After every Blue Jays series, this Canadian will sum up his five stars of the set and throw in my two cents (worth .015 US).
Ugh. The brutal road trip for Toronto comes to an end and they went 0-1-2 in series and 4-6 overall. This could have been so much worse. With the exception of Jose Berrios, we have seen awful starting pitching. Fifth starter, Bowden Francis has been destroyed in both outings and sits with a -0.6 bWAR, 12.96 ERA and a disgusting WHIP of 1.920, and this also could have been much worse as Angel Hernandez (known as Baseball most incompetent umpire) gifted him two called third strikes. Kevin Gausman, who needs to be the ace of this staff, was also shellacked in the second Game, surrendering five earned runs in 1.1 Innings. Overall, the team ERA is a second worst 5.46.
Collectively, they are batting under the Mendoza Line (.193), which places them the second worst in the Majors. The power numbers are not there either with a team OPS+ of 86, and though Vladimir Guerrero has three Home Runs and 11 RBIs, his .712 OPS is disappointing. Kevin Kiermaier has never been known for his hitting prowess, but a .083/.185/.083/.268 Slash Line is anemic for any Major League player. His OPS+ is -17, which I didn’t think was possible. Damn, I wish there were Designated Fielders.
Toronto might be in the American League East basement, but are coming home and could turn it all around in a friendly space. At least I hope so. As this Canadian always says, the beer can is half-full.
Here are my five Toronto stars of the Series:
Yusei Kikuchi, 5.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 7 SO, 1.13 WHIP: Kikuchi did not get the win in the series opener, but pitched 5.1 Innings of shutout baseball in his start. It was the only good start for the Blue Jays in this series.
Bo Bichette, 1 R, 3 H, 2 XBH, 0 HR, 1 RBI: .273/.467/.455/.921: Bichette has been underwhelming thus far, but in the last game, his bat woke up this series, and we are starting to see the man who led the AL in Hits last year.
Trevor Richards, 2 G, 1 HOLD, 2.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, 5 SO, 0.857 WHIP: Richards remains the best player out of the pen, and has yet to give up a run in six appearances.
Ernie Clement, 3 R, 3 H, 3 XBH, 3 HR, 2 RBI .300/.273/.800/1.073: Clement broke the 0-0 tie as a pinch hitter in Game 1 of the series, which was all the Jays needed in their lone win, and all three of his hits in the series were for extra bases. So far, Clement is the pleasant surprise of this year.
George Springer, 1 R, 4 H, 2 XBH, 0 HR, 0 RBI .308/.438/.462/.900: Springer is still batting under .200 for the season, but he continues to get on base. Like Bichette, it feels like Springers is finding his groove.
Honorable mentions for nobody.
Up next, Toronto returns home for their home opener, welcoming the Seattle Mariners for three Games. Coincidentally, that is where I am moving to this week, but you can take the man out of Canada, but not Canada out of the man.
