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	<title>Toronto &#187; Los Angeles Dodgers</title>
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		<title>Searching for Hope: Recent Improbable Playoff Teams</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2017/05/01/searching-for-hope-recent-improbable-playoff-teams/</link>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 01 May 2017 10:49:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Andrew Munn]]></dc:creator>
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		<category><![CDATA[Los Angeles Dodgers]]></category>
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		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=10461</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With the first month of the season wrapping itself up Sunday afternoon, the Blue Jays find themselves winners of their past two games. From what I&#8217;ve been told, this phenomenon is known as a winning streak, something that Toronto is experiencing for the first time in its 2017 iteration. Their inability to string any wins together has [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With the first month of the season wrapping itself up Sunday afternoon, the Blue Jays find themselves winners of their past two games. From what I&#8217;ve been told, this phenomenon is known as a winning streak, something that Toronto is experiencing for the first time in its 2017 iteration. Their inability to string any wins together has put their current record at 8-17, dead last in the AL East. Even if this team were to turn it around and play the rest of their games at their expected talent level, they would still most likely fall short of the playoffs due to their abysmal start. Combine this with the injuries that the team has suffered in the first month of the season, and optimism has clearly faded for the back-to-back AL finalists.</p>
<p>However, not all hope is lost. The month of May has just begun, and even at who-knows-how-many-at-this-point games back of the division lead, the Jays have 137 games to make an improbable run to the playoffs. According to the <a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/odds/index_final.php?year_id=2017&amp;dispgroup=div&amp;submit=Go">Playoff Odds Report at Baseball Prospectus</a>, the low point of the Blue Jays season occurred after Friday night&#8217;s game. After blowing a 3-1 lead, resulting in Toronto&#8217;s third loss in a row, their odds of reaching the postseason sat at a very low 6.3%. While it will be a long and arduous climb, it one that has been done before. Today, we&#8217;re going to look at the five teams since the addition of the second wild card in 2013 to make the most improbable runs to the playoffs &#8211; teams whose odds of reaching the postseason all fell below 10% at some point during the season.</p>
<h4><strong>2013 Dodgers &#8211; 7.4%</strong></h4>
<p>The 2013 Dodgers began play with sky high expectations, much like those that followed the frenzied offseason of the AL East &#8220;champions-to-be&#8221; Toronto Blue Jays. A blockbuster trade the previous August saw the Dodgers acquiring Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, and Hanley Ramirez to play alongside stars Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier. They already had the best pitcher in the game in Clayton Kershaw, and signed top hurlers Zack Greinke and Hyun-Jin Ryu to long-term contracts during the offseason to make the rotation one of the best in baseball.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for the Dodgers, not only were their expectations similar to those of the 2013 Blue Jays, their early season play brought similarly disappointing results. The team struggled out of the gate, breaking even in April with a 13-13 record before playing at a 10-17 clip in May. Injuries ravaged the team, as they lost Ramirez, Kemp, Ethier, Crawford, and Greinke to varying ailments early in the year. The low point of the Dodgers’ season came on June 21, when the team sat with a record of 30-42 – nine and a half games back of the first-place Diamondbacks. This equated to playoff odds of 7.4%, a staggering drop from the 75.3% odds they possessed prior to the start of the season. Manager Don Mattingly was rumoured to be on the hot seat, leading a sure-fire playoff team to last place near the midway point of the season.</p>
<p>Something clicked after that 5-2 loss to the Padres on June 21, however. From June 22 through the end of the year, the Dodgers went 62-28, earning a win percentage of .689 and playing at a 112-win pace over 90 games. This logic-defying run began with a six game winning streak, and followed with several more of varying lengths, highlighted by a 10-game streak capped on August 17. Led by Kershaw, Ramirez, and rookie sensation Yasiel Puig, the Dodgers didn’t lose more than two games in a row again until September 7, and became the first team in the majors to clinch a playoff spot on September 19. They continued their momentum through the first round of the playoffs, beating the Atlanta Braves in the Division Series before falling to the Cardinals in the NLCS.</p>
