Toronto Blue Jays The Week That Was: May 13-19

May 18, 2013; Bronx, NY, USA; Toronto Blue Jays center fielder

(28) catches a fly ball against the New York Yankees during the seventh inning at Yankee Stadium. Yankees win 7-2. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

It was a strange week for the Toronto Blue Jays. With two scheduled off days, and a rain out in New York on Sunday the Blue Jays only had 4 games enter the books (

making this ridiculous 8 man bullpen even more upsetting

Hello Anthony Gose!). Within those four games it was the tale of two Blue Jays teams, the offensive juggernaut that faced the Giants, and the seemingly lost team that has shown up to face the Yankees so far this season.

The two wins against the Giants was enough to get Blue Jays fans looking once again towards contention. The two losses against the Yankees were just crushing enough to have Blue Jays fans actually looking at the bright side of a rain out. This tale of two teams act is killing the always over reactive fan base in Toronto, even more so with the extra off days this week giving them too much time to think about what has happened and what they need to do going forward. A full set of games against AL East opponents this week will go a long way to answering questions about the rest of this season.

GBOAT

This week’s GBOAT is R.A. Dickey. In his first start after becoming the latest “Doc” to lead a Toronto Blue Jays rotation, Dickey had his best start as a Blue Jays. In 6 innings Dickey gave up 6 hits, 2 walks and 2 earned runs. Dickey managed to rack up 10 strikeouts over his 6 innings of work and managed to make several Giants look absolutely ridiculous in their whiffs. Not that Hunter Pence doesn’t look ridiculous on most occasions but this the kind of thing a Dickey tumbler can cause when its working.

GIF compliments of GameReax

The game was worth a positive Win Probability Added of 13%. Back on the rubber on Monday after being rained out of his start Sunday in New York, Dickey looks to repeat his past successes against the Tampa Bay Rays. The forecast is calling for a humid day in Toronto, and by all accounts this means good things for the knuckler.

Omar Vizquel Honour of Ineptitude

I love Brandon Morrow. He’s my favourite Blue Jay. I truly believe that he’s going to be a great pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays. On Saturday, Brandon Morrow was bad. Over 5 innings pitched, Morrow gave up 7 hits, including 2 home runs, and 5 earned runs total. Morrow walked none, but uncharacteristically only struck out a single batter. His game was worth a negative 23% win probability. I have full faith in Brandon Morrow to bounce back in his next start, but it was a disheartening sight-seeing the Yankees put up a 5 spot in a game that many fans felt was a “really need to win”.

Wrap Up

An encouraging and discouraging 4 games over 7 days left Blue Jays fans unsure of where their team currently sits (aside from last place in the AL East). With their ace on the mound to open up the series against the Rays, the Blue Jays faithful hope the team can turn around its fortunes against AL East opponents. After the 3 game set against the Rays, the Blue Jays face the Orioles for 4 games. It’s a prime opportunity to make up some ground, so surely the Blue Jays will win 3 or 4 games in a row before giving them right back.

As usual all GIFs compliments of GameReax, cause they’re the best.