Home Stand Good Test For Jays Pitching
June 11, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Rockies first baseman Jordan Pacheco (15) and center fielder Dexter Fowler (24) await to congratulate left fielder Carlos Gonzalez (5) for his home run in the fifth inning against the Washington Nationals at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY SportsThe Toronto Blue Jays are having a great June and are on a 5 game win streak. They’ve been doing it with great pitching from their starting rotation and bullpen.
But the Jays have been getting good pitching for such a short period of time that you can’t help but ask if it’s for real.
After all even with the recent success of the starting rotation the Jays rotation still ranks 28th in baseball with a 4.99 ERA.
And the teams the Jays have been playing recently have either been slumping or rank low in most offensive categories.
So if you want to know if the Jays pitching is for real then believe me were about to find out on their upcoming 6 game home stand.
First they play the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies lead the National League in hitting. They have a 336 on base percentage, a ridiculous 453 slugging percentage with a 790 OPS!
Luckily for the Blue Jays the Rockies best hitter Troy Tulowitki recently got injured so they don’t have to deal with him. I hate having to take pleasure in an injury but we’re trying to get back into a playoff race around here! But the Rockies still have some great hitters in their lineup by the names of Carlos Gonzalez, Dexter Fowler, Michael Cuddyer, just to name a few.
Then the Orioles come to town after the Rockies. Blue Jays fans already know all about the Orioles offense since they’re a division rival the Jays play all the time but you may have not known they’re 2nd in the American League in hitting. They have a 325 on base percentage, also slugging a ridiculous 453 with a 778 OPS.
And you already know about their deep relentless lineup of Nick Markakis, Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Chris Davis and it just goes on and on and on.
Now obviously this home stand isn’t a 100% real test of the Jays pitching since Esmil Rogers and Chien-Ming Wang are just filling in until the real starters are back.
But those guys are trying to make it tough on the Jays to take them out of the rotation. And Johnson, Buehrle and Dickey are all looking to get back to pitching to their career norms.
They’ve all been doing that lately but with offensive juggernauts coming to town this home stand should be a great test to see if the Jays recent rotation success is for real.
If you can pitch against the big boys you can pitch against anybody.