<h4><strong>2014 Pirates &#8211; 5.9%</strong></h4>
<p>The Pirates won 94 games in 2013, and returned to action in 2014 with largely the same squad. The 2013 Pirates were led by the play of NL MVP Andrew McCutchen, helped by a supporting cast that featured up-and-comers Gerrit Cole and Pedro Alvarez. The Pirates were also aided by successful pitching reclamation projects of familiar names to Blue Jays fans – starters A.J. Burnett and Francisco Liriano, and closer Jason Grilli. All three pitchers experienced comebacks from injury or poor play in recent seasons, helped in part by the influence of backstop Russell Martin and pitching coach Ray Searage. All of these players (with the exception of Burnett) returned to the Pirates in 2014, ready to take another run at the playoffs one year removed from their first in 21 seasons.</p>
<p>After a demoralizing 11-10 loss in 13 innings on May 5 (a game in which they led 8-2), the Pirates were in fourth place in the NL Central with a 12-20 record. This put them nine and a half games back of the division lead and five and a half back of the second wild card, their playoff odds dropping from 21.1% on Opening Day to a measly 5.9%. The Pirates eventually climbed back into postseason contention, but it was not an immediate turnaround.  They rattled off a four game winning streak beginning on May 6, but then followed that by losing five of their next six.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, Pittsburgh began to gain footing in the NL Wild Card race. By August 12, they had played to a 52-35 record since May 5, a 97-win pace. This stretch placed them in the first wild card spot, one and a half games ahead of the Cardinals and Giants. After a three-week bump in the road that saw the Pirates drop to two games back of the second wild card, they finished off the season 17-6, tying the San Francisco Giants and securing a spot in the wild card game. Comeback aside, this would be the end of the road for the Pirates, who fell as the first victims of Madison Bumgarner’s historic 2014 playoff performance.</p>
<h4><strong>2014 Royals &#8211; 6.8%</strong></h4>
<p>Another casualty of Bumgarner’s ridiculous playoff run in 2014, the Kansas City Royals, came into 2014 with playoff aspirations. Owners of the longest active postseason drought in North American professional sports at 28 years, Kansas City had just played to its first winning season since 2003. The young core of Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, and Alex Gordon was gaining experience, complemented by staff ace James Shields and a sterling bullpen who finished 2013 with the lowest ERA in the AL.</p>
<p>The Royals started off the season well enough, earning a record of 14-11 in the month of April. The month of May did not serve manager Ned Yost and the Royals as well. On May 29, Kansas City headed into a series at the Rogers Centre 24-28, good for fourth place in the AL Central and four games back of the second Wild Card spot. While not a massive deficit, six different teams stood in the way of the Royals&#8217; postseason climb, bringing their playoff odds from a mark of 23.6% on Opening Day down to 6.8%.</p>
<p>The Royals’ misfortune turned around quickly – after the Toronto series, they went on to win 13 of their next 15 games, quickly vaulting themselves to the top of the AL Central. How would the masters of small ball follow up this impressive streak, you might ask? Well, they stumbled to a 9-18 run, finding themselves once again four and a half back of the second Wild Card on July 21.</p>
<p>This up and down season had not made its final swing, however, as the Royals played the remaining 64 games at a 104-win pace. They finished the year with 89 wins and home field advantage in what became one of the greatest wild card games ever played &#8211; a 9-8, 12-inning thriller against the Josh Donaldson-led Oakland Athletics. The Royals emerged victorious, and continued their magical turnaround season all the way to game seven of the World Series, where it finished with the tying run stuck on third base.</p>
<h4><strong>2015 Rangers &#8211; 4.1%</strong></h4>
<p>For a new generation of Blue Jays fans, the 2015 ALDS against the Rangers was the first glimpse of playoff baseball in Toronto. Exciting as it was, the match up was dangerously close to not coming to fruition, as both teams overcame odds of 10.8% or less to make playoffs. While this is as low as it got for Toronto, things were looking even worse for the Texas Rangers on several occasions during the 2015 season.</p>
