The Toronto Blue Jays Are... Good??? (Series Preview: Minnesota Twins (30-23) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (30-20))
Hyun Jin Ryu to the Injured List
It turns out that Major League Baseball seasons can’t be declared over in mid-May! Who knew?
Cruising back into Canada after sweeping the Angels in Anaheim, the Toronto Blue Jays got to work on Tony La Russa’s visiting Chicago White Sox, a team that appeared to be falling apart at the seams, roster construction-wise, thanks to both a series of injuries and pitchers Dylan Cease and Kendall Graveman staying in the States for freedom-related reasons. Game One saw Adam Cimber, Yimi García, Julian Merryweather, and Jordan Romano tightrope walk en route to a 6-5 win with the help of an offence powered by the surging Alejandro Kirk. The second and third games, on the other hand, gave us the greatest gifts of all: Stress-free ninth innings, as the offence did more than good enough to win handily when all was said and done.
This completes the second consecutive sweep for the Blue Jays, as well as, more importantly, their eighth consecutive win. The offence has finally started clicking (minus Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who has struggled through the month of May, but did smash a piss rod of a dinger on Wednesday), and while it’s probably not accurate to say the team is one hundred percent there yet, they’re getting closer and closer to being the force in the American League we expected them to be. As per Weighted Runs Created, every single hitter the Jays sent up there contributed at least one wRC.
Anecdotally speaking, there’s an entirely different feel to this team when they’re right versus when they’re scuffling. At no point during this White Sox series did I not see a batter step up to the plate that I did not have some sort of confidence in (save for Cavan Biggio sometimes and Zimmer, who looks so uncomfortable in the batter’s box that I assume he’s being punished for something). It’s an awesome feeling as a fan to have the feeling that you can just sit back and relax, and everything will sort itself out.
Looking ahead, the Jays will send the White Sox limping off to Tampa Bay and prepare to play host to Chicago’s division rival, the Minnesota Twins, who, while leading the incredibly shitty AL Central, have hit a rough patch of their own. By the way, not to get ahead of ourselves, but a sweep of the Twins would tie the Blue Jays’ record for their longest in streak with the ‘87, ‘91, ‘13 (kill me), and ‘15 (twice) teams.
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TRANSACTIONS
Unfortunately it wasn’t all positive news coming out of the series. Hyun Jin Ryu was removed after only four innings on Wednesday, leaving the game with what’s being called “left forearm inflammation”. It’s a rough blow for Ryu, who’s already missed about a month’s worth of games with the same ailment, and who’s actually been quietly solid since his first IL stint. In those four starts, he’s put up a 2.29 ERA, with a 4.31 FIP and 4.12 xFIP. He’s only struck out 14.6 percent of hitters in that span, but he’s also only walked 2.6 percent, and that’s a strikeout-to-walk ratio you’ll take any day out of Ryu when the defence behind him is as good as it is.
Ross Stripling will fill in for Ryu in the rotation as he did ably earlier in the season. Called up to replace Ryu’s spot on the active roster is Jeremy Beasley, who had his contract selected and who you may remember from eight terrible, terrible games with the Jays last year. Beasley is a hard thrower who throws a lot of strikes and has limited hard contact somewhat, but he also walks the field, allowing 18 percent of hitters a free pass over his very short MLB career. In twelve games with the Bisons this season however, he’s cut the walk rate down to 8.2 percent, the lowest it’s ever been at Triple-A for Beasley. He’s also a swingman type, and can cover multiple innings (likely of the garbage time variety) if need be.
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: Teoscar Hernández (1)
Honourable Mentions: Alejandro Kirk, Santiago Espinal
Pitcher: Alek Manoah (7)
With Ryu’s early exit and Kevin Gausman proving his own mortality, it was a weaker series overall for the Toronto Blue Jays’ starting pitching, but don’t tell Alek Manoah that. In seven and two-thirds innings, Manoah absolutely dominated the White Sox in truly ace-like manner, and while they got to him a bit at the end of his outing, it wasn’t enough to truly tarnish a spectacular outing.
I’m ashamed to mention it took me like five minutes to understand what this tweet was referencing. I was very confused.
With his Best Bird win, fifteenth of his career, Manoah has tied Robbie Ray for the all-time Best Bird record. I keep emailing Sportsnet about this, but the cowards won’t put it up on screen.
