May 10, 2018
The Mitchell Report: Happ torched in worst start of 2018
J.A. Happ gives up 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings and Mariners slugger Kyle Seager belts a grand slam off the Blue Jays starter en route to Seattle handing Toronto a 9-3 thrashing at Rogers Centre on Thursday. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game.
J.A. Happ gives up 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings and Mariners slugger Kyle Seager belts a grand slam off the Blue Jays starter en route to Seattle handing Toronto a 9-3 thrashing at Rogers Centre on Thursday. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game:
GAME 38, MAY 10: MARINERS AT JAYS
RESULT: 9-3 loss (Seattle wins series 2-1)
RECORD: 20-18
STREAK: L1
1—Happ blown up in worst start of season
Coming into the night, J.A. Happ had been the constant in the Blue Jays’ rotation. He hadn’t been perfect, but the 35-year-old had gone seven innings twice, more than any other Jays starter, and was sporting a 3.67 ERA, which is more than acceptable in the high-scoring AL East. His performance Thursday night, however, did not meet the standard of acceptable. Happ was torched right from the get-go, and his night ended with just one out in the fourth inning. The damage? It was significant. He was touched up for a pair of home runs and 10 hits, allowing seven earned runs in total to jump his ERA all the way to 4.80. Happ will try to get back on track next Wednesday in a road matinee against the New York Mets.
2—Rotation performance and record don’t add up
It’s no secret that you need starting pitching to be successful. It’s a necessity. The standings through the first six weeks of the season reflect that, too. Six teams came into Thursday night with a rotation ERA above 5.00. All of them are buried in the standings, with the lone exception being the Jays: Orioles (9-27), White Sox (9-25), Reds (10-27), Padres (14-24), Rangers (15-24), and Jays (20-18). Conversely, the Astros, Yankees, Indians and Red Sox own the best rotation ERAs in the American League. Those four teams would all be in the post-season if the season ended today. Luckily for the Blue Jays, it doesn’t and there’s still time for this veteran rotation to figure things out both individually and collectively.
3—What’s wrong with Martin?
Russell Martin connected on his fifth home run of the season Thursday, which is a good thing. The problem is the 35-year-old catcher only has eight hits that have not left the yard, leaving his batting average at .151 heading into the weekend series against the Boston Red Sox. So what’s wrong with the $20-million man? His walk and strikeout rates are in line with his career averages, but his batting average on balls in play is just .143, well down from his career .283 BABIP. That suggests he’s getting a bit unlucky, but the batted ball profile says he’s also not hitting the ball hard enough to find those holes. Martin holds an 8.3% line-drive rate. His career average is 18.3%. He’s hit 55% of his balls on the ground. His career average is 49.3%. Finally, he has a 30% soft contact rate, well above his career average of 17.7%.
4—Granderson returns to lineup, leadoff spot
Veteran left fielder Curtis Granderson started for the first time since tweaking his right hamstring Friday in Tampa. Granderson, who finished 0-for-2 with a walk against the M’s and starter Mike Leake, might not find many at-bats this weekend since the Red Sox are slated to throw three consecutive lefties at the Jays. It might be a good opportunity to let right-handed Anthony Alford play every day and see what he can do against Chris Sale, David Price and Drew Pomeranz, but manager John Gibbons also has switch-hitter Dalton Pompey at his disposal.
5—Bullpen moves could be coming
With three games on tap against one of the best lineups in baseball and the rotation struggling, the Jays bullpen will have to be ready to work this weekend. After Jake Petricka mopped up Thursday’s loss with 1.2 innings, followed by Aaron Loup and Tim Mayza throwing two frames apiece, the Jays may need a fresh arm or two. Gibbons didn’t rule out that possibility post-game, and two of the options at Triple-A Buffalo include right-handers Taylor Guerrieri and Sam Gaviglio, who started Monday. Danny Barnes and Carlos Ramirez would be the obvious candidates but both were sent down less than 10 days ago, so the Jays can only recall them in the event of someone going on the disabled list. Phantom DL stint, anyone?
UP NEXT: LHP Chris Sale (3-1, 2.02) vs. RHP Aaron Sanchez (2-3, 4.14) on Friday in the series opener against the Boston Red Sox, 7:07 p.m.