<p>After putting up a dreadful 67-95 record in 2014, the Rangers looked to be in for a re-tooling season in 2015. The year started with little improvement, as the Rangers struggled to a 7-14 record in the month of April. The team continued to slump through May 19, at which point they went on a surprising 20-7 run. On June 17, the Rangers found themselves 36-30 and within two and a half games of the AL West-leading Astros.</p>
<p>The Rangers roster that went on this run could not sustain this performance, and from June 18 through July 20, the Rangers went on a 7-18 stretch, dropping them nine games back of the division lead. Their playoff odds dropped to 4.1%, essentially taking them out of the playoff race with a roster that didn’t look to be able to contend. Given the lead they had to overcome to make the playoffs, the Rangers then made a move to help build for next year – a move that ended up saving their 2015 season.</p>
<p>On July 29, the Rangers acquired Cole Hamels and Jake Diekman from the Phillies for several prospects. Two days later, the team picked up Sam Dyson from the Marlins in a low-profile move. These two deals helped set the table for the most improbable playoff run since the birth of the second wild card. After the Hamels trade, the Rangers finished the year 39-22, a 104-win pace, to finish the year at 88-74 with the AL West crown.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Throwback to the <a href="https://twitter.com/Rangers">@Rangers</a> clinching a playoff spot!!!! <a href="https://t.co/GD1YpzePHe">pic.twitter.com/GD1YpzePHe</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Died Wob™ (@Zherdev_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Zherdev_/status/731973728389730304">May 15, 2016</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Not much else needs to be added about how their season ended.</p>
<h4><strong>2016 Mets &#8211; 7.6%</strong></h4>
<p>Coming off a run to the World Series in 2015, the Mets entered 2016 with hopes of taking the final step. They re-signed 2015 cult hero Yoenis Cespedes for the upcoming season, and returned with one of the most intimidating and promising young rotations of recent memory. The NL East was seen to be as a two-horse race, with the only question being whether it would be the Washington Nationals taking home the division title, or the Mets defending their crown. The start of the season went according to plan, as the Mets got out to a 20-11 start. This put them a half game ahead of the Nationals, and helped New York to a 90.1% chance of making the playoffs.</p>
<p>Then, the injuries hit. Through late April and May, the Mets lost Travis d’Arnaud, Wilmer Flores, Lucas Duda, and David Wright, all in the range of one month to the entire season. Before long, the injury plague began to take victims of the rotation as well – Matt Harvey was gone for the season in July, and Steven Matz went on the DL for the remainder of the season in August. These injuries, in combination with general bad play, led the Mets to a 40-51 stretch.</p>
<p>By August 19, the Mets record had dropped to 60-62, firmly leaving them out of the NL East picture at 12.5 games behind the Nationals. They were also five and a half games back of the second wild card, and with three teams to pass, saw their odds of reaching the playoffs drop by a whopping 82.5%, down to 7.6%. There’s a reason the 2016 Mets made this list, however – a season-defining stretch of baseball was still in the works. The Mets finished the season on a 27-13 run, a pace that would have netted them 109 wins over a full year of baseball. Finishing the year at 87-75, their season ended (stop me if you’ve heard this one before) with a dominating performance from Madison Bumgarner, who shutout the Mets in a 1-0 Giants win in the NL Wild Card Game.</p>
<h4>2017 Blue Jays</h4>
<p>To recap, five teams have made the playoffs since 2013 with postseason odds of 7.6% or less at one point in the season. This is not to suggest that a playoff appearance in 2017 is bound to happen for Toronto, as you would find more teams who have missed the playoffs in these situations than those who have reached them. The presence of these comeback stories also does not diminish the fact that the Blue Jays have had a terrible start.</p>
