One of my favourite baseball cartoons is a very old Peanuts strip. In the first panel, Charlie Brown is shown tossing his battered baseball glove into a closet as he says “Good-bye, old friend. I’ll see you next spring.” In the middle panel you see the closed closet door, with a thought bubble saying “Sigh . . .” emanating from it. In the third panel, still looking at the closed door, a second thought bubble says “I’ll probably wake up in February and not be able to get back to sleep.” Such is the hold that baseball has on our imaginations.
The last time the Blue Jays saw the Kansas City Royals they were dancing on the field at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, in celebration of their completing a 4-2 American League Championship Series win over the Toronto Blue Jays. The Royals were on their way to the World Series to face, and ultimately demolish, the New York Mets in the 2015 MLB World Series. The Blue Jays were on their way home to Toronto to clear out their lockers, disperse to their homes, and spend a few months licking their wounds and pondering what might have been.
Tonight was the first game of the season between the Royals and the Blue Jays, and besides the fact that much has changed about both teams, the other clear message that emerged from the game is that 2015 is so over.
This is not by any means the same Kansas City Royals team that beat the Blue Jays in the playoffs last year. Third baseman Mike Moustakas is gone for the year after knee surgery. Right fielder Alex Rios is gone to free agency. Second baseman Ben Zobrist is gone to free agency. In the short term, for this series, centre fielder Lorenzo Cain and ace closer Wade Davis are both on the disabled list.
And pitching? Wow, what a difference. First off, Yordano Ventura is day-to-day with an ankle sprain—whom did he kick?—so we won’t see him in this series and the Toronto cops can leave their riot gear at home when they draw game assignments. Johnny Cueto is gone to free agency. Edinson Volquez, tonight’s starter, has been mediocre, Chris Young, whom we’ll see tomorrow night, has been less than mediocre, and Ian Kennedy, who has the start Wednesday night, has done little so far to justify the big bucks the Royals put out to sign him. In fact, I don’t see much in Kennedy’s record with the Padres, admittedly a poor team, to justify their offering those big bucks to him. The upshot of all this is that the Royals’ vaunted bullpen, weakened now by the loss of Davis, has had little to do, because the starters don’t create closing situations for them.
Of the players in the every day lineup, Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez continue to shine, as does the re-signed Alex Gordon, especially in the field, but paradoxically Manager Ned Yost has moved all-round pest and pot-stirrer Alcides Escobar from leadoff to the number eight position in the lineup to install Gordon at the top. The Jays will appreciate that change, after the chaos Escobar caused them in the playoffs last year.
Since we’re past the half-way point in games, almost to the All-Star break, and marking this first visit of the Royals to Toronto, maybe it’s time to consider what this 2016 Blue Jays’ team is all about. One of the most significant changes for the team was on display tonight against Kansas City, as Aaron Sanchez mowed down the formerly intimidating Royals, so let’s take stock before moving on to the game.
It’s a very different Blue Jays’ team from last year. The most obvious change is the improvement in the starting rotation. David Price is gone. Jay Happ is proving to be an incredible bargain replacing him as the left-handed starter. In fact, his numbers have been significantly better than Price’s all year, save for strikeouts. Marco Estrada, despite some nagging injuries and a lack of run support, has picked up exactly where he left off last year, and continues to lead all major league pitchers with the lowest opponents’ batting average against him. R.A. Dickey’s early summer surge started in mid-spring this year, and he is beginning to dominate in his starts in a way that he only occasionally did last year. Marcus Stroman has had his problems, as the Child of Destiny seemed for a while to have lost the road map to the All-Star Game. But what team wouldn’t love to have his stats for their fourth or even third starter: 7-4, 4.89 ERA, 116 innings, and 83 strikeouts?
And then there’s tonight’s starter, Aaron Sanchez. Last year the Royals saw him as a very effective setup man for Roberto Osuna, basically throwing only two pitches. He had been starting to round into shape as a starter earlier in the year before going on the DL, but the Royals never saw him then. Now, after winning the “competition”–was there ever any doubt?–for the “fifth starter” spot in the spring, what a first half he has had, going into tonight’s game with a record of 8-1 and an ERA of 3.08. No one would think of calling him the fifth starter now. Without Sanchez, the Jays’ rotation is clearly the best in the AL East. With him, it’s the best in the whole league, hands down.
