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).
In my last series round-up, I mentioned that as disappointing as Toronto has been, I took solace in not being a fan of the ChiSox, who are by far the worst team in baseball. It took the dregs of the American League to give the Blue Jays their first series win in nine tries, and had it gone the other way, I might have thrown in the towel.
I won’t have to do that just yet.
Chicago is abysmal, and that is an insult to the word “abysmal”. The White Sox batters have a collective -3.1 bWAR, with 11 players in the negative. This includes Andrew Benintendi, who owns a Major League worst -1.9. He is making $17.1 million this year and is on the second year of a five-year $75 million dollar deal. The only one making more, Yoan Moncada, is on the 60-day IL. Beyond starting pitchers Erick Fedde and Garrett Crochet, this might be the worst Major League Baseball team I have seen in years.
Now on to the series:
Jose Berrios took the hill in the opener, and “La Makina” got his fifth win of the season. He threw six innings, allowing eight hits and three runs, but that bested Erick Fedde, who allowed five runs over the same six frames. Bo Bichette had a great game, going four-for-four with three doubles, and Danny Jansen had a three-run blast with five RBIs for the say. Daulton Varsho also smacked a two-run home run.
Garret Crochet had a phenomenal game for Chicago, blanking the Jays over six innings with only two hits allowed. Toronto starter Yusei Kikuchi surrendered three runs (two earned) over his six innings, and he took the loss with the Jays dropping the game 5-0.
A desperate Blue Jays needed a win in the finale, and desperate times call for desperate measures, which came in the return of the home run jacket. Now emblazed with the Canadian flag on the right arm, the man who wore it first was the one who needed it the most: Bo Bichette.
Bichette went deep off White Sox starter Nick Nastrini for two runs, fulfilling manager John Schneider’s pre-game prediction. Toronto scored seven runs in the second, and Nastrini got tagged for another two in the fourth by a Bichette single. Jays starter Chris Bassitt scattered eight hits over seven shutout innings, and the Jays went on to win 9-2.
Is this the start of something good?
Here are my five Blue Jays stars of the series:
Bo Bichette, 2 R, 6 H, 4 XBH, 1 HR, 4 RBI, .546/.546/1.091/1.626: Bo, that home run jacket looks so good on you! The slump is over, but the crater he dug early in the year has Bo at an even 0.0 in bWAR. Six hits with four for extra bases was a treat, and he has much more left.
Vladimir Guerrero Jt. 3 R, 2 H, 0 XBH, 0 HR, 2 RBI, .182/.357/.182/.538: Vladdy has had an excellent month of May, and though the long ball isn’t there, he is getting on base often, including five times this series.
Daulton Varsho, 4 R, 3 H, 2 XBH, 1 HR, 4 RBI .375/.444/.875/1.319: Varsho’s 2.5 bWAR remains the highest on the club, as his 8 Home Runs.
Danny Jansen, 2 R, 3 H, 2 XBH, 1 HR, 5 RBI .250/.250/.583/.833: Jansen’s bat remains on fire, and he drove home five runs in the series opener. He now boasts an OPS+ of +195.
Chris Bassitt, 1 W, 7.0 IP, 0.00 ERA, 4 SO, 1.000 WHIP: Bassitt had a game score of 69, throwing 107 pitches for his fourth win of the year.
Honourable mentions for Jose Berrios 1 W, 6.0 IP, 4.50 ERA, 6 SO, 1.833 WHIP
Next, the Blue Jays travel down Highway 401 to take on the Detroit Tigers in a four-game series.
Until then, touch them all!
