Tuesday, July 12, 2016

At the break, Jays looking good


The Toronto Blue Jays are looking good at the All Star Break - having won 8 of the last 10 games on the schedule - including a 7 game win streak.

Via espn/mlb http://espn.go.com/mlb/standings - retrieved 07/11/16

The team's starting pitching has reclaimed it's dominant position in the League with the 2nd lowest Team ERA - second only in the American League to the Cleveland Indians.

Tm        W   L  ERA    G      IP
CLE      52  36 3.63   87   801.0
TOR      51  40 3.76   90   823.2
HOU      48  41 3.87   88   813.2
SEA      45  44 3.95   88   795.1
CHW      45  43 4.02   87   789.2
KCR      45  43 4.18   87   774.2
LgAvg    45  44 4.29   88     789
BAL      51  36 4.35   86   773.0
TEX      54  36 4.42   89   806.0
BOS      49  38 4.43   86   778.0
NYY      44  44 4.45   87   771.1
LAA      37  52 4.52   88   784.1
TBR      34  54 4.57   87   773.2
DET      46  43 4.57   88   789.0
OAK      38  51 4.73   88   786.2
MIN      32  56 4.97   87   778.1
        671 657 4.29 1313 11838.1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/12/2016.

As well - in mid-June - the batting order started to purr.

The Jays are scoring more runs, conceding less runs, and playing pretty good defense.

Starting after a shut out loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on June 13th - the Jays scored 5 or more runs in 17 of their next 25 games up to the All Star Break - winning 16.

Leading the team with a .306 batting average, Josh Donaldson is having a career year again; and the bat of left fielder Michael Sanders, batting .298, is a pleasant surprise. Speaking of surprises, Darwin Berry at second base is hitting .296 !

And now all are re-joined by the bat of Tulowitzki, now sporting career average numbers. Since his return on June 18th - his activation off the DL(quad strain) - over those 20 games up to the break - Tulowitzki has hit .313 (25 hits in 80 at bats) with seven home runs and 20 RBI !

Encarnacion remains steady - slamming mistake pitches into the decks with god-like power. In a July 9, 2016 Sportsnet article titled, "Adjustments key to Encarnacion’s latest hot streak for Blue Jays" author Arden Zwelling writes,
"..in 34 games since the beginning of June he’s been one of the best hitters in baseball, batting .314/.430/.711 with 13 home runs and an even 25:25 strikeout to walk ratio."
(slash line = Batting Average / On Base Percentage / Slugging Percentage)

Pillar's contact has been better of late too, hitting .268 by the break. Pillar leads the team in at bats (plays every day), has 21 doubles, 2 triples to go with his 7 homeys.

Manager Gibbons is using tandems to fill in for Jose Bautita (injured - right big toe impact) in right field, using a combination of Ezequiel Carrera, and new guy, Junior Lake. Lake mostly comes off the bench, but gets a start in right the odd time - or a spell at first. Lake also pinch runs late in close games or in blow-outs to rest a starter.

After coming up from Buffalo in mid-June Lake had 10 AB's - and now in July - also 10. He's 2 for 4 when batting with runners in scoring position with 1 RBI. With his speed and base running smarts, he has changed the character of an innings several times. (The Blue Jays claimed Lake off waivers on December 15, 2015 from the Baltimore Orioles and was added to the active roster on June 24th.)

Starting Pitching

J.A. Happ has had 18 starts, 12 quality starts, and is 13-3 with a 3.36 ERA.

Aaron Sanchez has had 18 starts, 14 quality starts, 9-1 with a 2.97 ERA.

Marco Estrada has 16 starts, 12 quality starts, and is 5-3 with a 2.93 ERA.

Marcus Stroman has had 18 starts, 10 quality starts, is 10-7 with a 4.89 ERA.

R.A. Dickey has had 19 starts, 10 quality starts, is 7-9 with a 3.93 ERA.


Too Many Starters - Not Enough Starters

Rumor has it that Hutchinson is being looked at as a possible replacement in the starting staff for Aaron Sanchez - as sophomore-rookie's Innings Pitched totals rise to levels he has never worked before:

Aaron Sanchez IP by Year/League

2016 ... 118.1 IP (All Star Break)
2015 ..... 9.2 IP (injured - bull pen);
2014 ... 133.1 IP (100.1 IP Jays' AA, AAA clubs, 33 IP with the Blue Jays;
2013 ... 109.2 IP (A+ ball); and,
2012 .... 90.1 IP (A ball).

