Blue Jays Preview: Red Sox in the way of Toronto’s momentum

The Toronto Blue Jays are coming off back-to-back wins against the New York Yankees as they enter Boston for a four-game set against the Red Sox

To Fenway Park we go, where the Toronto Blue Jays will finally have their chance to face old friend David Price in a four-game series.

Toronto is coming off a series win over the New York Yankees, and with the offence finally beginning to inch back towards a more complete 2015 form, the friendly confines of Fenway present an attractive backdrop the heart of the Blue Jays order.

All but Marcus Stroman will be making starts in Boston, and outside of R.A. Dickey‘s day of overbearing knuckleball movement, the last trip through the rotation was excellent. Even the young Aaron Sanchez, facing a lineup composed primarily of veteran left-handed bats, put in a veteran’s day of work. From Friday to Monday, it’s about giving those starters a little more help.

Across the Diamond: Boston Red Sox

Boston had an off day on Thursday, but are coming off a series loss to the Baltimore Orioles that included a 9-5 and 9-7 loss.

As a team, the Red Sox rank sixth in batting average (.280) but haven’t had their power numbers take off quite yet with eight home runs.

David Ortiz is leading the way for Boston in his farewell season with a 9-for-28 start to his season including three home runs and nine RBIs. Second baseman Dustin Pedroia owns a .306 average through his first eight games while both Brock Holt and Travis Shaw sit at .292. Even Hanley Ramirez has gotten in on the action, starting out 11-for-33 with a home run and a double.

Ahead, we look at the four pitching matchups that will take the Jays and Red Sox through the weekend.

Next: Game 1: Dickey needs to reel in the knuckleball

Game 2:  Saturday, April 16th  –  4:05 p.m. ET

Marco Estrada (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
David Price (1-0, 5.73 ERA)

Saturday is what Blue Jays fans have been waiting for since the day that the news of Price’s signing broke: a shot to watch Toronto hit home runs off of him.

Price’s first two outings haven’t been the finest of his career, but as one of the league’s top starters, these can easily be disregarded as early-season stumbles.

After pitching 6.0 innings of two-run ball in his first outing against the Cleveland Indians where he struck out 10 batters, Price had a more difficult time recently against the Baltimore Orioles. In that start, he allowed five earned runs over five innings with two walks. Granted, Price did strike out eight batters on the day.

That’s a worry for the Blue Jays, who have opened up the season terribly prone to striking out. Josh Donaldson had joked over the offseason that he was especially looking forward to facing the left-hander in the coming season. Given his hot start, this could be his game.

Estrada, on the other hand, was nearly flawless through his first test.

The right-hander was excellent against Boston last week, producing a high volume of ugly and off-balance swings from the Red Sox hitters. He threw 7.0 shutout innings on a low pitch count, allowing just five hits while striking out eight and walking two.

His changeup continues to be a huge weapon, which he used at a similar clip to his 2015 rates in his first start. His cutter usage was slightly up, however, it will be interesting to see if that trend continues in round two (especially against left-handers).

If all goes well for Estrada, he should be free to approach the 100-pitch plateau after his return from a minor back injury.

Next: Game 3: Do you like differences in velocity? Well...

Game 3:  Sunday, April 17th  –  1:35 p.m. ET

Aaron Sanchez (0-0, 1.35 ERA)
Steven Wright (0-1, 1.35 ERA)

Consider this “Test 2: Part 2” for Aaron Sanchez.

The young right-hander was dominant in his first start against the Tampa Bay Rays, pitching 7.0 full innings of one-run ball with five hits, eight strikeouts, and zero walks.

His most recent start against the Yankees wasn’t quite as sharp, but Sanchez still put the Blue Jays exactly where they needed to be with six innings of one-run ball, striking out five.

The primary difference in start number two for Sanchez was his control, and admittedly, he wasn’t helped by a difficult strike zone. He did manage to keep the ball down in the zone for much of his start, but Sanchez fell into old habits with several fastballs drifting high and out of the zone. Thankfully he was able to right his mechanics on the fly.

Wright put up a similar line against the Jays in his first start, throwing 6.2 innings of six-hit ball and allowing just one earned runs while going well over the 100-pitch plateau. The Blue Jays did manage three walks off of Wright, though

The first time around, the Jays had the benefit of a Marco Estrada shutout that they’re unlikely to be able to lean on in round two. If Sanchez can put up a strong outing in his second straight matchup against some strong lefty bats, then it’s time to consider his start “for real”.

Next: Game 4: Happ looks to continue his hot start

Game 4:  Monday, April 18th  –  11:05 a.m. ET

J.A. Happ (1-0, 2.25 ERA)
Clay Buchholz (0-1, 10.00)

One of the biggest questions entering the 2016 Blue Jays season was which version of J.A. Happ they would be getting. Would it be the 2015 Seattle Mariners Happ, or ideally, the 2015 Pittsburgh Pirates Happ?

So far it’s been the latter.

Happ has worked six full innings in both of his 2016 outings, which is a welcome sight itself as the tall lefty has struggled to work deep into games in his career. Coming off a career high innings total in 2015, he’ll have every opportunity to top it again.

In his most recent outing, Happ allowed just one earned run on seven hits and three walks, doing well to avoid stringing any of those together. It’s still very early, but with another good outing for Happ here, there’s an opening for real optimism.

Clay Buchholz, on the other hand, has gotten knocked around hard in 2016. The right-hander has allowed five earned runs in both of his starts (4.0 and 5.0 IP), walking three batters in each.

Especially if the Blue Jays’ lineup can continue to round the corner through the early stages of this series and begin to work a few more walks, this fourth and final game against Buchholz represents their greatest opportunity for a “boom” game.