Who are these Blue Jays ?

 

 

What's the media saying?

"The Blue Jays have clearly thrown in the towel for this season. … We should get a sense of their direction with their payroll and roster decisions. Could president Mark Shapiro and Atkins be open to dealing away the final year of Josh Donaldson before he hits free agency and still intend or pretend to contend?"

"Despite a season that in Kevin Pillar's words has been a "disaster" so far, the struggling Blue Jays centre fielder has a warning for fans: Don't give up yet. And as unlikely as it seems, the American League standings back it up."

Ross Atkins and their lieutenants have a lot of heavy lifting this off-season. Two starting corner outfielders, and a second baseman if Devon Travis comes a cropper. Those are the bare minimum requirements."

Who's pitching?

The Toronto rotation was a steadying force for the team in 2015 and 2016, leading the AL in ERA (3.80) and ranking second in innings pitched (1,960-2/3). That output has evaporated this year, as the starters have pitched less and given up more runs. The Blue Jays have already used 12 starting pitchers this year, and with expanded September rosters that figure might go up again.
Monday: Nick Tepesch (six innings, 9.00 ERA) — The depthiest of depth arms, Tepesch has pitched for six organizations since the start of 2016. The righty brings a career MLB ERA of 4.79 into this game, with one of the lowest strikeout rates in baseball and a ton of home runs allowed. If the Rays offense can't snap out of its historic funk against Tepesch, maybe it never will.
Tuesday: Marco Estrada (135-1/3 innings, 4.85 ERA) — Pitchers like Estrada, a changeup artist with an upper-80s fastball who depends on precise command, walk a thin line between excellence and failure. Estrada has drifted toward the latter this season, giving up a ton of long balls and failing to suppress base hits like he used to. The result is the highest full-season ERA of his career, which might be the end of the line for the 34-year-old righty.

Wednesday: Marcus Stroman (153 innings, 3.00 ERA) — As so many things have gone wrong for the Jays, Stroman's season is one of the few that has gone right. The right-hander has been just as good this year as he was last year in terms of FIP, a metric that uses strikeouts, walks and home runs allowed to gauge a pitcher's performance. But with a little more luck on his side in 2017, he's shaved over a full run off his ERA. At age 26, the one-time top prospect looks like the ace he was meant to be.
Thursday: Chris Rowley (5-1/3 innings, 1.69 ERA) — Rowley made history last week as the first West Point graduate to make it to MLB, winning his big-league debut against the Pirates. The 27-year-old righty spent 2014 and 2015 on active duty in the U.S. Army, and since his return to the minors in 2016 he tallied a 2.93 ERA over 230 frames. A strike-thrower who gets ground balls, Rowley could continue to have success at the big-league level for the Jays.

Who's hot? Who's not?

When Josh Donaldson turns things on, no pitcher in baseball can stand in his way. Over his past 12 games, the third baseman has torn the cover off the ball, hitting .341 with a .481 on-base percentage and .829 slugging percentage. I'm not sure what's more impressive — that he's clubbed six home runs in 41 at-bats, or that he has nearly twice as many walks (11) as he does strikeouts (six). His line for the year is now .255/.382/.490, making him not quite an MVP yet still a formidable presence at the plate.
To call Kevin Pillar "cold" would be like — well, it'd be like calling the Rays offense "cold." That term just doesn't capture how much he's struggled. Since the beginning of June, the center fielder has been the second-worst regular hitter in the major leagues, slashing a horrendous .214/.263/.336 in 247 plate appearances. He hit seven home runs in April and May, and has five since then; he took 15 walks in April and May, and has 14 since then. The point is, he's really struggling with the bat, and while the Jays will keep playing him for his glove, he'll need to turn things around eventually.

Who's hurt?

 

 

OK, strap in. Key contributors across the Toronto infield have suffered injuries this year. The top three Blue Jays catchers — Russell Martin, Luke Maile and Miguel Montero — are all dealing with various maladies. Martin and Maile are slated to miss the series, while Montero could return later in the week once he's done his rehab.. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki is likely out for the rest of the season, and second baseman Devon Travis is still working toward his own rehab assignment. On the pitching side of things, starter Aaron Sanchez is trying to bounce back from a blister, which could limit him upon his return.

 Despite the current Wild Card chase toward the second wild card position, I highly doubt that this team is not a team of pretenders, not contenders, but stranger things have happened.