The first half of the season has come to a close as many all-stars make their way to New York to play in the All-Star game at Citi Field. It also means it’s time for the first half review of the Toronto Blue Jays and what can be considered the start that many Jays fans wished never happened.
The first half of the season, many, many Blue Jays fans expected a great start with a possible 1st place position going into the All-Star break. Obviously that’s not the situation as the Jays sit last in the division 11.5 games back of the first place Boston Red Sox and are 8.5 games out of a wildcard spot. Not exactly what the Blue Jays and company were hoping for.
Their start to the season was disastrous in their first 31 games; they went 10-21 and many people had already counted them out for the rest of the season. Then somehow the team managed to wake up in the next 52 games and post a 31-20 record. By Canada Day, July 1, the Jays were at 41 W’s and looking much better than they did in their first 31 games. However in there last 12 games they went backwards again and went 4-8 with only one series win. The Jays home record is a mildly successful record of 25-21 while their road record is a disappointing 20-28. Toronto also has a terrible record against their division at 18-27, which was a huge factor in last year’s bad season as well.
The Jays have a lot of work to do to make those numbers look better in the second half after the All-Star break, and hopefully the break will heal some of the players and put the team on the right track.
Injuries have once again plagued the team, but that’s not a reason to play poorly – even with injuries teams need to try their best. The coaching has been sub-par in my opinion with many moves that in my mind are complete head-scratchers. The Jays team rankings tell a unique story in batting, pitching and fielding (Stats from ESPN):
Batting Stats
Runs 428 (Rank 8) Hits 811 (R 15) Homeruns 115 (R 2) RBI 407 (R 7) AVG 252 (R 16) Strikeouts 675 (R 19) Stolen bases 65 (R 8)
Pitching
ERA 4.22 (Rank 24) Saves 21 (R 21) Earned Runs 398 (R 7) Strikeouts 680 (R 20) Waks 302 (R 5)
Fielding
Errors 58 Rank 19
As you can see the Jays have been pretty good this year when it comes to batting, placing themselves in the top 10 for runs, homers, RBIs and stolen bases. Unfortunately they still struggle getting hits and they don’t have a great average. Hitting isn’t their biggest issue however, their fielding has been horrible. Everyone in the infield not named Jose Reyes has made more than 4 errors, and if you have been watching the Blue Jays this year you’ll know that many of these errors have been costly.
It’s not just fielding, their pitching hasn’t been fantastic either. Well that’s only half true. Toronto has arguably one of the best bullpens in the league this year, but their starting pitching has been the problem. Only RA Dickey and Mark Buehrle have been healthy for the first half of the season starting 20 and 19 games this season while 11 other pitchers have started at least one game this season for Toronto. Brendan Morrow and Josh Johnson have seen time on the DL at some point this season and of course JA Happ got the unfortunate injury he obtained in Tampa.
We all remember the big splashes Alex Anthopolous made in the off-season last year, but unfortunately they haven’t played exactly the way many Blue Jays fans would have liked. New Jays numbers so far this season look a little like this:
Pitchers
RA Dickey: 8-10 record, 4.69 ERA, 128.2 innings pitched, 67 earned runs, 47 walks, 92 Strikeouts, WHIP 1.30
Mark Buehrle: 5-6, 4,89 ERA, 116.0 IP, 63 ER, 30 BB, 77 strikeouts, 1.37 WHIP
Josh Johnson: 1-5, 5.16 ERA, 66.1 IP, 38 ER, 23 BB, 67 strikeouts, 1.49 WHIP
Esmil Rogers:* 3-4, 3.64 ERA, 29 ER, 23 BB, 49 Strikeouts, 1.34 WHIP
Batters
Jose Reyes: * 19 Runs, 37 hits, 4 Homeruns, 12 RBI, 322 AVG
Melky Cabrera: 34 Runs, 82 Hits, 3 HR, 43 RBI, 278 AVG
Emilio Bonifacio: 27 Runs, 47 hits, 2 HR, 15 RBI, 207 AVG
Maicer Izturis: 26 Runs, 70 hits, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 257 AVG
*Jose Reyes was on the DL for most of the season and Esmil Rogers has played in the bullpen and as a starter for the Jays.
I’m pretty sure when the trades and signings were being made that AA expected a bit more from his top guys, they have all struggled at some point (except for Reyes) which happens on any team and in any sport, but these guys were expected to do a lot more for the Blue Jays.
This season so far has to be deemed a disappointment, mainly because the team has not lived up to expectations. I still say the WBC did not help this team as a huge portion of the team’s starters represented their respective countries and of course did not have a lot of time to meet and get used to their new teammates, but that can only take a small bit of the blame. Injuries have played a large impact, as well losing some starting players right out of the starting gate. It seems there is always a Jays starter on the DL.
For now I will stop here and let you take in some of the things I have pointed out, but this ain’t over, not by a long-shot. Check back soon for Part 2 on my mid season review of the Toronto Blue Jays.
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