The “Glass Half Full” look at the Toronto’s week is that the Blue Jays won four of six from Monday to Sunday, climbing to third place in the American League East and sitting at 16-16 after 32 games.
Given how much the pitching staff has struggled, getting four wins in six tries against the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox is a positive and some members of the rotation have started to show signs of life. Aaron Sanchez went seven strong giving up two hits and no runs (but five more free passes) in blanking the BoSox on Friday and the bullpen was excellent, giving up just three hits and a single earned run all week.
The “Glass Half Empty” perspective is that R.A. Dickey continues to struggle, surrendering six runs on seven hits (two home runs) over six innings against the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon, blowing a chance and an opportunity to pull into a second-place tie with Tampa Bay.
After pitching well in his previous outing – three hits, one earned run over eight innings to get his first win of the year – the knuckleballer didn’t have his best pitch working for him in Sunday’s finale, giving up bombs to Mike Napoli and Pablo Sandoval before getting yanked after the sixth with the score 6-2.
Right now, this is a frustrating team to watch. Sanchez’ performance on Friday night was a glimpse at how good he can be, though his walk totals are staggering and cause for concern, and Russell Martin having bumped his average up a hundred points since the start of the month is outstanding, but at the same time, Jose Bautista is still batting just .220, Marco Estrada, who was great out of the ‘pen to start the year, was bad in his first start of the season, the trio of Dickey, Mark Buehrle and Drew Hutchison have a combined ERA of 5.84 in 20 starts.
Which of those trends and numbers are aberrations and which are the genuine article? Peering into our crystal ball here at Complex Canada HQ, it doesn’t look good.
Yes, this is a team that is always going to be able to put runs on the board and Bautista won’t hit .220 all season. Once Jose Reyes comes back (when is he coming back, anyway?), this squad will be even more potent, but the problem in Toronto has never been an inability to put crooked numbers on the scoreboard. It has been keeping the opposition from doing the same and despite a relatively good week against New York and Boston, it’s hard to feel confident with this group.
The no-name bullpen has been pretty solid all season, but how long can that hold up? Dickey hasn’t been anything more than a .500 pitcher and a guy that can eat up innings since arriving in Toronto and Hutchison has struggled to find consistency after entering the season with a ton of promise.
Perhaps the most ominous trend on the bump, however, is that the usually “quick out the gate before fading hard” Buerhle is getting knocked around pretty regularly thus far. Prior to going a smooth five to get a win over the Yankees at the start of the week, the veteran lefty gave up 24 hits and 13 earned runs over 10 innings in back-to-back losses to Tampa Bay and Cleveland.
Unless the starters start to find a groove and keep the run totals against down below three with some consistency, even this powerful offense won’t be enough to help the Jays end their extended playoff drought this season.
The Week Ahead: Toronto hits the road for three in Baltimore and four in Houston this week. In fact, their next off-day won’t arrive until May 28 following a 10-game home stand.
The good thing is that the Jays have already gone 5-1 against the struggling Orioles this season and after winning 10 straight through the early part of the month, the Astros have dropped five of their last seven, making this a good time for Toronto to string together some wins and try to close the gap on the division-leading Yankees.
