To suggest the Toronto Blue Jays' starting pitching has struggled over the opening six weeks or so of the 2015 Major League Baseball season would be putting it nicely. Outside of a solid showing during their opening series of the year against the New York Yankees, we could pretty much count the number of quality starts the Jays have received from their rotation on one hand.
However, that all changed over the last eight days. While Toronto managed to put together a rather disappointing 3-5 mark over that time frame, it is no fault of the starting pitching. Outside of Todd Redmond’s spot start against the Los Angeles Angels last Monday afternoon -- ironically enough, a game in which the Blue Jays actually won by a score of 10-6 -- no starter has pitched fewer than six and two thirds of an inning.
Despite losing both of his starts, Mark Buehrle arguably had his two finest outings of the season in falling to the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners. Aaron Sanchez continued to impress with pair of quality starts, winning one and losing one but pitching a total of fourteen innings while giving up just five runs and -- more importantly -- walking only five batters. The twenty-two year old has been rock-solid in three of his last four starts and looks to finally be getting comfortable in his skin as a starter at the MLB level.
Drew Hutchison continued his up and down campaign with another good start against Mike Scioscia’s underperforming side, but thanks to yet another iffy performance from the Jays bullpen, he dropped his first decision of the year despite probably being the biggest disappointment of the rotation over the first month and a half of the season. Marco Estrada looked very good on Friday night against the Mariners, but, unfortunately for him, seven strong innings were nowhere near enough to help Toronto get past the now 7-1 Felix Hernandez.
With that said, perhaps the biggest positive of all was the performance John Gibbons received from R.A. Dickey on Thursday evening against Mike Trout and company. While his complete-game effort was by far and away his best of the year, the fact his knuckleball actually moved like a “typical” Dickey knuckler for the first time in ages was the most pleasant surprise of all. After striking out a combined total of seven batters over his previous five starts, he matched that number against a fairly strong lineup, albeit one that has yet to find its groove in 2015.
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Reyes Set To Return Against White Sox
After going one for four against the Boston Red Sox on April 27th and still unable to bat from both sides of plate, Toronto decided to shut Jose Reyes down and allow him time to heal a cracked rib that had been hampering him for some time. The talented shortstop will finally be making his return to the starting lineup on Monday night against the visiting Chicago White Sox.
In the twenty-six games he has missed since his most recent trip to the DL, Toronto has gone 11-15, and with the likes of Devon Travis and Michael Saunders joining him on the sidelines and a severely hampered Jose Bautista doing all that he can to stay in the starting nine on a daily basis, albeit as a designated hitter, this lineup could really benefit from the veteran sparkplug being inserted into his usual spot atop the Blue Jays' batting order.
While Toronto’s offence remains the best in baseball, it has taken a massive hit of late due to all the injuries and has actually cost them a shot at winning more than a few games over the last couple of weeks. Adding Reyes back into the mix should help reignite the game's most feared attack and allow the likes of Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Russell Martin to hit with runners on base.
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Bautista Receives Cortisone Shot
After doing his very best to contribute on nightly basis, Jose Bautista was forced to sit out Sunday’s series finale against the aforementioned Mariners. While the long-time Blue Jay has been battling shoulder pain since injuring his throwing arm on April 21 against the Baltimore Orioles, the time had come for the thirty-four-year-old to take some time off after receiving a cortisone shot to help with his ailing right shoulder.
Despite being unable to lift his arm enough to throw a baseball, Bautista has still managed to be fairly productive over his last twenty-six games. While his traditionally strong power numbers have taken a bit of a hit, the former Home Run King has still driven in fifteen runs with seven doubles, three homers and a .387 on base percentage. Chances are he will miss the first game or two against Chicago, though the team has not given any indication just how long he will be held out of action.
With the Blue Jays set to kick off the interleague portion of their schedule a week from today in Washington against Bryce Harper and the red-hot Nationals, the hope is they will have Bautista back in time for that series. One thing is clear: this team can ill-afford to be without one of its most dangerous hitters for any extended period of time, and in a perfect world, he will be back in right field on a permanent basis.