Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Marcus Stroman is taken out of the game by manager John Gibbons during the sixth inning in Toronto, Friday, April 27, 2018.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Marcus Stroman’s bid to get himself – and the Toronto Blue Jays starting pitching staff for that matter – out of a rut hit a snag Friday night against the Texas Rangers at Rogers Centre.
Four runs allowed in the first inning will tend to have that effect.
The start to the Blue Jays 2018 season has gone better than many cynics had anticipated, despite the rather pedestrian performance of the team’s starting rotation, thought to be the team’s strength.
Through Toronto’s first 24 games, the starters’ earned-run average is 5.07. The 22 home runs allowed is the second highest total surrendered in the American League, while the starters’ 56 walks ranked them third worst.
Only a stellar job by the bullpen has helped keep the Blue Jays record respectable, with a collective ERA of 2.31, the A.L.’s best benchmark for relievers.
But the bullpen, especially of late, has been overtaxed by the continued inability of the starting staff to consistently pitch deep into games. And that will eventually lead to inevitable breakdowns.
Only Aaron Sanchez has pitched into the eighth inning this season, on April 10 against Baltimore. On just two other occasions have starters – Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ − even reached the seventh.
“I think they’d be the first ones to tell you they’re [the starters] not pitching up to their expectations right now,” Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker said heading into the series opener against the Rangers on Friday at Rogers Centre.
In a quirky game full of twists and turns, it was the Rangers who were able to salvage a victory, holding on for an 6-4 win before just over 26,000 fans.
It was by no means a textbook win, with the Rangers persevering despite coughing up that early four-run advantage; yet another example of Toronto’s starting pitching lacking in lustre.
Stroman battled on after his early troubles but got tagged for two more runs in the top of the sixth, and that proved the difference.
Stroman is now winless through his first five starts, and his ERA spiked to 8.88 after getting torched for six Texas runs off eight hits in 5⅓ innings.
As far as Walker is concerned, walks are the prime culprit behind the quick curtain calls for the team’s starters. The free passes lead to more runs being scored and drive up the pitcher’s pitch count.
And Stroman has been a big offender in that regard, with 15 walks over 25⅓ innings in five appearances.
Walker said that Stroman missing time during spring training nursing a sore shoulder did not help.
“He’s a perfectionist, he wants to be the best pitcher in baseball,” Walker said. “And coming off a shortened spring … I think he put a lot of pressure on himself to be that guy right away.
“It’s going to take a little time.”
This game looked all but over in the top half of the first inning, as the Rangers tagged Stroman for four quick runs even as many of the fans had yet to take their seats.
Stroman got rocked for three hits in the frame, including a two-run homer by Joey Gallo.
But the Jays started to chip away after that, scoring one in their half of the inning and then two more in the bottom of the second on a Steve Pearce double.
Pillar, who doubled in the first inning, was credited with a triple in the third that scored Yangervis Solarte, knotting the game at 4-4.
It was a wacky evening of baseball, led by the baserunning exploits of Justin Smoak, Toronto’s plodding first baseman, who made out like a marathon man in this one.
Smoak was thrown out at home plate in the first inning trying to score from first on Pillar’s double. Then in the third, Smoak was gunned down when he unwisely tried to go from first to third with nobody out on a single by Yangervis Solarte.
And it sort of seemed like Smoak was trying to keep his bid for the baserunning cycle alive in the fifth when he stroked the ball into left and decided to go for two.
It looked dicey for a moment, but this time, he slid in safely.