Jays miss Donaldson’s clutch bat more than injured rotation arms

The Blue Jays claimed 27-year-old righthanded reliever Neil Ramirez off waivers from the San Francisco Giants on Thursday. Ramirez is a former Texas Rangers first-round draft pick from June 2007, now pitching for his sixth MLB organization.

He is expected to be added to the Jays roster on Friday. It won’t be tough to find him a spot.

Ramirez, with solid strikeout numbers but questionable command, made nine relief appearances in 2017 with the Giants, posting a 13.06 ERA. In his final four games he allowed 12 earned runs in 32⁄ innings. And in his final appearance

3 he needed 52 pitches to retire five Padres, allowing six runs. The Jays bullpen always needs new arms, but the supply in Triple-A Buffalo is limited.

The Jays’ rotation has been ravaged for the past three weeks.

The highly-regarded five-man group has been missing last year’s American League ERA champion, Aaron Sanchez, plus 20-game winner J.A. Happ. One of the replacement starters, Mat Latos, has left the team for personal reasons and his future is uncertain. On Wednesday, Marcus Stroman managed just three innings due to arm stiffness.

As such, the Jays will likely need replacements on Sunday and Tuesday. If Latos (as suspected) is not available, they may be forced to resort to starting pitchers No. 8 and 9 on the depth chart — perhaps right-hander T.J. House from the Triple-A Bisons and stud reliever Joe Biagini, for as long as he can throw effective strikes.

Yes, the Jays’ bullpen has blown a major-league-high eight of 14 save attempts, although manager John Gibbons’ club is 4-4 in games in which they have blown saves. Why Ramirez? The overworked ’pen has averaged just a tick under four innings per game and that’s even with two complete games by Stroman.

But you can’t blame pitching woes for the Jays’ dismal 9-19 record. It’s not their fault. The offence simply needs one or two position players to step up and play the 2015 Josh Donaldson role of monster in the clutch and MVP candidate.

In a bad first half by the ’15 Jays, Donaldson was the one position player performing on all cylinders. In fact, it was due to Donaldson’s presence in the first 100 games that GM Alex Anthopoulos believed his team was better than its record. On July 28, they were 50-51 but their run differential was plus-94.

The Jays are in real trouble right now and can’t wait until the second half to right the ship. They won’t be doing it via waiver claims or pitching. They don’t have Donaldson at the moment. They need someone else on offence to step up.

From opening day until the end of July 2015, the Bringer of Rain hit .302 with 25 homers and 85 RBIs. All the while they were a .500 team. Of his 25 homers through July 28, 16 either tied a game or put the Jays ahead. Five of his homers were hit with the Jays holding a lead of four runs or fewer, thus extending the margin. Only four of his bombs came when the difference was five runs or more, a blowout. He believed in his own mind that nobody could get him out at big moments.

Compare those Donaldson clutch numbers to the current group of Jays through 26 games, all but nine of those without their MVP third baseman.

On Tuesday in New York, utilityman Steve Pearce hit two home runs. Everyone was thrilled at the breakout performance. The first one was against Masahiro Tanaka, when trailing 7-0. Pearce’s second was when the Jays trailed 7-2. It was nice for the team that he hit them, but they didn’t help win a game.

How many times did fans watch the Jays in April and angst out when they failed to cash in with the tying or go-ahead runs in scoring position, or failed to add on runs in a close game in which the opponent came back late to win? Too often.

The big boys need to hit like big boys until Donaldson’s return.

In the Jays’ 19 losses this season, with the tying or go-ahead run in scoring position:

Kendrys Morales went 1-for-10 with three walks, three RBIs and grounded into three double plays.

Jose Bautista was 1-for-9 with four strikeouts.

Russell Martin went 0-for-7 with five strikeouts. Kevin Pillar was 0-for-5. As a team, they went 10-for-66 (.152).

Facing the same situation in the 11 losses in which they had a lead of four runs or fewer and were trying to add on important runs?

Morales: 0-for-2. Bautista: 0-for-3 with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. Martin: 0-for-5 with a walk. Pillar: 0-for-2 with a walk. As a team: 4for-34 (.118) with six walks, a homer, a sacrifice fly and a hit-by-pitch.

Meanwhile, the Jays are hoping for a return to action some time this week by Donaldson from his right calf injury. When your goal is to get to .500 and above before the trade deadline at the end of July, you can’t honestly say, “It’s early.”