Weekend Recap

 Simon B

25-2. That's how much the Jays outscored the Texas Rangers over this weekend. Saturday's game was postponed until Sunday when they played a doubleheader and that turned out to play to the Jays advantage.

Sure the Jays scored 25 runs in three games including three more dingers from Vladdy, a Grand Slam from Lourdes Gurriel Jr, and George Springer starting to heat up at the plate as well. However, the starting pitching in this series was excellent and I think it was overlooked. This is why I'm going to shine a spotlight on the Jays starters and why they were so solid over this weekend.

Robbie Ray (Game 1)

In the first game, Robbie Ray dominated the Jays pitching 6 and 2/3 innings only allowing 4 hits and striking out 8. Ray is a creature of habit and likes to do the exact same thing in the 4 days between starts. In that there was the All-Star break in between this start and his previous one, he got a few more days off and people were wondering if that would affect his performance but he showed that it didn't matter. The command on his fastball was excellent and he does a great job at mixing in his slider and curveball at good times to keep hitters off balance.  

For Ray, the key to his success has to be fastball command. He throws the heater almost 60% of the time according to MLB Stats and he's been able to keep opponents exit velocity way down with it too. Generating soft contact is the best thing possible for Ray to continue his success this season because it allows him to keep his pitch count down and go longer into games to avoid using the bullpen.

Hyun-Jin Ryu (Game 2)

In the second game, which was Sunday afternoon instead of Saturday, Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched an absolute masterclass. He had a complete-game shutout making that the first complete-game shutout for the Blue Jays since 2015. 

This is when I say that the doubleheader was an advantage to the Jays. Ryu only had to go 7 innings to get the complete game. Because of the new 7-inning doubleheader rule, it made things a lot simpler for Ryu but he still pitched incredibly. Since his catcher Danny Jansen has come back from the IL, Ryu has taken a bit of time to find his grove but unlike Ray, I think a few extra days was exactly what he needed. 

He had some more time to prepare his game plan and know how to mix his pitches. Some pitchers like to overpower hitters by throwing 100 mph fastballs. The way Ryu pitchers however is more of an art. He's got 4 pitchers that he throws almost equally so it's very difficult for hitters to know what's coming. You'd think that a guy whose fastball averages just over 86 mph isn't very effective in today's game but his ability to keep hitters guessing is second to none in the league. This is why he's so effective. When you have 4 different pitches that you can throw for strikes constantly and get a lot of weak contact or swing-and-misses, it makes scoring runs off of you incredibly difficult and that's why Ryu's ERA is only just over 3.00.

Steven Matz (game 3)

In my last piece about the Jays mid-season markings, I mentioned that Steven Matz had started the season off very strongly but since has declined in effectiveness.

When Matz is at his best, he's got command of all his pitches and they all break the way he wants them to. He's a rare case of a pitcher who doesn't have a fastball in his pitching arsenal. When you don't throw a fastball, you're breaking pitchers need to break well if not they just look like a slow juicy meatball over the heart of the plate ready to be crushed. 

In his start yesterday though, Matz's pitches were for the most part breaking really well and he had a really good spin rate on all of his pitches. He found his groove early in the ballgame and never really looked back. This will be a huge confidence boost for Matz as he will most likely be facing his former team, the Mets, in his next start and it's always a special occasion when that happens.

The Wrap

It's really good to see that the Jays have got themselves three pitchers that can be really good when they're at the top of their game. Especially now that they're going to be in a tight race to try and get into the postseason. They've got tons of games against the Red Sox and Rays in the coming weeks and these are games that are super important to be competitive in if they want a shot at October baseball. 

Lots of baseball  still to be played as they continue their schedule in Buffalo tonight against the division-leading Red Sox. Alek Manoah will be starting so hopefully he can continue the trend of great starts on the mound to get this crucial series underway with a W.

Shoots Left and Writes is also doing Radio Updates on Dave's Faves, the Saturday afternoon show on CKOL FM in Campbellford. You can check out the latest episodes on their Facebook page!

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