TORONTO – Esmil Rogers continues to pitch himself into a bigger and bigger role with the Toronto Blue Jays, and with Brandon Morrow suffering a setback on his rehab, the right-hander’s emergence couldn’t be more timely.
A fourth straight impressive start — this one a 6.2-inning, three-run (two earned) effort in an 8-3 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday — was heartening for far more than simply the way the 27-year-old set the tone in his team’s seventh straight win before 22,852.
With Morrow’s forearm flaring up again and another exam scheduled, Rogers’ ascension to the rotation may need to last longer than the stop-gap measure it was initially planned to be. Permanent or not, he’s becoming more than just the cost effective power arm for the bullpen he was seen as when acquired from the Cleveland Indians back on Nov. 3.
“We were kind of scrambling, looking for guys that could do it, we’d given some other guys some shots and he just stepped up,” manager John Gibbons said of the decision to move Rogers out of the ‘pen. “He’s got a nice, loose arm, he’s very durable, and how many guys have a better arm than he’s got? When you watch him going out there, he makes it look pretty easy. … He can still scatter it a little bit, that’s when he gets in a little bit of trouble, but when he’s on, putting it in the strike zone, he’s pretty doggone tough.”
That Rogers followed up last week’s seven-inning, one-run gem against the Texas Rangers by slicing and dicing the team that signed him out of the Dominican Republic in 2003 is a good sign that he’s taking to the rotation.
Rogers didn’t allow a hit until Jonathan Herrera’s one-out single in the sixth, and the runs against him were all of the garbage-time variety in the seventh, with the Blue Jays up 8-0. In all he allowed four hits and a walk in his 6.2 innings, striking out five in improving to 2-0 with a 1.74 ERA as a starter.
“I’ve got an unbelievable confidence right now,” said Rogers. “I can throw any pitch in any count where I want.”
The key for him is the addition of a sinker he debuted during a three-inning relief appearance against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 21, when he induced three double plays. “I was like, ‘Hey, I think we got something here,'” catcher J.P. Arencibia remembers thinking.
Another wrinkle is the addition of a twist in his windup, so hitters “don’t see the pitch early.” But it was the sinker that had Rockies marvelling at their former teammate.
“Not like that,” Todd Helton said when asked if Rogers featured a sinker in Colorado. “He always had the talent. You knew he was going to be good if he ever pulled it together. I am happy for him. He was one my favourite teammates. I just wish he hadn’t pitched like this against us.”
At minimum, he’s showing himself capable of playing the swingman role Carlos Villanueva filled so ably the previous two seasons, but perhaps he’s on the path to becoming something more.
“I’m just trying to do my job,” said Rogers, something he’s doing in impressive fashion right now.
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WHERE THINGS STAND: At 34-36, the Blue Jays are within two games of the .500 mark for the first time since they were 7-9 on April 18. Their last seven-game win streak came Aug. 30-Sept. 9, 2008, when they won 10 straight.
“We’re definitely excited,” said catcher J.P. Arencibia, “but I don’t think anyone looks past today was a good game, tomorrow is a new game. We dug ourselves a hole early, so it’s not about looking ahead, looking forward, it’s about looking at what’s in front of us.”
Mark Buehrle (3-4, 4.66) starts against Juan Nicasio (4-2, 4.86) on Wednesday when the Blue Jays look to complete a three-game sweep of the Rockies (37-35), who are 2-3 since Troy Tulowitzki was placed on the disabled list June 14.
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WOE CANADA: Jeff Francis’ second career start in his home and native land didn’t go well at all, as the Blue Jays blasted him for four runs in the first and never looked back.
Edwin Encarnacion got the ball rolling with an RBI double, Adam Lind and Rajai Davis added RBI singles, and after a Mark DeRosa base-running blunder led to an out at third base, J.P. Arencibia added another double.
Encarnacion added a two-run shot off Francis in the fifth while Arencibia and Maicer Izturis went back-to-back off the native of North Delta, B.C., in the sixth.
Francis, who beat the Blue Jays while with the Kansas City Royals in 2011, allowed eight runs on 10 hits in six innings.
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ARGOS AT VARSITY?: The Grey-Cup champion Toronto Argonauts have a lease to play at Rogers Centre through 2017, but they’ve been asked to search for a new home so the Blue Jays can install a grass field.
Given that, their CFL pre-season game against the Montreal Alouettes at Varsity Stadium on Thursday is noteworthy given that the venue was once touted as a potential landing spot for the Argos. A successful night there may perhaps help rekindle the idea, but as of now it appears to be a one-off, nothing more.