There’s always a concern about the possibility of a starter being taken down by injury, but the Jays have Jesse Chavez pitching effectively in longer outings out of the bullpen, and Drew Hutchison throwing very well in Buffalo, and contributing two solid spot starts to the big team. Nobody is talking about what’s wrong with Drew Hutchison any more.
As for the everday lineup, like the Royals, there a lot of changes to note, but for the most part they mark an improvement. Against all expectations, Michael Saunders has come back from his year lost to injury to prove himself a consistent .300 hitter with power against both right- and left-handed pitching. He is a below-average fielder, but of all the players used in left by the Jays last year, save for Kevin Pillar before he moved to centre, Ben Revere was the best one, and that’s not saying much, so we can live with Saunders in left, especially since there are late inning options for defensive purposes when the team is protecting a lead. Kevin Pillar continues to do what he does. Jose Bautista has had a sub-par year; leaving aside two stints on the DL, his offensive numbers have been good except for his average, but his defense has clearly deteriorated. On the bright side, Ezequiel Carrera has gotten most of the innings lost by Bautista, and been a real surprise, hitting , fielding, and running well above what his career record would suggest. The way he’s playing at present, a lot of teams would be happy with him as an every-day player.
The shocking loss of Chris Colabello to a PED suspension has eased the logjam at first and DH, with Justin Smoak and Edwin Encarnacion sharing both positions, though Smoak will sit if Manager John Gibbons wants to rest someone else by using them at DH. Some thought is being given, I expect, to adding Bautista to that mix once he returns from the DL. Edwin’s having a great free-agent year, whereas Smoak has not hit as well as last year, but still serves as a potent bat off the bench and has hit some crucial homers for the Jays. He also caddies for Encarnacion defensively to protect a lead. Josh Donaldson is still Josh Donaldson. Nothing to see here, just move on.
The middle infield corps has been fluid but always effective both at the plate and in the field. The long rehab of Devon Travis, and the lengthy stint on the DL by Troy Tulowitzki have given Darwin Barney and Ryan Goins ample playing time. The defence doesn’t suffer a bit, no matter who’s in there, or where. Goins has struggled at the plate, but also shown his versatility, playing three infield positions, left field, and even an effective inning on the mound, which led to his current status on the DL. He’s also added a trapper to his glove bag, and taken some balls at first, just in case. Barney fits in wherever you put him, and he’s a consistent, gritty .290 hitter who knows how to make contact in the clutch. Tulo had continued to struggle at the plate ever since arriving from Colorada last year, but after his latest stint on the DL he’s been making considerably better contact, and driven in some significant runs. His defensive skills continue to amaze. Devon Travis adds punch and excitement to the lineup, though there may be some unresolved injury issues keeping Manager John Gibbons from handing him the job on a full-time basis.
The catching is not quite as strong as it was last season. Russell Martin has struggled considerably at the plate until just recently, and been less than thrilling as a defensive catcher, for the first time in his career. His ability to contribute key hits is increasing with his batting average. Josh Thole is here to give up the body to Dickey’s knuckle balls, and save Martin from extra punishment. It’s what he does, he’s good at it, and anything else he contributes will count as a big bonus to the team. But so far, not much. It was always awkward for the Jays to be carrying three catchers, but Dioner Navarro is definitely missed, though his fabled role as Marco Estrada’s éminence grise appears to have been somewhat over-rated, since Estrada’s effectiveness hasn’t missed a beat.
So this is the Toronto Blue Jays’ team that took the field tonight against the reigning world champs. Confident and optimistic, especially about the fact that their fearsome offensive might has begun to show itself again even without Bautista in the lineup, they had to be eagerly anticipating the only appearance of K.C. in T.O. this year.
As I suggested, the single biggest improvement in the Jays’ arsenal this year is the emergence of Aaron Sanchez as a marquee young power pitcher, and he gave Kansas City a good dose of the new and improved Aaron Sanchez, starting pitcher esq., tonight, right from the top of the first, when he got Alex Gordon on a grounder to short, and struck out Whit Merrifield and the fearsome Kendrys Morales.
