Blue Jays: June Starting Rotation, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly

TORONTO, ON - JUNE 18: Starting pitcher Alek Manoah #6 and catcher Alejandro Kirk #30 of the Toronto Blue Jays walk from the bullpen to the dugout along with the Blue Jays starting rotation of Jose Berrios #17, Yusei Kikuchi #16, Kevin Gausman #34 and Ross Stripling #48 prior to a MLB game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on June 18, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - JUNE 18: Starting pitcher Alek Manoah #6 and catcher Alejandro Kirk #30 of the Toronto Blue Jays walk from the bullpen to the dugout along with the Blue Jays starting rotation of Jose Berrios #17, Yusei Kikuchi #16, Kevin Gausman #34 and Ross Stripling #48 prior to a MLB game against the New York Yankees at Rogers Centre on June 18, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
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TORONTO, ON – APRIL 27: Kevin Gausman #34 of the Toronto Blue Jays walks to the dugout with pitching coach Pete Walker before playing the Boston Red Sox in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on April 27, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON – APRIL 27: Kevin Gausman #34 of the Toronto Blue Jays walks to the dugout with pitching coach Pete Walker before playing the Boston Red Sox in their MLB game at the Rogers Centre on April 27, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) /

The Blue Jays finished the month of June with a 15-13 record and sit with a 43-33 record in total for the season.  The offence seemed to be clicking, the bullpen struggled and part of the rotation looked really good.  I thought it would be good to see how rotation did as a whole over the month, so here is a look at the Good, the Bad and the Ugly for the starting rotation in June.

The Good

Alek Manoah – 4-1, 2.56 ERA, 1.08 WHIP
When the season started, Alek Manoah was positioned in the four spot in the rotation, but that was due to the strategy of splitting up the two left-handed starters.  Many believed Manoah was really the number three guy in the rotation, but that is no longer the case as he has jumped out as the Ace of the group.

Manoah has the front of the rotation mentality as he always wants to go deeper into games.  During the month Manoah gave the club five quality starts and in two of those appearances left the game after the sixth inning without surrendering a run.  Manoah was very impressive against the suddenly surging Baltimore Orioles on June 13 when got through the sixth inning on just 86 pitches while allowing just two base runners, however, with the New York Yankees series up ahead and the Blue Jays out to a commanding 10-0 lead he was pulled to rest up for the next start.

Alek Manoah has not just been the Ace of the Blue Jays rotation, but he is in the running to start the All Star Game and compete for the AL Cy Young.

Manoah allowed just two home runs over almost 39 innings on the month and is making a strong case to be the starting pitcher at the 2022 All-Star Game.

Ross Stripling – 3-1, 1.75 ERA, 0.82 WHIP
It is just a small sample size, but since Ross Stripling moved into the starting rotation there is nothing more you could have asked from the 32-year old.  The Blue Jays picked up wins in all but one of his five starts and is consistently getting through five innings on a reasonably low pitch count.  In his first start in the rotation, Stripling tossed five scoreless innings allowing just one base runner against the Kansas City Royals on just 56 pitches.  As he had not yet build up the arm durability for the season he was pulled after five innings.

With his addition to the rotation, the Blue Jays now have a hole to fill in the bullpen, however he is getting deeper into games which means less work for the bullpen.  In his most recent start against the Boston Red Sox, Stripling tossed five innings on just 81 pitches and his longest outing had him up to 87 pitches against the Chicago White Sox, which means he could start getting into the 90-pitch range.  Here is hoping he keeps building on his success.

Kevin Gausman – 1-3, 3.96 ERA, 1.68 WHIP
I was back and forth with Gausman’s results for the month; at first glance you see the team lost four of his five starts, he had an ERA of nearly four, and his WHIP was way too high at 1.68.  However, three of his five appearances were quality starts, he twice threw over 100 pitches and a couple of the losses were more about a lack of offensive support.  If you separate his three quality starts from his two weaker outings his numbers look like:

Three Quality Starts: 19 IP, 21 K, 1.42 ERA, 1.26 WHIP
Two Subpar Starts: 6 IP, 6 K, 12.00 ERA, 3.00 WHIP

What gives even more excitement on his month is over his last two starts he has pitched a total of 13 innings and allowed just two runs while striking out 17, including a seven inning shutout performance against the Boston Red Sox where he struck out 10.

