TORONTO — Frontline pitching is tough to find and even tougher to keep healthy, so it’s rare for a team to have two aces atop its starting rotation.
The Phillies have Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola; the Dodgers have Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, plus the emerging Bobby Miller; the Giants have Logan Webb and Blake Snell. But no discussion of the game’s frontline starters is complete without the Mariners’ Luis Castillo and George Kirby.
Nicknamed “La Piedra” for his rock-like stability, Castillo posted a 3.34 ERA on his way to a fifth-place finish in AL Cy Young voting last year. The 26-year-old Kirby doesn’t yet have a nickname, but he will soon if he builds on a tremendous 2023 season in which he posted a 3.35 ERA on his way to an eighth-place finish in Cy Young voting.
It’s a great combination — or at least it should be. Both struggled early this year, but facing a dormant Toronto Blue Jays offence seemed like a good chance for the pair to get on track. After all, it was just last week that the Blue Jays were no-hit and one-hit in a three-game span, and entering play Monday, Toronto ranked 14th in the American League in batting average (.193) and 11th in OPS (.627).
“I was pretty bad for the first part (of the season), too, you know,” Bo Bichette said Monday afternoon before the Mariners series began. “If we’re worried after 10 games, then we lack an incredible amount of confidence, and I don’t think that’s the case. I’m looking forward to better things.”
Something had to give — but given the quality of competition arriving at Rogers Centre, there were no guarantees for the Blue Jays’ offence. Yet after two games, the Blue Jays are showing signs of turning their offence around, scoring a combined nine runs on 17 hits in the nine innings Castillo and Kirby were on the mound.
“It’s laying off touch pitches, for one,” said manager John Schneider. “The foul balls and spoiling pitches is another. We’ve had some key hits, too, and you tack on runs in the middle part of the game. It’s what we’ve been preaching and hoping for. … It’s worked out well the last two nights.”
Granted, it’s just two games — a step in the right direction, rather than reason to ignore any of the questions that existed 48 hours ago. But the Blue Jays have taken some legitimately good swings this week, starting against Castillo Monday.
Line-drive hits by Alejandro Kirk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. drove in runs, as did an opposite-field flare off the bat of Davis Schneider. It wasn’t loud, but it was enough to score four runs on nine hits against Castillo, leaving him “a little frustrated,” according to his manager.
“Like all top starters in the league, there’s a certain persona he has when he takes the mound,” Scott Servais of the Mariners said. “He is the rock. And when you’re out there and you’ve got two strikes on a hitter (and) it’s a big key spot in the game, you smell blood, you (want to retire) the opponent. He just hasn’t been able to do that, (though) it’s not for lack of effort.”
Facing Kirby Tuesday, the Blue Jays went a step further, making consistent hard contact, including seven balls hit 95 mph or harder. And none of those hits were bigger than the one off Bichette’s bat in the third inning Tuesday.
He fell behind 1-2 to Kirby, who located a slider just below the bottom of the strike zone — a pitcher’s pitch. Only Bichette hit it 110.4 mph into the second deck in left field, 431 feet away. With that, the Blue Jays took a 3-0 lead.
“Bo’s one of the best hitters in the league,” Jays manager John Schneider said. “I think everyone knows that by now. He’s right there where he needs to be.”
“It’s not going to be perfect all the time,” Bichette said after Tuesday’s game. “We’re not going to hit homers all the time. No matter how hard we try, that kind of stuff comes in streaks. To me, it’s about competing every day. Those (good) days will happen.”
Not to be overlooked was the 10-pitch at-bat from George Springer that set up Bichette’s home run two hitters earlier. At one point, the right fielder fouled off eight consecutive pitches before hitting a single to centre, eating away at Kirby’s pitch count along the way.
“That at-bat was huge,” Schneider said. “He can grind you, spoil some pitches and still do damage.”
Of course, just as 10 underwhelming games weren’t reason for despair, two encouraging wins aren’t cause for celebration. Every team in baseball will look good for flashes this year, it’s sustaining those results against elite pitchers like Castillo and Kirby that separates the good offences from the middling ones.
We’re still a long way from finding out where on the spectrum the Blue Jays sit. But considering where they were a week ago, these are meaningful steps. And with Logan Gilbert set to face off against Yusei Kikuchi in the finale, the tests for this offence are sure to keep coming.
