MINNEAPOLIS — An opportunity to reach the .500 mark for the first time since April 4 slipped away for the Toronto Blue Jays in the finale of a four-game set with the Minnesota Twins amid wider developments for their pitching picture.
Trey Yesavage allowed only one run over four innings of a 4-3 loss while breaking the 80-pitch barrier and generating more whiffs (15) than in his season-debut (five), although he was unable to replicate the pitch efficiency from that outing. Still, his splitter looked much more like the weapon he yielded last fall, an important step in his progression.
“I thought the splitter had its bright moments and I thought the slider was so-so again, but I didn't think they were bad,” said Yesavage. “Felt really good, arm felt great, but just wasn't as efficient with those 82 pitches as I wanted to be.”
His progress stood in contrast to Jose Berrios, who allowed seven runs on six hits — three of them homers — and four walks during his latest rehab start for triple-A Buffalo, when his fastball averaged 90.1 m.p.h. and topped out at 92.1.
That’s the second straight start in which his stuff was down as he works to return from a stress fracture in his right elbow, a worrying trend given that priorities for him Sunday included re-establishing his fastball command and velocity.
The Blue Jays had hoped to reinsert him into the rotation for the next turn, which raises the stakes for how Eric Lauer fares Monday when he starts at the Tampa Bay Rays. In limbo since Yesavage’s return bumped him to the bullpen, there may be a pathway back to a regular turn if Berrios needs more time on rehab.
As all that played out, a frustrating day unrolled at Target Field, as Braydon Fisher gave up three runs in the fourth as the Twins opened up a 4-0 lead, one they didn’t relinquish in securing a series split.
Kazuma Okamoto homered for a third straight game in the ninth, a two-run shot off Justin Topa, to make it a one-run game, but their rally came undone when Lenyn Sosa hit into a game-ending double play after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Jesus Sanchez both singled.
They were mostly stymied otherwise by the Twins bullpen — including 3.2 shutout innings from Andrew Morris — once ace Joe Ryan left two batters in due to elbow soreness.
“An 11:45 (a.m) game is weird and starter going two hitters is weird, but you've got to make adjustments and we just didn't quite make them quick enough,” said manager John Schneider. "Also left a lot of guys on base, too, which is never the best.”
Particularly frustrating was a promising sixth, when they put men on the corners to open the inning — Sanchez stumbled coming around first on a ball in the gap to turn a double into a single — but came away with only one run on Daulton Varsho’s clever bunt single.
Tyler Heieneman popped up on Taylor Rogers’ first pitch to end the sixth and was replaced by Brandon Valenzuela for the bottom half, something Schneider later described as a “manager's decision.”
The Blue Jays were again without George Springer, who left Saturday’s 11-4 win after being hit on the left big toe he previously fractured. He joked in the morning about “living to fight another day,” something Schneider is hopeful comes against the Rays.
In his absence, Yohendrick Pinango batted leadoff with Okamoto up at two, as “without George at the top, we're trying to get a little bit creative,” said Schneider. "See how he feels (Monday) and make the call then.”
Okamoto is on a torrid .296/.387/.704 run over his last 15 games with seven homers and 18 RBIs, and the manager likely understated when he said the third baseman “is really picking it up pretty quick.”
As for whether the Okamoto in the two-hole could see some run, Schneider pointed out that “you want to try to keep yourself a little bit platoon neutral … you want someone behind Vlad that's a little bit of a presence, too.”
“It'll be easier to make it pretty steady when George is back in there,” he added. “We've done that before, where you kind of run three righties in a row, and it's an easy line change for the opposing manager. So we'll see. But certain days, I can see him hitting anywhere of value to us.”
Of definite value to them will be Yesavage at full-go, a status he’s building toward.
He should be in the 90-pitch range for his next start and 100 in the outing after that and his stamina by then should help him hold his velocity a little steadier throughout an outing at that point. Sunday, his first start on normal rest this season, his fastball averaged 93.3 m.p.h., down from 94.3 against Boston on Tuesday, and he lost 1.1 m.p.h. from the first to the fourth innings.
Physically, “it’s like he’s at the end of spring training,” said pitching coach Pete Walker, and “you'll see him over time maintain that again. It's about continuing to build up, get his endurance, be able to throw 100 pitches and maintain his velo and his strength.”
That’s why the Blue Jays continue to be encouraged by the way he’s used his fastball.
If he’s getting outs with it while his secondary offerings are still coming around, that will only play better once they eventually do. Yesavage got four outs on balls in play with his splitter and five misses on 12 swings, but he threw only seven sliders all afternoon, one swing against it going for a base hit, the other a miss.
“Got to keep hammering it in the 'pen and in between starts, just keep trying to get that consistent feel,” said Yesavage. “I honestly think I'm just trying to do too much with it. Just got to throw it and let the pitch be the pitch, not try to manipulate it in some way.”
Getting closer to the break-even point, the Blue Jays are aiming to avoid the same with their pitching staff as a whole, too.
