Start by start, Marcus Stroman continues to establish himself as a fixture in the Toronto Blue Jays’ rotation.
The 23-year-old rookie’s latest outing, a 4-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox, reinforced his status as an aggressive pitcher capable of pounding the strike zone and keeping opponents off of the board. Manager John Gibbons said before the game that Stroman has surpassed his expectations as a starter, and that trend continued with a “tremendous” game Saturday.
“He did a heck of a job,” Gibbons said. “It’s a shame he couldn’t come away with a win”
Gibbons pulled Stroman for Dustin McGowan in the seventh inning, a move that backfired when McGowan allowed a three-run home run to Dayan Viciedo. While the call to remove Stroman before the 100-pitch mark didn’t work, he and Gibbons both expressed confidence in McGowan’s ability to escape jams.
“If you do things over you leave (Stroman) in, but my thinking was that he had pitched his butt off, and was kind of in unchartered territory,” Gibbons said. “You don’t want him to lose the game right there.”
Stroman wanted to keep pitching, but understood the decision to bring on McGowan.
“It’s tough, because obviously I wanted to be out there,” he said. “I felt strong. But I’m also a young guy, so that was Gibby’s choice and Dustin’s been great for us all year, so it’s not like I was mad about coming out of the game. I had 100 percent confidence for Dustin to come in and get that out.”
All told, Stroman pitched brilliantly for 6 2/3 innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out six with a five-pitch mix. He was efficient, needing just 96 pitches to keep the White Sox in check, as he lowered his season ERA to 4.01.
The more the Blue Jays see from Stroman, the more confident they can be that he’s capable of being an impact starter despite his modest 5-foot-8 frame.
“In the baseball world they always talk about short right-handed pitchers, but you know there are some pretty good ones too,” Gibbons said. “They get these labels, but if a guy’s good he’s good. It doesn’t matter what your size is.”
Yet the Blue Jays’ bullpen and offence — presumed team strengths entering the season — did not produce.
McGowan and Aaron Loup allowed another run to score on three singles in the eighth inning, as Toronto’s bullpen ERA (4.42, 26th in MLB entering the game) climbed again. Even Casey Janssen, who has been so effective since returning from the disabled list in May, allowed three singles before working out of trouble.
Meanwhile, the lineup didn’t do enough to make up for the bullpen’s struggles. In its current, injury-depleted state, the bottom of the Blue Jays’ batting order doesn’t scare many people, especially against left-handed pitching. Steve Tolleson, Brad Glenn, Munenori Kawasaki and Darin Mastroianni were in Toronto’s starting lineup, yet they began the day with nearly three times as many games played at triple-A this year (150) as in the big leagues (61).
Credit perennial Cy Young contender Chris Sale for a performance that left the Blue Jays looking over-matched at times. The left-hander pitched seven innings, allowing two earned runs while striking out six. But the offensive shortcomings of the Blue Jays become apparent without Jose Bautista, who continues battling hamstring soreness, and Brett Lawrie, who’s on the disabled list with a broken finger.
“You look at the kind of year Jose’s having and it’s pretty big for us, and Brett’s having a hell of a year too,” Gibbons said. “That’s two big bats.”
Mastroianni came through with a big game, hitting his first home run with the Blue Jays, a two-run shot that gave Toronto a 2-0 lead.
“That was awesome,” Stroman said. “I didn’t know he had that much juice in his bat, that much power. That was huge — a huge momentum shifter and just to be able to get to a guy like Sale on the mound is pretty special, because he’s pretty unreal out there.”
It was the best-case scenario for Mastroianni who knew he was in for a challenge when he saw that Sale was starting.
“He’s not one of the best in the game by accident,” Mastroianni said “Everyone has a hard time against him. He’s got really electric stuff. Arms, elbows, knees. It looks like he’s got six arms out there — things flailing around. He’s electric.”
Stroman was just as good as Sale, though the White Sox came away with the win.
“He was outstanding the whole game,” Mastroianni said. “He really commanded the zone, attacked hitters, and it was a lot of fun for us to watch.”
Kawasaki would go on to drive a run in the ninth inning, but it wasn’t enough as the Blue Jays lost their second consecutive game in front of 39,623. The challenge doesn’t end here for the Blue Jays, now 45-38. They could use bullpen reinforcements and they must find a way of getting more offence against left-handed pitching.
In the short term that means figuring out a way to produce against southpaw Jose Quintana, who pitches for Chicago on Sunday. The Blue Jays hope Mastroianni can continue to provide some pop from the right side to keep the lineup going.
But as long as Lawrie and Bautista remain sidelined, the Blue Jays won’t have their typical dynamic offence against lefties and building on their division lead will be that much tougher.