The worst part of the recent rash of injuries to the Jays starting rotation is the affect it will likely have on a team I have grown quite fond of. This Blue Jays squad never quits, never feels sorry for itself and always plays hard. After a good old fashioned ass kicking at the hands of the Washington Nationals the Jays bounced back and swept the Philadelphia Phillies.
Brett Cecil made his return to the major leagues on Sunday and gave the Blue Jays a solid five innings, allowing five hits, two earned, walking one and striking out five batters. It had to be a confidence building effort as he pitched very well over his 87 pitches.
The Jays are certainly going to feel the sting of losing three of their starting pitchers in the past week including their best overall arm the team has been resilient in the past. Brandon Morrow is impossible to replace, Drew Hutchison has been pitching very well lately while Kyle Drabek has been downright awful. The team will need some serious luck and a couple unsung pitchers to step up and fill some big shoes to have any chance down the stretch, it will be a tall task.
Seemingly feast or famine this season the Blue Jays have been involved in eight sweeps overall.
CURRENT RECORD: 34-32, 4th place, 6.5 games behind first place.
Here are the quick recaps and boxscores:
Game 1 – Blue Jays 3, Phillies 0 – Hutchison down with injury, bullpen does amazing job holding fort.
Game 2- Blue Jays 6, Phillies 5 – Rajai Davis with 10th inning game winning hit..
Game 3 – Blue Jays 6, Phillies 2 – Brett Cecil returns, Colby Rasmus with four hits.
UP NEXT: Blue Jays will start a lengthy nine-game road swing, beginning with a three game set versus the Milwaukee Brewers (30-36).
Nobody expected a playoff berth but there was definitely excitement with a great spring training (for what it’s worth) and the team has played pretty well. Hard to compete going forward with a lame duck rotation though. I’d be disappointed if the team wasn’t big time players in FA for a quality arm.
Their average age is at or near the bottom of the AL. Generally, young teams are inconsistent teams. These Jays are no different. Swept by the Nats, then sweep the Phils. It’s not only expected, it’s a good indicator of where they stand: the Nats are a top team while the Phillies are struggling, suggesting that the Jays are an average team. Sure enough, they’re 7th of 14 in the AL and 14th of 30 in MLB. My suspicion is that if they pick up an arm and a bat, a lot of those 2-4, 3-3, 4-3 stretches will turn into 7-3, 5-1, and 6-2 stretches.
Frankly, at this point of the journey I’m pleasantly surprised the Jays are a ‘middle-of-the-pack’ squad. It’s not unusual for rebuilding teams to drop like stones in the standings (55-70 wins, typically). The Jays dropped to 81 wins and may improve upon that this year. I picked ‘em for 85-87 wins but that was before 3/5ths of the pitching staff got hurt. 85 wins will be tough to attain, but it’s not out of reach. Not by any means.
Is sweeping the struggling, injury-depleted Phillies noteworthy? Well, they’re not the Rangers, Dodgers, or Nationals but I’ll take a sweep against a team that’s been in the playoffs five years running any ol’ time. They’re capable of doing the same against a struggling Brew Crew but there’s that injury and inconsistency thing to contend with…