Ricky Could Make Or Break Jays Hope

Feb 18, 2013; Dunedin, FL, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Ricky Romero (24) during photo day at Florida Auto Exchange Ballpark. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY SportsThe Toronto Blue Jays probably aren’t going to make the playoffs in 2013. Yeah, I said it! Let’s keep it real.

Going off of last season you need about 93 wins to win the 2nd wild card. So the Blue Jays need to go about 83-50 the reason of the season, give or take, depending on how many wins the 2nd wild card winner needs to make the playoffs this season.

That’s asking a LOT of any team, especially the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays longest winning streak so far is a pathetic 2 games which they did a grand total of ONCE.

Even if they get their act together they have a lot of games left against the AL East which makes playing nothing but winning baseball over a long stretch darn near impossible.

So between the Jays poor play that’s not going to magically change right away, the hole they’ve dug themselves into and their schedule the only thing left to think the Jays still have a chance at a playoff berth is hope.

Hope that they can play well enough for the rest of the season.

For the Blue Jays to do that they’re going to need the old Ricky Romero. Not the Ricky Romero from 2012 that walked the ballpark and couldn’t pitch deep into games.

Even if Ricky is just here during Josh Johnson’s injury the Blue Jays are in too deep a hole already to have him stinking it up every 5th day. If he’s still 2012 Ricky it doesn’t just make the Jays lose games he starts but will give the bullpen extra work outs which adds up during the course of the season.

The Blue Jays also don’t really have any serviceable big league starter to replace Ricky with. That’s part of the reason Ricky’s even here instead of someone else replacing Johnson. If it’s still 2012 Ricky you can pretty much start your offseason fantasizing.

But if the Blue Jays are getting the old Ricky Romero back that’s a huge boost. Not only would the Jays be able to win games Ricky starts but Josh Johnson would replace J.A. Happ in the rotation when he comes back. So the Blue Jays would have the better rotation that they originally planned for.

A better rotation means a better chance of winning games.

If the Blue Jays are getting 2012 Ricky there’s almost no hope left for their playoff chances. If the Blue Jays are getting old Ricky then there’s at least some reason to keep the hope alive.