Drew Hutchinson started his first game in the majors since April on Thursday, July 7th - at home against Detroit in a spot start for injured starter Marco Estrada (15 Day DL) --- with some success:

Hutchison 2016                        IP  H R ER BB SO 
April 23 (Jays 6-3 Athletics)(W, 1-0) 5.2 4 2 2  3  5 
July 7th (Tigers 4-5 Jays)  (ND, 1-0) 6.0 6 3 3  1  7

The Jays immediately optioned him back to Buffalo (AAA) after the spot start.

Buffalo (triple-A) ... 87.1 IP / 6-3 / 3.13 ERA
Blue Jays (AL) ....... 12.2 IP / 1-0 / 4.97 ERA

Drew Hutchinson - Career

Year        Tm         Lg  W  L  ERA  G GS    IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO
2010   TOR-min        A-A  2  3 2.49 15 15  68.2  51  25  19  19  63
2011   TOR-min      AA+AA 14  5 2.53 28 27 149.1 120  51  42  35 171
2012   TOR-min         AA  2  1 2.16  3  3  16.2  16   4   4   3  12
2012       TOR         AL  5  3 4.60 11 11  58.2  59  31  30  20  49
2013   TOR-min FalAAAA+AA  2  5 4.26 16 15  57.0  54  32  27  20  62
2014       TOR         AL 11 13 4.48 32 32 184.2 173  92  92  60 184
2015   TOR-min        AAA  0  1 4.50  1  1   4.0   3   2   2   3   4
2015       TOR         AL 13  5 5.57 30 28 150.1 179 103  93  44 129
2016   TOR-min        AAA  6  3 2.78 15 15  87.1  62  30  27  31  97
2016       TOR         AL  1  0 4.97  3  2  12.2  13   7   7   4  12
4 Yrs                     30 21 4.92 76 73 406.1 424 233 222 128 374
162 Game Avg.             14 10 4.92 35 33   185 194 106 101  58 171

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/12/2016.

Just who will replace Sanchez in the starting rotation is as yet unclear. Manager John Gibbons has recently mentioned Jesse Chavez and Joe Biagini.


Relief Pitching

Roberto Osuna has appeared in 39 games and is 2-1 with 18 Saves in 39.2 IP; he has a very good Strike Outs per 9IP ratio of 10.89 with a 2.27 ERA

Jason Grilli appears to be the Set-up pitcher for the Closer Osuna (15 appearances, 13.2 IP, 2 Wins, 1 Loss, 1 Save and 4 Holds, 2.63 ERA)

Jesse Chavez doesn't seem to have a specific role on this team - he's brought in whenever Gibby thinks he needs him / thinks he can get away with using him: sometimes that's as a pitcher/batter match-up in a key situation; sometimes for one inning - or two; but most often he's asked to get 4 or 5 outs. Recently Gibby used him for 3 innings! Chavez has played in 33 games, has 9.17 K/9IP resulting in 0-2 win/loss record, 7 Holds and a 3.41 ERA.

Joe Biagini gets the ball for 1 or 2 innings and in May was very stingy with the runs allowed; but in June began to get into trouble more often and gave up sometimes multiple runs - sometimes without getting any outs! In July, with 4 appearance, he seems to be back to completing his innings while giving up a run, but not breaking. Biagini has 31 appearances, is 3-1 with a Save and 2 Holds with an excellent 2.91 ERA.

Drew Storen  has been given the ball for 3 outs and that's all he gets. He gets through innings by giving up hits but limiting the damage (when he's on), other times he gets into trouble and can't get himself out of it and multiple runs cross the plate. Storen has made 26 appearances, is 1-3 with 3 Saves and 8 Holds with a 5.63 ERA

Gavin Floyd - 4.06 ERA
Brett Cecil - 5.14 ERA
Chad Girodo - 4.35 ERA


All stats: Baseball Reference | http://www.baseball-reference.com/

Sportsnet July 9, 2016 | Adjustments key to Encarnacion’s latest hot streak for Blue Jays - by Arden Zwelling | http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/adjustments-key-encarnacions-latest-hot-streak-blue-jays/



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