Committee approach gives Jays lift
Stingy bullpen, solid pitching winning formula
Seven pitchers would be used on a bullpen day in Fenway, five relievers forced into action in Tampa Bay when ace Hyunjin Ryu left with two outs in the fourth inning as the lefty experienced a minor glute strain.
Injuries have taken a toll on this Toronto Blue Jays unit 21 games into this season.
Amid all the aches and pains, players going on and off the injured list, Toronto’s pitching has been carrying the load, often picking up a team when its defence is offensive, games when its offence is having a tough time putting the barrel on the ball.
Following Sunday’s win over the Rays, the Blue Jays lowered their ERA to 3.04, the best in team history through the first 21 games of a season.
Nine pitchers have been on the injured list, 10 different starting pitchers used for a team that sits at 10-11.
Another bullpen day awaits the Jays on Tuesday when Washington visits TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., for a two-game series as Toronto begins its interleague play.
Trent Thornton will serve as opener, much like he did against the Red Sox when the Jays cooled off Boston’s bats in a 6-3 win on a night when rain delayed the start time by 31 minutes.
On the same night, manager Charlie Montoyo mixed up his batting order by inserting Cavan Biggio at leadoff. He drew a walk as the Jays scored four runs in the first inning.
Making his first start, Thornton went two innings in a bullpen game. Six relievers followed as Ryan Borucki tossed two scoreless innings for the win.
“We have a bunch of really good arms,” said Thornton. “Our bullpen and rotation and staff, in general, has a lot of confidence.”
It was that confidence that served the team well in Tampa as the Jays took the three-game series.
Montoyo has gone with this bullpen-by-committee approach in the absence of a designated closer, though he did have Rafael Dolis nail down two games at the Tropicana Field.
“The bullpen has been outstanding,’’ said Montoyo.
Tyler Chatwood came into Sunday’s game for Tim Mayza with two runners on base after Mayza gave up two hits. Chatwood promptly worked out of the jam.
Dolis capped the day with a four-out save.
“There was no room for error,” said Montoyo of his pen. “They did a great job.”
Pitching has been the team’s strength, an area many viewed as the Jays’ biggest area of deficiency.
No one expected lefty Steven Matz to start a season with a 4-0 record and a 2.31 ERA, becoming just the fifth pitcher in team history to open a season at 4-0 while allowing three or fewer runs in each of his four starts.
Marcus Stroman was the most recent in 2015.
Suddenly, Matz is Toronto’s No. 2 starter.
Offensively, Randal Grichuk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have been the two primary catalysts.
On Sunday, Santiago Espinal drove in the game’s lone run by cashing in Marcus Semien.
One of these days, and it could be as early as Tuesday, George Springer will finally make his debut and Teoscar Hernandez will be back in the lineup after testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the month.
TO ERR IS HUMAN
Biggio and Bo Bichette have committed six errors apiece, each looking a bit out of their element when lining up at third and shortstop, respectively.
The Jays aren’t about to make dramatic change, at least not now.
But it is a delicate balancing act when a team wants to compete, while also wanting to develop young players such as Bichette and Biggio.
“Knowing these kids for as long as I have, and as long as we have up here, they’re going to continue to work and they’re going to continue to find ways to get better,” said major league coach John Schneider, who managed Toronto’s young core in the minor leagues.
The Jays covet Biggio’s versatility on the field and his eye at the plate. The Jays wanted Bichette off his feet Sunday and had him DH.
With Joe Panik at second, Semien at short and Espinal at third, the infield defence was air tight. There’s no doubting Bichette’s offence. The question is his defence.
“There’s development that’s going to happen for these guys throughout their career, not just this year,” said Schneider. “It’s funny when you look at these guys, Cavan with his on-base percentage, and Bo and Vlad as pretty dynamic offensive players, you forget how young they are because of how good they are sometimes.”