ARLINGTON, Texas – There are no meaningful conclusions to be drawn from any 10-game sample, particularly one at the beginning of a new season. Still, there are some developing trends through a 6-4 opening for the Toronto Blue Jays that bear watching and suggest that the current group can be better than the one which stumbled through an injury-marred 2017.
“I like the bunch in there, I like the way they compete,” manager John Gibbons said after a 7-4 victory over ace Cole Hamels and the Texas Rangers clinched a series win at Globe Life Park. “There’s no doubt we have better balance in our lineup now. There are a couple of guys in the lineup who haven’t gotten going yet but we think they will. Top to bottom we’ve been getting production for the most part from everybody, getting some big hits along the way, even from guys who aren’t really swinging the bat well yet. So we feel good about that.
“Our rotation hasn’t really taken off yet. We’ve had some good starts and we’ve had some starts where we’ve struggled. And we’re figuring out the bullpen. That’s been kind of hit or miss.”
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Here’s a look at some of the trends evident Sunday and representative of the first 10 games.
- Jaime Garcia delivered the latest solid outing for a rotation that’s third in the American League in innings pitched with 55.2, allowing three runs over 5.1 under-control innings. By design, the left-hander was up in the zone more than usual, generating only three groundouts to six flyouts, but often induced weak contact. He struck out five. “Sometimes you’ve to change their eye-level, switch it up,” Garcia said of working higher in the zone. “The goal is to keep them off-balance. As long as you keep it in the air without hitting their barrel, that’s ideal. I would say we did that today, just got to be aware when I’m going up, it’s for a reason.” The only major mistake he made came on his final pitch, a rare changeup to a lefty that Joey Gallo rocked 445 feet to right for a two-run shot that cut the Blue Jays’ lead to 7-3. Gibbons surely wanted two more outs from his starter, but will gladly take what Garcia has provided out of the fifth spot of the rotation all year.
- Gibbons believes there’s lots of upside for a rotation that’s third in the American League with 55 strikeouts but 10th in ERA at 4.85 and uncharacteristically tops in walks with 24. The numbers for Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and J.A. Happ all look worse than the performance and should correct in the coming weeks. “We’re keeping each other accountable, we’re pulling for each other and we’re staying together,” said Garcia. “Hopefully everybody can stay healthy and continue to give us a chance to win when we take the mound.”
- Even though the batting order is far from clicking on all cylinders – Randal Grichuk, for instance, is mired in a career-worst 0-for-26 slide despite some better at-bats over the weekend – the Blue Jays are second in runs scored at 52 and tied for first in homers with the Los Angeles Angels with 15. One reason for that is the dead spots in last year’s lineup have certainly been improved. Yangervis Solarte gives Gibbons all kinds of flexibility to rest different players without a dropoff. Aledmys Diaz has been fine defensively filling in for Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop and provides a power threat in the nine-spot. The left-field platoon of Steve Pearce, who hit his first career leadoff homer Sunday by crushing Cole Hamels’ first pitch of the game, and Curtis Granderson creates the opportunity for more platoon-advantage at-bats, something they enjoyed in only 53 per cent of their plate appearances last year. “Up and down the lineup we’ve got guys who can hit,” said Pearce. “That’s our goal, to strike fear into the opposing pitcher. We have a lot of talent there, just keep it going, keep it riding and continue to take series, because it’s going to be a long year.”
- The Blue Jays were 5-for-7 hitting with runners in scoring position Sunday – including a three-run homer from Kendrys Morales in the first inning that provided a key blow – improving to 24-for-69 on the season. They started the day leading the American League at a .306 clip in that regard after finishing second last at .229 in 2017. “I can’t put a finger on exactly what it is but guys are using the middle of the field more, hopefully bought into middle-the-other-way, and they’re not pressing,” said hitting coach Brook Jacoby. “We started off slow last year, guys were pressing to get it done. We’ve got a loose group in here and we’re swinging the bats well.”
- On the flipside, two offensive numbers that could negatively impact production should be noted: The contact rate on their swings is down to 72.3 per cent from 78.1 per cent last year, while their swings at pitches outside the zone, among the highest in the AL last year, is virtually identical at 29.7 per cent. One thing they did effectively against Hamels was attack him in the zone early. “He made a mistake, he threw the ball just off the (middle of the) plate and you have to take advantage of those situations,” Morales said through interpreter Josue Peley. “He made a mistake and I made him pay for it.” Here’s a chart of their balls in play against him Sunday.
- Bullpen depth had been a strength over the first week but the relief corps hit a bit of a speed bump in Texas, allowing four runs to tighten up a laugher in Friday’s 8-5 win and making the final innings with a 7-3 lead Sunday a lot tenser than they should have been. Ryan Tepera provided some fine work in the seventh after inheriting men at second and third with one out from Aaron Loup, bouncing back to strike out Adrian Beltre on a gutsy full-count chase cutter and pop up Gallo after walking Elvis Andrus to load the bases. “I didn’t have a good feel for the fastball today,” said Tepera. “I tried to go two-seamers in and yanked a bunch. I figured (against Beltre) I needed to make a big pitch, I was fortunate to get him to swing at it. It was the only cutter I threw him so I think that’s what helped me out, he saw five fastballs and then I gave him something different to look at. It worked out.” Tepera then left one on and one out for Seung-hwan Oh, who allowed a pair of hits including Shin-Soo Choo’s RBI single, before Gibbons turned to Roberto Osuna, who grazed Rougned Odor’s jersey to load the bases before getting Andrus on a weak comebacker. Osuna then handled business with his usual efficiency in the ninth for his fourth save, but Gibbons won’t want to do that too often. “I’ve seen too many crazy things happen in this place and they’ve got a lineup that can strike quick,” said Gibbons. “You never like to (extend Osuna) at this time of year. He came in and shut it down.”
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