Series Preview: New Beginnings

The Blue Jays said goodbye to their longest-tenured player recently. There’s no speculation about where Marcus Stroman could be traded to anymore. Surprisingly, the New York Mets are the ones who will become the new home for Stro-Show.

While some fans may still be upset over Stroman being dealt in the first place, all of us can now move forward and further look towards the future. The Blue Jays will also finally be welcoming the final piece of their young core of position players. Bo Bichette will be making his long-awaited MLB-debut during this series. Which should make most fans think even more about future seasons for when the Blue Jays plan to be competitive once again.

Stro-Show was supposed to be opening this series against the Royals. But, the Blue Jays decided to push Marcus Stroman’s start back a day. So, that the Blue Jays would have an extra day to trade Stroman before he’s scheduled to pitch in another game.

So, the Blue Jays have decided to recall Thomas Pannone to make this start instead of Stroman since he’s gone now. Pannone last pitched for the Blue Jays back on July 18 against the Red Sox. The pitcher with the best-name on the team went four and 1/3 innings and gave up four runs on five hits. With Stroman now traded, the remainder of this season will be a showcase to see if Pannone can be apart of the starting rotation next season, or be moved back to the bullpen.

Brad Keller will be looking for better results in his 2nd-start against the Blue Jays this season. The 24-year-old lasted five innings and surrendered six runs on eight hits along with a pair of home runs. Keller currently owns the lowest HR/9(0.7) in the AL. Which makes it encouraging that the Blue Jays were able to take him deep twice last time.

Although, Keller has been virtually unhittable in his four starts since his outing against the Blue Jays. Keller has held his opponents to two runs or fewer and has recorded a combined 19 strikeouts as well during that time. So, while the Blue Jays have had success against Keller earlier this season, they may find it tough repeating that same success in this game.

With Stroman now traded, the Blue Jays were forced to pull Sean Reid-Foley from his start with the triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Reid-Foley was supposed to make his regular start on Sunday with the Bisons. But, trading Stroman created a hole in the rotation that the Blue Jays needed to fill.

Reid-Foley lasted pitched for the Blue Jays back on July 2 against the Red Sox. The 23-year-old made an appearance out of the bullpen lasting three and 1/3 innings. Where Reid-Foley didn’t allow a hit and struck out four batters.

Still making the transition from the bullpen, Mike Montgomery will be on an 80 to 85 pitch limit in this start. This will be just the 3rd-start Montgomery will be making since he was acquired from the Cubs. In his latest outing, Montgomery pitched five innings and allowed just one run on five hits.

However, Montgomery has allowed a home run in each of his last five starts. Which means the Blue Jays will need to take advantage of that if they’re going to be successful in this game against Montgomery.

The trade of Stroman has also given Jacob Waguespack an opportunity to force his way into the Blue Jays plans for next season. With the way Waguespack has pitched, there’s no reason to think that couldn’t be possible for the 25-year-old.

In his latest-outing, Waguespack went five innings and allowed just three runs on six hits against the Rays. Waguespack was also able to keep the ball from leaving the yard for the first time since he began starting games for the Blue Jays. So, hopefully Waguespack will be able to further impress the Blue Jays with a start against the rebuilding offense of the Royals.

It would have been a battle between the Jacobs in this finale against the Royals. But, Jakob Junis had to ruin that by spelling his name differently than Waguespack does. Junis also comes into this start after being smacked around by the Indians in his previous start.

The 26-year-old allowed six runs on ten hits through his six innings of work. Junis’ latest-outing ended his recent stretch of allowing two runs or fewer over his last three starts. So while Junis is coming off a very rough outing, the Blue Jays will still need to be patient at the plate. As Junis has created a combined 22 strikeouts over his last three games.