Honourable Mentions: Ross Stripling, Yimi García
Best Bird Standings:
Hitters:
Santiago Espinal- 3
Danny Jansen- 2
Bo Bichette- 2
George Springer- 2
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.- 2
Teoscar Hernández- 1
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.- 1
Matt Chapman- 1
Alejandro Kirk- 1
Zack Collins - 1 (Optioned to Triple-A)
Pitchers:
Alek Manoah- 7
Kevin Gausman- 5
Yusei Kikuchi- 3
Jordan Romano- 1
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday, June 3 (7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST)
Chi Chi González (2021 stats: 6.46 ERA, 5.38 FIP, 12.5 K%, 6.3 BB%, 35.7 HardContact%)
Yusei Kikuchi (3.48 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 24.4 K%, 13.3 BB%, 28.3 HardContact%)
Saturday, June 4 (3 p.m. EST/1 p.m. MST)
Dylan Bundy (4.76 ERA, 4.09 FIP, 19.9 K%, 4.7 BB%, 28.1 HardContact%)
José Berríos (5.62 ERA, 5.03 FIP, 16.2 K%, 6.3 BB%, 36.4 HardContact%)
Sunday, June 5 (1:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. MST)
Devin Smeltzer (1.50 ERA, 2.64 FIP, 13.6 K%, 4.5 BB%, 33.0 HardContact%)
Kevin Gausman (2.51 ERA, 1.57 FIP, 28.7 K%, 2.5 BB%, 28.8 HardContact%)
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 30-23 (224 runs, 196 runs allowed)
Last 10 games: 3-7
Fun fact: I chose the Minnesota Twins to win the 2021 American League pennant for reasons that now elude me, but I assume did not sound boneheaded at the time. In the offseason, the Twins bolstered their rotation by trading for Sonny Gray and Chris Paddack, and signing Dylan Bundy and Chris Archer. They upgraded their offence by trading for the embattled Gary Sánchez, third baseman Gio Urshela, and signing Carlos Correa to what will essentially be a one-year deal if all goes according to plan for him. Early results have been generally positive, as the Twins have gotten to a surprisingly good start, up four and a half games on the Cleveland Guardians for the AL Central division lead (RIP White Sox). However, they’ve hit a rough stretch recently, owing to injuries and COVID, as well as some brain geniuses deciding to get to the bottom of this whole “ are vaccines filled with the seed of Beelzebub” deal.
Damn, shame that wasn’t preventable you stupid fucking bastard.
The Twins have been steadily middle of the pack offensively. Super utility contact artist Luis Arráez has been their best offensive player thus far, and is the type of player sure to give me, specifically, a fit. Also spearheading the offence is Max Kepler, who will not be playing in Canada on account of being the aforementioned stupid fucking bastard, and Trevor Larnach, a pleasant surprise to start the season who nonetheless has yet to prove that he isn’t being sustained by a .400 BABIP.
Byron Buxton got off to an excellent start, but has hit an awful slump recently. It shouldn’t be held against him though, as he’s one of the most dynamic players in the game when on the field. His main substitute, rookie Gilberto Celestino, has played well in his stead, though he’s been injured recently. Carlos Correa got off to a slow start, but had been playing much better recently before going down with COVID. His replacement, top prospect Royce Lewis, played very well before going down with a bone bruise as well, leaving Triple-A shortstop Jermaine Palacios (no relation to Josh or Richie) manning the position.
Jorge Polanco has gotten off to a merely average start with the bat, but Yankees cast-offs Sánchez and Urshela have been solid enough to offset the awful performance of Miguel Sano, who only slashed .093/.321/.148 in the 17 games before he, say it with me now, went down with an injury.
The starting pitching has posted good results to start the season, but has been depleted as well, with three of their four best pitchers going down to injury. Rookie Joe Ryan, off to an excellent start to the season, was struck down by plague, and the steady veteran Gray, off to a good start in his own right, went down this week with a strained pectoral. Paddack, an exile from the Padres who never fulfilled his potential there, looked good in five starts before getting injured as well, his season ending with Tommy John surgery.
The consistently solid if unspectacular Bailey Ober is probably the team’s best healthy option, though he isn’t scheduled for the series in Toronto. Bundy is coming off a terrible season, but has been similarly solid, if unspectacular as has Chris Archer, who gives the added bonus of averaging less than four innings per start. In fact, aside from Ryan and the Hyun Jin Ryu-esque Devin Smeltzer, none of the Twins’ starters have averaged more than five innings per start, leaving much work to be done for a bullpen that has alredy seen Cody Stashak, Danny Coulombe, Jhon Romero, and Jorge Alcalá go down with injuries.
The biggest bright spot in a bullpen that has seen mixed results overall is the rookie Jhoan Durán, a strikeout artist who reaches 100 miles per hour with his four-seamer while mixing in a mean splitter. Joe Smith and Griffin Jax have been solid, and Caleb Thielbar (brave researcher that he is) has been solid despite a poor ERA. The Inverse has been fellow scientist Emilio Pagán, who’s been getting crushed despite his good ERA. With Thielbar, Pagán, and Trevor Megill on the restricted list for brain smoothness, the bullpen will have to make do with the likes of Jovani Morán, Juan Minaya and Yennier Cano. Which, I mean, unfortunate about the lack of scientific literacy, but hey, beggars can’t be choosers if you’re the Jays.
Best (Healthy) Players in this Series:
Trevor Larnach, Left Field, .290/.365/.500, 148 wRC+
Byron Buxton, Centre Field, .204/.281/.489, 121 wRC+
Jhoan Durán, Relief Pitcher, 2.42 ERA, 3.55 FIP, 37.2 K%, 4.2 BB%, 19.8 HardContact%
Luis Arráez, Super Utility, .351/.442/.405, 156 wRC+
Devin Smeltzer, Starting Pitcher, 1.50 ERA, 2.64 FIP, 13.6 K%, 4.5 BB%, 33.0 HardContact%