5 Reasons Why The Blue Jays Should Be Afraid Of The Rangers

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Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

1. Yovani Gallardo

Recently I wrote an article about the potential of Yovani Gallardo signing with the Blue Jays as a free agent in the offseason. I thought one of the main reasons the Blue Jays should go after Gallardo is simply so they don’t have to face him again. Gallardo has been an extremely consistent pitcher since 2009, only posting an ERA above 3.99 once (2013 4.18ERA 180.2IP 3.89FIP). This steady play has been shown against the Blue Jays, as they’ve been beaten on all three occasions they have face Gallardo.

*Gallardo 2015/Career numbers against the Blue Jays.

Gallardo is projected to pitch the first game against Daivd Price, which will most likely be a low scoring affair. Trade deadline acquisitions Ben Revere and Troy Tulowitzki have posted good numbers against Gallardo in the past (Revere .353/.421/471 17AB 2XBH 2BB/ Tulowizki .407/.429/.667 5XBH 4RBI 1BB), which might be the difference maker against Gallardo, as players like Jose Bautista (.083AVG) have not faired so well.

2. Josh Hamilton

As a big fan of Josh Hamilton, I thought the guy had major potential to be one of the greatest players in the last 15 years. Drafted 1st overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, Hamilton would struggle off the field with substance abuse, not reaching The Show until 2007. The question I will always have is the“What if?” factor of Josh Hamilton. So lets ask this “What if?” question “What if Josh Hamilton goes 2010 on us in the playoffs?” Hamilton is a five time All-Star who won an MVP, it wouldn’t be that crazy if he did!

I know his 2015 season has been quite turbulent with him only playing in 49 games (.20 BB/K, 0.3WAR), but considering the long list of injuries and “time off” can we really expect consistency out of Hamilton? I wish we could calculate how Hamilton is going to hit against Blue Jays opposing pitchers, or some kind of projection on Hamilton’s potential outcomes.. But with Josh Hamilton, the career-long wildcard, you can’t! He’s the king of unexpected these days. Unfortunately this season we have seen Hamilton hit a knuckle ball….

Next: Post Season Experience

3. Playoff Veteran Experience

In most cases with professional sports, getting playoff reps in combined with having veteran experience usually helps win championships. Both sides of inexperience achieving and veteran experience prevailing have shown in the last year. The Patriots, Blackhawks, and Giants, all victorious last year, had great veteran leadership on their team that propelled them to championships. While the Golden State Warriors, with youth and energy, were able to take down the Cavs led by Lebron James, who had been to The Finals five years in a row.

If we compare the rosters of the Blue Jays and Rangers, they have very contrasting playoff experience. In terms of position players from the starting nine, the Blue Jays have three that have post season experience (Russell Martin, Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki), who have a combined 236AB in the postseason. The Rangers, on the other hand, have six position players, (Mitch Moreland, Elvis Andrus, Adrian Beltre, Josh Hamilton, Shin-Soo Choo, and Prince Fielder) with a total of 599 AB.

If we consider the Blue Jays starting rotation, the first round most likely will contain David Price, R.A. Dickey, Marco Estrada, and Marcus Stroman. This leaves only two starting pitchers who have postseason experience, David Price and Marco Estrada, who was working as a reliever at the time, who combine for 46IP (40 of those coming just from Price). The Rangers will most likely use Cole Hamels, Yovani Gallardo, and Colby Lewis ,who combined have 157.2IP in the postseason.

Although the Blue Jays, with the more talented lineup, might be more comparable to the Golden State Warriors, it’s hard to undervalue the post season experience the Texas Rangers have.

Next: Momentum

4. Momentum

We hear it on every broadcast and on every pre /post game show, “The Blue Jays have been the hottest team in the majors since the trade deadline.” The Blue Jays were 45-46 in the first half before going 48-22 in the second half. Unfortunately, Texas made their own turnaround at the deadline, going 42-46 in the first half and 45-28 in the second. Pretty close numbers here! The Rangers improved through the acquisition of Cole Hamels, giving them a reliable number one starter while the injured Yu Darvish recovers from Tommy-John Surgery. The Rangers also got a boost from the rest of their roster returning to full health.

Both of these teams made stretch runs by beating teams in their division. Toronto took down the Yankees in their own stadium in a double-header and Texas swept the division-leading Astros in early September to take over their division lead for the first time. Although the Yankees did falter to the finish, they did not collapse as hard as Houston and the LA Angels did. Part of the Yankees faltering was because they played Toronto so many time in the second half. Against quality opponents in the second half Toronto went 21-6, while Texas went 15-11. Texas won the division games they had to in order to take over and maintain their division lead, but Houston and the Angels didn’t do much outside their division games to challenge Texas at all.

Although Toronto might be the hotter team than Texas walking in, they will be facing a team that is in a groove of their own. If Toronto had kept it up in the last two days with the Royals, facing either Houston or New York without their number one pitcher definitely would have been an advantage for the Jays.

Next: The Fans

Credit: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports

5. Fanbase

This article isn’t supposed to make you scared to watch the series. It’s not meant to convince you the Rangers might sweep. It’s showing potential pieces to look out for when this series starts. I think the main thing to remember is, that the Rangers should be afraid of the Blue Jays entering the post season- the Blue Jays are the team to beat! The Blue Jays have the best lineup, an ace who has been the AL Cy Young since joining the Jays, amazing defence, and a scary Rogers Centre to play in. Having home field advantage in this series is going to be huge for the Jays, since they are .654 at home this season, taking the first two games will be vital for the Jays.

After the podcast last night as I was writing this article, something kicked me in the head that I couldn’t believe that I really didn’t take in before. “The Blue Jays are in the playoffs!” As a fan base, just think about it! Perhaps because I was on a plane while the Blue Jays clinched their division (the equivalent to missing your first born child entering the world for me) but I suppose I will appreciate this a bit more when I see the clinch game on ESPN Classic 20 years from now.

To die hard fans who feel as though they are part of the team, and whose mood is generally based on how the Blue Jays do that night, you all should be pumped that regardless of what happens at the end of the post season another banner is going up in Toronto! To post-deadline fans, the Rogers Centre welcomes you with open arms. It’s nice having that dome filled again! The Texas fans have not been so welcoming…

Lets enjoy this playoff series. It’s been a long time coming!

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