Beating a dead horse as I am wont to do, let me say one more time that I was quite pleased when the Blue Jays brought Jay Happ back to the nest last November, and I refused to utter a word about the significance of his signing vis-à-vis the inevitable departure of David Price to the Red Sox, which was announced about a week after Happ’s signing.
That said, another angle from which to consider Happ’s acquisition is in relation to the free agency of his mound opponent today, Yovani Gallardo. To start at the end of this little story, behind Happ’s stellar seven innings of work today, when he gave up one run, on 3 hits, while walking 3 and striking out 11, the Jays pounded out a decisive 9 to 1 win over the Orioles, and vaulted over them into first place in the American League East for the first time since the second day of the season.
The starter and loser for the Orioles, Gallardo, pitched an effective four innings, holding the Jays scoreless and giving up only three hits, but walking three and building up a fairly high pitch count. Then he totally hit the wall in the fifth, giving up a game-tying solo homer to Devon Travis with one out, then walking two, yielding a double to Edwin Encarnacion that put the Jays in the lead, and intentionally walking Michael Saunders to load the bases before departing the scene. All three runners eventually scored, closing his record at five runs allowed, which gave the Jays more runs than Happ and his successors would need today.
Gallardo came in to today’s game with a 4-0 record against the Blue Jays, having been one of their most difficult mound opponents while with Texas last year, including an effective outing in the ALDS. But he also came in, despite a modest record of 3 and 2, with an ERA of 5.37, and an average of barely 5 innings per start. So today’s performance for Gallardo was very typical of what the Orioles have been getting from him this season.
And today’s performance by Happ was very typical of what the Jays have been getting from him this season, going into today’s game at 13 and 3, with an ERA of 3.27, and an average of six and a third innings per start. And here’s the deal: Jay Happ and Yovani Gallardo were free agents together, and in the same pool of pitchers offering roughly the same career records, and looking for similar deals. As was, I should add, Marco Estrada. Now, the Jays took care of Estrada quickly, securing him for two years for 26 million on November thirteenth, only about ten days after the free agency period opened. They they signed Happ for three years for 36 million on November twenty-seventh. It was obvious by then that having committed the money to Happ and Estrada there was certainly not enough left in the bank to even pay for a phone call to Price’s agent. Of course he signed with Boston on December fourth, about a week after Happ signed with the Jays.
The Orioles did not sign Gallardo until February twenty-fifth, which suggests that a lot of teams had doubts about his worth, but in the end that did not stop the Orioles from committing almost the same money, 22 million for two years, and an option for a third at the same price, to Gallardo. The Jays came up regularly in speculation about Gallardo, but it’s clear in retrospect that the front office felt they had filled out their rotation with Happ and Estrada, and didn’t need to spend more money on another pitcher who seemed to offer a similar upside.
Looking at all of this from the perspective of a 2016 season that’s two-thirds completed, and also through the prism of today’s game, it seems clear that the Jays came out far better in signing Happ than the Orioles did in signing Gallardo. Given that the significant weakness exhibited by the Orioles’ rotation through the season so far, a weakness that their hitters and bullpen are not likely to be able to paper over forever, is now becoming obvious to anyone who can read elementary stats, it just may be that the Blue Jays, in locking up Jay Happ and Marco Estrada so early in the free agent market, also locked up the division for themselves.
We’ve already seen how Gallardo met his downfall today. But how good was Happ’s start? In the first he retired the side in order on nine pitches. In the second he gave up a solo home run to Pedro Alvarez, the only run for either side until the Blue Jays chased Gallardo in the fifth. But he also struck out his first two. He retired the side in the third, with strikeouts three and four. In the fourth he walked Manny Machado, but then added strikeouts five and six on the big bombers Davis and Trumbo. In the fifth he issued a walk to Matt Wieters, struck out number seven, and retired Wieters on a fielder’s choice to end the inning. In the sixth Adam Jones led off with a single but was erased in a double play. He walked Machado, again, and struck out Davis, again. In the seventh there was little evidence of fatigue, as he struck out the side to boost his strikeout total to eleven on the day.
Manager John Gibbons sent him back out for the eighth inning with 95 pitches under his belt, but pulled him after he gave up his third hit, to J.J. Hardy leading off. I have no doubt that he sent Happ back out with a 9-1 lead for the sole purpose of letting him walk off to the roars of the faithful at the TV Dome.
