Toronto Blue Jays @ Kansas City Royals
August 5th – August 7th
Written by Joshua Howsam and Molly Tissenbaum
Coming off a series win in Houston, the Jays arrive in Kansas City tied for first place with the Baltimore Orioles. The pitching is flying high, with both the starters and relievers delivering consistently good performances, but the hitting has still been somewhat shaky. They set a major league record for strikeouts (as an offense), and only scored 10 runs in the four game set.
The defending World Series champions come into this series heading in the opposite direction, having lost six of their last eight and finding themselves eleven games out of first place in the AL Central. They have dealt with injury and ineffectiveness, so Toronto is definitely catching them at the right time.
Pitching Matchups:
August 5th – 8:15 PM ET
Francisco Liriano vs. Dillon Gee
The recently acquired Liriano will be making his first start as a Toronto Blue Jay, so there will be a lot to take away from this game. The power lefty has certainly had his struggles this year, as he possesses career worst walk, K/BB, and home run rates, as well as a 5.46 ERA. On the plus side, he is still striking out hitters at an above average rate and his stuff is as good as it ever was. This is also an ideal first opponent for Liriano. The Royals are really struggling right now, and they happen to be the least patient team baseball with a team walk rate of 6.2%.d
Dillon Gee will be making his fifth start since coming out of the bullpen in this game, but he has only made it through six innings once. He doesn’t miss a lot of bats, and he is extremely homer prone with 14 long balls allowed in just 73 1/3 innings. The Blue Jays bats have struggled somewhat of late, but this should be a pitcher they can handle with some ease.
August 6th – 7:15 PM ET
Aaron Sanchez vs. Danny Duffy
Sanchez will be making what was recently viewed as his likely final start of the season, but recent developments have put that to rest. Aaron Sanchez will indeed be staying in the rotation, just as part of a six man group instead of five. This will make the Jays players and fans alike very happy, as the young righty is having a Cy Young-level season. His 2.71 ERA leads the league, and he is currently working on a streak of eight straight starts where he has allowed two or fewer runs. Look for him to continue his strong season against the free-swinging Royals.
When watching Danny Duffy throw, it’s hard to imagine he has spent so much time as a reliever. Armed with a big time fastball (averaging over 96 mph) that he complements with a hard slider and a solid changeup, Duffy has accumulated 126 strikeouts this season in just 108 2/3 innings of work. He is also coming off his best start of the season, an absolutely dominant performance against the Tampa Bay Rays; he gave up no runs in eight innings with 16 strikeouts and just one hit. He also generated a whoppong 34 swings and misses in that outing, which tied Clayton Kershaw’s record for the most all-time by a left-hander. He is going to be very, very tough to hit.
August 7th– 2:15 PM ET
Marcus Stroman vs. Yordano Ventura
Stroman has definitely not lived up to expectations this season, but recent events look like they may signal a bit of a turnaround for the diminutive righty. He is coming off an excellent outing against the Astros where he struck out 13 batters across seven innings, allowing just a solitary run. In that outing, 43 percent of the pitches Stroman threw could be classified as either cutters or sliders. When Stroman shut down the Royals in early July, he did something very similar, throwing 48 percent sliders and cutters. It seems that he has more success when he has pitches that move opposite his power sinker, so hopefully we see a bit more of that.
Yordano Ventura is something of an enigma. He is armed with a big time fastball, a very hard, sharp curveball and a solid changeup, but his overall numbers are quite poor. His 6.8 k/9 is well below league-average, and his 1.3 H/9 isn’t exactly something to write home about. When coupled with his hotheaded demeanor and tendency to start on-field fights, the act can wear very thin at times. Recently however, Ventura seems to be turning things around. He has a 3.66 ERA in his last five starts including some tough opponents (Texas twice, Detroit, Seattle). The Jays can’t afford to take this one lightly.
Additions and Subtractions
Jays
After acquiring RHP Mike Bolsinger from the Dodgers, the Blue Jays optioned him to AAA Buffalo on August 3rd, after activating Francisco Lirano. On August 4th, the Brewers claimed RHP Ben Rowen off waivers from the Jays.
Royals
The Royals optioned RHP Brooks Pounders to the Omaha Storm Chasers, and recalled Billy Burns from the Storm Chasers on August 3rd.
Keep an Eye On
Wow-K
Despite taking three of four from the Astros, the Blue Jays struck out an unfathomable 61 times. The long ball was the saving grace for the Blue Jays, coming to the rescue for the starting pitchers.
Edwing Continues Flight
In the 9th inning of last night’s game, Edwin Encarnacion hit his 30th homerun of the season. For the Jays slugger, that gives him 30+ homeruns in each of the last 5 seasons. He is the only player in the game to have 5 straight seasons with 30 or more homeruns, ahead of marquee names like David Ortiz and Mike Trout. In 2016, Encarnacion is hitting a whopping .417 against the Royals.
Thing 3
Over the last 7 games, Russell Martin is hitting .375, slugging .625, and has an OBP of .531. He went 4 for 13 in the series against the Astros, including a homerun in the game on Monday night.
Probable Lineup
Toronto Blue Jays |
Kansas City Royals |
| 1 Devon Travis – 2B | 1 Alcides Escobar – SS |
| 2 Jose Bautista RF | 2 Cheslor Cuthbert – 3B |
| 3 Josh Donaldson 3B | 3 Lorenzo Cain – CF |
| 4 Edwin Encarnacion – DH | 4 Eric Hosmer – 1B |
| 5 Michael Saunders – LF | 5 Kendrys Morales – DH |
| 6 Russell Martin – C | 6 Salvador Perez – C |
| 7 Troy Tulowitzki – SS | 7 Alex Gordon – LF |
| 8 Justin Smoak – 1B | 8 Paulo Orlando – RF |
| 9 Kevin Pillar – CF | 9 Raul Mondesi Jr. – 2B |
via Roster Resource
Final Thoughts
The Blue Jays starting pitching has been fantastic of late. In the series against the Astros, Stroman, Dickey, and Estrada all threw 7 innings, giving up just one run. Happ, on route to becoming the second 15 game winner in the Major Leagues, threw 6 innings, and surrendering just a single run. If the Jays bats can heat back up and the starting pitching continues to dazzle, the Blue Jays will be a tall order for any opponent.
Lead Photo: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
This is a solid title.