Who’s Hot, Who’s Cold: Blue Jays Pitchers

Over the past two weeks the Jays are 8-4 (hard to believe after the way we started the season). Our pitchers had a 3.89 ERA.

Hot

Marcus Stroman: 2 starts, 1-1, 0.75 ERA. In 12 innings batters hit .191/.283/.234, with 6 walks and 11 strikeouts.

Marcus had one very good start (8 innings, 6 hits, 1 earned, 2 walks and 6 k) and one not so good (4 innings, 3 hits, 3 unearned runs, 4 walks, 5 k). He looks like the Stroman of old, not the Stroman of last year. Charlie pushed him to 109 pitches in his last start. I didn’t see the point since we were up by 4, and he seemed to be tiring, so I’m a little curious to see his next start.

Clay Buchholz: 2 starts, 0-0, 3.38. In 10.2 innings batters hit .286/.333/.405 with 3 walks and 6 strikeouts.

Clay had a very good start and a okish start, where he couldn’t quite make 5 innings. With the injury knocking Shoemaker out for the season, Clay becomes a little more important to us.

Joe Biagini: 7 games, 1-0, 1 save, 4 holds, 2.70 ERA. In 6.2 innings batters hit .167/.231/.458, 1 home run, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts.

He’s been so good. I’d like Charlie to let him throw more than an inning occasionally. He should be able to go 2 innings without too much trouble. He’s been so good.

Daniel Hudson: 5 games, 1-0, 3 holds, 0.00 ERA. In 5.1 batters hit .059/.158/.059, with 2 walks and 6 strikeouts.

First impressions are hard to get past, but other than a couple of bad games at the start of the season, Daniel has been very good. If he can stay good it makes our bullpen deeper.

Sam Gaviglio: 3 games, 2-0, 1.13 ERA. In 8 innings batters hit .115/.148/.154 with 0 walks and 8 strikeouts.

He pitched 3 innings in one game and 4 innings in another. I’m hoping he gets to pitch a bit more, though he might end up moving into the rotation with Shoemaker’s injury. If I had to pick a pitcher who has surprised me the most, well it would be between Sam and Shoemaker.

Thomas Pannone: 5 games, 1-0, 1 hold, 0.00 ERA. Batters hit .000/.000/.000 with no walks and 6 strikeouts.

In 3 of the 5 games he faced 1 batter. In the other 2 he pitched 1 inning and 3 innings. Charlie is using him as the all-purpose guy in the pen. Back in the old days, the Blue Jays often had rookies pitch out of the bullpen and then move to the rotation later. I remember Cito saying that he thought it was a good way of letting pitchers learn how to get major leaguers out in slightly gentler situations, with a little less pressure. I still think it is a good plan.

Cold

Trent Thornton: 2 starts, 10.57 ERA. In 7.2 innings batters hit .389/.463/.806 with 5 walks and 6 k.

Two very bad starts after 2 very good starts. Maybe he’s been tipping his pitches. He kind of has to to get back to the pitcher he was for the first couple of times through the rotation. We are going to be scrambling to find someone to fill Shoemaker’s spot (and maybe Sanchez’ spot), we don’t have enough guys ready to jump into the rotation to fill anymore spots.

Ken Giles: 7 games, 0-1, 5 saves, 1 blown save. In 6.2 innings batters hit .345/.441/.517 with 1 home run, 5 walks and 9 strikeouts.

He only had the one blown save, but he’s only had 1 clean inning in those 7 games. He really hasn’t looked good in the last couple of weeks. His first few appearances were good. I’m sure he turn it around soon.

Javy Guerra: 4 innings, 1 hold, 10.38 ERA. In 4.1 innings batters hit .389/.450/.778, 1 home run, 2 walks and 4 k.

And he’s been DFAed. He cleared waivers and he’ll be pitching in Buffalo.

Tim Mayza: 6 games, 4 holds, 12.00 ERA. In 3 innings, batters hit .333/.375/.800, with 2 homers, 1 walk and 4 strikeouts.

He had 1 blowout appearance, and 1 other appearance where he gave up a run. He’s nothing if not inconsistent. And he’s had some good outings. I’m hoping he finds some consistency soon. In small sample size stuff, he’s been much better vs. RHb (.188/.333/.438) than LHB (.267/.353/.600) so far this season. But that’s in just a handful of at bats.

Inbetween

Aaron Sanchez: 3 starts, 1-0, 3.60 ERA. In 15 innings batters hit .216/.375/.392 with 11 walks and 12 strikeouts.

He might be going on the DL. He doesn’t seem to be on a first name basis with the strikezone. If you ignore the walks, he’s been great. I’m thinking he’ll he’ll get better as the season goes on. I’m hoping they figure out the nail issue quickly.

Elvis Luciano: 4 games, 0-0, 4.76 ERA. In 5.2 innings, batters hit .333/.464/.524 with 1 home run, 5 walks and 5 strikeouts.

He’s been hit pretty hard, but I didn’t have the heart to put him in the cold group. I don’t think we can expect much better from him. Charlie has been trying to use him in very low leverage spots, of course. You can see what the front office saw in him, but jumping into the majors, at 19, isn’t a recipe for success.

Also pitched

Ryan Tepera: 2 games, 1 hold, 16.20 ERA. In 1.2 innings batters hit .200/.375/..200 with 2 walks and 1 strikeout.

He had one good outing and one very bad outing.

On the DL

Matt Shoemaker: 3 starts, 1-0, 3.07 ERA. In 14.2 innings, batters hit .222/.300/.407, with 3 home runs, 6 walks and 9 k.

And we won’t see him pitch for the rest of the season. I feel really bad for him. I was hoping he could reestablish himself as a starter. The poor guy has had more than his share of freak injuries.