ST. PETERSBURG – Through 36 games last year, the Blue Jays were 16-20. If memory serves correctly, everything ultimately worked out.
Through 36 games this year, the Blue Jays are 16-20. They know they can reprise last year’s turnaround with the talent in the clubhouse. But right now, they are stuck in a rut.
Tuesday’s game against the Rays at Tropicana Field was especially painful, as a 3-2 lead in the eighth morphed into a 4-3 deficit as the Rays struck for two runs on four hits against reliever Tyler Rogers, leading to Toronto’s third straight loss.
"Listen, we have a bullseye on our back, maybe more than we ever have, and I think we need to kind of maybe expect that,” starting pitcher Kevin Gausman said. “It is frustrating for sure, because we know how good we can be. But right now, we're just not playing at the level that we can.”
Here are three key takeaways from the game
1. Gausman rebounds with increased velocity
Gausman's radar gun readings have been watched closely in his recent starts. For the year, his velocity is down about 1 mph across the board, and he has usually opened up games with fastballs in the low 90s.
But the 35-year-old looked reinvigorated on the mound Tuesday, as his first four-seamer was tracked at 91.6 mph, and he was consistently hitting 93 and 94 mph for the rest of the frame. Gausman ultimately threw seven four-seamers at 96.0 mph or faster. To put that in perspective, he had reached 96 mph on the gun just five times total over his previous four starts.
The end result was a quality start -- six innings of two-run ball -- against a club that has traditionally given him trouble over his nine seasons in the American League East.
Gausman said the uptick in velo was due to a mixture of feeling better physically and some small mechanical changes.
“I just felt like I wasn't moving the way that I should,” he said about his recent outings. “The ball was coming out fine -- definitely could have come out harder at times -- but I tried to do some things in between [starts] to kind of let myself be a little bit more athletic out there, and I feel like I'm on the right track.”
Gausman struck out three batters, leaving him three K’s away from becoming the sixth active pitcher with 2,000 career strikeouts. He’ll probably reach that milestone early next week in a rematch against Tampa Bay at Rogers Centre.
2. Okamoto’s homer binge continues
Pitchers continue to feed Kazuma Okamoto four-seam fastballs, and he continues to demolish them. The latest evidence came in the first inning when Rays starter Drew Rasmussen left a four-seamer on the outer half that the powerful third baseman slugged a Statcast-projected 409 feet to right-center field.
Okamoto’s 10th homer of the season was also his fourth in the past five games. Half of his 10 home runs have come on four-seam fastballs, and he is now batting .327 (17-for-52) with a .654 slugging percentage against that pitch type. Although he has homered five times on non-four-seamers, his average against the other nine pitch types he’s faced is .190 (15-for-79) with a .380 slugging percentage.
Manager John Schneider credited Okamoto’s pure swing and bat speed for why he’s able to catch up to the heat.
“As he keeps going, he's going to see more sinkers, more cutters, things like that,” Schneider said. “But he's got such a true path to the ball, I think he can cover [other pitch types] pretty well.”
And yes, Okamoto is preparing to see less straight stuff moving forward. Six weeks into his MLB career, he knows the book is out on him.
“I definitely understand that pitchers are going to make adjustments, and [I’m] always preparing to be able to hit other pitches as well,” he said via team interpreter Yusuke Oshima.
3. Piñango keeps producing
Yohendrick Piñango may not be up with the big league club for much longer. There’s a roster decision to be made once Addison Barger is activated off the injured list -- something that could occur as soon as Wednesday.
But the Blue Jays’ No. 10 prospect continues to make a strong case to stay in The Show. He muscled a cutter off the inside corner from Rasmussen into center field for a tiebreaking RBI single in the sixth. Although that was his only hit on the night, Piñango is still batting .455 and has four RBIs through eight big league games.
“Obviously, the beginning has been great,” Piñango said about his time in the Majors via team interpreter Hector Lebron before Tuesday’s game. “I've been doing good so far. It’s something that you dream of. … Overall, very happy and looking forward to the future.”