The Toronto Blue Jays get back on the field post–All-Star break on Friday with the first of a three-game series at home against the Rays. The Jays are hoping for a fresh start following a disappointing end to the first half, while the Rays look to build upon the small winning streak they’d begun ahead of the Midsummer Classic.
Here are a few things to watch for:
Friday, July 17 – 7:07 p.m. ET
Jake Odorizzi vs. Drew Hutchison
Saturday, July 18 – 1:07 p.m. ET
Erasmo Ramirez vs. R.A. Dickey
Sunday, July 19 – 1:07 p.m. ET
Chris Archer vs. Marco Estrada
Up and down
The Rays currently sit second in the AL East, three and a half games back of first. Ahead of the All-Star break, the team appeared to be gaining momentum, sweeping the upstart Houston Astros in a three-game set. The Blue Jays, meanwhile, will be trying to rebound from a rough patch that saw them dip below .500 to end their series in Kansas City. Toronto has lost 8 of their last 11 games, but sits only one game back of Tampa Bay in the AL East.
The Blue Jays have a 3-7 record versus the Rays this season, but there’s good news: the tides can turn rapidly in baseball—meaning anything is possible. Prior to their matchup with the Astros at Tropicana Field, the Rays had lost 11 of their last 12 games.
Homebody
Much has been made about Drew Hutchison’s poor results on the road, where he has a record of 2-1 and an ERA of 8.81. Thankfully, the 24-year-old will have home-field advantage on Friday: Hutchison has excelled at Rogers Centre, with a 6-1 record to go alongside a sparkling ERA of 2.12.
Pitching against Hutchison will be Tampa Bay’s Jake Odorizzi, who’ll be making his second start since returning from a spell on the disabled list that lasted more than a month, the result of an oblique strain. In Odorizzi’s first start back with the Rays on Saturday, he pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing zero runs and just two hits. That’s downright Odorizzirous—a word I just now coined, and which I’ve decided means lights-out pitching from the 25-year-old right-hander, who has a 2-0 record with a 2.00 ERA over four career starts versus the Blue Jays.
Bluebird hunting
Marco Estrada will face off against Tampa’s ace, Chris Archer, on Sunday. This is unfortunate news for both Estrada and Blue Jays fans: Archer is something of a Jays-killer, sporting a 2-0 record with a 1.49 ERA versus the Jays.
The silver lining for Toronto, though: Archer is coming off his worst big-league start ever, giving up nine earned runs over 6 innings on July 8 when facing the Royals. Estrada, meanwhile, has put up ace-like numbers at times, taking no-hitters deep into consecutive games and notching five wins since the beginning of June.
Schadenfreude
Yes, Chris Archer is scary, but there are upsides to a series with Tampa Bay right now, the biggest being that the Rays are missing key players due to injury: Right-fielder Steven Souza, an early AL rookie of the year candidate, is out with a lacerated finger, and shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera strained his hamstring just prior to the All-Star break. They join pitcher Drew Smyly and outfielder Desmond Jennings as key players on the Rays’ DL.
Trade talk
The number of Rays players nursing injuries helps explain why Tampa Bay’s trade-deadline plans stand in such stark contrast with the growing buzz in Toronto. Matt Silverman, Tampa Bay’s president of baseball operations, recently explained that the team will not be looking to make any major deals ahead of the July 31 trade deadline, while expectations run high amongst Blue Jays fans and players that reinforcements are on their way.
With the AL East still up for grabs, a healthy Tampa Bay squad and a bolstered Toronto team both look ready to contend; the outcome of this early second-half series has the potential to shape playoff races in September.
