May 30, 2018
The Mitchell Report: Estrada turns in another dud
Marco Estrada gives up four earned runs and seven hits to push his ERA up to 5.68 as the Boston Red Sox crush the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 in Beantown on Tuesday night. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game.
Marco Estrada gives up four earned runs and seven hits to push his ERA up to 5.68 as the Boston Red Sox crush the Toronto Blue Jays 8-3 in Beantown on Tuesday night. TSN Baseball Reporter Scott Mitchell provides his key takeaways from the game:
GAME 55, MAY 29: JAYS at RED SOX
RESULT: 8-3 loss
RECORD: 25-30
STREAK: L2
1—Donaldson sits out, but calf improving
After leaving Monday’s series opener in Boston with left calf tightness, Josh Donaldson sat out the sandwich game Tuesday, but he and manager John Gibbons told reporters the injury had improved and he didn’t expect to miss much time.
We’ve definitely heard the Blue Jays take the optimistic view early on with a number of injuries, only to find out that wasn’t going to be the case, but Donaldson has a number of reasons (millions) to push through this.
It may not be the wisest move, but expect to see him sit out Wednesday’s matinee, which is followed by an off day Thursday, and then return to the lineup Friday in Detroit.
Of course, he tried to do the same thing last spring with his right calf and ended up needing an extended DL stint.
If Donaldson does, indeed, sit out Wednesday, he’ll finish May with a .231/.324/.407 slash line and just two home runs in 24 games.
2—Russ of all trades
On Saturday, he made his first-career start at shortstop.
On Sunday, he was back behind the plate.
Then it was left field on Monday.
And on Tuesday, Russell Martin played third base, making him just the third Blue Jay to start four straight games at four different positions.
Bob Bailor (1978) and Marco Scutaro (2008) were the others.
The fun story has momentarily distracted from the fact Martin hasn’t hit a lick no matter what position he’s played, and the last time he sat on the right side of the Mendoza Line was April 7.
Since that day, he’s hit .143 in 125 plate appearances, but he did go 1-for-3 on Tuesday.
3—Estrada going in the wrong direction
Marco Estrada turned in his second straight dud, failing to make it out of the fourth inning in his 11th start of the season.
It had looked like Estrada was turning a corner in May when he put together three straight starts of six-plus innings, but the last two have been a big step backwards, as he’s allowed eight earned runs over eight innings.
On the bright side Tuesday, Estrada didn’t allow a home run, but there was a lot of loud contact and he gave up seven hits, with the defence being of little help.
The four earned runs jumped Estrada’s ERA from 5.40 to 5.68, and with off days scheduled for Thursday and Monday, his next turn won’t come until Tuesday’s series opener back at home against the New York Yankees.
4—Smoak hits second homer of road trip
He hasn’t been matching his breakout season of a year ago, but Justin Smoak is starting to show some pop.
Last year, he had 12 home runs and 34 RBI through the end of May, and then got really hot in June, bashing 10 homers in that month alone.
After hitting his eighth home run of the season and driving in his 29th run Tuesday at Fenway Park, Smoak has some catching up to do if he’s going to equal last year’s 38 home runs.
While the power is down, Smoak has traded it for some more free passes and it’s made him a similarly valuable offensive contributor with a 128 Weighted Runs Created Plus (wRC+) this season, compared to 132 in 2017.
5—AL East struggles continue
It’s been an abysmal month for the Blue Jays, one that will mercifully come to an end Wednesday.
But one year after stumbling to a 33-43 record against their division, the Jays are now just 8-14 against the American League East in 2018.
Sure, most of those games have come against two powerhouse teams that can legitimately call themselves World Series contenders in the Red Sox and Yankees — they’ve played the Orioles and Rays just three times apiece and are 3-3 in those games — but you have to at least saw some series off if you want to stay in the mix.
They haven’t, therefore they aren’t.
UP NEXT: RHP Sam Gaviglio (2-0, 2.30) vs. LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (5-1, 4.02) on Wednesday, 1:05 p.m.
VLAD JR. WATCH: The Fisher Cats routed the Portland Sea Dogs (Boston) on Tuesday night and, of course, Vladdy Jr. got in on the fun, smacking his 11th home run of the year, a two-run shot, in the third inning off Teddy Stankiewicz. Guerrero also added an RBI groundout and now has 53 RBI on the year, but the 1-for-5 night dropped his average from .433 to .426.