SPORTS
10 Obiter Dicta
Assessing the future of the Toronto Blue Jays
Why the upcoming season is key
evan ivkovic › sports editor
L
ast sat ur day on September 7, the Toronto
Blue Jays lost 4-3 to the Boston Red Sox.
Earlier on Friday of the same week, the Jays
also lost a close game to the Red Sox, giving
up a 6-3 lead late in the game and ultimately losing
9-8 in the bottom of the tenth inning, even after
scoring two runs in the top of the inning. On that
same Friday, Melky Cabrera (one of the more durable Jays players in a season where key position players Adam Lind, Edwin Encarnacion, and Brett Lawrie
have missed significant time due to injury) was pulled
from the game early due to a fractured right pinky.
Melky will have surgery on the pinky and will be out
for the rest of the year.
After those two key losses to a mediocre
Red Sox team, the Jays stand six games behind the
second wild card spot with only twenty-one games
left to play. After surging to an early lead in the AL
East standings where the Jays, at their best, were
estimated to have an 80% chance of making the playoffs, MLB.com has the Jays’ current playoff odds (as of
September 7) at less than 1%. Needless to say, the Jays
have turned in another disappointing season, with
this one being particularly frustrating for fans due to
the season’s early promise.
But there were glimmers of hope in that
Friday game, as deflating as it was to cough up the
lead so late. Although he looked like he was struggling a bit with his command and only pitched for a
third of an inning, Dan Norris made his major league
debut and ultimately struck out David Ortiz (one of
Boston’s only good hitters and a consistent baseball
star in his own right) on a breaking pitch that froze
him for strike three. The Jays also called up Dalton
Pompey with the expansion of MLB rosters, a promising switch hitter with plus running and plus defense
at centerfield, after a torrid rise from A ball to AAA.
Aaron Sanchez had already been with the team
at the time of the influx of rookie call-ups, and thus
far he has pitched 24.2 innings with a sparkling 1.46
ERA, in addition to a 2.28 FIP and 2.31 xFIP according to Fangraphs. Sanchez, whose fastball tops out
at 98 MPH when pitching out of the bullpen, has
more or less taken on the closer role with the club,
with Jansen being relegated to “secondary closer”
who closes games only when Sanchez is unavailable. Though Sanchez is excelling out of the bullpen, the team figures him for a starter, and prior to
pitching in relief in the majors he had been groomed
as a starter in the minor leagues. The Jays also called
up intriguing pitcher Kendall Graveman, who had
excellent surface stats in the minors and who quickly
rose up the ranks. He doesn’t strike guys out, which
raises concerns about whether his stuff can play at
the major league level, but nevertheless he has been
a pleasant surprise and adds some depth to the farm.
The Jays also have young pieces Stroman and
Hutchison currently forming two fifths of the rotation, with Stroman in particular boasting a wide arsenal of average to above average pitches he commands
well, including a plus fastball with excellent vertical
and horizontal rotation and a plus slider with excellent break. Hutchison lacks the same caliber stuff that
ê Melky after witnessing the Jays lose.
Stroman has, but he sports an above average fastball
with movement and late break and a solid three pitch
arsenal, and for such a young age, he has good command of his pitches. Though Hutchison’s ERA sits at
4.47, he has had some standout games, including a
complete game against Texas where he only gave up
three hits and one walk. Also, Hutchison’s FIP is a
more impressive 3.84, and it would be fair to say that
he is losing gas as the season is progressing, which is
not surprising due to his increased innings load in the
majors relative to his innings load prior to this season
in the minor leagues. Dan Norris, Stroman, Sanchez
and Hutchison are four promising young pieces that
could form an important part of the Jays’ rotation for
many years to come.
Nevertheless, what Alex Anthopolous does during
the off season is absolutely pivotal, and the task of
improving this Jays team is not an easy one, particularly due to opaqueness regarding payroll and
Toronto’s difficulty in attracting free agents. This
offseason, the Jays have three key players who will
become free agents in Colby Rasmus, Melky and
Casey Jansen. In addition