<p>Yet, the dream could still be alive. Teams have been worse off and still made the playoffs.This is the nature of baseball, a sport defined by its randomness and improbability. While this aspect of baseball can be maddening, it is also the reason why we continue to tune in every night. We don&#8217;t want to miss out on an incredible comeback story, and to participate in a season that many have proclaimed over to potentially turn into something noteworthy. And if they&#8217;re lucky enough, the Blue Jays just might do it.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: © Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Recap: Dodgers 4, Blue Jays 2; The Bullpen Blows It. Again.</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/08/recap-dodgers-4-blue-jays-2-the-bullpen-blows-it-again/</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 08 May 2016 20:48:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[Molly Tissenbaum]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[In the rubber match of a three game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Blue Jays sent Marco Estrada to the hill against Ross Stripling, who was making just his sixth career big league start. Estrada retired the first nine batters he faced in order, walking Chase Utley to start the 4th inning. Utley [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In the rubber match of a three game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Blue Jays sent Marco Estrada to the hill against Ross Stripling, who was making just his sixth career big league start. Estrada retired the first nine batters he faced in order, walking Chase Utley to start the 4th inning. Utley moved up to second and Josh Turner reached on an error by Troy Tulowitzki, but Estrada proceeded to strike out the side and get out of the trouble. Estrada&#8217;s change-up was devastating on Sunday, and he was locating his pitches masterfully. Estrada held the Dodgers hitless through five innings, before giving off a lead-off double in the 6th. The Jays took an early third inning lead when Kevin Pillar took advantage of Howie Kendrick&#8217;s inexperience at first base, coming in to score on a fielder&#8217;s choice by Ryan Goins. The Dodgers tied the game in the 7th on a solo homerun by Joc Pederson, but the Jays answered back in the 7th, when Kevin Pillar scored Justin Smoak on a single to right field. The bullpen, led by Drew Storen, just couldn&#8217;t hold down the fort, giving up 2 runs on inherited base runners in the 8th, and another run in the 9th.</p>
<h3>Top Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>In the top of 8th, Corey Seager hit a ground rule double to right field that sent Chase Utley to third base from first with a WPA of .252. Both Utley and Seager would come around to score later on in the inning.</p>
<h3>Bottom Play of the Game by WPA</h3>
<p>The next batter was Justin Turner, who struck out looking, leaving Utlcey and Seager on base for one more batter at least. The play featured a  -.125 WPA.</p>
<h3>Home Sweet Home</h3>
<p>Kevin Pillar won’t be looking forward to leaving Rogers Centre for AT&amp;T park this week, as he found his stroke on the home stand. He went 11/26 over the seven games, including a single in the 7th inning on Sunday that put the Blue Jays ahead. Seven of those eleven hits went for extra bases, and he even made one of his trademark Superman catches in the 9th inning of Saturday&#8217;s loss to the Dodgers.</p>
<h3>Up Next</h3>
<p>The Blue Jays head to the west coast for a three game series against the San Francisco Giants. The Blue Jays will send Aaron Sanchez to the hill tomorrow night at 10:15pm to face a struggling Jake Peavey in the opener against the Giants. Sanchez is 2-1 on the year with a 2.82 ERA, while Peavy is 1-3 with a 9.00 ERA.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Kevin Sousa-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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		<title>Battle of the Boys in Blue: Dodgers Series Preview</title>
		<link>http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/05/06/battle-of-the-boys-in-blue-dodgers-series-preview/</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2016 17:15:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator><![CDATA[BP Toronto Team]]></dc:creator>
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		<description><![CDATA[Toronto Blue Jays vs. Los Angeles Dodges May 6th &#8211; May 8th Written by Eric Mercer and Gideon Turk Things have certainly turned around for the Blue Jays since being swept by the White Sox a week ago. They have won back to back series, taking two of three from the Rays and three of four from the Rangers. [&#8230;]]]></description>
				<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h2 style="text-align: center">Toronto Blue Jays vs. Los Angeles Dodges</h2>
<h3 style="text-align: center">May 6th &#8211; May 8th</h3>
<p style="text-align: center">Written by <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/author/ericmercer/" target="_blank">Eric Mercer</a> and <a href="http://toronto.locals.baseballprospectus.com/author/gideonturk/" target="_blank">Gideon Turk</a></p>
