Here’s a thing you probably didn’t expect to read this year. After Sunday’s 10-8 victory over the Boston Red Sox — a nine-inning game that took nearly four-and-a-half hours to play, featuring 25 hits and 16 walks given up by 13 pitchers — the 22-18 Toronto Blue Jays are in sole possession of second place in the American League East with three weeks remaining in the season.
Really, look for yourself:
The Blue Jays — the Toronto Blue Jays — are a game ahead of the New York Yankees and 10 of the club’s next 17 games just so happen to come against that very team. It’s a run of play that will almost certainly decide which club finishes as the runner-up to the Tampa Bay Rays in the division. The Blue Jays aren’t just in the playoff picture — they’re competing for a more favourable first-round matchup.
And that first round’s coming quick. It begins in 22 days. Not that Blue Jays players or coaches have had any opportunity to consider playoff baseball as they’ve tried to drag each other through a relentless stretch that’s seen the club play 25 times over the last 24 days.
“Playoffs? I’m not even thinking about that,” said Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo. “I’m thinking about the game tomorrow with (Hyun-Jin) Ryu. Hopefully he gives us a good game. Because our bullpen is real thin right now. So, that’d be great. I’m hoping for us to swing the bats. And I’m hoping for another good game by Ryu.”
That’d be ideal. Montoyo had to reach five pitchers deep into an already-overworked bullpen to get through nine innings Sunday, and it’s entirely unclear what he might have left Monday should Ryu not pitch deep into the game.
Anthony Bass has pitched five times in the last eight days, and back-to-back twice; Thomas Hatch and Anthony Kay have each been up over 20 pitches in two of the last four; A.J. Cole and Rafael Dolis have pitched in four of the last seven; Wilmer Font’s been in two of the last three; Ryan Borucki’s appeared in three of the last seven; and Shun Yamaguchi’s thrown a 30-pitch outing and a 45-pitch outing in the last six days.
“It’s a grind. These guys, they’re being asked to do a lot right now. And we’re trying to balance it as best we can,” said pitching coach Pete Walker. “If they need a day, we give it to them. And we have to. We’re thinking about this year and winning games. But we’re also thinking long term for some of these guys because they’re a big part of the organization. And we certainly don’t want to jeopardize that.”
This week’s Yankees series certainly lines up as best it can, with Ryu pitching the opener followed by Taijuan Walker, who’s the only member of Toronto’s staff to surpass 100 pitches or pitch into the seventh inning this season. Tanner Roark will start the third game, and perhaps the hallmark of his career is an ability to consistently give him team between five and seven league-average innings. If those three can carry a decent workload, the Blue Jays should be able to reach Thursday’s off-day without stretching the bullpen too much further.
But help will be needed offensively with Teoscar Hernandez’s status for the series in doubt after he developed soreness in his left ribcage following this swing in his final plate appearance of Saturday’s game:
The outfielder went through a series of tests Sunday morning, including an MRI, but due to swelling in the area the Blue Jays are sending Hernandez for further imaging on Monday to better assess the injury. Hernandez won’t go on the injured list for now — but after Sunday’s game, Montoyo didn’t rule out the possibility.
“My hope is not,” Montoyo said. “But if we do (put Hernandez on the IL,) it’s because he won’t be able to play at least for seven to ten days. So, we’ll see. I’ll know more (Monday) for sure.”
Any absence will hurt because, as unlikely of a sentence as this is to type, Hernandez is a legitimate contender for American League MVP. He’s tied for second in baseball with 14 home runs and his .995 OPS is fourth-highest in the AL. He’s managing the strike zone better than ever and dummying any pitch he gets on the plate, posting isolated power numbers that rival some of MLB’s most prolific sluggers, like Nelson Cruz and Jose Abreu.
Along with the surging Rowdy Tellez, the streaky Randal Grichuk and the steady Cavan Biggio, Hernandez has helped carry his team’s offence through an early season slump from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who ought to be Toronto’s best hitter and a mid-season injury absence from Bo Bichette.
But if Hernandez misses extended time, others will have to pick up the mantle just as he did over the last several weeks. The good news is that Bichette’s been hitting against live pitching over the last couple days as he speeds through his recovery from a right knee sprain. It’s entirely possible that he’ll rejoin the roster at some point in the next seven days.
Ken Giles could also rejoin the back-end of Montoyo’s bullpen by Friday, when he’s eligible to be activated from the 45-day injured list. Sidelined since late July with elbow discomfort, Giles has thrown live against Blue Jays teammates twice in recent days and will do so again on Tuesday. That could be his final step before he’s activated.
Nate Pearson is nearing a return, too, after getting back on a mound Saturday at Fenway Park and throwing a 26-pitch bullpen. That was Pearson’s first time pitching in nearly three weeks after he was shut down with a flexor strain following a pair of rough outings.
“His arm feels great. Any inflammation that was in there is gone. He’s excited to be where he is right now. We expect him to be back at some point soon,” Walker said. “He looked very strong, to be honest with you. I thought the ball was coming out great.”
Matt Shoemaker is also continuing to progress as he recovers from a strained lat. The veteran starter has been throwing on flat ground from 120-feet, and will next throw from 150 before he gets back on a mound sometime this week.
“He’s actually coming along maybe quicker than we expected,” Walker said. “He’s very anxious and determined to get back and help us out. And I feel pretty confident he’s going to be able to do that.”
There won’t be time to stretch Pearson and Shoemaker back out to starter’s workloads before the postseason. But they’d both be valuable weapons pitching bulk innings or shorter stints out of Toronto’s bullpen down the stretch and into the playoffs. At this point, any reinforcements will help.
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Where things will get interesting is how the Blue Jays create room for their returning arms on the active roster. Much can happen between now and then, of course. Someone could get hurt. Someone could underperform. But as things stand now, it’s unclear who might make way for Giles, Pearson or Shoemaker — and, eventually, Jordan Romano.
Font has a 6.75 ERA on the season and is among the league leaders in hard-hit rate and exit velocity allowed — he’s a candidate to be designated for assignment as he has been four times previously in his career. Beyond him, Borucki, Hatch, Kay and Julian Merryweather can all be optioned to the alternate training site. The club could also option Pearson when he’s healthy if there isn’t an immediate fit for him on the club.
But just like Montoyo isn’t yet thinking about the playoffs, the Blue Jays can’t yet think about a potential roster crunch. You cross that bridge when you get to it. For now, the club has three games against the Yankees this week, in what is officially the most important series of the season. You know, until the next most important series that’s coming right after it. And the one after that. And after that. And before you know it, it’s October.
“We know what’s ahead of us,” said Blue Jays catcher Caleb Joseph. “We know we’ve got a big series against the Yankees and they’re coming in right next to us in the standings. When you play a 60-game season like this, it’s unfamiliar for all of us — but every game means so much.”
