TORONTO – An emphatic series win over the Orioles puts the Blue Jays just 1.0 game back of the Guardians with two weeks remaining in the regular season – but still, there’s more work to be done.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s four-hit game Sunday featured his first Rogers Centre home run of the season along with another near-miss that went for a double and two hard-hit singles. If he can come close to sustaining that over the next two weeks, the Blue Jays have a real chance to return to the playoffs for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.
Guerrero Jr.’s performance remains the biggest variable for the 75-75 Blue Jays as they prepare for a series against the Detroit Tigers starting Monday night, but other major questions linger, too. Here’s a closer look at three of them.
What’s the best way to get the most out of Cease?
The Blue Jays will be pushing Dylan Cease down the stretch. The question now is what form that takes. Given his overall body of work, manager John Schneider said the Blue Jays made a “collective” decision to give him an extra day of rest ahead of Sunday’s start against Baltimore.
Even so, Cease’s velocity was down as he averaged 94.8 m.p.h. with his fastball compared to his season average of 97. He was still effective, working his way in and out of trouble to limit Baltimore to one run in five innings.
Afterwards, he acknowledged the possibility of some late-season fatigue but said he likes where he’s at and felt Sunday was a step in the right direction.
“I can’t imagine my velo dipping much more and I can even picture it going up,” he said. “So it’s not something I’m worried about.”
Still, this outing affirms rather than challenges the idea that a little extra rest might be good for Cease. Even with the extra rest, he’s not quite finding his normal velocity.
Moving forward, the next decision for the Blue Jays is whether to start him on four days’ rest Friday in Texas or keep him on turn and start him Saturday. Using him Friday would set up the possibility of bringing him back on Wednesday, Sept. 23 against Baltimore and line him up for Game 1 of a potential wild-card series on Sept. 29.
Alternatively, the Blue Jays could continue building in rest, using Cease Saturday in Texas and then Friday, Sept. 25 against the Reds. In that scenario, he’d be on extra rest for the regular season starts and regular rest for Game 2 of a potential wild-card series Sept. 30.
For now, the next step will simply be to check in with Cease early this week and see how he’s feeling. Other variables, like the health of Trey Yesavage, will impact the pitching plans, too. But as the week progresses, the plan should come into focus. And whether he’s pitching Friday or Saturday, he’s vitally important to the Blue Jays’ chances.
“We’re going to try to use some days when we can,” Schneider said. “And depending on how he feels, we can adjust.”
Where’s Springer at physically?
George Springer isn’t one to detail his physical ailments. Last year, we knew he was banged up late in the regular season and into the playoffs but he declined to share specifics. The same has been true so far this season, though he appeared to be in some discomfort during Saturday’s game.
Then on Sunday, he homered, proving that he can still deliver big swings whatever his ailments are.
What we can say with certainty is this: Springer has had two full days off this month and he’s also been limited to pinch-hit duty twice. On one of those occasions, the Blue Jays chose to use the since designated for assignment Jesus Sanchez as a defence replacement instead of Springer, who turns 37 this week.
If the Blue Jays are concerned about Springer’s health, they certainly aren’t about to say so. But internally, the team must have a reasonable idea of how compromised Springer is, and that answer will impact what they can expect from their offence.
“He knows how to do it,” Schneider said. “He’s done it before and he knows what time of year it is, obviously … He knows how to take care of himself over the course of a long season.”
Is there any help coming from the minors?
We've already seen the Blue Jays reach into their minor-league system for pitching with the promotion of left-hander Ricky Tiedemann. His command hasn't been sharp, with six walks in as many innings, but his presence in the majors raises the question of whether the Blue Jays could reach into their system for another arm.
Right-handers Gage Stanifer and Nolan Perry have to be added to the 40-man roster over the winter regardless and both have reached the upper minors, putting a potential MLB call-up in play. The 22-year-old Stanifer recently reached triple-A after posting a 4.82 ERA with lots of strikeouts (133) and too many walks (64) in 97 double-A innings. Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Perry has a 2.50 ERA with 117 strikeouts compared to 32 walks across three levels, most recently double-A.
It’d be a big ask of a young prospect, and not everyone handles that challenge as well as Yesavage did. At the same time, there may come a point that someone like Stanifer or Perry is simply one of the 14 best pitchers in the organization. If that’s the case, it’ll be time to take a calculated risk and do everything possible to help ensure a smooth transition to the playoff race.
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