<p>Things have certainly turned around for the Blue Jays since being swept by the White Sox a week ago. They have won back to back series, taking two of three from the Rays and three of four from the Rangers. Most encouraging from these games however is not the results, but rather that signs of life in the offense are now visible. Thursday&#8217;s 12-2 thumping of the Rangers saw the Blue Jays strike out a grand total of zero times, a nice change from their free swinging ways of April. Against the Dodgers, the Jays will be in tough because of some solid pitching, but they may be coming into this matchup at the perfect time if they want to hit Kershaw and Co.</p>
<h3>Pitching Matchups:</h3>
<h4>May 6th – 7:07 PM ET</h4>
<p><strong>Marcus Stroman vs. Kenta Maeda</strong></p>
<p>The Jays ace will be taking the mound in the opening game against the LA Dodgers. Stroman is coming off of his best start of the season, where he went eight innings, allowing only one run on three hits and striking out nine. He has a rather uninspiring ERA of 3.77 but he has clearly been better than that number indicates. In a few outings this season, Stroman has faltered late in the game and has left runners on base for relievers&#8230;all of whom have come around to score. Of course, this isn’t to say that this is the bullpen&#8217;s fault, as Stroman should be able to finish the game as well he starts it, but the relievers should strand at least <em>some</em> runners. Last game against Tampa was a big step for Stroman, as he finally started getting some strikeouts. The majority of the Dodgers are completely unfamiliar with Stroman, which should give him an advanged considering the drastic movement on almost all of his pitches.</p>
<p>The Jays will try and keep their bats going in the first game of the series against Japanese &#8220;rookie&#8221; Kenta Maeda. Maeda has had a masterful beginning to his MLB campaign, pitching to the tune of a 1.41 ERA in 32 innings. He has also struck out 28 batters while walking only six. He throws only 43 percent fastballs, and his premier out-pitch is the slider, which he has thrown 31 percent of the time and generates a lot of swings and misses (27 percent whiff rate). Maeda will also sprinkle in a changeup and a curveball to compliment the rest of his arsenal. Like Stroman for the Dodgers, the Jays will be going into this one a bit blind.</p>
<h4>May 7th – 1:07 PM ET</h4>
<p>R.A. Dickey vs. Clayton Kershaw</p>
<p>Saturday’s matchup features two former Cy-Young winners and, like Stroman, R.A. Dickey is coming off the best start of his season. Dickey went six and a third against the Rangers giving up one run, on six hits and three walks. Not an amazing outing by any stretch but if Dickey truly performs better the farther he gets away from April then that start might be an indication he is coming around. The biggest thing for him will be his command. If he&#8217;s throwing strikes, the Jays have a chance. If not, Toronto better hope that knuckler is dancing.</p>
<p>Clayton Kershaw! For the first time ever, The Best Pitcher in the World will be pitching at the Rogers Centre. Kershaw has not been outside the top three in Cy-Young voting for the past five seasons and he has won three of them. Because he pitches in the NL, this is a rare treat that should mean a full house at the Rogers Centre. This season, Kershaw has been exceptional. He has an ERA of 1.96 in 46 innings and struck out 54 batters while walking three. Three! That is truly mind boggling. Look for some knee-buckling curveballs that he&#8217;ll mix with a very solid slider. Hopefully Toronto&#8217;s bats are still hot because they will need to be at their best if the Jays have a chance.</p>
<h4>May 8th – 1:07 PM ET</h4>
<p>Marco Estrada vs. Ross Stripling</p>
<p>Marco Estrada is yet another Jays starting pitcher who has been sensational to start the season. Are you sensing a theme? Estrada has a 2.64 ERA in 30 innings and struck out 28. His 9.6 percent walk rate is cause for concern if it continues, but last outing he only issued one free pass in six innings of work. Only Justin Turner and Joc Pederson are what you would call &#8220;flyball&#8221; hitters on the Dodgers roster, so it&#8217;ll be interesting to see how Estrada&#8217;s popup style works against a groundball hitting team.</p>
<p>Finally, the Jays face a pitcher who doesn’t have an ERA that begins with a one. Ross Stripling is a rookie who had two really good starts at the beginning of the season but has faltered a little since then. He has a 4.33 ERA and hasn’t gotten through six innings in any of his last three starts. His arsenal is a very traditional fastball, curve, slider, and changeup and none of them produce insane swing and miss rates. Hopefully Toronto can do some damage here.</p>
<h3>Additions and Subtractions</h3>
<p>The Blue Jays have not made any transactions of late since calling up Chad Girodo and going to an eight man bullpen earlier in the week. Matt Dominguez was sent down, meaning he cannot be recalled for 10 days, so there&#8217;s a good chance we could see Andy Burns if the Jays decided to lengthen their bench.</p>