Jun 20, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Berrios (17) throws the ball against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 20, 2022; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Berrios (17) throws the ball against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports /

The Bad

Jose Berrios – 2-2, 6.28 ERA, 1.29 WHIP
To be honest, if I put Kevin Gausman in the good, Jose Berrios could have potentially been there as well, but recent bias has put him in the bad.  Berrios had a really rough finish to the month of June as he got hit hard against the Chicago White Sox and Milwaukee Brewers.  In his final two outings he surrendered a combined five home runs, which led to 14 runs in just 6.2 innings pitched.  The Blue Jays lost both of those starts.

The bright side to Berrios starts was that his control was not the issue as he allowed just three free passes while facing 39 batters.  The bad part is that he was getting hit hard.  It seemed every batter knew what pitch was coming and they were teeing off on him.  Berrios showed a bit of these struggles earlier in the year as during the Season Opener he was able to get just one out before being removed from the game after surrendering four runs.  He also failed to get out of the fifth inning twice in May.

The bright side is Berrios provided three quality starts in June that led to the Blue Jays picking up wins in each of those games.  Berrios was outstanding to start the month which included a 13 strikeout game against the Minnesota Twins on June 14 and in each of the first three games he pitched at least seven innings, including going eight innings on June 10 against the Detroit Tigers surrendering just one run.

I have zero concern that Berrios and Pete Walker won’t be able to make the proper adjustments, he has too long of a track record not to continue to be a front of the rotation starter.

Yusei Kikuchi – 1-3, 7.17 ERA, 1.97 WHIP
If you woke up on July 1 and just looked at the box score from the night before you would think the pitcher making $16 Million this year had to be a dominant pitcher.  Yusei Kikuchi was dominant against Tampa Bay Rays in the last game of the month.  He pitched six innings, allowing just one run while striking out eight.  However, this was the only game in his six starts of the month that he was able to get through the fourth inning and was pulled before the third inning was complete in two of the starts.

Kikuchi allowed more home runs and walks than any other pitcher in the rotation, despite providing the least amount of innings.  He finished the month with an ERA of 7.17 and had it not been for that final start it would have been more than two runs higher.  Hopefully his last outing of the month can help him moving forward, but he’ll have to have a few more starts like his June 30 appearance to gain confidence from the fan base.

Jun 1, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu (990 delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox in the second inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 1, 2022; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Hyun Jin Ryu (990 delivers a pitch against the Chicago White Sox in the second inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports /

The Ugly

Hyun Jin Ryu – 0-0, 6.75 ERA, 1.25 WHIP
The Hyun Jin Ryu time in Toronto has likely now come to an end as he required Tommy John surgery, and there is a good chance that he won’t just miss the remainder of the 2022 season, but could miss all of 2023.  Ryu who had spent time on the Injured List earlier in the season looked like he got healthy when he returned in May posting 1.72 ERA over three starts in which the Blue Jays won every game.

During his only start in the month on June 1, AJ Pollock led off the game with a home run, but Ryu was able to retire the next nine batters before falling apart in the fourth inning.  Ryu would allow another home run, as well as a pair of doubles that led to a couple more runs and he was out of the game after the inning.

The day after his start Ryu was placed on the injured list with left forearm inflammation which was a similar injury that kept him out of the rotation for almost a month earlier in the season.  Rest appeared to not help him improve, which led to the Tommy John surgery and Ben Nicholson-Smith reported that the recovery would be anywhere between 12-18 months.

Ryu is set to earn the final $20 Million in 2023 from the four-year, $80 Million dollar deal he signed with the Blue Jays prior to the 2020 season.  In his first year with the club he was one of the better pitchers in the American League as he posted a 5-2 record with a 2.69 ERA over 12 starts during the COVID shortened season.  Over the next two seasons Ryu battled injuries and was unable to maintain the success from his first year as Blue Jays pitcher, however, he still had a 16-10 record with a 4.55 ERA and 1.25 WHIP between 2021-22.

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Do you think the current five man rotation that ended June will be the same rotation that starts in August?

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