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Mitchell: Evaluating the Toronto Blue Jays through 20 games – TSN

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TORONTO — By the time you read this, the Toronto Blue Jays will have surpassed the one-third mark of this completely strange shortened season.

A Wednesday matinee at Camden Yards is game No. 21, and we’ve learned a lot about the talent on the field as well as manager Charlie Montoyo in the dugout.

We think.

If there’s one thing that has defined the first third of the Jays’ season, it’s their ability to lose close games in heartbreaking fashion.

At 9-11, they may be down, but they’re certainly not out if you want to be optimistic.

The club’s hopes of getting to 30-plus wins, which would put them on the periphery of the expanded postseason race, haven’t been helped with the up-and-down start, but they’re far from completely buried.

“Because of our pitching, I believe we’ve still got a chance, and if we swing the bats like we’ve been swinging them, we’re going to be okay,” Montoyo said when asked about how he feels about where his team stands 20 games in. “Again, it’s all about playing clean games. You can only beat the good teams if you play a clean game. If you play your B or C game, you’re not going to beat them.”

Whether they’re good enough to reel off an above .500 record the rest of the way is another debate. We’ve seen a young, inconsistent ballclub with an overworked bullpen, an embattled manager because of it, and the continued insistence they’re still rebuilding.

If they’re still rebuilding, we shouldn’t waste time wondering whether they’re a contender.

Just happy to be here.

That sentiment has frustrated fans and they’re completely right to feel that way.

Tempering expectations is one thing. Publicly projecting an indifference to losing is another.

On the field, the players have shown resiliency in numerous ways, dealing with the homefield uncertainty, a ton of time on the road amidst a pandemic, as well as the ability to bounce back after losses.

They longest losing streak they’ve endured is three games, while, on the flip side of that, their longest winning streak is just two in a row.

“What I like about our team is after tough losses we come back and win games and that’s a sign of a good team,” Montoyo said.

“The things I don’t like … of course, the games that we lost is because we didn’t play clean games and we need to get there. To be one of the best teams in baseball, you have to play clean games and that cost us in the games that we lost.”

With their run differential slowly creeping towards the black – minus-4 through 20 games –the offence has slowly found its groove over the past week, going from averaging 3.1 runs per game on Aug. 12, last in baseball, to 4.5 through 20 games, good for 22nd.

FanGraphs is currently projecting the Jays to go 18-22 the rest of the way, giving them a 31.5 per cent to be one of the eight American League teams to reach the expanded postseason.

Here’s a look at who mattered during the first 20 games.

OFFENCE

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MVP: SS Bo Bichette

The 22-year-old leads the team in batting average (.361), steals (4), slugging percentage (.672) and wRC+ (183), generally looking like a franchise player on a day-in, day-out basis.

The problem is he’s currently on the IL with a sprained knee and there’s really no timeline for his return. The Jays will try to survive without him but no Bichette leaves a huge hole at the top of a not-so-deep lineup.

Biggest surprise: Outfield production

They’ve taken some heat at various points, but Randal Grichuk and Teoscar Hernandez, minus one game-changing defensive miscue, have been carrying this team at times.

Grichuk is currently the team’s hottest hitter with Bichette sidelined, while Hernandez leads the team in homers through 20 games with seven.

Overall, Jays outfielders have been worth 1.3 fWAR, good for 12th in baseball.

Sandwiched between the Philadelphia Phillies (1.4 fWAR), who backed up a Brinks truck to add Bryce Harper to their outfield, and division rival Tampa (1.2 fWAR) is a pretty good spot to be considering the outfield was seen as an area of concern heading into the season.

Strictly offensively, their park adjusted wRC+ of 121 is fifth overall in baseball.

Biggest disappointment: 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

He’s walked to the plate 85 times and produced a negative fWAR at minus-0.3, generating a below average 88 wRC+ with the bat alone.

Sure, he’s turned it around lately, but the overall .221/.294/.390 slash line with three home runs still doesn’t come close to meeting anyone’s expectations, including Vladdy Jr.’s.

