Blue Jays: Charlie Montoyo starts back by lining up the left-handers

The Blue Jays open their second half schedule against the Texas Rangers on Friday, and they’ll use their three southpaws during the three-game series.

A few days ago I offered my own thoughts about how Charlie Montoyo should line up the rotation coming out of the All-Star break, and we ended up agreeing on a few things.

Not all that surprisingly, Montoyo will hand the ball to Robbie Ray in their first game back, who also happened to be the starting pitcher for the last game before the break. He’ll pitch on regular rest this way, and given that he’s been the team’s best starter thus far it makes sense that they want to keep him in the successful routines he’s established. He’s 7-4 with a 3.13 ERA so far this season, and he’s already racked up 130 strikeouts.

From there Hyun Jin Ryu will make the second start of the series, which surprises me a bit. I thought the Blue Jays would take advantage of the opportunity to give Ryu an extended rest, and even save him for their second series against the Boston Red Sox. Doing that would have given him two starts again the BoSox in July, so perhaps Montoyo wanted to avoid that scenario.

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The third start of the Rangers series goes to Steven Matz, who has been a hot and cold performer in 2021. When he’s been on he’s been very effective, but there are other nights when he looks like a totally different pitcher. In my view, placing him in this game is more about what comes next with the right-handed heavy Red Sox on deck. They do have a pair of premium left-handed hitters in Rafael Devers and Alex Verdugo, but they’re not exactly platoon starters. Lining up Matz as a third straight southpaw also doesn’t hurt when the Rangers have the likes of Joey Gallo and Nate Lowe from the left side, among others.

I’m not surprised that Ross Stripling will get the call against the Red Sox, in what could turn out to be the first of seven important games this month. He’s been a different pitcher over his last eight outings, and an effective one at that. Considering how bad things looked for him back in April, it’s hard to imagine where the Blue Jays would be without him.

What I find particularly interesting is that this means Alek Manoah will start against the Red Sox next week, and assuming that Montoyo stays on a regular schedule with his staff, his second start of the second half will also be against Boston. To me it shows that the Blue Jays’ skipper has a lot of faith in his rookie starter, and he recognizes that Manoah hasn’t shied away from a big stage. In fact, you could argue that he thrives when stakes are higher. His worst two starts of the season have come against the Orioles and Marlins, while he’s pitched very well against the Yankees, Rays, and White Sox.

Then there’s also the possibility that the Blue Jays have serious plans to acquire another starting pitcher before the July 30 trade deadline. They’ll start the second half sitting 4.5 games out of the 2nd Wild Card spot, and with one of the most talented offensive groups they’ve ever assembled, there are strong arguments to invest in the pitching staff and make a push in 2021. If they can add another top-tier starter to group with Ryu and Ray at the top, they could have a formidable playoff group. I sincerely doubt that Montoyo made his plans around an anticipated trade, but I’m confident that he’s aware and prepared to utilize that type of opportunity, as it could be a chance to offer a rest to Ryu, or even Manoah.

The starting rotation has been a big positive for the Blue Jays so far in 2021, and hopefully that will continue in the second half.