Toronto Blue Jays @ Chicago White Sox
Friday, June 24th – Sunday, June 26th
Written by Sean Addis and Gideon Turk
The Blue Jays just completed a two-game split with the Diamondbacks and will now head on the road for six games starting with a three-game set in Chicago against the White Sox. At the end of April, Chicago swept Toronto at the Rogers Centre and the Jays will be looking to return the favour at U.S. Cellular Field. Since the last time these two teams met, they have been moving in different directions. The Jays enter this series having won 21 of there last 32 games, while the White Sox have won only 9 of their last 28 games (though they did just take three of four in Boston).
Pitching Matchups:
Friday June 24th – First Pitch 8:10 PM ET
Aaron Sanchez (7-1, 3.35 ERA) @ Carlos Rodon (2-6, 4.16 ERA)
Aaron Sanchez will get the ball in the opener against the White Sox. Due to the two off days this week, he will be going on six days rest. This has helped not only to provide extra time to recuperate but also to delay the inevitable – his eventual return to the Jays bullpen. Sanchez continues to be dominant and effective, having pitched six of more innings in all but two starts this season. After being pounded by the Baltimore Orioles offense on June 12 for four home runs over five innings, he was able to adjust his approach and hold the same Orioles lineup to two runs over six innings the following start. His ground ball percentage has remained effective at 58 percent, but he has also seen his strike out rate rise to 11.1 K/9 this month. If Sanchez is able to continue this combination, he should succeed against the White Sox lineup.
Carlos Rodon will be the third left-handed starter the Jays will face in a row. The number three pick in the 2014 draft has a 93-94 mph fastball that he combines with his devastating slider to produce an impressive 8.8 K/9 rate. However, he has had an inconsistent 2016 campaign due in large part to a less than impressive slash line against right handed hitters (.309/.374/.472). This will be the first time Rodon will face the Blue Jays right handed heavy lineup and should be a real test.
Saturday June 25th – First Pitch 2:10 PM ET
R.A. Dickey (4-8, 4.08) @ Miguel Gonzalez (1-2, 4.29)
The slow starting Dickey has been on fire of late, posting a 2.97 ERA since May 1st. His last bad start in 2016 actually came against these same Chicago White Sox on April 26th, when he gave up six earned runs in six innings on eight hits, two of which were home runs. He was cruising early on in that game but ended up giving up some big hits that did a lot of damage. Now that he’s rolling, it’ll be interesting to see how things work out. This matchup against Gonzalez will be a bit easier for him than last time out, when he had to face Sale, so he won’t have to be nearly as perfect in round two.
Gonzalez, a 32-year-old righty, joined the White Sox rotation in the end of April and made his first start of 2016 against the Blue Jays on April 25th. He was hit hard, allowing five runs in five and a third innings pitched. He features a four pitch mix composed of two fastballs in the low 90s, a slider that sits in the mid 80s, and a changeup that has averaged 84.2 mph. That the Blue Jays were able to score five runs off of him in the midst of their worst stretch of the season, when they couldn’t score at all, is definitely a good sign for this game. Gonzalez will have to work extra hard to keep this game close.
Sunday June 26th – First Pitch 2:10 PM ET
Marcus Stroman (6-3, 5.23) @ Chris Sale (12-2, 2.83)
The Blue Jays getting away from the AL East could be huge for Marcus Stroman as he looks to bounce back from his worst start of the season. Stroman’s problem then is still that he doesn’t get strikeouts. Being a groundball pitcher is fine, of course, but when he loses his control, like he has over the past two months, it becomes much more difficult to survive. The White Sox have a lot of power, so it will be key for Stroman to keep the ball down, or to be out of the zone when he gets the ball up. Hopefully this will be Stroman’s first game as part of his rebound.
