Blue Jays week in review: the good, the bad, the noteworthy for July 21

The bad: Concerns over Berrios?

Jose Bérrios has looked shaky in three of his last four outings. Going back to his start on July 2, Berrios has allowed 15 earned runs in 19 innings pitched. He is 2-1 in the month of July with an ERA of 7.11 in four starts. 

He allowed six earned runs to the Yankees on July 2, bounced back for a quality start against the White Sox allowing one run in six innings pitched. But over his last two outings against the Athletics and the Giants, he has allowed a combined eight runs in 8.2 innings with just six strikeouts.

It’s his worst stretch of the season after a brilliant June, where he allowed just seven runs in 32 innings, pitching to a 1.97 ERA, a 1.00 WHIP and holding opponents to a .205 batting average-against.

He’s just not fooling anyone at the plate this month, and the Blue Jays will need him to bounce back quickly as they are scheduled to continue to face tough opponents. As it stands right now, his next outing would come against the Detroit Tigers, who own the best record in the AL.  

The noteworthy: Blue Jays have almost three times more hits than strikeouts

It’s hard not to gush about the work the lineup did this past weekend, but they were just so much fun to watch. A big reason for that is they battled in virtually every at bat, and weren’t giving up any easy outs. 

As previously mentioned, they tallied 33 hits in the three games, while they struck out just 12 times. Going into Sunday, they had only been punched out five times, which is a tremendous accomplishment considering the opposition.

Nobody struck out against Friday’s starter, future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. Meantime, Logan Webb, who has the third most strikeouts by a pitcher in the National League, got just one punch out against the Blue Jays on Saturday. They also worked in nine walks throughout the series. Not a bad ratio when you only have 12 K’s against you in three games. 

Some notable individual notes include Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Ernie Clement not recording a single strikeout all weekend, while Barger had just one and Bo Bichette had just two. That’s only three strikeouts combined from those four players in 45 at-bats.

On Deck: Hardest stretch of the season?

The Blue Jays go up against two formidable foes this week right ahead of the trade deadline. Up first is a showdown for the AL East division lead. The Blue Jays host the Yankees for three straight, starting on Monday, with a three game lead on said Yankees. 

When that series wraps, they head to Detroit to play the team that has been at the front of the pack of the American League all season, with a four game set against the Tigers. 

These seven games could truly determine Toronto’s game plan going into the deadline and how hard GM Ross Atkins will have to shop to improve their roster.