Glass half-empty at midpoint
At 23 games below .500, it’s hard to find the good in first half of season
The Blue Jays have reached the halfway point of the season and things couldn’t have gone much worse for the rebuilding club.
Toronto is a season-low 23 games below .500 heading as it opens a four-game series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday. Injuries and streaky performances on the mound and at the plate have created a malaise around the Jays, with an average of just 20,420 fans showing up at Rogers Centre for home dates, the third-worst mark in the stadium’s history.
Asked last week what, if anything, has been the most disappointing part of the season, general manager Ross Atkins couldn’t pinpoint one area.
“Really it’s just been our overall ability to prevent runs and score them,” he said. “There (were) points in the season where we felt like if our offence got going, our pitching was holding things together and we could be in good shape. And then we had the pitching injuries.”
Of course the fist half had its moments, most notably the debut of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on April 26. If Guerrero becomes the star player he is projected to be, and helps turn the franchise’s fate around, this period may be all but forgotten, a means to an end rather than a sign of what’s to come.
Here is what stood out in the first half:
INJURIES
A total of 15 Jays players have combined for 17 stints on the injured list this season, missing 637 games between them. The starting rotation has been in flux since spring training as the Jays try to find arms to join Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez and surprising rookie Trent Thornton. Ryan Borucki (elbow) hasn’t pitched in the majors this season, Matt Shoemaker made five starts in April before suffering an ACL tear, Clay Buchholz has been sidelined twice with a flexor strain and upper back strain, and Clayton Richard and Edwin Jackson have also spent their time on the sidelines. The durability of the Jays staff was always in question after Toronto signed Shoemaker, Richard and Buchholz with the hopes that all three would bounce back from injury struggles last year. “We understand that risk is there,” Atkins said.
THE CO-ACES
The injuries put more pressure on Stroman and Sanchez at the top of the rotation, and they’ve gone in different directions while trying to rebound from their own hurts last year. Stroman, 28, has become the clear ace despite a 5-9 record. His 3.04 ERA is ninth in the American League and he is considered one of best starting pitching options on the market with July’s trade deadline approaching. Finger issues persisted to start Sanchez’s season, but it his lack of command — he is averaging a career-high 5.1walks per nine innings to date — that has many wondering if his AL-leading 3.00 ERA in 2016 was a fluke rather than a sign of his potential.
VERSATILITY
It has been the name of the game for the Jays this season. The team is hitting .229 combined and with so few players hitting consistently — Freddy Galvis, Eric Sogard and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. are the key exceptions — Charlie Montoyo has spent the first half tinkering with his lineup. The trade of Kendrys Morales at the start of the year has allowed the manager to cycle names (10 of them) through the designer hitter spot. Galvis, at shortstop, and catcher Luke Maile are the only players this year to have lined up at just one position. Brandon Drury has manned second base, third base, shortstop and right and left field, the most of any Jays’ position player. Gurriel and Teoscar Hernandez have changed positions, to left and centre field respectively, and could one day be competing for the starting centre-field position, according to Montoyo.
GUERRERO
The 20-year-old was being floated as a rookie-of-the-year candidate before he arrived in the majors, but the jump from the minors has been tougher than expected for the third baseman. Guerrero is hitting a respectable .250 through his first 51 big-league games, but he hasn’t dominated the way he did on his way to Toronto. He was known in the minors as a player with plate discipline beyond his years, putting up 150 walks to 139 strikeouts over three years in the system. With Toronto, his 42 strikeouts dwarf his 19 walks, a ratio Guerrero will certainly want to improve as he tries to find a groove at the plate.