Especially when that club loses the best pitcher in baseball and plays in the best division on earth.
But the Toronto Blue Jays have somehow managed to go 73-73 thus far in 2010, despite losing longtime ace Roy Halladay to the Phillies this past offseason.
Toronto’s record isn’t playoff-worthy, but it’s quite respectable considering the fact that the team must play close to 60 games against the Yankees, Rays and Red Sox — three teams that may finish with at least 90 wins each.
Much of the Blue Jays’ success can be attributed to their ability to hit home runs. Toronto leads baseball with a whopping 227 dingers, 34 more than the Red Sox, the next closest team.
As Boston welcomes Toronto to Fenway Park for a crucial three-game series this weekend, they will have to be wary of the longball, in addition to, as Tom Dakers from Bluebird Banter points out, the Blue Jays’ fearsome young starting pitchers.
NESN.com: Should Jose Bautista be a legitimate candidate for AL MVP?
Tom Dakers: I can’t see why he wouldn’t be. He has 11 more homers than anyone else in the AL, is second in RBIs with 111 and second in walks with 93. I think it would have to be between him and Miguel Cabrera. I know some voters don’t like giving it to a player on a team that isn’t in the playoffs. But Bautista has been so good, I don’t see how you can hold the team and the division the team is in against him. It isn’t like the Tigers are going to make the playoffs, either.
NESN.com: Who has been the Blue Jays’ best starting pitcher in 2010 and why?
T.D.: Very tough question. It’s the first time in recent memory that there has been any doubt of who the best starter for the Jays is; it has been Roy Halladay for so long. The Jays have three starters with 12 wins: Ricky Romero, Shaun Marcum and Brett Cecil. Brandon Morrow would likely have 12 wins as well but the team shut him down at the start of September to protect his arm; so he’ll finish the year with 10. Morrow has been the most fun to watch. When he is on, no one can touch him. Marcum has made a great comeback from Tommy John surgery. Romero has given us the most innings. Cecil missed most of the first month after slicing open his thumb, but since he couldn’t throw his curve at first, he worked on his off-speed pitch and that’s become a great pitch for him. He’s been as consistent as any of them.
I put up a poll on our site to ask our members this question and they are as divided as I am. Marcum leads with 37 percent of the vote, Romero second with 30 percent, Morrow percent and Cecil 11 percent (some rounding errors). Marcum is the veteran and has been the leader of the staff. You always see him talking to the other starters. So I’ll pick him, but it is close.
NESN.com: Toronto called up pitching prospect Kyle Drabek for his first major league start on Wednesday. Will Drabek be in the rotation on Opening Day in 2011?
T.D.: If you asked a month ago I would have said no, but I am starting to think that the Jays would like him to win a spot in spring training. If he has a good spring, he’ll start. If not, he’ll be up by the All-Star break.
NESN.com: Adam Lind has been much better in the second half, but still not close to his 2009 numbers. What kind of season do you predict Lind will have in 2011?
T.D.: Lind seems to hit better when he is on the field defensively compared to when he is just a DH, but he is a very poor outfielder. It looks like they are trying to see if he could play first after Lyle Overbay leaves. He’s been working all season with defensive coach Brian Butterfield and has played some (not nearly enough for my liking) at first and hasn’t looked out of place. He’s tall, is a good target and seems to catch the ball well.
I think he is too young to be stuck at DH, so I hope he does play first next year. I think it will keep his head in the game better and should help him offensively. He has hit 22 home runs this year but his on-base is only .284 as oppose to .370 last year. I think next year he will — if he plays first — be around .280 with a .350 on-base and 30 home runs.
NESN.com: Will the Blue Jays contend for a playoff spot next year?
T.D.: It might be a bit early for them to make a run at the playoffs. I think next year you will see more young position players making their way onto the team, so it is more likely that 2012 could be the year. We could get lucky. Our starting pitching looks to be very strong. If we could get comeback years from Lind and Aaron Hill, and if the team could pick up one more bat, maybe an outfielder, you never know. At least it feels like we are headed in the right direction.
NESN.com: Nine months later, what are your thoughts on the Roy Halladay trade?
T.D.: Well, I’ve stopped crying about it. It is tough to trade the best pitcher in baseball. You can’t get enough for him. But Drabek does look like the real deal. The catcher, Travis d’Arnaud, didn’t have a great year in the minors; he had a couple of injuries but he still looks like he could be up with the Jays in a couple of years. The third piece in the trade has been the most interesting. We got Michael Taylor, a big slugging outfielder from the Phillies originally and, since we could use an outfielder, it seemed like a great fit. But the Jays traded him for Brett Wallace. We all figured Wallace was the guy that would take over for Overbay at first base next year and play there for the next several years.
Then, in the middle of the season, they trade Wallace for a “toolsy” 19-year-old centerfielder named Anthony Gose. Gose’s stats in A-ball don’t, at first glance, look like anything to get excited about. He steals a lot of bases but then gets caught a lot. His batting average hasn’t been great; he doesn’t walk all that much and he doesn’t have a lot of power. So it was a hard trade for a Jays fan to get his head around. But Gose is playing against guys older than he is and is at least holding his own. He has great range in center and a terrific arm, being a former pitcher who could throw 90 mph. The Jays brass feel a good center fielder is harder to find than a first baseman. We’ll see how it goes. Gose could turn out to be very good.
Thanks again to Tom Dakers from Bluebird Banter for his contribution to this article.
