The Toronto Blue Jays’ struggles to begin the season have been well documented and things reached a new low when the Los Angeles Dodgers opened the World Series rematch series with a 14-2 thumping Monday night.
The Dodgers hit five home runs, had seven different players get two or more hits and outhit the Blue Jays 17 to five in their first meeting since Toronto’s heartbreaking loss in Game 7 last fall. To add insult to injury, the Dodgers finished the night using position player Miguel Rojas on the mound – the very same position player who tied World Series Game 7 in the ninth inning with a solo home run.
The loss was the Jays’ fifth in a row and dropped their record to 4-6 on the season.
ESPN’s Buster Olney joined TSN 1050 Toronto’s First Up with Carlo Colaiacovo and Aaron Korolnek Tuesday morning and said it’s on the Jays’ bats to lead the team out of its funk, especially considering the injuries to the pitching staff.
“It’s the offence that need to lead them out, to carry them through this part, right? I don’t think that they have necessarily a dynamic lineup [like] the Yankees do where they hit a bunch of home runs and they’re going to have some 15-2 wins. But they obviously, as we saw throughout last year’s postseason, they have what could be a very good lineup,” Olney said.
“They can throw out a bunch of hits. And those guys have to lead right now. There’s no doubt about it because they just don’t have a lot of margin for error with where their pitching is.”
The starting staff took another hit Monday night when Max Scherzer exited after just two innings with what the team later described as forearm tendinitis. Manager John Schneider said he was fairly confident Scherzer would make his next start, but forearm injuries are never an encouraging thing to hear for any pitcher.
Olney made the point that Scherzer understands his body as well as anyone and has bounced back quickly at times during his career, but age is also a factor.
“You’re 41, you come out because of forearm discomfort. There’s no guarantee that in five days it’s going to be better. You appreciate the fact that he was trying to grind it out last night. He gets good advice from the Jays training staff saying do not hurt yourself. Do not make it worse. I’m sure he’ll get treatment and I’m sure he’ll prepare to make his next start but man, right now it is all hands on deck,” Olney said.
He also pointed out that the injuries are not coming at an ideal time or against the right opponent.
“The Blue Jays made plans to have depth in their rotation, and it’s just completely eaten away. And so, for now, to be matched up with the Dodgers at a time when, let’s face it, you’re kind of fighting for your season,” Olney said.
“This is going to happen over the course of the year,” Schneider told reporters Monday night regarding the Jays’ losing streak. “Bad offence, bad defence, bad pitching, giving up homers, it’s going to happen.
“It just seems like right now the baseball world is trying to throw it all at us at once.”
It doesn’t get any easier for the Jays the next two nights. Taking the hill Tuesday is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who played a huge part in all three of L.A.’s wins in Toronto during the World Series, highlighted by a complete game in Game 2 and closing out Game 7 in extras. Shohei Ohtani, who currently holds the longest active scoreless inning streak among starting pitchers at 22.2 stretching back to last season, goes Wednesday.
“To face the Dodgers in this moment? Not ideal to have [Yoshinobu] Yamamoto tonight, Shohei Ohtani tomorrow. At the same time, you’re scrambling to get Patrick Corbin and Trey Yesavage ready to rejoin the rotation because reinforcements are needed so badly,” Olney said.
Starters Yesavage, Cody Ponce, Shane Bieber and Jose Berrios are on the injured list while Eric Lauer left his outing on Sunday after just two innings due to an illness floating around the team’s clubhouse.
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