Blue Jays: Ross Stripling sums up rollercoaster 2022 campaign quite well

After the Blue Jays’ 8-3 loss to the Angels yesterday, it is safe to say not many thought this past weekend would go how it went down. With the 1992 World Series celebration on Saturday and the pitching duel between Manoah and Ohtani, the Blue Jays ended a 6-1 east coast road trip by getting swept at home by Los Angeles in front of notable franchise alumni and thousands of fans.

Speaking to the media after the game, right-hander Ross Stripling had a great quote to summarize the Jays weekend and overall season, “I think the word that’s going to follow the 2022 Blue Jays for years to come is ‘streaky… We’ve had more highs and lows this year than any team I’ve been a part of. You won’t see us get too down, because after lows, we’ve had a lot of highs.”

He finished off by capturing what everybody was thinking after the great week against Boston and New York, “Coming off a really good road trip and we get swept by the Angels. We didn’t expect it, but they came and punched us in the mouth.”

Stripling is 100% right about the Jays, they have definitely been streaky this season. They find ways to get on a roll and win games but also have their fair share of losing streaks and slumps, one that cumulated into former manager Charlie Montoyo losing his job.

The Blue Jays were swept this past weekend at the hands of the Angels, summing up the rollercoaster that is the 2022 campaign quite well.

It all started with Opening Day, where Jose Berrios was unable to get out of the first inning, allowing four earned runs before the bullpen came in to clean up the mess. The Jays wouldn’t put a run on the board until the fifth inning when it was already 7-0, finding a way to claw their way back into the game and winning 10-8, with Jordan Romano earning his first save of the year. Nobody saw that coming after the first inning, that’s for sure.

The Jays fought their way to a 23-20 record come May 24th before the club went on an eight-game winning streak, going 11-3 all the way to June 8th, sitting at a 33-23 record on the year. By the end of the month, the organization would go on one of its biggest slumps of the year, starting with a five-game series against the Rays at home and ending with getting swept in Seattle, with the Jays going 3-9. This was a week before the All-Star break and also led to Montoyo being fired, bringing in John Schneider to take over on an interim basis.

Since then, the Jays have gone 22-16 under Schneider’s watch, with more highs and lows to be added that have fans are still nervous about postseason aspirations.

The AL East is a warzone once again and the AL Wild Card is even tighter, with the Jays currently sitting in the third spot with the Rays, Mariners, and Orioles all within +/- 1.5 games of the Wild Card playoff spots (Baltimore is currently just outside the postseason picture).

Although this weekend was not what Jays fans had hoped for, considering they went 21 innings without scoring a run and had all but three runs over three games, the upcoming week is a new opportunity for the Blue Jays to get back on track. They welcome a 55-73 Chicago Cubs squad that has gone 4-6 over their last ten games before a weekend series against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates.

This is a great chance to forget about the past weekend before the Jays have to run the gauntlet for the remainder of the year which is 25 games against AL East opponents to round out the season.