Things worth mentioning…

• Ross Stripling got the start and pitched, well, just about exactly how you’d expect a swingman, long-reliever type to pitch against the Yankees. Stripling managed to get through only three-and-one-third innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and three walks. There wasn’t really a point in Stripling’s outing where you really felt all that confident that a Yankee explosion wasn’t right around the corner. This pretty much sums it up…

• Rafal Dolis also had himself a difficult inning in relief, which isn’t something we’re used to based on how things went for him last year. Of course, with Dolis, even though he posted a sparkling ERA in 2020, he was always the type where you felt he was walking the tight rope given how many balls he threw. In Saturday’s outing, Dolis came in and walked DJ LeMahieu, got two guys out, and then walked two more before getting yanked in favour of Tim Mayza, who then allowed a two-run single to Jay Bruce.
• In better news, Ryan Borucki tossed a clean inning and looked great doing so, as all of his fastballs (which baseball savant classifies as sinkers) were 95 miles-per-hour or higher. Also, Joel Payamps, after an off-season spent going on waivers every week, made his Blue Jays debut and recorded four outs without allowing a hit.
• A big thing on Thursday was how great the Blue Jays defence looked, especially on the infield. That wasn’t the case on Saturday, as both Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette had some issues. The former is adjusting to playing third base and lack of arm strength looks to be a real issue while the latter had some bobbles at short. It’s hard to say if either of them really projects to stay at these positions long-term. On the other hand, seeing Vlad do the splits was not something I expected.
• The Blue Jays will play the rubber match on Sunday afternoon with righty T.J. Zeuch taking the hill. Let’s hope he fares better than Stripling did and let’s also hope that Robbie Ray and Nate Pearson can return quickly.