After taking two of two from the Houston Astros down in Texas the A’s continue their road trip, this time going north of the border to take on the Toronto Blue Jays in a four-game series. The club is struggling right now so a couple wins in Canada would mean the world to a team falling further behind in the playoff race.
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Blue Jays W/L record: 27-28 (3rd in AL East)
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Team OPS: .689 (19th of 30)
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Team ERA: 4.00 (20th of 30)
The Blue Jays have been treading water this season which is never a small feat in the ultra-competitive AL East. With a near-.500 mark that’s only good enough for third place in the AL East. But that doesn’t take them out of the playoff picture altogether. They’re currently looking up at three teams for that final wild card spot and at just 3 games back they’re within striking distance if they string together a couple of good series.
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Long known for their power the Blue Jays have seen a drop in their homers this year as they’ve hit just 47 long balls all year, ahead of only four other teams in the entire league. And a lot of that has come in the past few weeks. Outfielder Daulton Varsho currently leads the team with eight home runs, and that’s in just 22 games! Slugging first baseman Vladimir Guerro Jr. comparatively only have seven home runs in more than twice as many games. Offseason addition Anthony Santander was brought in to provide power and while he’s third on the team with six homers he’s also hitting below the Mendoza Line with a .181 batting average. The club has generally received decent results from the likes of George Springer (.796 OPS) and Bo Bichette (.273 batting average) but much of the rest of their lineup has posted below-average production.
Their pitching has managed to keep them afloat as old friend Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman have led the starting rotation admirably. Neither pitcher will win any Cy Young votes but both have ERA’s in the mid-3’s while constantly facing elite lineups. Right-hander Jose Berrios has underwhelmed in his fifth season with the team by delivering uneven results en route to a 4.22 ERA through 11 starts. Righty Bowden Francis has been a sub-par backend starter but is providing innings, which is better than the fifth starters spot for Toronto which has been a revolving door for them all season.
Tonight’s matchup will see Jose Berrios take on Jacob Lopez to start the series. Tonight will be Lopez’s third start of the season and only his fifth career starting assignment. The young lefty was on his best game last time out, firing seven innings of one-run ball against the Phillies. That was enough to earn him another start and it’s an encouraging sign, but he’ll need to show it’s sustainable if he wants to hold onto that spot in the rotation.
Friday night’s contest will see Jeffrey Springs take on Chris Bassitt. As stated above, Bassitt is leading the Jays’ starters and looks like the toughest test for the offense over the weekend. He has continued to be a durable and reliable arm ever since departing the team and it’s continued into the latter half of his career. Springs on the other hand is on a roll of his own. In the month of May the lefty has allowed just 7 runs over 30 innings, finally rewarding the A’s for their faith in him. It was a rough stretch to start the season and murmurs were getting louder about a potential shift to the bullpen but he’s quieted those voices since the calendar flipped. He’ll get one more start in May before June arrives so he’ll hope to finish the month with his sixth win of the season.
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Saturday’s matchup is still TBD. The A’s know who they’re going with in Gunnar Hoglund, who will take a 5.13 ERA into what will be his sixth career start. After a quick start to his career he’s gotten rough up a couple times so the hope is he make the adjustments to get back on track soon. Toronto has yet to announce his opposite so stay tuned for an update there.
Wrapping the series up, JP Sears will take the ball for the 12th time and he’ll be opposed by Kevin Gausman. Sears has been struggling lately and is coming off the worst start of his season so getting back on track will be critical for him on Sunday. Gausman on the other hand is in the midst of yet another above-average season as he’s formed half of the 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation. Another tough draw for the Athletics. The bats will be ready.
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