Sports fanatics, welcome to a new term on (or off) campus! This term promises to be another interesting time in the sports world: NHL hockey and NBA basketball will kick off shortly while MLB baseball will wrap things up, to name a few. Stay tuned to the Benchwarmer Report for all the latest updates, incredibly biased opinions, predictions and yes, analysis, particularly if you are on a busy study term.
Without further a-do, today’s topic is of course the latest epic collapse of the Toronto Blue Jays under should-have-been-fired-last-year manager, John Gibbons. The season started off well for the Jays, who were leading the way in baseball’s toughest division, the A.L. East. The defending World Series champs, the Boston Red Sox, had sunk so low it was amazing they were still in the standings, and the Tampa Bay Rays (or the Evan Longoria troop, take your pick) weren’t much better. This left the infuriating New York Yankees whose ownership’s money seems to know no bounds, and wait for it, the Baltimore Orioles.
ASIDE: Yes, the Baltimore Orioles were a huge surprise this year. Thus far they have not had a losing streak of longer than four games. Impressed? I sure was. Buck Showalter literally made something out of nothing. No huge stars on the Orioles, but each starter has been contributing fairly consistently. Oh yeah, and they’ve already clinched the division this year.
Despite the small hiccup that occurred with the Orioles, things were looking up for the Jays through the middle of July. There were a few big injuries here and there, (Adam Lind and Edwin Encarnacion were out for a bit, Brett Lawrie and Brandon Morrow were done for the season, and Melky Cabrera would soon follow suit), but they were still finding ways to win.
And then all hell came loose. They lost two or three games. Two or three quickly turned into five or six. They’d win one. They’d lose six more. And they would lose painfully—I’ve never watched a team go into extra innings so many nights in a row, down heading into the bottom of the ninth, the game seemingly out of reach, when suddenly the closer screwed up big time or a Jays pinch hitter (honourable mention to Colby Rasmus for doing this several times this year) would hit a home run to send the game into extras. The dugout and the fans would go crazy only to be let down a few innings later when Gibbons forgot (for the umpteenth time) that a call to the bullpen wouldn’t be long distance, leaving the poor sod of a pitcher in the game to pour the gasoline that would blow the Jays out of the water.
Though the Jays have yet to be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, it is likely safe to say adios to our playoff hopes this year. As of now, they are five and a half games back with five teams in front of them and less than twenty games left to play. It would be a nice end to the season if they could pass the Yankees to finish second in the division, even if they can’t make the postseason.
That being said, the Jays sure made it an exciting year. Without all of the injuries, who knows, maybe they could have hung on to win the division? The positives that did come out of this though are that up-and-comer pitchers Marcus Stroman (23) and Aaron Sanchez (22) have had a chance to come up to the big leagues and contribute some big innings. These two have mostly been great to watch and should make a phenomenal addition to what’s already a fairly strong starting rotation, particularly if Brandon Morrow can stay healthy.
Next season promises to be more interesting still, with most of the core group under contract for only one more year (though some have club options or may have an additional year still). If the key players (Bautista, Cabrera, Encarnacion, etc.) can stay out of injury trouble, and with a new centerfielder (it is unlikely that Rasmus will be back next year unless the club can sign him for cheap, and youngster Anthony Gose can’t hit to save his life) plus the addition of either a decent third or second baseman, the Jays could have a real shot at the postseason next year.
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