The Toronto Blue Jays have performed below expectations throughout the first month of the season, despite Tuesday’s walk-off win.
The club ranks sixth in the American League in runs scored, the relievers have accumulated a 1-9 record, and only the Houston Astros have struck out more times.
While the lack of production beyond the rotation is concerning, the Blue Jays have plenty of time. Still, it’s already been long enough for some old friends to make early impressions elsewhere.
You know Blue Jays fans love to use hindsight to complain about previous personnel decisions (just listen to Mike Wilner’s show on Sportsnet 590 The Fan).
So in the second edition of the 2016 ex-files, we’ll look at how 12 prominent former Blue Jays have fared in the first month of the season.
David Price, Boston Red Sox: Price has accumulated a misleading 4-0 record in his first six starts for the Red Sox; he also sports a troubling 6.14 ERA with four home runs allowed in 36.2 innings. His most promising sign: Price has racked up 49 strikeouts with only nine walks, which is the 14th best strikeout-to-walk ratio in all of baseball.
Noah Syndergaard, New York Mets: Close your eyes, Blue Jays fans. The former Blue Jays prospect, who was acquired by the Mets in the trade for R.A. Dickey, has developed into one of the top pitchers in MLB. The 23-year-old fireballer has been dominant in his first five starts of the season, going 2-1 with a 2.51 ERA, 44 strikeouts, six walks, and just one home run allowed in 44.1 innings. He ranks second among all pitchers in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), via FanGraphs’ metrics.
Colby Rasmus, Houston Astros: The Astros outfielder was one of the hottest power hitters in April, hitting seven home runs with an impressive .979 OPS. Rasmus’ production has slowed down lately as the former Blue Jay is in the midst of 3-for-29 slump with just two RBI and nine strikeouts that has lowered his batting average to .230.
Dioner Navarro, Chicago White Sox: With Russell Martin struggling at the plate, it had to be tough for Blue Jays fans to see Navarro, a popular former Blue Jay, have such a productive series when he visited Toronto with his new club. Overall, though, Navarro’s overall offensive numbers have been rather lousy, as the veteran catcher is batting just .172/.206/.328 with two home runs, nine RBI, and 12 strikeouts in 63 plate appearances. But how great was it to see Navarro hit a triple at the Rogers Centre?
Brett Lawrie, Chicago White Sox: The energetic infielder has fit in quite well with an improved White Sox club, which leads the American League with a 19-8 record. Lawrie, 26, has homered in three of his last four games and now has an impressive .284/.382/.495 batting line with four home runs and 10 RBI in 110 plate appearances. However, his strikeouts remain an issue (29 so far after a career high 144 last year).
Mark Lowe, Detroit Tigers: Lowe provided stability to the middle of the Blue Jays’ bullpen after a mid-season trade in 2015, and the veteran right-hander is producing in a similar role for the Detroit Tigers. The 32-year-old has allowed three earned runs in 9.2 innings (2.79 ERA) and has yet to allow a home run. Lowe hasn’t given up a run in his last six relief appearances for the 14-11 Tigers.
Munenori Kawasaki, Chicago Cubs: Kawasaki got a brief stint in the majors with the first-place Cubs after Kyle Schwarber went on the DL, but the eccentric infielder appeared in just two games before he was optioned back to triple-A on Apr. 15.
Ben Revere, Washington Nationals: The Revere-Drew Storen trade hasn’t worked out for either side early in 2016 as the speedy outfielder appeared in just one regular-season game with Washington before going on the DL with an oblique injury. The 28-year-old Revere played a full nine innings of centre field at triple-A Syracuse on a rehab stint Tuesday and could re-join the Nationals as soon as this weekend.
Liam Hendriks, Oakland Athletics: The Blue Jays might have sold high on Hendriks after a career year in 2015 as the Australian reliever has not performed well with Oakland thus far. The 27-year-old has a 7.36 ERA with two home runs allowed in 14.2 innings of work. His strikeout numbers provide some promise as Hendriks has racked up over a strikeout per inning (18 strikeouts in 14.2 innings), but he didn’t make the best impression on one of his former teammates when the Athletics played the Blue Jays last month.
Cliff Pennington, Los Angeles Angels: Pennington is playing the Darwin Barney role for the Los Angeles Angels after a brief stint in Toronto last season. Blue Jays fans aren’t likely to be too upset about losing Pennington, who is hitting just .182 with one home run and a .653 OPS — not that anyone was reasonably expecting big offensive production from the utilityman.
THE MINOR LEAGUERS
Jeff Hoffman, Colorado Rockies: Hoffman, who was traded to Colorado for Troy Tulowitzki last July, opened the season with triple-A Albuquerque and has done very well over his first five starts, going 2-0 with a 1.52 ERA, 25 strikeouts and nine walks in 29.2 innings. He’s expected to make his major-league debut at some point in 2016.
Daniel Norris, Detroit Tigers: Norris, who went to Detroit in the Price deal last summer, suffered a back injury in spring training while he was battling for a spot in the Tigers’ rotation. He spent most of April on the disabled list before being activated and immediately optioned to triple-A on Apr. 26. In total, Norris has accumulated a 6.92 ERA in 13 innings with Toledo.