we should be doing something different. But we'd be stupid if we didn't look at those things."