Gästebereich » for some openings in the outfield coming

TORONTO - Kevin Pillar doesnt know how long his second shot with the Blue Jays will last but hes here, excited to play and eager to use the opportunity to showcase the strides hes made toward becoming a consistent major league player. Amongst Torontos starting outfielders, only Jose Bautista is signed for next season. Colby Rasmus and Melky Cabrera are in the final year of their deals. "I think guys like myself, guys like Anthony (Gose), know that theres potential for some openings in the outfield coming up," said Pillar. "Were really here to just take care of our business. Any time you get to go out on a big league field its an audition, not only for your team but all the other 29 teams out there. As guys who play the game we want to play in the major leagues. Ideally we want to play for the Blue Jays, theyre the team that drafted me and theyre dear to my heart but anytime you step onto the field you know its an audition for a major league job somewhere." Pillar joins the club red-hot at the plate. After stumbling out of the gate to a .114 batting average (5-for-44), Pillar has gone 38-for-97 (.392) since, which included an 18-game hitting streak. At the time of his recall, hed reached base safely in each of Triple-A Buffalos last 26 games. His nine walks represent an upward trend over his time with the Bisons last year. Pillar has struck out 16 times which, prorated, is a positive trend downward. "Just getting back, using the whole field and being aggressive in counts, hunting the heater and getting better pitches to hit," said Pillar of his early-season adjustments. "Kev, in the minor leagues last year, had a tremendous year," said manager John Gibbons. "He came up here, got his feet wet and it was a little bit of a struggle for him last year. Went back down there to Triple-A this year and really got it going again. Hes a good baseball player. A real good defender, good baserunner and the guy can hit." Like Chad Jenkins and Jonathan Diaz (the man whose roster spot he took – Diaz was optioned to Buffalo on Tuesday) the day before, Pillars travel day began in Charlotte and involved a complicated path to Toronto. He flew from Charlotte to Baltimore, changed planes and flew into Buffalo. After quick stops at his apartment to gather clothes and toiletries and at the Bisons home, Coca Cola Field, where he transferred his equipment to a bag with a Blue Jays logo, he picked up the waiting car service for the drive to Toronto. This time when Pillar arrived in the clubhouse, he knew what to expect. He knew where to go to find what he needed. Its nice to feel comfortable. "That was a huge difference compared to last time," said Pillar. "Coming in, I walked in on egg shells. I didnt really know anyone here. I was greeted with open arms. At least I knew where my locker was, I knew where things were at this time. Its definitely a different feeling this time." "Hes coming back the second time, you know the shock, now he knows what to expect, said Gibbons. "The awe of the big leagues is kind of out the way now. The first time you show up you dont know what to expect and youre kind of overwhelmed or you can be sometimes." Pillar started in centerfield in place of Colby Rasmus on Tuesday night. Rasmus is nursing a tight right hamstring, the condition of which Rasmus said was improving. After Monday nights game, in which Rasmus was removed to start the seventh, Gibbons offered that maybe Rasmus was in need of a stint on the disabled list. Rasmus is hoping to avoid the DL and by Tuesday afternoon Gibbons had changed his tone, sounding hopeful Rasmus would need only a day or two on the bench. Meanwhile, while hes here, Pillar just wants to relax. "I dont have those same butterflies that I did six months ago when I came here the first time," said Pillar. "I kind of feel like Im here on a business trip and Im prepared." 49ers Jerseys China . 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Authentic Dante Pettis Jersey .com) - The Toronto Raptors set their sights on a second straight victory with the Oklahoma City Thunder visiting the Air Canada Centre tonight riding a two game streak of their own. LONDON -- A three-man independent panel will investigate cyclings doping past, including allegations the sports governing body colluded with Lance Armstrong. UCI President Brian Cookson said Wednesday the commission will investigate allegations "that the UCI has been involved in wrongdoing in the past -- allegations which have done so much to hurt the credibility of the UCI and our sport." The probe is expected to centre on the UCIs handling of doping in the late 1990s and early 2000s, especially its links with Armstrong. Much could hinge on whether Armstrong and former UCI presidents Hein Verbrugggen and Pat McQuaid agree to testify. The UCI and Verbruggen have been accused of protecting Armstrong and helping cover up his doping. The American was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and banned from Olympic sports for life after admitting to doping. The investigative panel will be based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and will be called the Cycling Independent Reform Commission. Cookson said he wants the investigation completed this year. The commission will be chaired by Dick Marty, a Swiss politician and former Swiss state prosecutor. The other members are German anti-doping expert Ulrich Haas and Peter Nicholson, a former Australian military officer and war crimes investigator. "Their work will also be focused on understanding what went so wrong in our sport and they will make recommendations for change so that as far as possible those mistakes are not repeated," Cookson said in a statement. In an interview published by Britains Daily Mail in November, Armstrong said Verbruggen helped him cover up doping at the 1999 Tour de France. Verbruggen dismissed it as a "ridiculous story." Armstrong said Verbruggen insisted "weve got to come up with something" to explain his positive tests for a banned corticosteroid. The UCI accepted Armstrongs backdated prescription for a cream to treat saddle sores, allowing him to stay in the race. He went on to win the first of his seven Tours. The UCI panel is also expected to investigate whether $125,000 donated by Armstrong was paid to cover up suspiccious doping tests.dddddddddddd Creation of the panel was one of the main campaign pledges of Cookson, a Briton who unseated Irelands McQuaid in the UCI presidential election in October. Cookson said the panel will have complete access to UCI files and electronic data that was seized by investigators within minutes of his election. The panel will seek testimony from current and past riders and officials. The UCI is working with the World Anti-Doping Agency on what type of incentives to offer witnesses in exchange for their co-operation. Cookson has said Armstrong would be among those invited to testify before the UCI panel, as well as Verbruggen and McQuaid. Armstrong has said he would co-operate with any international commission on cyclings doping past. He is seeking a reduction in his life ban. Armstrong has so far refused to provide sworn testimony to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. It was USADAs detailed report in 2012 of drug use by Armstrongs U.S. Postal Service team that led to him being stripped of the Tour championships he won from 1999 to 2005. USADA has said the only chance to lessen the penalty is to answer questions under oath. Armstrong said on Twitter on Tuesday that "my position remains unchanged" and he plans on "co-operating openly & honestly" with any UCI commission that contacts him. He tweeted that "I can also confirm that neither myself nor anyone on my team has been contacted by the UCI or the independent commission." Cookson said the UCI will cover the full budget of the commission, which will operate "completely independently of the UCI" and receive no instructions from the body. Haas, a German professor of law at the University of Zurich, is an experienced judge at the Court of Arbitration for Sport who has been involved in prominent cycling cases. Haas was the chosen arbitrator of Alberto Contadors legal team on the three-man panel which eventually stripped the Spanish rider of his 2010 Tour de France victory and banned him for two years. The panel decided that Contadors positive test for clenbuterol was caused by a contaminated supplement. ' ' '