Summer Cabin Getaway Series (Toronto Blue Jays (45-38) vs. Seattle Mariners (41-42)
Well that was… Not exactly what you want.
Coming in to town hoping to feast against the worst team in baseball, the 2022 Toronto Blue Jays failed to do so in very “2022 Toronto Blue Jays” fashion. On Monday, Alek Manoah did not have his best stuff and the offence completely failed to pick him up, through some batted ball luck, but also a complete inability to square up eight innings of Cole Fucking Irvin.
Tuesday saw Yusei Kikuchi follow up his bounce-back of a start against the Rays with an absolute dud that saw him walk five, hit two, and strike out none, earning another tongue-lashing (kinda, but also not?) from Charlie Montoyo after the end of the game.
Scathing stuff. Kikuchi’s two-inning outing sunk the Jays, and renewed the roars for something, anything to be done, as well as calling Kikuchi’s spot in the rotation into doubt. Make no mistake: The Jays won’t be releasing Kikuchi, and they certainly won’t be trading him. There’s too much potential and money involved for either to be a realistic option. But it’s clear at this point that the team can’t sustain him going out there and being completely incapable of throwing strikes every other start, leaving the bullpen to cover six or seven innings. Obviously, both starting pitching and bullpen help must be acquired (premiums be damned (???)), but in the short term, the depth is impacted by the end of Hyun Jin Ryu’s season, and the current ankle contusion Kevin Gausman is dealing with, so the Jays would likely be turning the ball over to Casey Lawrence (who will already be getting at least one start), Maximo Castillo (currently unable to be called up until the 13th due to option rules), or Anthony Kay. With all due respect to Thomas Hatch, I think he can be ruled out for the time being.
With any case, patience with Kikuchi as a starting pitcher is thin, if not non-existent. While we’re not yet at Tanner Roark levels of “just forfeit the start so we can get on with our lives”, he can’t be allowed to work out whatever the fuck is going on with him on the mound every fifth game anymore.
I guess there is a God, because José Berríos was excellent on Wednesday, and while the offence was pretty limp once again, solo blasts from Matt Chapman and Bo Bichette were enough to put the Jays on top, sending the Jays to their second home in Seattle for four games the last road series before the All-Star Break, on a relatively high note.
Before getting into it, if you like what Jayslam is doing, please consider sharing this post with a pal who may be interested! Or an enemy! I’m happy with either.
Likewise, whether this is your first time visiting, or you’ve been enjoying Jayslam for a while now, or if you want to see more of it and/or support its continued existence, please consider getting a paid subscription! Unfortunately, revenues from subscriptions to JAYSLAM are not enough for me to subsist on them on a part-time, much less full-time, basis. The more I can lean financially on paid subscriptions, the more time I can dedicate to everyone’s favourite lightly deranged Toronto Blue Jays blog disguised as a Substack newsletter.
Both free and paid subscriptions are appreciated, but the latter gets you access to exclusive posts, such as the occasional podcast.
TRANSACTIONS
YO GET IN YOU BITCH-ASS MOTHERFUCKERS WE’RE TALKING MATT PEACOCK OVER HERE
Matt Gage ended up getting optioned to Triple-A to make room for Anthony Banda, who looked good in his only appearance this series. After Kikuchi’s blow-up, Trent Thornton was a perhaps-undeserved casualty, getting optioned for Casey Lawrence, who was kept on hand as an ultimately unused emergency long-relief option on Wednesday, and will presumably get the start tonight.
Reliever Shaun Anderson was designated for assignment on Wednesday to make room for the newest member of the Blue Jays family, right-handed relief pitcher Matt Peacock, who has been optioned to Triple-A Buffaloafter being claimed off waivers from the Kansas City Royals. A 23rd round Arizona Diamondbacks 2017 draft pick who debuted in 2021. He was a staple of that D-backs bullpen, appearing in 86.1 innings and posting a decidedly not-great 4.90 ERA, with a 4.98 FIP. He was designated for assignment in April 2022, getting traded to the Royals for cash considerations.
Peacock heavily favours his mid-to-low 90s sinker, which has excellent horizontal and vertical movement. He’ll mix in a slider and a running changeup, but he definitely depends on his sinker to get him groundballs. That ability to induce groundballs is his biggest strength as a pitcher, as besides a solid walk rate, he doesn’t dominate in any other respect, as he doesn’t get much strikeouts and gives up some pretty hard contact. He’ll get some reps in with the Bisons while waiting for a spot to open up on the Jays.
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: Matt Chapman (2)
Honourable Mentions: Bo Bichette, Teoscar Hernández
Pitcher: José Berríos (3)
Honourable Mentions: Jordan Romano, David Phelps
Best Bird Standings:
Hitters:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.- 4
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.- 3
George Springer- 3
Alejandro Kirk- 3
Bo Bichette- 3
Santiago Espinal- 3
Matt Chapman- 2
Danny Jansen- 2
Cavan Biggio- 1
Teoscar Hernández- 1
Zack Collins - 1
Pitchers:
Alek Manoah- 10
Kevin Gausman- 6
Yusei Kikuchi- 4
José Berríos- 3
Ross Stripling- 2
Jordan Romano- 1
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
Thursday, July 7 (10 p.m. EST/8 p.m. MST)
Casey Lawrence (6.23 ERA, 5.65 FIP, 16.4 K%, 5.5 BB%)
Marco Gonzales (3.29 ERA, 5.24 FIP, 13.0 K%, 8.5 BB%)
Friday, July 8 (10 p.m. EST/8 p.m. MST)
Ross Stripling (3.32 ERA, 3.21 FIP, 19.4 K%, 5.1 BB%)
George Kirby (3.75 ERA, 4.28 FIP, 23.2 K%, 3.2 BB%)
Saturday, July 9 (10 p.m. EST/8 p.m. MST)
Alek Manoah (2.33 ERA, 3.32 FIP, 22.5 K%, 5.7 BB%)
Robbie Ray (3.62 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 27.7 K%, 8.5 BB%)
Sunday, July 10 (4 p.m. EST/2 p.m. MST)
TBD
Chris Flexen (4.00 ERA, 4.34 FIP, 17.1 K%, 8.3 BB%)
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 43-40
Season Series vs. Blue Jays: 1-2
Record since the last series vs. Blue Jays: 24-21
Last 10 games: 7-3
Robbie Ray couldn’t have waited to find a third pitch until after the All-Star Break? Ingrate.
Best (Healthy) Players in this Series:
Julio Rodríguez, Center Field, .277/.336/.487, 139 wRC+
Eugenio Suárez, Third Base, .236/.329/.426, 122 wRC+
J.P. Crawford, Shortstop, .267/.348/.390, 119 wRC+
Cal Raleigh, Catcher, .195/.275/.451, 107 wRC+
Robbie Ray, Starting Pitcher, 3.62 ERA, 3.92 FIP, 27.7 K%, 8.5 BB%