Most underrated: 2B Cavan Biggio

The batting average might never wow you, but Biggio’s high-walk, high-power ways have continued in his sophomore season, with Montoyo even choosing to flip him with Bichette at the top of the order and insert the second baseman into the leadoff spot.

Biggio seems to like it.

Through 81 career plate appearances batting first, Biggio has a .980 OPS.

ROTATION

MVP: LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu

Paid to be an ace, Ryu has come pretty close to delivering and he’s only been getting better over his past three starts with a 1.06 ERA.

He hasn’t been dominant and an overall 3.46 ERA across 26 innings looks fine on paper, but the exciting part is Ryu has been holding opponents to just a .211 batting average and .665 OPS against.

The important part?

The Jays have a 4-1 record when Ryu is on the mound.

Biggest surprise: Nate Pearson’s lack of strikeouts

Young pitchers often take time to adjust, so watching Pearson struggle in his initial foray through the majors shouldn’t shock anyone, but the real answer for the 24-year-old’s up-and-down start was revealed Wednesday when he was placed on the 10-day IL with elbow tightness.

There’s currently no timeline for a return.

It helps explain the command issues that have allowed hitters to sit back and wait for Pearson to make a mistake, leading to a 6.61 ERA through four starts, as well as the surprising lack of swing-and-miss, whiffing just 14 across 16.1 innings, a well below league average 18.9 per cent strikeout rate.

Biggest disappointment: RHP Tanner Roark

Signed in December to a two-year, $24 million deal, Roark is carrying around a 6.00 ERA, supported by a 6.95 FIP, through his first three starts in a Blue Jays uniform.

It’s a tiny sample size, but the 33-year-old right-hander’s command has been off and he’s been homer-prone — three allowed in 12 innings — which was a red flag when he signed.

Most underrated: RHP Thomas Hatch

He’s only made one short start on opening weekend, spending the rest of his time as a bullpen Swiss Army knife, but Hatch has been an early season revelation and looks to have a future in the Jays’ rotation.

His 2.70 ERA across 10 innings is a bit misleading, but the MLB-calibre stuff and delivery allows him to pitch in multiple roles for the time being.

BULLPEN

MVP: RHP Jordan Romano

It’s not a surprise that’s he’s an important bullpen piece, but no one could have possibly predicted Romano would be one of the best relievers in baseball through 20 games, generating 0.4 fWAR, a top 20 mark in the league.

The 27-year-old right-hander has only had one hiccup, but on most nights, he’s been using a 98-mph fastball and filthy slider to punch hitters out, registering 15 strikeouts across 11 innings of work.

There’s no arguing he’s the closer of the future at this point and will likely earn his first career save here in the fairly near future.

Biggest surprise: LHP Ryan Borucki

Here’s why you just never know with pitchers.

After struggling to stay healthy, Borucki finally got over that hump in March, before deciding to tweak a pitch that has completely changed his ability to strike hitters out.

Morphing his slider into more of a cutter-type pitch, Borucki has been dominant in his first-ever bullpen assignment, striking out 14 in just 6.1 innings.

He may return to the rotation at some point, but right now Borucki is showing he can be a high-leverage relief arm if that’s the way things break.

Biggest disappointment: Ken Giles’ injury

I’m not going to waste words crushing Japanese import Shun Yamaguchi, who’s been the victim of some unfortunate circumstances and assignments, actually holding a 2.48 FIP and lowering his ERA to 7.50 on Tuesday despite giving up a run in his 1.2 innings.

Nope.

It’s definitely the handling of Giles way back on July 26, a Sunday afternoon in Tampa that led to an IL stint, a PRP injection in his right elbow and an uncertain future.

Giles played catch Tuesday and felt good, according to Montoyo, but at this point they’d have to rush him back in order to trade him by Aug. 31.

Most underrated: RHP A.J. Cole

When Cole was given a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training way back in December, he immediately became a favourite to be part of the bullpen mix despite the lack of a true roster spot.

The 28-year-old has not disappointed in the least, holding a 0.84 ERA in nine appearances.

He’s given Montoyo some much-needed bullpen depth.

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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October 18, 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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October 17, 2024

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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October 17, 2024

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

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