Bullpen, batting woes need quick fixes for Jays to contend
ARLINGTON, TEXAS In the early stages of a critical period in their schedule, the Blue Jays can breathe a tiny, tentative, sigh of relief.
Four days ago, the team set out on a six-game trip to San Francisco and Texas that is really the start of a rugged 13-game road stretch in the next 16. Three games in, great starting pitching yielded Toronto two wins out of three at AT&T Park against the Giants.
So it’s a start. Could easily have been a sweep, given that the Giants had to go 13 innings to get their lone win after exhausting the Blue Jays bullpen. Toronto caught a break by missing both Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija in the City By The Bay but, once again, the offence was spotty. Moreover, the defence, which has been a key element in keeping this outfit afloat in the early going, sprang a couple of ill-timed and uncharacteristic leaks.
By the time this 16-game portion of the schedule is complete, the Jays will be just about 50 games into their schedule, which is when some legitimate determinations about the team can be formulated.
Were we completely fooled last year? Is 2016 the offensive outlier, as so many of us have chosen to believe? Or was 2015 the anomaly?
Manager John Gibbons, who knows his team inside out, continues to cling to the belief that an offensive revival is just around the corner.
“I don’t know if I see any signs,” said Gibbons earlier this week. “I just know in my heart that it’s going to happen.”
By the time they get through with this gauntlet of road challenges later this month, if things haven’t opened up offensively, something will have to happen.
The best answer is for players like Russell Martin and Troy Tulowitzki to revert to the form that has made them all-stars (not to mention very rich men).
We haven’t even mentioned the bullpen and its woes. This is also a serious problem, but it is one that can be more readily addressed.
The great fear when players are struggling offensively is that they take it on the field with them and play sloppy defence.
Both Tulowitzki and Martin have avoided that pitfall to this point, but there were some headscratching misplays by the shortstop in that last game.
Starting with Friday’s opener, the Jays have three games in Texas, then three at home early next week against Tampa. After that they go out on the road to Minneapolis for four games and on to New York for three at Yankee Stadium.
As of the start of play Friday night, the Jays were still a manageable 4½ games back of both the Orioles and Red Sox in the AL East. As long as that gap doesn’t suddenly widen, there is nothing to be concerned about.
Because it’s still early ... right?