So what has happened? Well, essentially... EVERYTHING HAS GONE WRONG, besides the offensive part of the game, which continues, year after year, to be their forte.
The Blue Jays were said to have had a strong, starting rotation in the midst of what was such a hectic offesason - and they truly did.
Their rotation consisted of:
-A Cy Young Award Winner
-A pitcher who seemed to have put it all together
-The most consistent pitcher in baseball
-A recent ERA champ
-One of the best fifth starters in baseball
The result?
-Knuckle ain't canuknling
-Injured
-Well... still incredibly consistent (three cheers for Buehrle, eh?)
-Injured/Worst thing sliced bread
-Injured
Not only are they all (with the exception of Mark Buehrle) having horrible/injury plagued seasons, but they haven't had much luck on their side. Josh Johnson, coming into a free agent year, has posted an ERA of 6.20 but a FIP of 4.62, lower than that of RA Dickey.
In fact, outside of RA Dickey (4.49 ERA, 4.78 FIP), the whole rotation has a lower FIP than ERA.
What exactly does that say about our defence?
Though pitching has been horrible - the worst in baseball, in fact - the Blue Jays are NOT playing fundamentally sound baseball. Defence has consistently let the pitching down this year, excluding the 11 game run.
Without Munenori Kawasaki (1.7 Fld), Jose Bautista (6.2 Fld), and Colby Rasmus (9.0 Fld), every other Blue Jays regular has a negative Fld, Fielding Runs Above Average based on UZR - the worst being Maicer Izturis with a whopping -17.3 Fld.
Combine that with horrible pitching and the Blue Jays find themselves in the cellar of the uber-competetive AL East.
On the other hand, a team such as the Orioles, who haven't received great pitching, find themselves right in the thick of it. They may have great offence, but so do the Blue Jays. What's the key? You tell me:
The same can be said about the Tampa Bay Rays (though of course, they also rely heavily on their starting pitching):
The Blue Jays can't afford to have such horrible defense - with Melky Cabrera "patrolling" left field, Maicer Izturis "manning" the 2-bag, or JP Arencibia "handling the duties" behind the plate.
Your pitching looks a lot better with defence. Your offence looks a lot better with pitching.
It's time for the Blue Jays to step it up in essentially every aspect of the game besides the offensive.
Comments? Suggestions? Leave a comment below. But be nice - we don't need any b*tching to Beeston here...
