JAYS ON VERGE OF CLINCHING
Stroman up with AL East in sight
BALT IMORE In the first half of the season, when the Blue Jays were paddling furiously to reach the .500 mark, their pitching staff soaked up the blame.
And rightly so. Toronto’s offence was baseball’s best. But by the allstar break, their pitching staff had posted a 4.18 ERA, the third-worst in the American League.
Since then, their ERA is 3.20 — not only the best in the league but in the majors.
Personnel changes have helped, of course — thank you very much, David Price — but ask pitching coach Pete Walker about the staff’s U-turn, and he’ll cite another, less obvious reason: fewer walks.
And fewer walks translates into more wins, especially when your offence continues its torrid pace.
“I think what we’re probably the most proud of as a staff is the limited number of walks,” Walker said before rain postponed the Jays’ game — and a possible divisionclinching celebration — thereby setting up a 4:05 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday. With the New York Yankees 10-4 loss to Boston Tuesday, Toronto could clinch the American League East after the first game. Marcus Stroman will start that game.
“Coming out of spring training, fewer walks was a goal,” Walker said. “I looked at where we were the last couple of years, and that was paramount, to be one of the top teams in baseball in limiting walks. And we’ve done that. When you have an offence that’s walking the most and a pitching staff that’s given up the least, that’s a great combination.”
The Jays take a five-game win streak into Wednesday’s twinbill. During that little run, their pitchers have averaged one walk per game.
In each of the previous two seasons, Jays’ pitchers walked more than 500 batters, placing their staff among the league’s worst in that department. This year they have walked 382, the lowest in the AL.
Before the all-star break this year, Toronto’s walk rate was 7.4 per cent. Since then, it is 5.6 per cent, lowest in the majors.
That’s an average of about two walks per game.
Walker found no magic potion to improve his pitchers’ command. He and new bullpen coach Dane Johnson simply made it a priority in spring training and preached that mantra daily: throw strike one, stay ahead in the count and don’t issue free passes.
They also worked with several pitchers to effect mechanical adjustments that helped.
R.A. Dickey is a prime example. Typically a slow starter, he struggled early before he and Walker found a way to make his delivery more consistent. They won’t reveal what they changed, but the results are revelation enough.
In the first half, Dickey’s ERA was 4.87. Since the break, it’s almost two runs better — 2.95. He reduced his walk rate from 3.09 per nine innings before the break to 1.62 since then. Since the beginning of July, Dickey has not walked more than two in a start.
Even Mark Buehrle, always known for his pinpoint control, has improved his walk rate this year. It’s 1.5 walks per nine innings, tops in the league and matching his career best.
Naturally, Walker deflects credit for the change to the pitchers themselves, but there’s no doubt he and Johnson were influential.
And now, Walker is going to the post-season. That’s a first for him, as it is for many of the Jays’ players.
“It’s been a rewarding season to this point,” he said.
“It certainly didn’t start off that way. But it’s been a joy to come to the park every day, to work with Dane, to work with the pitchers, and to see the pitchers’ willingness to listen and to go out there and make adjustments.”