BOSTON — Already, August has been the Blue Jays’ best month. They’ve won 14 games so far, thanks in large part to the young players now getting more prominent roles.
It’s been encouraging on many levels: winning always beats losing, it leads to better vibes and it hints at better things ahead. But as Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to the Red Sox showed, the Blue Jays are still in search-for-answers mode at the plate and sometimes that means meagre offensive showings like this one.
Fielding their A-lineup against a locked-in Brayan Bello, the Blue Jays managed only two hits all night: an Addison Barger double and a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single. They were shut out for the sixth time this season while their 16-game streak with at least one home run ended. As a result, a strong Chris Bassitt outing went to waste and the Blue Jays fell to 65-70 on the season.
On the mound, Bassitt made a significant adjustment Wednesday, moving all the way over to the third base side of the pitching rubber in an attempt to finish his off-speed pitches better. After discussing the possibility with pitching coach Pete Walker for a couple of days, he went for it.
“Something had to change,” said Bassitt, who had posted a 6.80 ERA over the course of his previous nine starts. “The league forced my hand to do something different.”
This time, the right-hander pitched 6.2 innings while allowing just one run on five hits. After a tough first inning, he settled into peak form, keeping Red Sox hitters off-balance with a sinker that topped out at 94 m.p.h. and a curveball that hovered around 72 m.p.h. At one point he struck out three straight Red Sox with sweepers.
“A really good mix,” said manager John Schneider. “He did an outstanding job.”
The nine strikeouts tied a season-high for Bassitt, who recorded the 1000th strikeout of his career Wednesday. Asked how much the adjustment on the mound contributed to his success, his reply was succinct.
“A lot,” he said.
Meanwhile, Blue Jays hitters were notably quiet against Bello, who had what Red Sox manager Alex Cora called “his best outing in the big-leagues.” Yet with due credit to Bello, games like this are an inevitability for teams that lean heavily on young players. The hope is that some of the newcomers look ready to contribute on a winning team — and soon.
But while the search for upside makes sense for a re-tooling team, the team’s floor also drops when players like Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Justin Turner are traded away. On Wednesday, the Blue Jays’ lineup featured three players who debuted this season (Addison Barger, Joey Loperfido and Will Wagner) along with two others who are now completing their first full big-league season (Spencer Horwitz and Ernie Clement).
To some extent, that contributes to nights like these where the offence comes up empty.
“Maybe a little bit, but what I’ve been encouraged with in the last few weeks has been the plan they’ve had going in and how they’ve executed it,” Schneider said. “There were still some veteran hitters in there that were scuffling a little too, so I think you give credit to (Bello).”
“That was one hell of a job,” added Bassitt. “It wasn’t anything we did wrong, it’s just (Bello) was on and he’s got really, really good stuff. It is what it is.”
Determining which of those players lasts with the Blue Jays will take months — maybe years. Part of the advantage of having optionable players on the roster is you don’t have to rush that call. At the same time, the next month is vitally important to determining the team’s off-season plan.
For example, if Addison Barger puts it all together for a month, that might make the Blue Jays slightly less inclined to go after a third baseman. Yet if Barger’s contact issues persist and Joey Loperfido gets white-hot, that could nudge the Blue Jays toward infielders as opposed to outfielders.
Now granted, those are two extreme examples. Knowing the Blue Jays, they’ll keep all options open entering the off-season, preferring not to box themselves in. An open DH spot only adds to their flexibility this winter. But wherever it is they decide to add, games like this are a reminder that the Blue Jays need more.
Ideally, opposing pitchers would be the ones tipping their caps to the Blue Jays’ lineup this time next year. Making that vision a reality will require both continued development from young major leaguers and bold additions from outside the organization between now and opening day.