Dickey knows best
Pitcher is like a proud papa discussing Jays’ young arms,
“We needed some guys to really step up. There were clearly some guys who did.” R.A. DICKEY
NEW YORK— The fact that R.A. Dickey was a senior in high school in Nashville before four of his fellow Blue Jays pitchers were born gives him a different perspective on the team’s staff. With some of the pitchers, his leadership by example is less big brother and more father-son. An interesting dynamic for the 40-year-old who takes the hill against the Yankees on Wednesday. “You always have more in common with certain guys than you do with other guys,” Dickey said. “It’s just life. So you find a couple of guys that you think you can impact for the better and you try to do it. But a lot of it has to do with the way you go about your own business.
“Because these young kids, they’re like children. They’re watching their parents and seeing how to behave and if you behave the right way, they’re going to act the right way. Some of it’s just that.”
Dickey and Mark Buehrle are not tradi- tional staff aces, but what they do provide is a combined 400-plus innings that can be relied on, given good health. The other three starters — Drew Hutchison, Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris — are 24, 22 and 21 respectively, and none is expected to carry the load.
“I’m not sure about (taking) pressure off them, but it might take a little pressure off the people managing the young people,” Dickey said. “I think that’s more it. If you ask them right now, they’d all say, ‘I want to throw 200 innings too.’ But the people who are in charge of their careers are going to protect them. So it helps when you’re protecting kids to have other guys that you don’t have to protect as much.”
The Jays’ rotation is set up so Dickey and Buehrle space out the three youngsters. And there has long been discussion that a pitcher following a knuckleball specialist can benefit from a discombobulated lineup that was chasing the butterfly one day and facing a fastball the next.
Dickey is not sure what advantage Norris will have against the Yankees on Thursday, but he sees it as a real thing with the relievers that follow him in the same game.
“I’m not sure what the data points to, but I will say that the people who come in after me in the course of a game have an advantage,” Dickey said. “But Daniel Norris will have success because he’s a good pitcher, not because he’s following me. If it helps him, great.
“I think we have a nice variety to throw at a club over a series. You’ve got a knuckleballer, you’ve got a hard-throwing lefty, you’ve got Sanchez, (Buehrle and Hutchison). You show a lot of different looks and that can be helpful.”
There is data about the Buehrle Bump from 2014. In 23 games versus the same opponent after a Buehrle outing, Jays starters were 10-6, with seven no decisions. Marcus Stroman, who turned in a fine rookie season, made nine post-Buehrle starts, with a 4-1 record and a 3.00 ERA, with 16 walks and 47 strikeouts in 57 innings. Stroman was 6-5, with a 3.55 ERA in 11 other starts.
One of the underrated aspects of the Jays lineup is what Dickey sees as an improved defence that should help the staff conserve pitches and save runs. In the opening 6-1 win against the Yankees, there was not one play that should have been made that wasn’t. Shoddy defence is as much about hits that should have been outs as it is official errors.
“A good defence is obviously paramount, especially in Toronto,” Dickey said. “You’re dealing with a fast turf and the ball flies there, so keeping people off base defensively is a big deal.
“Time will tell. It’s hard to measure at the beginning of a season. Hopefully Josh (Donaldson) is healthy for a full year, but I think we just sent down one of the best defenders in the game, in my opinion, in Ryan Goins. So you’ve got depth. You’re no longer having to sling a Juan Francisco out there at every position. You’ve got a guy that can really defend just waiting for an opportunity.
“And the young kid at second base (Devon Travis) is a good defender as well. I think we’ve made some improvements. Kevin Pillar is a great defender in the outfield. Is he a step up from Melky? Maybe, maybe not. But we’ve concentrated on trying to defend and I think that’s shown up this spring. I think we really defended well this spring.”
And the work of the young pitchers in the bullpen this spring has Dickey feeling good about their potential.
“We needed some guys to really step up,” Dickey said. “There was clearly some guys who did. The young kids had great springs . . . I’m very optimistic that those guys are going to have good years and really help solidify a pen that is highly underrated. We’ll see how it goes, but I’m most pleased with that.”
All that being said, Dickey’s return to his Cy Young form of 2012 is a key.