Series Preview: Blue Jays Aim to be Pesky Against Red Sox

May 31, 2015; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Drew Hutchison (36) pitches in the sixth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. The Minnesota Twins beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

Game 1: Drew Hutchison (5-1, 4.91 ERA) vs Joe Kelly (2-4, 5.40 ERA)

So Hutchison hasn’t fared so well against the Red Sox this year (7 runs in 9 innings) but he wasn’t doing so hot in general early in the season. In his last 7 games his ERA has been under 4 (3.80), he is striking out a hair under a batter an inning and his WHIP is a very good 1.19. So should we be seeing a turn of the corner where Hutch has evolved into an effective starter every fifth day? Not quite but he is still only 24 and seems to be getting better as the season goes forward. He will never be a ground ball pitcher so he will give up his share of home runs but other than that he seems to have achieved the quality start 4 out of 5 times scenarios. When he is off he is WAY off but when he is good….

Joe Kelly is a personal favourite of John Farrell and has performed….meh. He looked great in his first two seasons in the majors when he toiled for the St. Louis Cardinals. Bring him to the hitter happy American League and it hasn’t been so rosy so far. After a 7 run debacle in late May, Kelly has given up just 1 run in each of his next 2 starts. His WHIP is kind of bland but his GO/AO ratio is 1.39 and that isn’t too bad. If he can get a few more strikeouts a game he may be able to get himself deeper and give the bullpen a very very needed rest.