Seven things worth mentioning from the Blue Jays’ first seven games
By Cam Lewis
3 years agoThe 2020 season has been a rollercoaster so far.
The Blue Jays have been a mixed bag, rightfully generating optimism about both the short- and long-term outlook of the club, but also falling intro frustrating losses. The team currently sits with a 3-4 record, though they could easily be 5-2 if not for a couple of late-game implosions.
And then, beyond the team itself, there’s been plenty of league-wide drama, as reckless behaviour from other teams — I’m looking at you, Marlins — has put the season in jeopardy. Thanks to Miami playing a game despite having a player test positive for COVID-19, the Blue Jays are now waiting around in purgatory on a four-day break.
The ripple effect that one team can have on the rest of the league is something that we’ve never seen before in professional sports.
Anyways, here we are, sitting here on a weekend without the Blue Jays, giving us time to reflect on what we’ve seen so far from the team. Here are seven things worth mentioning from the team’s first seven games.
This looks like the season of Teoscar Hernandez
There was never any doubt that Teoscar Hernandez had the tools to be a very good player, the question was whether he would put it all together.
Last season, after a miserable start, Hernandez got optioned to Triple-A Buffalo where he would make an adjustment to his approach at the plate. After that, he came back up and put together the best stretch of his career, slashing a .248/.325/.548 line over 86 games.
Through seven games this year, Hernandez has picked up right where he left off. In 31 plate appearances, he has nine hits, six of which have been for extra bases. The two to nine walk to strikeout ratio is still ugly, but when he makes contact, there are few players who hit the ball harder and with a better launch angle than Hernandez does.
If there’s any team that’s familiar with late-bloomers, it’s the Blue Jays. Jose Bautista, a career journeyman, came to Toronto and added a small leg kick to his stance, and broke out to become one of the most feared hitters in baseball. Shortly after, Edwin Encarnacion also made good on his potential to become an elite slugger. A few years later, it was a similar story with Justin Smoak, a former top prospect who struggled in Seattle.
The comparables aren’s exact, but it serves as a reminder that some players, especially power hitters, can take longer to put it all together. Of course, we’ve also had our share of mirages, like Chris Colabello and Juan Francisco, but Hernandez’s showing at the plate over his last 90~ games is certainly cause for optimism.
Vlad Jr. still can’t get the ball off the ground
In the opposite vein of Hernandez, there’s this looming sense of anxiety around the play of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who’s supposed to be the driving force behind the Blue Jays’ offence.
Of course, Vlad is still only 21 years old. It would be absolutely absurd to even entertain the idea that he’s anywhere near bust territory, especially given the fact that I just spent time talking about how Hernandez’s success is a reminder that power hitters can take longer to hit their stride.
But it’s still worth pointing out that Vlad’s major issue from last season has continued early on this year. He’s hitting the ball hard, ranking in the top six percent in both hard-hit percentage and exit velocity, but everything Vlad hits is on the ground. That would explain why, after seven games, he has just one extra base hit.
Jordan Romano has closer upside
The Blue Jays entered the season with a handful of interesting-but-unpredictable names set to fill their bullpen. With Rafael Dolis, A.J. Cole, Anthony Bass, and Jordan Romano, the Jays rounded up a group of fireballers and basically said ‘let’s see what happens here.’
For the most part, it’s gone quite well. The biggest standout from that group, though, has been Romano. The product of Markham, Ontario was grabbed in the Rule 5 draft last year but got returned to the Jays mid-season. He made his Major League debut in June and showed promise (striking out 12.3 per nine) but some arm issues led to a decline in velocity and a few rough outings.
Now, Romano is healthy and he looks like a potential closer of the future. Through four innings (tiny sample size, I know), Romano is striking out 13.5 batters per nine and he hasn’t yet allowed a hit. The combination of his high-90s fastball and power slider have been lethal.
The young pitching depth is rounding into form
A few other bright spots in Toronto’s ‘pen have been a handful of young pitchers.
Thomas Hatch has thrown five scoreless innings across two appearances, Ryan Borucki came out throwing heat in his long-awaited return to the mound, Anthony Kay had a solid two-and-two-thirds inning outing, and Jacob Waguespack has also thrown up a donut across two outings.
It’s difficult to say if any of these pitchers have long-term starter upside (I might also put Trent Thornton into this category) but it’s interesting to watch the Blue Jays slowly develop a deep group of multi-inning arms. We’ve seen the Tampa Bay Rays effectively utilize these types of one-or-twice through the order pitchers , strategically working to get the best out of arms that aren’t your traditional six-or-seven-inning guys.
There are also other guys on the 40-man roster — Sean Reid-Foley, T.J. Zeuch, Julian Merryweather, Patrick Murphy, and so on — who we should also see eventually get opportunities in these kinds of roles. The young pitching depth really is something.
Hyun Jin Ryu hasn’t looked the part early on
Signed to an $80-million deal in the off-season, Hyun Jin Ryu was brought in to be the ace of Toronto’s staff. He hasn’t looked the part thus far.
There are a couple of worrying trends when it comes to Ryu’s first couple of starts. First, his velocity has dipped quite a bit from where it was at last year. Second, he’s struggling with commanding the zone. Ryu had the best walks-per-nine rating in baseball last year (1.2 walks per nine) but he’s issued four free passes through nine innings this season.
We should give Ryu some leeway, though, given how short of a time he has during Summer Camp to get ramped up. It seems he doesn’t have a good feel for his cutter, which is key to his arsenal. The velocity should come back with time, too.
Oh baby, Nate Pearson looked good
My favourite moment of the season so far was when Nate Pearson froze Carter Kieboom with a 99-mile-per-hour heater at the knees. Pearson allowed a leadoff double that inning but stranded the runner with that strikeout being the bow on top of the sequence. The camera panned on Kieboom afterwards looking completely stunned.
It’s only one start, but putting up five scoreless frames on the defending World Series champs? That’ll get everyone fired up. His confidence after the game discussing his outing was also fantastic. Just ace-like stuff all around.
“I know I have a shot to be great,” Pearson said during a Friday appearance on Tim and Sid. “I know the opportunity that I have and I’m not gonna blow it. I’m not gonna do anything stupid. I’m gonna focus on my craft, and just try to get better each outing, do everything I can to just keep learning and not be close-minded and always adapt — change my routine when I need to, just not get too fixated on one outcome or one routine.“You gotta keep pushing the limits, you gotta keep striving for greatness.”
Charlie Montoyo has come under quite a bit of criticism
We’re seven games into the season and a bunch of fans are calling for Charlie Montoyo’s head.
He’s come under quite a bit of criticism early on, ultimately getting blamed for a few of Toronto’s frustrating losses.
Some things we should cut him some slack on. Like, for example, using Sam Gaviglio and Shun Yamaguchi in important situations. Yes, you’d like to see better pitchers used there, but we’re early in a season in which guys haven’t had a normal spring training to get up to speed, and overworking pitchers is flirting with disaster.
But some other decisions aren’t as defensible. Not running Derek Fisher in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s loss to the Nationals when Anthony Alford was on third with one out was a brutal miss. And, of course, not stepping up and pulling Ken Giles when he was clearly injured in the ninth inning last weekend against the Rays.
There’s undoubtedly a certain aspect of Montoyo that makes him a great leader for a young team. His always upbeat attitude, his patience, and his ability to be a mentor and teacher are great qualities, but there also might be a reason he was a minor-league manager for so long.
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