MILWAUKEE – The current rut the Toronto Blue Jays are in sure feels like the low point of their season, but manager John Gibbons points to his team’s 2-8 road trip leading into the all-star break as the year’s nadir.
And it’s the 11-3 stretch his players bounced back with once action resumed from the break that keeps him thinking that his team may yet find a happy ending in the weeks ahead.
“(The adversity) is totally different because you’re at the end of the season now, back then time was on your side, time is not on your side now,” he said prior to Wednesday’s matinee with the Milwaukee Brewers. “To be honest, they’ve dealt with it pretty good, there’s no lack of effort, they’re trying to get the job done, at the moment it’s not happening.
“I tip my hat to them, going into the all-star break we were rock-bottom, we didn’t know what was going to happen coming out of that thing. They regrouped, made a nice little run to stay in the thing. They’ve bounced back before, that’s the hope. It’s going to take a nice little roll, hopefully that starts today.”
What’s different between then and now?
“We’ve got a couple a guys back (Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind) and it’s just a matter of time before we catch fire again,” Gibbons said. “If you look at the part of the schedule we’re in of course (it’s worse), but in the way you look at the team (the situation is better).”
Gibbons also urged some patience in waiting for his offence to explode while Encarnacion and Lind both regain their timing. There isn’t much time to waste, but not much option, either.
“People look for magic fixes,” said Gibbons. “You try to play the game the right way, do the fundamentals right, you execute on the mound, do the same thing at the plate, and if it’s one of those nights where you’re good at it and you’re better than the other team, you’re going to win. If not, you’re not. It’s pretty simple. …
“But your mindset has got to be tough, too. Mentally you’ve got to be tough to deal with the failures, but you’re going to fail, I don’t care how good you are. But there’s no magic bullet, there really isn’t.”
DRABEK IMPRESSES: Kyle Drabek’s season-debut Tuesday night captured the attention of manager John Gibbons, who said the right-hander “looked real good” in striking out three over two shutout innings.
Converted to a reliever at triple-A Buffalo earlier this season, Drabek was recalled Saturday with the Blue Jays bullpen in need of depth. His 16 games as a reliever with the Bisons (2.77 ERA in 26 innings) have helped ease him into the role.
“I felt comfortable,” he said Wednesday. “Being part of the bullpen in the minors, and hearing that phone a lot down there, I remember last September every time the phone rang I’d get excited to see who it was, if it was you, and I was a little more calm every time the phone rings. That helped out a bunch.”
And the feeling when he took the mound?
“It felt good,” he said. “As a pitcher you always miss being out on the mound, especially in the big-leagues, and having the stadium and the crowd as big as it was feels great.
“I was just happy it went well considering the last time I got called up. It’s definitely a confidence boost.”
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MORROW PROGRESSING: Brandon Morrow is throwing side sessions without the brace he had been using on his injured index finger and while he’s not yet fully letting loose on the mound, manager John Gibbons says his right-hander could return as a reliever in September.
Morrow has been out since May 2 with a torn tendon sheath in his injured finger.
