The Toronto Blue Jays start a three-city road trip Friday with the first of three games against the Detroit Tigers. After going 42-39 in the first half of the season, they’ll need consistent pitching to complement a dynamic offence in the second half.
Here are a few things to watch for in Detroit…
Friday, July 3 – 7:08 p.m. ET
Drew Hutchison vs. Anibal Sanchez
Saturday, July 4 – 1:08 p.m. ET
R.A. Dickey vs. David Price
Sunday, July 5 – 1:08 p.m. ET
Marco Estrada vs. Justin Verlander
Smoak hitting
One day after hitting home runs from both sides of the plate, Justin Smoak found himself on the bench again. But it won’t be long before the switch-hitting first baseman re-appears in the lineup.
“What do you have to do to get into a game? Do you have to hit three bombs?” manager John Gibbons joked.
Now Smoak faces a familiar challenge: staying fresh without the benefit of regular playing time. At least the multi-homer game reminds the Blue Jays he can produce.
“It’s pretty cool and it’s one of those things that rarely happens. When it does you just enjoy it a little bit,” Smoak said. “It’s definitely not easy to do when you’re not playing every day, but you’ve got to be ready for it.”
He now has seven home runs with an .849 OPS, but with so many Blue Jays hitters producing Gibbons doesn’t always have room in the lineup. For Smoak that means taking batting practice and tracking pitches in bullpen sessions to ensure his timing stays fresh for when he does return to the lineup. It could happen as soon as Friday.
“He will resurface,” Gibbons said.
Tigers scuffling
The Blue Jays face three accomplished pitchers in Detroit, but they get to face the Tigers at a time that they’re struggling. After getting swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Tigers now have a .500 record at 39-39.
While Price has pitched well, the Tigers have struggled to find answers in the rotation. Sanchez’s ERA sits at 4.63, Verlander has made just three starts and Shane Greene was optioned after a hot start.
The Tigers’ offence has generally been respectable, but Anthony Gose’s production has fallen off of late. He batted just .169 in June after hitting .314 in each of the season’s first two months.
Cabrera mashing
Miguel Cabrera’s having yet another MVP-level season, with 15 home runs and a .345/.453/.575 batting line entering play Friday. The 32-year-old first baseman has been controlling the strike zone with nearly as many walks (53) as strikeouts (55).
Different feel for Blue Jays
Gibbons has said many times that this year’s team has a different feel than previous iterations of the Blue Jays. That’s partly because the players click with one another, and partly because this edition of the team may simply have more talent.
“I think there are some better players in here now,” Gibbons said. “In the end, talent’s going to win anyway, but they all seem to get along.”
The Blue Jays are also hoping that health allows them to keep their roster together for the second half. Injuries to Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie and Adam Lind cost the team down the stretch in 2014 despite a similarly promising start.
Long trip ahead
After three games in Detroit, the Blue Jays will continue their road trip against the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals. They have just seven more home games in July, so the upcoming stretch promises to be challenging.
“This month will probably tell the tale a little bit,” Gibbons said.
