That was awful
2 years ago
Sometimes baseball sucks. Especially when your favourite team loses by a score of 13-4. Personally, what I love about baseball is that there are 162 games, meaning that one loss, no matter the score, only counts as one loss.
The Jays won their games handily versus the Rangers, the last one being 10-0. Even with the blowout tonight, they’re still 3-1 over their last four games. This article will mainly be focused on the pitching and relief as the offence was fine tonight.
Things worth mentioning…
Ross Stripling
Stripling didn’t have a good game. He recorded one out and gave six earned runs, two were homers. Did Ross decide to Pumpkin during the All-Star break? In my honest opinion, no. His last two games weren’t good, but since May 19th, he has pitched well.
I believe the Red Sox have something on him. Since May 19th against the Red Sox, he’s pitched 9.2 innings and has given up 16 earned runs. In the other 44 innings pitched, he’s only allowed 12 earned runs. If you are reading this Stripling, Pete Walker or anyone from the Blue Jays organization, I think this needs to be fixed.
After finishing writing this article, Ross Stripling at his post-game interview mentioned that he was in a weird headspace as he was going to be leaving his family for upwards of two months. While the stat written above needs to be looked at, there are also other reasons as to why he has struggled against the Red Sox.
The May 19th game was the last time he used his old mechanics. In the second game, he wasn’t that bad at all as I believe the defence behind him let him down. Lastly, if what he’s saying is true, that could play a significant part in his poor performance tonight. They should see if he’s tipping pitches, but we as fans need to keep in mind that athletes are still human.
Anthony Kay
From May 15th to before this game, Kay pitched 22.2 innings and had an ERA of 1.99 with an xFIP of 3.46. Elite reliever numbers? No, but still playable. Tonight was not the case as he allowed 5 earned runs over 1.1 IP. I believe he’ll get another shot, but he needs to pick up his game because it’s a possibility that Hatch takes that long-man role.
Jacob Barnes
Barnes had a decent start with the Jays, pitching 5 innings without allowing a single run. However, his last 1.2 IP has been a different story as he allowed 2 ER during that time frame. As a Jays he has a 4.70 ERA, but his peripherals are less harsh on him as he has a 3.62 xFIP and a 3.69 (nice) FIP.
It looks like he’s back on track as he pitched a clean 1.1 innings in tonight’s game. High leverage reliever? No, but he’s a fine middle reliever.
Trevor Richards
Giving a solo shot in relief is bad. Giving a solo shot when you’re down 11-0 is whatever. Not a big deal.
Tayler Saucedo
I didn’t get any likes on my Saucedo pun tweet, hence why he gave up the solo shot. Either way, I’m enjoying what I see from him. Minus the dinger he gave up, he pitched well tonight so I’m expecting we see more of him.
Ryan Borucki, Adam Cimber, and Tim Mayza
These three pitchers are very good. I’m writing this as Mayza pitches, so you know I’m a risk-taker. These three pitchers are likely going to be high leverage relievers for the rest of the season, so even though the Jays blew them on a game where they allowed 13 runs, it’s still nice to see them get work. With another deal to get a closer and the return of Merryweather, this bullpen has the possibility to return to it’s April form.
German Marquez
They haven’t traded for him (yet), but he pitches tomorrow for the Rockies. He’s still the pitcher I go after as he has control, is an ace and the Rockies desperately need prospects which the Jays have a surplus of. Even when they say “we aren’t trading him”, there is still the possibility of getting him if the Jays decide to overpay. So if the Jays get blown out tomorrow, that is a game you could watch (or any of their minor league teams)
Conclusion
The nice thing about baseball is that you can get blown out one game and then win the next game you play 1-0. Either way you’ve gone 1-1. Hopefully they will bounce back tomorrow.
Go read my terrible Saucedo pun on Twitter @Brennan_L_D and shoot me a follow. I would like to get to 200 followers at some point in my life.
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