Article: Blue Jays Week in Review: The Calendar Flips to September and We’re Still #1

[Mike LeSage]

Weekly Snapshot: Mon, 9/1 through Sun, 9/7
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Record Last Week: 3-3 (Overall: 82-61)
Run Differential Last Week: +10 (Overall: + 65)
Standings: First Place in AL East (2.0 Games Up on NYY), First in AL (0.5 game up on DET)

Last Week’s Results
Game 138: CIN 5 - TOR 4
Bassitt: 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Bichette: 4 for 4, HR (17)
Varsho: 1 for 3, HR (16)

Game 139: TOR 12 - CIN 9
Berríos: 2 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K
Varland: 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (First win as a Blue Jay)
Springer: 3 for 4, 2 HR (25, 26), 3 RBI, 3 R
Guerrero Jr.: 3 for 4, 3 runs 

Game 140: TOR 13 - CIN 9
Bieber: 6 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Barger: 2 for 4, HR (19), 4 RBI
Springer: 2 for 4, 3 R

Game 141: TOR 7 - NYY 1
Gausman: 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
Guerrero Jr.: 4 for 5, HR (23), 3 R
Bichette: 3 for 3, 2 RBI

Game 142: NYY 3 - TOR 1
Bassitt: 5 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Guerrero Jr.: 2 for 4
Rest of team: 3 for 27

Game 143: NYY 4 - TOR 3
Scherzer: 4.1 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 8 K
Lukes: 2 for 3

Highlights:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Vladdy had a real face-of-the-franchise week, leading not only the Jays but the entire league in fWAR over the last seven days. He had 14 hits, including three doubles and a pair of homers, to go along with eight runs scored. His leaping dive, from what felt like halfway up the third base line, to score the first run in New York will be one of the defining images of the season. 

Kevin Gausman: Gausman gave the pitching performance of the week. His eight innings were also the most by any Jays starter. Recognizing a need to “reach 100 pitches” and take the strain off of an overworked bullpen is going to be an ongoing concern down the home stretch, and Gausman did the most on that front this week. The one earned run against a tough New York Yankees lineup was almost secondary to the workhorse nature of his outing.

Chris Bassitt: Not a typical highlight week from the Hound on the Mound, but I’d like to take just a second to tip the cap for the last-minute rotation shuffle that had Bassitt and Max Scherzer swapping places to give Scherzer an extra day to get ready for the Yankees. For all the questions around the rotation and how the personnel would be handled, that wasn’t a move that was expected (at least externally). Making two starts on the week, Bassitt didn’t find himself in the win column, but he did lead all Jays pitchers in fWAR.

Lowlights:
Addison Barger: Barger picked up a homer, stole a base and had 4 RBI on the week. He also went 3-for-17, and his .176 BA on the week was the worst of the Jays that saw everyday action. In smaller samples, Davis Schneider and Myles Straw both had “oh-fer” weeks (0-for-7 and 0-for-6, respectively), but we’ve come to expect more from Barger. As Bob Ritchie suggests, this is hopefully the last time we see Barger in this spot.

Louis Varland: There are a few pitchers we could throw into the lowlights section this week (check out Bryan Jaeger's great breakdown), and maybe picking on a guy that just got his first win as a Jay isn’t the move. On the other hand, four earned runs in under three innings of work just isn’t getting it done for a playoff-bound bullpen. Varland wears the crown of shame this week.

Random Notes of the Week:

• George Springer moved into the franchise lead for leadoff home runs (23), surpassing Devon White’s mark.
• September 2 was the 35th anniversary of Dave Stieb’s no-hitter, the only no-no in Blue Jays history.
• Kevin Gausman’s performance this week now gives him 10 of the top 16 Jays starts this season by Game Score. 
• While the Jays were on the road this week, Morgan Wallen performed at the Rogers Centre and got a shoutout on social media from Gausman for performing in a Roy Halladay jersey.

News, Notes and Not Playing:

• Dillon Tate was called up and sent back to Triple A over the course of the week.
• Isiah Kiner-Falefa reported to the Jays after being claimed on waivers from Pittsburgh.
• Easton Lucas was sent down to Triple A.
• Ryan Borucki and Braydon Fisher were called up from Triple A.

Day-to-day: Bo Bichette

• Bichette missed Sunday’s game after a collision at the plate on Saturday. He expects to be ready for the next series.

60-day IL: Anthony Santander, Nick Sandlin

• After being shut down for much of the summer, Santander has made significant progress the last couple weeks and is expected to begin a rehab assignment this week.
• Following another elbow injection, it was hoped Sandlin would begin throwing again. Instead, he found himself transferred to the 60-day IL.

Trending Storylines:
It’s all eyes on the playoff race from here on out. The Yankees have closed the gap in the division to two games. If you had given us this position at the start of the year, we would have grabbed it with both hands, but now that we have it, it’s time to maintain it.

The Texas Rangers are the first team outside of the Wild Card picture and are 8.5 games behind Toronto, so the Jays are (not mathematically, but figuratively) guaranteed a playoff spot. In fact, if gambling is your thing, most betting sites don’t even have odds available on “making the playoffs” for Toronto at his point. They’re the betting favourite to win the #1 seed in some futures markets, but not to win the division in others. All of that to say, it’s a close race. Every player and every play (like yesterday’s failed hit-and-run in the ninth inning) is going under the microscope now. Time to play like champions.

Looking Ahead: 
The penultimate homestand of the regular season welcomes the Houston Astros and the Baltimore Orioles to the Rogers Centre. The Astros are the one team at the Jays' level of the playoff race that Toronto doesn’t have the tiebreak against, so it will be key (for that and other reasons) to pick up wins against them now. Baltimore has less to play for, but their three games against Toronto this week and their seven games remaining against the Yankees have as much potential to swing the division as any of the Jays' head-to-head matchups do.

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