Edinson Volquez, a familiar figure to the Jays from the playoffs last year, got the start for the Royals. Volquez has been meandering along with a 7-7 won/loss record, and a 4.08 ERA, neither here nor there. Tonight he struggled with his control and walked the first two batters, Zeke Carrera and Josh Donaldson, and two subsequent well-placed ground balls moved Carrera to third, then home, without benefit of a hit.
The score would stay that way until the seventh inning. For their part, Kansas City simply never mounted a threat. Through six innings the Royals had two baserunners, a walk to the free-swinging Alcides Escobar, of all people, in the third, and a two-out single to Cheslor Cuthbert (I told you it wasn’t the same Royals’ team) in the fifth. Through six innings Sanchez had only thrown 73 pitches.
Meanwhile, Volquez settled down immediately after the two walks in the first, retiring the side while giving up the run, and retiring the side in order in four of the five succeeding innings. The only inning in which the Jays threatened was the fourth, and the Royals managed to keep the Jays’ lead at one run thanks to some great defence behind Volquez. Edwin Encarnacion led off the inning with a single, but Ian Kinsler made a diving grab at second of a liner by Michael Saunders. Then Volquez fanned Russell Martin for the second out, but Troy Tulowitzki singled Encarnacion to second, and then Kevin Pillar ripped a base hit to left. With two outs Encarnacion was off with the hit, but he was cut down at the plate on a perfect throw and tag play, Alex Gordon to Salvator Perez.
In the top of the seventh, Sanchez made his only real mistake of the game. Unfortunately, he made it to the wrong Royal, and Kendrys Morales, leading off, hit the 3-2 pitch over the fence in right centre to tie the game. The young pitcher immediately returned to form and retired the next three hitters on ground balls.
With the game now tied, and Volquez having given up only 3 hits and thrown 88 pitches, Manager Ned Yost felt comfortable sending his starter out for one more kick at the can, but unfortunately, he missed it. Volquez’ control abandoned him for the second time in the game and after three hitters he was gone, leaving the bases loaded on a walk to Russell Martin and a single by Troy Tulowitzki, following which he nicked Kevin Pillar. That was it for Yost, who summoned right-hander Luke Hochevar to face Devon Travis. Hochevar walked Travis to force in the lead run, the first of Hochevar’s three inherited runners to score. In quick succession the bottom of the Blue Jays’ order tidied up the messy bases, finished Volquez’ record, and gave Sanchez a tidy cushion to carry into the eighth inning.
As he so often does, Darwin Barney followed Travis with a base hit up the middle to score Tulowitzki and Pillar. Zeke Carrera laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Travis and Barney to second and third, and Josh Donaldson drove them in with a single to right. Hochevar then retired Encarnacion and Saunders to end the inning, although he allowed Donaldson to move up to second on a wild pitch. So Hochevar played the kindly gatekeeper for the Jays, ushering home his starter’s three runners left behind, and allowing two more of his own to score, just for good measure.
Sanchez needed some assistance from the high-priced help behind him to finish off his outing without further damage. With one out, Barney threw out Escobar from third after making a sparkling grab, and then, after Jarod Dyson singled to centre, Alex Gordon hit a sinking liner into right centre that Kevin Pillar caught sliding on his knees, just another ordinary putout by Super K. Happy to leave it in the hands of the bullpen for the ninth inning, Sanchez’ line read: 8 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 1 bb, 3 k, 96 pitches.
Peter Moylan took over from Hochevar and set the Jays down in order on 12 pitches in the bottom of the eighth, and Manager Gibbons called on Brett Cecil to finish things off for the Jays, which he did, with one little lapse, allowing a two-out solo homer to left to Eric Hosmer before fanning Salvador Perez to end the game, a 6-2 win for the home team.
Sometimes this game’s pretty easy: send out a young stud to shut down the other team, bunch your hits in one inning, make some outstanding plays in the field, and, Bob’s yer uncle, you’ve got one in the win column. These world champions aren’t so tough: let’s play ’em again tomorrow night!
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