Unarmed for battle
The Blue Jays had been struggling before the July 31 trade deadline but, despite dealing away five major-league pitchers in a week, they at least had some hope of avoiding a sweep in Oakland with their best starter, Marcus Stroman, on the mound.
The A’s, however, kicked Stroman around the Coliseum for 11 hits and seven runs in five-plus innings, pounding Toronto 8-3 and winning all seven games against the Jays this season. Toronto is now a season-low 11 games under .500.
But, hey, welcome to the final two months of the Jays’ season. Welcome to their nightmare.
If this current 25-man roster had been put together on opening day and played all 162 games, it would lose 100-plus games.
The good news to balance that grim outlook is that Aaron Sanchez and Josh Donaldson may be healthy soon, which will help in the short term.
The bad news is that if Donaldson proves he is over his calf woes, it won’t be long before contenders come knocking for a cheap, three-month rental. Advice for other GMs? Just offer the Jays the equivalent of the compensation draft pick they will get by making a qualifying offer, plus maybe throw in a prospect bone and he’s yours.
A frustrated Stroman allowed two runs in the second inning, on an opposite-field, two-out single to catcher Jonathan Lucroy, after having runners on second and third and nobody out. Lucroy doubled home another run in the fourth, then scored on a sacrifice fly. A head-shaking Stroman gave up three straight hits before being lifted in the sixth.
The Jays scored their three late runs against a very impressive A’s bullpen. Randal Grichuk smacked his second double of the game in the seventh to end the shutout bid. Catcher Russell Martin slammed a two-run homer in the eighth.
Why is this a 100-loss roster? The last victory posted by a starter other than Stroman (four) or the departed J.A. Happ (two) is by Marco Estrada on June 16, which is 37 games ago. The rest are by members of the pen.
How far is this Jays team from being a contender? Start with the rotation. In 2015, the top trio of winners — Mark Buehrle, Estrada and Drew Hutchison (yeah, that’s right) — combined for 41 wins.
In 2016, the top three t er. winners were Happ, Estrada and Stroman, with 45 combined victories. And, yes, we know that analytics have trashed the value of wins for a starting pitcher, but those analytics are more concerned about evaluating individuals and previewing what is to come and forget that it’s team wins that determine who goes to the playoffs. Through two-thirds of this season, the Jays’ top three starters, including Happ, now with the Yankees, have 18 wins. The Jays’ entire rotation through 107 games has a record of 24-43, with a 4.93 ERA. The starters have averaged 51⁄3 innings per outing, and allowed 581 hits and 213 walks in 560 innings, with a 1.412 opposition OPS. That is not good. The pitching staff has not been helped by what has been a subpar defence all year. When Donaldson played third base, he was hurt. When Yangervis Solarte plays third base, he simply looks hurt. Second base and shortstop have been below major-league average, while Justin Smoak at first base saved teammates from dozens more throwing errors with his ability to corral low and wide throws. In the outfield, Grichuk and Kevin Pillar are the only major-league average to aboveaverage defenders, with subtle away. extra bases too often given Now consider the state of the purposefully decimated Jays bullpen. Early in the year GM Ross Atkins added three veterans with histories as closers to complement closer Roberto Osuna and setup man Ryan Tepera. Now they head into the final 56 games without Osuna, Seung-hwan Oh, Aaron Loup and John Axford. Ideally, when everyone on the Jays is healthy and useful players in the minors have been recalled, the new-look pen will be led by closer Ken Giles, with setup men Tepera, Tyler Clippard, Danny Barnes and Joe Biagini. Round out the eight relievers with Jake Petricka and a pair of left-handers, Tim Mayza and Jaime Garcia. That’s not the bullpen manager John Gibbons signed up for. Given that list of relievers available to Gibbons, he will need his starters to go deeper into games than what they have been doing recently, other than Stroman and rookie Ryan Borucki. But who are those five starters? Oh yes, this is a 100-loss ros- Meanwhile, every game in which the Jays fail to compete, Gibbons seems to slump deeper and deeper into his seat in the dugout and the chair in his office. This is the same guy that managed back-to-back Jays team to the ALCS in 2015 and 2016; now when he pushes the same buttons, it seems like he’s competing in Formula One with Team Yugo. The next time they will compete will be 2020, so if you love baseball, there’s still September. If you love winning, mehhh!