Just like that, Masai Ujiri has gone from making crude jokes about Paul Pierce saying his team lacks ‘it’ to looking for ‘it.’ After suffering a four-game sweep by the Washington Wizards, the Teflon is starting to peel away from the Toronto Raptors – from their head coach Dwane Casey to GM Ujiri to the on-court core of the team.
The sweep was the kind of total capitulation that makes people think something is wrong with the guts of a team, that it’s not simply a matter of one or two subtractions and additions. It is Casey who will come under immediate scrutiny, because even though Ujiri said he didn’t need to see his team win a playoff round to detect tangible improvement from last season’s seven-game ouster by the Brooklyn Nets … he surely needed more than this, no? Casey spent much of the regular season being a killjoy as the Raptors rolled up some easy wins, telling one and all that his teams style of play and the lop-sided reliance on offence was unsustainable. Casey gets marks for being right on the money; what Ujiri needs to decide is whether offering a correct analysis makes up for being unable to prescribe an answer – and, if he’s as honest as I think he is, Ujiri will also need to balance off his role in the construction of the team.
DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry aren’t going anywhere, by virtue of contract and importance. They’ll play for Casey or whoever’s coaching the team. Jonas Valanciunas’ skills demand he remain. For a team with dynamic payroll flexibility, those are three good building blocks.
As for the rest? There will be a clearout of bench players, including Sixth Man of he Year Lou Williams, whose game became a liability down the stretch and in the playoffs, and it wouldn’t surprise to see the can tied to Terrence Ross in the off-season. Whatever you think of Casey as a coach, it’s tough to not say he’s had a positive impact on the career arcs of Valanciunas, DeRozan and Lowry. Ross is an outlier; a player with an allergy to the muck and mire of post-season play, whose true colors were shown when he failed miserably to take advantage of the opportunity afforded him when DeRozan was hurt.
If nothing else, the series makes it easy for Ujiri to make a call on Amir Johnson, the popular forward whose health woes and reliance on hustle have too often left him exposed. Much of the argument for retaining Johnson was his importance to the Raptors locker-room dynamic. That was a selling point last season and up until about two weeks ago. No more, not after Sunday night.
DH IN THE CARDS
It is the most consequential injury of the Major League season – perhaps, the most consequential we’ll see in 2015 – and it happened when Adam Wainwright blew an Achilles tendon legging out an infield pop-up on Saturday. I’ll say it again: pitchers shouldn’t be hitting; the designated hitter should be in place in both the American and National League.
It will happen, in time. It is an easier transition to adding a hitter to each NL team that making AL pitchers hit, and given how Major League Baseball is so concerned about a lack of offence in the game, using the DH in both leagues seems an obvious answer – a more logical one, certainly, then perhaps restricting defensive shifts or making other rule tweaks.
Wainwright’s Achilles injury – if, indeed, it results in him missing a year as an MRI is expected to confirm – is more damaging than, say, Yu Darvish’s Tommy John because nobody expected the Texas Rangers to contend. Wainwright’s St. Louis Cardinals, meanwhile, were a legitimate World Series threat. The Cardinals won a World Series without Wainwright in 2011, but they had Chris Carpenter. Wainwright was being counted on to be the ace of the Cardinals staff, what with Michael Wacha on a soft innings cap after throwing 180 innings last season between the minors, majors and playoffs and Shelby Miller dealt to the Atlanta Braves for Jason Hayward. You can cue the Cole Hamels trade rumors if you want.
QUIBBLES AND BITS
Rookie … we got rookies …
- As might have been expected, Toronto Blue Jays rookie closer Miguel Castro was roughed up by both the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays the second time around, and going into Fenway Park for a three-game series starting Monday it’s a safe bet his role is up for review. Of particular concern has been his first-batter efficiency of late: he gave up home runs by Kelly Johnson and Manny Machado, and a two-run double by James Loney in three of his last four outings. Whether it’s from the wind-up with the bases empty or from the stretch with men on, his fastballs have been running straight. This has left the Blue Jays with an interesting political dilemma: how do you broach the subject of moving into the closer’s role with Aaron Sanchez? If you do it after a scuffling start, it seems as if you’ve penalized him. If you do it after a good start, it at least allows you to approach him with an “it’s better for the team,” tack – almost rewarding him.
- Peter Mrazek is the first rookie goaltender in Detroit Red Wings history to have two shutouts in his debut playoff series. In fact, the only other Red Wings rookie goalie with a pair of playoff shutouts is Earl Robertson (1937.) Only four other goalies have earned two shutouts in their debut playoff series: Semyon Varlamov (2009 Washington Capitals); Carey Price (2008 Montreal Canadiens); Ron Hextall (1987 Philadelphia Flyers) and Tiny Thompson (1929 Boston Bruins).
- Blue Jays rookie second baseman Devon Travis is flirting with some significant history as the month winds down. His slugging percentage of .733 is well ahead of the previous high for rookie second basemen in April, a mark of .575 set by Jerry Coleman of the 1949 New York Yankees. Since 1914, the top five is rounded out by Pedro Garcia (.544, 1973 Milwaukee Brewers); Willie Randolph (.525, 1976 Yankees); and Adam Kennedy (.518, 2000 California Angels).
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So much for a Turf Monster residing at the Rogers Centre: according to Fangraphs, the batting average-balls in play through the first 10 games on the new artificial surface was higher or the same as 10 other Major League parks; adjusted slugging was firmly in the middle of the pack. It’s true that BABIP has dipped in previous seasons after the installation of new turf at both the Rogers Centre and Tropicana Field, but it’s hardly worth getting bothered about. Still, based on the whining from the Baltimore Orioles, if I’m the Blue Jays I make sure the local fish-wrap are full of their own players talking about the surface before the first game of each series. It’s getting in people’s heads; if you hated our turf before? Wait until you get on it now!
Jeff Blair hosts the Jeff Blair Show from 9-11 a.m. ET on Sportsnet 590/The Fan as well as Baseball Central from 11 a.m.-noon ET. He also appears frequently on Prime Time Sports with Bob McCown.