On the flip side of recent (and 2016) success is Stroman’s counterpart, Chris Sale. Sale is a strikeout pitcher extraordinaire and one of the best overall arms in baseball. Sale last faced the Blue Jays on April 26th, when he shut them down, allowing just one run on four hits and two walks. The tall lefty survives with just three pitches, but they’re all elite. He averages 94 mph on his fastball (but touches 99), and has a wicked changeup and slider combo that keeps him strong against hitters from both sides of the plate.. Against a pitcher of this calibre, the Blue Jays just need to hope he makes mistakes, because when he’s on, he’s extremely tough to beat.
Additions and Subtractions
The Blue Jays haven’t made any roster moves recently, but they did send left handed relief options Brett Cecil and Franklin Morales on rehab assignments to Dunedin this week. Their returns are probably a couple of weeks away at this point, but it will be nice for John Gibbons to have some quality left handed options in his bullpen once again.
Ezequiel Carrera was nursing an injury to his achilles tendaon against the Diamondbacks, and may not be 100 percent for this series. If he needs to go on the disabled list, Dalton Pompey would like be called up to take over the starting right field job now that Jose Bautista is out for a while with “turf toe.”
Since the Blue Jays last saw the White Sox, they have undergone quite the roster transformation. In order to try to jump start some success, Jimmy Rollins and Mat Latos were released, while James Shields was acquired from San Diego and Justin Morneau was signed. Morneau was subsequently placed on the disabled list, along with outfielder Austin Jackson, and relief pitcher Zach Putnam. Taking Putnam’s spot in the bullpen is right handed pitcher Chris Beck, who was called up from the Charlotte Knights on June 21st.
Keep an Eye On
Blue Jays Bullpen
Roberto Osuna continues to anchor the back end of the bullpen (1.95 ERA, 14 saves, 11.2 K/9), but it’s the recent performance of four other relievers that has been turning heads. Right-handers Jason Grilli (9 games, 2.35 ERA, 15.3 K/9), Jesse Chavez (10 games, 2.25 ERA, 10.5 K/9), Gavin Floyd (7 games, 1.29 ERA) and Drew Storen (8 game scoreless streak) have provided manager John Gibbons with more confidence in his bullpen. In the two game series against the Diamondbacks, the Jays bullpen had a pitching line of seven innings, three hits, one run, no walks and 10 strikeouts. Add in the off days from this week, the Jays should have a rested and effective bullpen for this series.
Aches and Pains
Jays have a couple of players nursing nagging injuries. Ezequiel Carrera aggravated his achilles tendon running in Tuesday’s game and Josh Donaldson suffering from some neck discomfort was removed at the end of Wednesday’s game. Both players are expected to start the series, this is especially important as the team is already without right fielder Jose Bautista.
White Sox Bullpen
Over the last seven games the White Sox have been involved in three extra inning games, a short start (1.2 innings), and the final two games of the recent Red Sox series required them to go deep in their bullpen. As a result, Chicago’s bullpen has been used a lot in the last week. It would be advantageous for the Blue Jays to get to the bullpen early in the series, as they may be experiencing fatigue due to over usage.
Probable Lineup
Toronto Blue Jays |
Chicago White Sox |
| 1 Devon Travis-2B | 1 Tim Anderson-SS |
| 2 Josh Donaldson-3B | 2 Adam Eaton-RF |
| 3 Edwin Encarnacion-DH | 3 Jose Abreu-1B |
| 4 Michael Saunders-LF | 4 Melky Cabrera-LF |
| 5 Russell Martin-C | 5 Todd Frazier-3B |
| 6 Troy Tulowitzki-SS | 6 Brett Lawrie-2B |
| 7 Justin Smoak-1B | 7 Alex Avila-C |
| 8 Kevin Pillar-CF | 8 Avisail Garcia-DH |
| 9 Ezequiel Carrera- RF | 9 J.B. Shuck-CF |
via Roster Resource
Final Thoughts
The Jays have had two off days this week, Monday and Thursday, so the full lineup and bullpen should be rested. They really want to take advantage of the White Sox, who just had a hard fought series with the Red Sox, winning two out of three would be an acceptable start to this road trip.
Lead Photo: Nick Turchiaro-USA TODAY Sports