In case you weren’t counting closely enough, Pedro Alvarez was the only Oriole batter in seven innings plus one batter to touch second base safely, on his home run trot in the second. So Happ was good, really good, today. Whatever portion of his 12 million salary for 2016 he earned today was worth every penny of it. I say give the man a bonus! We went into the season with Marcus Stroman pencilled in as number one in the rotation, with Marco Estrada rated as maybe one-A. Now, how do you even rate Estrada, Happ, and Aaron Sanchez at the top of the order?
Joe Biagini came in to replace Happ and made things interesting by loading the bases on two more singles. But then he and Brett Cecil combined to keep the O’s off the board. Biagini started the force at the plate on a Jonathan Schoop comebacker, and then got Machado on a short fly to centre, Nelson Reimold holding at third. Then Gibbie turned to Cecil, who accomplished Job One for a bullpen lefty by fanning Chris Davis to end the inning. Jesse Chavez pitched a clean ninth, ending the game by striking out Ryan Flaherty, to mop up for the Jays, and Mr. Jay Happ. BTW, how could a guy who calls himself “Jay” have signed with anybody else?
Let’s turn our attention to the Jays’ hitters now. After all Gallardo and his successors didn’t exactly serve as bird walkers to escort the home team around the bases. Our boys did swing a few bats, not to mention not swinging at crucial moments as well.
Gallardo started out the fifth in fine fashion, fanning Kevin Pillar on three pitches, but that was his swan song. On a three and two pitch Devon Travis hit one out to left centre, and the Alvarez dinger was finally equalized. Then he walked Jose Bautista. He walked Josh Donaldson. Edwin Encarnacion doubled to left to score Bautista for a 2-1 lead, Donaldson stopping at third. Orioles’ Manager Buck Showalter waved Gallardo to put Michael Saunders on to load the bases, and then yanked him for the hard-throwing Mychal Givens. At least Showalter did it right, having Gallardo walk Saunders before departing, rather than asking his reliever to start his work by lobbing four wide ones.
Unfortunately for Givens and Showalter, however, the intentional pass was followed, as it so often is, by a second, unintentional, walk to Troy Tulowitzki, which extended the Jays’ lead to three-one. Russell Martin doubled to right to plate runs four and five, and send Tulo to third. After Melvin Upton struck out (and busted his bat across his knees, his slow start with the Jays getting a little frustrating), Kevin Pillar delivered a two-out double to left that extended the lead to seven-one.
So as Ernie Harwell used to say, the Jays broke open the game by unleashing “a little lightnin’ in a jar”.
In the seventh, with Odrisamer Despaigne on the hill for the Orioles, the Jays applied a some icing to the cake, just to reward Happ for striking out the side in the top of the inning. Now, I’d put Despaigne on my Best Ballplayers’ Names All-Star Team as a reliever, but he hasn’t pitched very well against us, and besides I’d have to spell his name more often if I did. I should say, though, that if I had my druthers, I druther come back as David Despaigne. How classy is that? Then I could expand my purview as yer humble scribe to plumb the history of the Expos, as well. But Odrisamer? Not so much.
Once again it was the doubles boys, Martin and Pillar doing their magic, and once again, Pillar did it with two outs, which is always sweet. Despaigne walked Michael Saunders. Cue thousands of radio broadcasters of yore, all reciting in chorus, “Oh, those bases on balls!” Then he fanned Tulo, but that just brought Martin to the plate, after which he was on second and Saunders on third. Then Melvin Upton flew out to centre to set the table for Pillar, and as far as we could see, no more bats were injured in the making of that out. Pillar then stroked a two-base liner to left, and the scorecard was complete at nine to one for the Jays. Despite Josh Donaldson’s one-out single in the eighth, Despaigne found his mojo, or at least a better one, and ended the Blue Jays’ day at the plate by striking out Encarnacion and Saunders.
So, if we had it to do over again, would we sign Jay Happ and leave Yovani Gallardo dangling in the breeze? With all due respect, you bet your sweet ass we would!
Tomorrow it’s stud versus stud, Sanchez versus Tillman, as the Jays go for the sweep, and the Orioles go for the all-important face-saving one out of three.
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