Series Preview: Toronto Blue Jays (14-12) vs. Oakland Athletics (17-12)
With the injury train continuing to roll up and down the Jays’ active roster, and with team legends being taken off the Level of Excellence because of a long, long history of being a fucking creep that we probably should’ve been much, much more aware of, one would think this would’ve been a bad week for your Toronto Blue Jays. Thankfully, one would be wrong!
The Jays pulled off a sweep of the scuffling Atlanta baseball team in front of a crowd of what felt like several tens of thousands of insistently obnoxious Atlanta fans, which only made the end result that much sweeter. Never mind the fact that the Blue Jays played their best series, popping off for 26 runs in three games while the depleted pitching staff held Atlanta in check, thanks in no small part to the recently activated George Springer and Teoscar Hernández.
Before we talk a little bit about the upcoming four-game series in Oakland, humour me as I plead for engagement. If you like that JAYSLAM is here, providing fresh Jay-related #content multiple times a week, consider sharing this post with a pal who may be interested! Or one who’s not! Whatever!
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It’s also worth mentioning that I won’t be going into the Roberto Alomar situation because I don’t know how much I could add to it that wasn’t already covered by Shi Davidi or Gideon Turk. All I’ll say is that I’m glad that what has basically been an open secret for years now is finally coming to light at least somewhat, and I think the Blue Jays are making the right call in removing him from the Level of Excellence and taking down his Hall of Fame banner.
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: George Springer (1) 14 plate appearances, .273/.385/.818, 226 wRC+, 0.24 Win Probability Added
George Springer is a Toronto Blue Jay.
I went back and forth between Springer and Bo Bichette, who also had a great series. Alejandro Kirk’s injury-shortened two games and Randal Grichuk’s walk-off hit on Saturday also threatened to take it. It was close, but I ended up going with Springer, and I can’t say for sure that isn’t the hype getting to me, but there you have it.
Honourable Mentions: Bo Bichette, Alejandro Kirk
Pitcher: Robbie Ray (2) 6 ⅔ innings pitched, 23 batters faced, 5 hits, 2 earned runs, 5 strikeouts, 0 walks (!!!!!!), 2.91 xFIP, 62 Game Score v2, 0.25 Win Probability Added
Robbie Ray turned in a second consecutive great start in which he hit 98 mph and, more importantly, didn’t walk a single batter, which would’ve seemed unthinkable just a couple weeks ago. We need to see more of him and Steven Matz before we declare that the Jays’ rotation insecurities are resolved (and let’s face it, we might need to see a little more than that), but if he can look more like the last couple starts than the first couple starts, I think the Jays take that every time.
Honourable Mentions: Tyler Chatwood, Jordan Romano
Best Bird Standings:
Hitters:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. - 3
Bo Bichette- 2
Randal Grichuk- 2
George Springer- 1
Marcus Semien- 1
Pitchers:
Robbie Ray- 2
Steven Matz- 2
Julian Merryweather- 2
Anthony Castro- 1
Ryan Borucki- 1
Hyun Jin Ryu- 1
ROSTER/INJURY UPDATES
The injury bug continues to feast upon the Blue Jays, as Alejandro Kirk (left flexor strain), Anthony Castro (right forearm strain), and Tommy Milone (left shoulder inflammation) have all been placed on the Injured List.
While Milone might be a tried-and-true case of an IL stint for left-arm shittiness, Kirk and Castro hit especially hard. Kirk had just come off a two-homer game and appeared to be as close as he'd ever come to supplanting Danny Jansen as the team’s primary catcher for pitchers not named Hyun Jin Ryu. Castro had established himself as a legitimate high-leverage option in the back end of a strong bullpen that has nonetheless found itself without Kirby Yates and Julian Merryweather for various extents of time. While the Jays are looking a little better injury-wise now that George Springer and Teoscar Hernández have been activated, it still sucks to see Kirk and Castro sidelined though.
In their place, Ross Stripling was activated from the IL and threw 4 ⅓ solid innings on Sunday, his best start thus far as a Blue Jay.
