TORONTO — Speaking after his start Tuesday evening, Chris Bassitt acknowledged that the early season performance of the Toronto Blue Jays‘ starting rotation left him unimpressed. Describing his first two outings as “terrible,” Bassitt said “to be honest with you, I’ve been pretty disappointed in our starters so far.”
Those comments reflect the high standards Blue Jays pitchers have for themselves, but after consecutive quality starts from José Berríos, Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi this week against the Mariners, the Blue Jays’ rotation looks as good as it has all season.
The same can’t be said for the bullpen. A tightly contested series finale against Seattle ended in a 6-1 loss in 10 innings for the Blue Jays, who fell to 6-7 after left-hander Tim Mayza allowed a two-run home to noted Blue Jays nemesis Cal Raleigh on the first pitch he threw.
Now granted, the Blue Jays’ bullpen also offered some moments of brilliance from Yimi Garcia, but with Chad Green down and Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson still on the injured list, high-leverage relief arms are in short supply in Toronto.
It was under those circumstances that Mayza entered with an automatic runner on second to face Raleigh with the game tied 1-1. One pitch later, the Mariners were on their way to a win, preventing the Blue Jays from earning a series sweep. Mayza would later walk two hitters, both of whom scored, and his early season ERA climbed to 12.46.
To be fair, the Blue Jays might not have been in extra innings if they’d gotten more from their offence, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was the only one to do much damage Wednesday, as Mariners starter Logan Gilbert was at his best, pitching into the eighth inning.
Leading off the bottom of the seventh, Guerrero Jr. sent a hanging slider from Gilbert 459 feet deep into the second deck in left field to tie the game. It left his bat travelling 114.3 m.p.h. — the hardest-hit ball of the Blue Jays’ season to date.
The game stayed close early thanks to a strong start from Kikuchi, who allowed just one run on three hits with two walks over six innings of work. He topped out at 97 m.p.h. and generated 13 swinging strikes on his way to nine strikeouts.
From there, the Blue Jays turned it over to Nate Pearson for a scoreless seventh and Garcia, who looked utterly dominant while striking out four of the six hitters he faced on his way to two scoreless innings.
Thankfully for the Blue Jays, a wave of injured players is on the way to Buffalo for some rehab games at triple-A. Catcher Danny Jansen will DH for the Bisons Wednesday, with Romano and Swanson set to pitch in relief Thursday. If all goes well, all three could conceivably be back in the majors within the week.
On Saturday, Alek Manoah will pitch at triple-A after beginning his rehab clock on Sunday with a start at Class-A Dunedin. He was hit hard in that outing, allowing six earned runs on five hits in 1.2 innings while throwing more balls (32) than strikes (26).
Despite those underwhelming results, Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins and manager John Schneider spoke highly of Manoah’s fastball, which topped out at 96.2 m.p.h., and his slider. Clearly, he needs to throw more strikes, though, which is why the Blue Jays continue working with the right-hander on his delivery.
If needed, Manoah can take his time, but Jansen, Romano and Swanson are all approaching big-league readiness. The importance of the relievers is obvious and the return of Jansen will also be helpful, as Alejandro Kirk is taking on extra work now, and the offensive results — way too many ground balls on the way to a .363 OPS — have been poor.
What’s done is done, though. After a day off Thursday, the Blue Jays face a far weaker opponent when the Colorado Rockies visit for three games this weekend. Facing one of baseball’s worst teams, anything less than a series win should be considered a disappointment.
