It must be fun to be a manager and a pitching coach. Ok, we have Shane Bieber back and ready to go. Three starts in, he has a 9.00 ERA. 7 walks and 9 strikeouts in 13 innings. Batters are hitting .351/.422/.737 against him.
His fastball velocity is at the 15th percentile and average exit velocity is about 5th percentile. And it isn’t like they can remove him from the rotation, they are already going with four starters and a bullpen day. It is just the way a 31-year-old would like to go into free agency.
But the good news is that Max Scherzer had a rehab start and could be back after a couple more rehab starts. Maybe the one guy who has been worse than Bieber, and that’s the good news.
I don’t even know what you do at this point. I think Patrick Corbin is a better choice than either of those two and he was banished to the bullpen.
Jake Bloss? He has a 14.29 ERA in 3 starts for Buffalo. Ricky Tiedemann has pitched 1 inning in a rehab game and then was scratched from his next one with a “neck issue”. I can’t see that SWR would be a poorer choice.
The front office is saying they want a starter at the deadline, but one starter really isn’t enough.
The Jays are second last in the league in runs per game, and yet it looks like starting pitching is going to be the issue from here on out.
They announced the All-Star teams. Vlad has pulled out, which is understandable. Though maybe a couple of days of just fun is what he needs.
The AL All-Stars:
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Starters
C: Shea Langeliers (ATH)
1B: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR)
2B: Ernie Clement (TOR)
3B: Junior Caminero (TB)
SS: Bobby Witt Jr. (KC)
OF: Mike Trout (LAA)
OF: Byron Buxton (MIN)
OF: Aaron Judge (NYY)
DH: Yordan Alvarez (HOU)
Reserves
C: Dillon Dingler (DET)
C: Adley Rutschman (BAL)
INF: Travis Bazzana (CLE)
INF: Nick Kurtz (ATH)
INF: Kevin McGonigle (DET)
INF: Ben Rice (NYY)
INF: Miguel Vargas (CWS)
OF: Randy Arozarena (SEA)
OF: Cody Bellinger (NYY)
OF: Riley Greene (DET)
DH: Yandy Díaz (TB)
Starting pitchers
RHP: Dylan Cease (TOR)
LHP: Parker Messick (CLE)
RHP: Drew Rasmussen (TB)
RHP: Joe Ryan (MIN)
RHP: Cam Schlittler (NYY)
LHP: Ranger Suarez (BOS)
RHP: Michael Wacha (KC)
Relief pitchers
RHP: Bryan Baker (TB)
LHP: Aroldis Chapman (BOS)
LHP: Jacob Latz (TEX)
RHP: Cade Smith (CLE)
RHP: Louis Varland (TOR)
NL
Starters
C: Drake Baldwin (ATL)
1B: Freddie Freeman (LAD)
2B: Ozzie Albies (ATL)
3B: Max Muncy (LAD)
SS: CJ Abrams (WSH)
OF: Brandon Marsh (PHI)
OF: Juan Soto (NYM)
OF: Andy Pages (LAD)
DH: Shohei Ohtani (LAD)
Reserves
C: William Contreras (MIL)
C: Hunter Goodman (COL)
INF: Luis Arraez (SF)
INF: Bryce Harper (PHI)
INF: Otto Lopez (MIA)
INF: Matt Olson (ATL)
INF: Sal Stewart (CIN)
OF: Corbin Carroll (AZ)
OF: Pete Crow-Armstrong (CHC)
OF: Jordan Walker (STL)
OF: James Wood (WSH)
DH: Kyle Schwarber (PHI)
Starting pitchers
RHP: Chase Burns (CIN)
RHP: Max Meyer (MIA)
RHP: Jacob Misiorowski (MIL)
LHP: Eduardo Rodriguez (AZ)
LHP: Chris Sale (ATL)
LHP: Cristopher Sánchez (PHI)
RHP: Paul Skenes (PIT)
RHP: Logan Webb (SF)
RHP: Yoshinobu Yamamoto (LAD)
A win this afternoon would be nice. Or, at least, a game that keeps me awake.