<p><strong>Update: </strong>Burns has indeed been called up, with Ryan Tepera having been sent to Buffalo. This means the Blue Jays 40-man roster is now set at 39.</p>
<p>As stable as the Blue Jays have been, the Dodgers have been even stabler, not making any moves since April.</p>
<h3>Keep an Eye On</h3>
<p><strong>Blue Jays Starting Pitching</strong></p>
<p>The biggest concern coming into the season for the Blue Jays was their starting pitching and how they would fare without a supposed &#8220;ace.&#8221; Five weeks into the season and the starters have been keeping this team afloat, and their stats show it. They are tied with the Cubs and Nationals for first place in baseball in IP/game, are sixth in ERA, and despite not having any real flamethrowers apart from Aaron Sanchez, have the highest soft hit average in baseball at .433. They won&#8217;t need to keep this up if the offense wakes up, but if they do, watch out.</p>
<p><strong>Dodgers Young Phenoms</strong></p>
<p>These two teams don&#8217;t play each other very often, so if you want to get a taste of what the Dodgers will look like over the next few years, keep your eyes glued to Corey Seager and Joc Pederson at shortstop and in center field, respectively. Seager has been one of the top prospects in baseball over the past few seasons, and after a very successful cup of coffee with L.A. in 2015, he is now manning the shortstop position full time. He has struggled a bit this season, only slashing .252/.322/.398, but because of some  very solid defense, has still managed to be pretty valuable to the Dodgers.</p>
<p>Pederson played a full season with the Dodgers in 2015, and now in his sophomore season, has not slowed down a bit. He is slashing .265/.386/.500, and has maintained his excellent 15.7% BB% that he had in 2015. However, he is striking out over 30% of the time he steps to the plate, so there are still things for Young Joc to work on.</p>
<p><strong>Tulo&#8217;s Slump</strong></p>
<p>While the rest of the offense decided on Thursday that scoring is better than not scoring, Troy Tulowitzki is still struggling immensely to get going. With a hit in last night&#8217;s game, he is still only batting .163/.267/.317, and has been seeing a large number of hittable pitches swoop by him in recent days. It could be age catching up to him, but even then, a drop off this steep was not expected. He has been too good of a hitter to stay like this, but the days of silver slugging winning Troy Tulowitzki seem pretty far away.</p>
<h3>Probable Lineup</h3>
<table style="background-color: #ffffff;border-collapse: collapse;border: 1px solid #000000;color: #000000;width: 100%" border="1" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="2">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">
<h3>Los Angeles Dodgers</h3>
</td>
<td style="text-align: center">
<h3>Toronto Blue Jays</h3>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Chase Utley-2B</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Michael Saunders-LF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Corey Seager-SS</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Josh Donaldson-3B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Justin Turner-3B</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Jose Bautista-RF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Adrian Gonzalez-1B</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Edwin Encarnacion-DH</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Yasiel Puig-RF</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Troy Tulowitzki-SS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Yasmani Grandal-C</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Justin Smoak-1B</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Howie Kendrick &#8211; DH</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Kevin Pillar-CF</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Joc Pederson-CF</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Russell Martin-C</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center">Carl Crawford-LF</td>
<td style="text-align: center">Ryan Goins-2B</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>via <a href="http://www.rosterresource.com" target="_blank">Roster Resource</a></em></p>
<h3>Final Thoughts</h3>
<p>This will obviously be a tough matchup for the Blue Jays, facing a really good overall team like the Dodgers. However, with the calendar flipped to May, the offense showed signs this week that they may be ready to turn a corner. If they can get even a few runs for their starters per game, that has been enough many times this season. Now, if only the bullpen will be able to hold some leads.</p>
<p><em>Lead Photo: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports</em></p>
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