HUTCHISON ON THE OUTS
Blue Jays make roster moves
Drew Hutchison had been a fixture in the Toronto Blue Jays' rotation for the better part of two seasons. And for more than three years, Aaron Loup had seen regular duty out of the bullpen.
When the Jays were mediocre, Hutchison and Loup ranked high in the roster hierarchy. But both are Buffalo Bisons now, victims of the ruthless meritocracy that can kick in when a team suddenly improves its roster and its spot in the standings.
At least temporarily, the Jays' fifth starter and eighth bullpen arm have become redundant. Both will be back, manager John Gibbons says. Hutchison has a secure agenda. Loup does not.
Taking advantage of off- days, the Jays will use a four- man rotation over the next 10 days on the road. Hutchison, who has a 9.00 ERA in road games, is scheduled to make one start at Triple- A Buffalo on Sunday, then rejoin the Jays' rotation on Saturday, Aug. 29 in a home start vs. Detroit and, presumably, take a regular turn thereafter.
Gibbons said the decision to send Hutchison down was not an easy one. In fact, the decision itself was a no- brainer. Why use your least reliable starter when you can get by with the other four? But telling Hutchison about it was the hard part, especially after he had been a starter for so long and pitched well in his recent straight home starts. “We had to do it,” Gibbons said. “You never want to send anybody out that's a main part of your team anyway, but the schedule dictated that.”
It may the first time a starter with a 12- 2 record has been sent down, but Hutchison is also lugging a 5.06 ERA. He has benefited from strong run support, which not only helped him notch a few wins but also avoid several losses.
Gibbons said Hutchison was surprised by the move, but “he understood it was a business decision.”
Hutchison's recent successes — he allowed three runs in his past two starts and nine in his past four — bode well for the rest of the season, Gibbons said.
“With all the off- days we want to keep those other guys rolling,” the manager said. “And he's struggled on the road, let's face it. But I've got a good feeling that he's over that hump now, and once he comes back he'll run it the rest of the way. He was really good at the end of last year, so I think he's going to be that way at the end of this year.”
As for Loup, who was sent down after Monday's game, Gibbons also predicted a return to past success this season. But there were few recent encouraging signs. Loup had an ERA of 8.44 in his past 18 outings and opponents were batting .392 against him over that stretch. Gibbons had called on him only twice this month.
“We really need to get him pitching,” he said. “We were carrying eight guys. We didn't want to do that. And he was basically sitting there rotting. We still think he's going to be a big part of this the rest of the way. ( But) he's got to pitch.”
With two games in Philadelphia under National League rules, the Jays needed to shed one reliever and expand the bench. Dropping Hutchison and Loup enabled them to call up Matt Hague, the International League's leading hitter, for pinch- hit duty, and recall Ezequiel Carrera to serve as the fourth outfielder.
Carrera started in left field Tuesday night with Ben Revere moving to centre, giving Kevin Pillar a rest. Pillar had appeared in all but one of the Jays' previous 119 games.
Speaking of outfielders, Gibbons said Michael Saunders, who needed knee surgery after a springtraining accident, has been shut down for the season. Saunders was originally expected to be the Jays' everyday left- fielder after a trade from Seattle, but his injury idled him shortly after he donned a Toronto uniform for the first time. He appeared in only nine games and has suffered several setbacks after having 60 per cent of the cartilage removed from his left knee.
Gibbons also said rookie second baseman Devon Travis is progressing slowly after suffering a recurrence of a shoulder injury. The manager said he expects that Travis will “definitely” return before the end of the season.