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.
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| 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.
Hutchison clearly 6th on #BlueJays' rotation depth chart. Beyond that less obvious. Gibbons pointed to Chavez & Biagini as possibilities.— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) July 4, 2016
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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