In a brief midweek series, the Toronto Blue Jays took one of two games against a Philadelphia Phillies team they really should have swept. The Blue Jays, battling for a playoff spot in an unusually weak American League, failed to take advantage of a pair of games against the worst team in baseball, remaining at .500, seven games back of the Yankees for the lead in the AL East and two games back of a Wild Card spot.
Tulo trade
It would be irresponsible to begin these takeaways anywhere but with the big news of the last two days: Troy Tulowitzki is a Toronto Blue Jay. The 30-year-old shortstop played his first major league game for a team other than the Colorado Rockies Wednesday night, going 3-for-5 with a home run and a pair of doubles. It was a tremendous debut.
“It’s a new chapter in my career. I’m excited about it,” Tulowitzki said during his introductory press conference Wednesday afternoon. “What I’m hoping for is that there’s a reason for this and it’s good for my career and hopefully I can get back to winning, which I did early in my career.”
Tulowitzki went to the post-season with the Rockies in his first full season in the majors all the way back in 2007 and returned in 2009. But over the last four seasons the Rockies are nearly 100 games under .500 and haven’t had so much as a sniff of October baseball. Tulowitzki’s hoping to change that in Toronto.
“Sometimes, when you’re out of it with a month left, it’s tough to get up and find something to play for other than personal pride and to keep that good image that you have up,” Tulowitzki said. “So now, to wake up and know these games are very meaningful and every time you win a series it means something in the standings, I think that will bring me back to my younger days when you wake up and all you were worried about was winning. When you’re worried about winning and playing the game the right way, you usually play better yourself.”
Download it now: iOS | Android | Windows
Of course, the Tulowitzki deal is about far more than the next two months. He has five years and $98 million guaranteed on his contract, which means he’ll likely be a cornerstone of the Blue Jays franchise for quite some time.
“I’m looking forward to the future. I see a winning team, a winning culture. I know they haven’t won a World Series here in a while. So, to be a part of something like that would be memorable,” Tulowitzki said. “I think that’s what you play this game for. To win. And I think there’s a great possibility here that that could happen. And very soon.”
Doubront DFA; Blue Jays fifth starter TBA
In order to make room for Tulowitzki on the 25-man roster, the Blue Jays designated fifth starter Felix Doubront for assignment. In four starts for the Blue Jays, Doubront posted a 4.87 ERA, allowing opponents to bat .341/.380/.459 against him.
The 27-year-old was terrific in his first start against the White Sox, and passable in his other three, but at no point did Doubront look like a pitcher ready to lock down a spot in the Blue Jays rotation. Gibbons’ faith in Doubront was clear when he pulled him after only four innings and 66 pitches against the Phillies Tuesday night, and just three runs on the board.
“In all fairness to Felix, it wasn’t like he pitched bad. He did OK. He was really good that night in Chicago,” Gibbons said. “I can’t, in fairness to the guy, say he was terrible out there by any means. That’s not the truth. It was just kind of hit or miss with him a little bit. But I liked everything about him. He was a real pro. Gave us a great effort.”
That’s about as diplomatic an answer as you’ll ever hear John Gibbons provide.
The Blue Jays now must find a starter for Sunday’s start against the Royals. Daniel Norris is the most likely candidate to come from within, although he hasn’t exactly excelled in triple-A, where he has a 4.27 ERA and a 4.1 BB/9 over 16 starts since being sent down earlier this year.
Of course, the hope among Blue Jays fans—and even those within the Blue Jays clubhouse—is that the starter will come from outside the organization. GM Alex Anthopoulos has made plenty of comments about wanting to add a starting pitcher—or even two—prior to Friday’s non-waiver trade deadline. Whether or not that happens, only time will tell.
“We think we need to improve in that area. Wherever that’s coming from, I don’t know yet,” Gibbons said of his rotation. “We’re really looking for that guy to seize the moment. We’ve gone through a few guys this year in that one spot. We’re waiting on somebody to really take it and run with it. That hasn’t happened yet.”
Travis reinjured
Rookie second baseman Devon Travis has had an extremely mixed season. When he’s been in the lineup, he’s been exceptional, with an .859 OPS over his first 239 major league plate appearances. But he’s also missed significant time with recurring shoulder trouble that began three months ago when he took a scorched groundball off the collarbone in Cleveland.
Travis’ shoulder issues cropped up again during the opener against the Phillies and he sat out Wednesday’s finale while he received two-and-a-half hours of treatment on the injury.
“They’re basically throwing the kitchen sink at my shoulder, trying to get it right,” Travis said. “It’s obviously a little scary. There’s 60 days to go and I’m hurting again.”
Whether or not Travis lands on the disabled list is a decision the Blue Jays will have to make in the immediate future. With so little time left in the season, and winning every game being of such a priority, Gibbons’ team needs to be operating with a full bench at his disposal.
“I don’t think it’s something we can drag out a few days. We need to play at full strength,” Gibbons said. “If we decide it’d be better to try to knock it out instead of just trying to play through it where he’s not at his best and it affects his whole game, then it’d probably be smart to DL him. It’s too bad. He’s been a big part of our team.”
Travis said Wednesday night that he hopes he can solve the injury through treatment, especially because he’s brought it to the Blue Jays medical staff’s attention early this time around, instead of playing through it for three weeks like he did earlier in the season.
One potential scenario could see Travis hitting the DL and the red-hot Dalton Pompey—batting .388/.483/.551 over his last 12 games at triple-A—being called up to play left field while Danny Valencia moves into a platoon at second base with the slick-fielding Ryan Goins. But Gibbons downplayed the possibility of Valencia seeing significant time at second on Wednesday.
“He’s probably more of an emergency guy,” Gibbons said. “Danny’s got good feet. He’s got good hands. He’s played there a little bit. But it’s still foreign to him.”
Stay tuned.