Blue Jays facing ill-timed pitching questions as home stretch looms - Sportsnet.ca | Canada News Media
Connect with us

Sports

Blue Jays facing ill-timed pitching questions as home stretch looms – Sportsnet.ca

Published

 on


TORONTO — At a time when the Toronto Blue Jays need to start solidifying their plans for the home stretch and set themselves up for the post-season, they’re suddenly facing fresh questions about the pitching staff.

A second straight thumping from the New York Yankees — this one a 13-2 beatdown Wednesday, which featured four homers in four innings off Tanner Roark — isn’t cause for alarm, although it does raise some questions about their ability to contain a truly elite offence.

The Yankees hit six home runs in Tuesday’s 20-6 shellacking and added a season-high seven more in the follow-up, making them only the fifth team in baseball history with consecutive games of at least six homers (the Blue Jays did it Aug. 12 and 14 this year, too). The 13 homers over two games matched a franchise record, as well, while the Blue Jays allowed at least six homers in back-to-back games for the first time in club history.

“We haven’t pitched well, we’ve pitched behind in the count, and their lineup is pretty good,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “That’s what happens, scoring that many runs.”

Roark was far blunter: “They’ve kicked our ass.”

Bigger picture, though, given what we know to this point, who should start a potential playoff series decider for the Blue Jays behind ace Hyun-Jin Ryu and Taijuan Walker, lined up to pitch Games 1 and 2 of a post-season series as things stand?

If everyone stays on turn, Roark would get the ball, and he’s still trying to find a rhythm and regain some velocity, saying that the shortened season has the physical feel of mid-May amid September stakes.

“I don’t mean that as an excuse by any means, but over the course of 162 games, guys figure things out,” he explained. “For myself personally, I start to feel certain things clicking, staying over the rubber longer, driving certain pitches down and away, getting that feel for all my pitches. It’s crunch time now, so there’s no excuses.”

Beyond him there’s Chase Anderson, who starts Thursday’s series finale in the Bronx against Masahiro Tanaka and has been chasing his season since opening on the injured list with an oblique strain. He’s allowed 10 runs in his last 6.2 innings.

Lefty Robbie Ray, due to start one of the two games in Friday’s doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies, has front-of-the-rotation stuff and pedigree, but is still trying to get untracked after a miserable opening to the season. Ross Stripling, also tentatively slated to pitch in part of the twin-bill, seems to be settling into a swingman role.

So, no clear answer, which makes the live batting practice sessions thrown by Matt Shoemaker and Nate Pearson on Wednesday all the more intriguing. The next steps for them will be determined based on how they feel Thursday, but Montoyo said the Blue Jays had Shoemaker throw some extra pitches after he completed his two innings to position him for a quick return.

There isn’t enough runway to properly build him up for the rotation at this point, but he could potentially return as a starter capable of logging 3-4 innings, and the Blue Jays could then piggyback Pearson, who’d be in a similar boat, or Stripling behind him.

Given that there will be no off-days between games in each post-season series, the Blue Jays won’t necessarily be able to bullpen through a round in quite the same way they’ve gamed the regular season. None of their relievers have pitched on three consecutive days yet, and the loss of Ken Giles back to a recurrence of his elbow troubles, combined with Jordan Romano’s ongoing absence, significantly thins out their late-game leverage options.

Ben Nicholson-Smith is Sportsnet’s baseball editor. Arden Zwelling is a senior writer. Together, they bring you the most in-depth Blue Jays podcast in the league, covering off all the latest news with opinion and analysis, as well as interviews with other insiders and team members.

Shoemaker and Pearson could help in that regard, too, as some regression for Ryan Borucki and Anthony Kay, optioned Wednesday for rookie righty Hector Perez, means Montoyo doesn’t have the stable left-on-left weapons he did earlier this season. Thomas Hatch and Julian Merryweather have been terrific but are still relatively untested.

Hence, as the Blue Jays work to lock down a post-season berth — four losses in six games have allowed the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles to sneak back onto the radar — they also have to rethink how to most effectively distribute their innings.

“We’ve got to get to that point sometime,” said Montoyo, “but we’ve got to cover (Thursday), and go from there to the doubleheader.”

A correction by Roark would go a long way, as the right-hander has now allowed six home runs over his last seven innings, all against the Yankees, who have won seven straight since avoiding a sweep in Buffalo last week. He’s also slated to face them again next week at Sahlen Field.

Roark gave up two homers on four-seam fastballs and two more on sinkers, with DJ LeMahieu going deep on one of each. Clint Frazier also got into a four-seamer while Kyle Higashioka turned on a middle-up sinker for the first of his three homers.

Courtesy Baseball Savant.

That’s now 14 homers in 39.1 innings for Roark, who last year gave up 28 in 165.1 frames. His velocity had been down about two m.p.h. on his fastballs so far this season, but he was closer to normal Wednesday, at 91.7 on his four-seamer and 91.3 on the sinker — up about one m.p.h. on both pitches, but still down a tick at from the 92.1 and 91.9 he averaged last year.

“That definitely makes me take a positive out of a negative. Now it’s needing to establish that fastball down and away at the knees and go from there,” said Roark. “My next bullpen, I might just throw all fastballs down and away and get that right.”

A bit more offence, especially with the Yankees back at full strength after activating Aaron Judge on Wednesday, would help too, allowing the Blue Jays to use their better relievers rather than the mop-up crew. Their activation of Teoscar Hernandez earlier than expected should also lengthen the batting order in the days to come.

They hadn’t planned to bring Hernandez on Wednesday but when Derek Fisher got hit in the knee by Shoemaker during the afternoon’s live batting practice session, the outfielders swapped spots on the injured list.

“Hopefully he feels good (Thursday) morning and he has a chance to be in the lineup,” said Montoyo.

The Blue Jays need all the help they can get, as they have 12 games remaining, with Anderson set to start three of them. Still, even after a pair of lopsided losses, they remain in control of their own destiny, although they increasingly have things to figure out along the way.

Let’s block ads! (Why?)



Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Sports betting roundup: NFL and college football were all about the favourites

Published

 on

 

The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.

The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.

Trends of the Week

The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.

In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.

When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.

Upsets of the Week

The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.

Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.

Coming up

Right after the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the New York Yankees to win the World Series, odds for the 2025 World Series were released.

The Dodgers have the best odds at +400, while the Atlanta Braves and Yankees are next at +800.

The Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies round out the top five, both at +1100.

___

This column was provided to The Associated Press by BetMGM online sportsbook.

___

AP sports:

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Longtime rivals Ovechkin, Crosby join Necas as NHL’s three stars of the week

Published

 on

 

NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.

Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.

The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.

Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.

Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Sports

Oliveira, Mitchell named as finalists for CFL outstanding player award

Published

 on

 

TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.

Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).

Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.

Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.

Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.

Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.

The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).

The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.

The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Source link

Continue Reading

Trending

Exit mobile version