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
Monday, May 3 (9:40 p.m. EST/7.40 p.m. MST): Steven Matz vs. Frankie Montas
Matz: Five starts, 27 innings, 4.00 ERA/3.48 xERA/3.96 xFIP, 23.9 K%, 8.0 BB%, .237 xBA Against, 36 HardHit%
Montas: Five starts, 24 ⅔ innings, 6.20 ERA/4.95 xERA/4.41 xFIP, 21.9 K%, 6.1 BB%, .262 xBA, 40.7 HardHit%
Tuesday, May 4 (9:40 p.m. EST/7.40 p.m. MST): Anthony Kay (presumptive) vs. Cole Irvin
Kay: One start, 3 ⅓ innings, 10.80 ERA/1.70 xERA/2.37 xFIP, 18.8 K%, 0 BB%, .220 xBA Against, 23.1 HardHit%
Irvin: Five starts, 27 innings, 3.67 ERA/5.45 xERA/3.93 xFIP, 21.4 K%, 3.4 BB%, .317 xBA Against, 49.4 HardHit%
Wednesday, May 5 (9:40 p.m. EST/7.40 p.m. MST): Robbie Ray vs. Chris Bassitt
Ray: Four starts, 22 ⅔ innings, 2.78 ERA/4.73 xERA/4.33 xFIP, 21.7 K%, 9.8 BB%, .277 xBA Against, 47.6 HardHit%
Bassitt: Six starts, 34 ⅓ innings, 3.93 ERA/3.81 xERA/3.99 xFIP, 24.2 K%, 8.1 BB%, .247 xBA Against, 35.4 HardHit%
Thursday, May 6 (3:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. MST): Hyun Jin Ryu (if healthy) vs. Mike Fiers
Ryu: Five starts, 27 ⅔ innings, 2.60 ERA/3.03 xERA/3.28 xFIP, 23.4 K%, 2.7 BB%, .241 xBA Against, 28 HardHit%
Fiers: One start, 6 innings, 4.50 ERA/6.59 xERA/5.46 xFIP, 12 K%, 8 BB%, .299 xBA Against, 50 HardHit%
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 14-15
Run differential: -6 (122 runs scored, 128 runs allowed)
Last 10 games: 5-5
The A’s suffered just about the closest thing to a death blow that a team can suffer in early April, sputtering out the gate with a six-game losing skid, going 1-7 in their first eight games, including suffering an utterly embarrassing four-game sweep at the hands of the Astros (made even more embarrassing by their relentless shit-talking) to start things off. Obviously, it’s a small sample size in an early season, but still an awful fucking sign for a team that hopes to compete with the Astros and Southern California Angels of Orange County for the AL West crown.
Then, in an absolutely absurd balancing act, Oakland won 13 consecutive games, beating up on the Astros and some, uh, easier competition in the Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins (speaking of which, yikes!!!), and Baltimore Orioles. They’ve gone 3-5 since then, but still lead the AL West, squarely in the hunt for the division title (again, and I’m repeating myself, but to the extent that there even is a division title hunt in early May) along with the Astros, Angels, and, uh, the Seattle Mariners. Again, early May.
While Elvis Andrus and Mitch Moreland’s bats have been horrendous, the offence has been carried by first baseman Matt Olson (who has easily been their best player, rebounding after a rough 2020), left fielder Mark Canha, a player whose existence I always forget about, and I always feel bad about it, and catcher Sean Murphy. Chapman and Ramón Laureano’s gloves have stayed elite on top of their solid bats, and Jed Lowrie of all people has been great, becoming the poster boy for the phrase “rumours of my demise have been greatly exaggerated”.
The starting rotation has been hampered by an ineffective and hurt Jesús Luzardo, a just plain bad Frankie Montas, and Mike Fiers being Mike Fiers, but has gotten solid performances out of Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, and Phillies washout Cole Irvin, who has outpitched some less than favourable peripherals en route to a 3.67 ERA thus far. The bullpen has been middling, missing the departed Liam Hendriks and the injured J.B. Wendelken. Jake Diekman, Yusmeiro Petit, and Lou Trivino have been solid in high leverage situations, but there’s a steep drop off from them to the likes of Sergio Romo, Reymin Guduan, and Jordan Weems, who haven’t done much of anything.
In short, the Oakland A’s are, once again, the Oakland A’s (or as they’re otherwise known, “the Rays, but Hollywood. And also worse”). They won’t be elite in any one category, but they’re good enough in all categories to beat any opponent who slips up (except in the playoffs, apparently). Given how the Jays have played this season, this could either mean that the Jays are about to feast on some pitching that’s due to come to earth, or they’re about to suffer a series of excruciating deaths by a thousand cuts.
One thing’s for damn sure, though: We should all be cheering for Marcus Semien to absolutely destroy the cheap-ass team that lowballed him. On this, we must be united.