TORONTO – Props to the Toronto Blue Jays’ starting staff, and not just for serving as a stability post for a team still trying to find itself.
Pitching in a four-man rotation, as they have over the past three weeks and will continue to do indefinitely moving forward until Alek Manoah gets right, is a grind. Already they’ve sacrificed the benefits of bonus recovery time offered by a pair of recent off-days, with another pair going by the wayside the next two Mondays. Insufficient organizational depth forced them into this spot. Low-key, it’s turned into a real substantial ask.
In the short-term, the Blue Jays are surviving it, although meriting some debate is whether Chris Bassitt’s struggles over his past three outings, or a slight dip in Jose Berrios’ velocity in his past two starts, including Saturday’s 7-3 win over the Oakland Athletics, is tied to the heavier workload.
Consider that Berrios and Bassitt have both made six of their past eight starts on four days of rest, Yusei Kikuchi will match them when he starts Sunday’s series finale while for Kevin Gausman, the number is six of seven without the benefit of an extra day.
That’s already a lot of extra work with more to come ahead of the most difficult portions of the season.
“It's what we've got right now,” said Berrios. “Thank God I've been feeling pretty strong and healthy. Sometimes we feel like we need that extra day, but that's what it is right now. We have to work around it and everything's mental. If you prepare yourself mentally, you can be ready every five days out there, trying to help the team win the most games we can.”
Now, reading too much into minor outing-to-outing variances in velocity is never a good idea but Berrios sat 93 mph with his sinker while giving up five runs in four innings against at Miami on Monday while he was down to 92.7 mph over his six innings against the Athletics, even further away from his average of 93.5 mph.
To that end, Berrios was more good than great against a lineup stacked with six lefties, allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits and two walks. While he struck out eight before a Rogers Centre crowd of 41,720, he also allowed seven hard-hit balls to a lineup that’s produced the lowest slugging percentage in the majors.
“Jose was really good, I thought," said manager John Schneider. "There was some hard contact, but he really made pitches when he had to.”
His changeup was his main weapon Saturday, thrown 33 times in 96 pitches and generating six whiffs in 16 swings, his sinker didn’t get one swing and miss and each of his offerings was put into play at 101 mph or harder.
Berrios still found ways to avoid major damage – Seth Brown opened the second with a solo shot, Ryan Noda doubled home a run in the third and Tyler Wade added an RBI single in the sixth after a Bo Bichette error extended the inning – which Bassitt hasn’t managed of late.
He’s allowed 17 runs, 15 earned, in 11.2 innings over his last three starts and when asked if the four-man rotation was a factor, Schneider said, “at this point I don't think it's really catching up to him. I think it's just been a couple of starts where he's been scuffling against a lot of left-handed hitting lineups.”
Still, extra rest is “always beneficial,” he added. “I know numbers kind of back that up when guys get extra days rest. Definitely something we're talking about and trying to see what the benefits are, both short and long term.”
Big days from the offence certainly provide a benefit, the way they did Saturday when the Blue Jays eked out a pair of runs in the first off opener Shintaro Fujinami, who averaged 100.3 mph on his fastball, and then answered each Athletics run with some of their own.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second to make it a 3-1 game, Danny Jansen hit a two-run shot in the third to make it 5-2 and Guerrero went deep for the second straight home game in the sixth, a two-run drive that made it 7-3.
“Those are the at-bats that have been eluding us a little bit,” said Schneider. “It allows you to go, OK, let's line the bullpen up a little bit differently. Hopefully he can stay right there.”
Guerrero, who also singled and walked in five plate appearances, homered in consecutive games for the third time this season and first since May 3-4 at Boston. He adjusted cleverly from a 92.3 mph fastball to an 81.4 mph curveball that Austin Pruitt left middle-middle and rocking it 437 feet.
“You've got to trust yourself,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebron. “When you trust all the work that you put in, all your coaches, you've got to trust in the results, also. But he hung that pitch right down the middle. I was ready for it.”
The offence made it a comfortable victory on the scoreboard, even if it didn’t feel quite as one-sided while the contest played out.
One blip for the Blue Jays came in the ninth when Yimi Garcia, on to mop things up, left the mound with right knee soreness after inducing a Tony Kemp pop up for the second out. Schneider came out with head trainer Jose Ministral and after a brief conversation, Jordan Romano was called in to close things out.
But as it so often has for the Blue Jays this season, the victory began with the starter.
Amid the current grind, Berrios has placed more emphasis on recovery, things like cold plunges and sauna sessions to get him ready for the next start faster. Between the Monday and Saturday outings, he skipped his bullpen session, although that was partially tied to the Blue Jays having a day game Wednesday, his side day, and not wanting to throw that early.
Otherwise he’s maintained his throwing and weight-room programs to keep him ready for the demands of a four-man rotation.
“That's what it is,” Berrios said, “so we have to focus on that and work around that.”
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