Both the Toronto Blue Jays and the Detroit Tigers are not used to being in their current positions. These teams have been competitors the last few years, but the Tigers have grown old and the Blue Jays have been plagued with injuries and ineffectiveness. Both teams should be sellers at the trade deadline. If there was a question about that for the Jays, their 19-1 loss against Houston heading into the break should help emphasize that.
This series will be contested from Friday, July 14, 2017 through Sunday, July 16, 2017 at Comerica Park in Detroit.
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Pitching Matchups
Just Verlander gets the start for the Tigers coming out of the break and will match up against the Blue Jays’ Aaron Sanchez.
Verlander’s first half was a far cry from his near Cy Young year from 2016. He went 5-6 with a 4.73 ERA and 1.519 WHIP. His strikeouts were down, walks were up and hits allowed inflated as well. All in all, he was a below average starter.
Based on his career, Verlander is still a fearsome opponent, but we may be seeing the beginning of the end for the 34-year old.
Verlander is coming off a strong outing against the Indians, going 6.2 innings and giving up one run. That, however, was right after a seven-run, 3.1 inning appearance.
As for Sanchez, he was supposed to be the ace of this staff, but made just six starts in the first half, going 0-2 with a 4.85 ERA before a blister sidelined him. The Jays are counting on him in the second half and moving forward and for good reason. We saw last year just how good he can be when everything is clicking.
In 2016, Sanchez was 15-2 with an AL leading 3.00 ERA and 1.167 WHIP, holding the opposition to just 15 homers. That’s a vital skill this year with the uptick in homers. In his six starts this year, however, he’s allowed six homers.
As the series progresses, the Tigers will turn to Michael Fulmer and Anibal Sanchez on Saturday and Sunday.
Fulmer was named an All-Star a year after winning the AL Rookie of the Year Award. Fulmer took out the Jays when he faced them a year ago, holding them scoreless through six innings. That also came against a better offensive Toronto team.
Looking at the more recent past, Fulmer is 9-6 with a 3.19 ERA and 1.115 WHIP this year. He’s allowed just seven homers in 115.2 innings.
Fulmer has won his last three starts and has pitched a quality start in his last five appearances.
Saturday is a must-win game for the Tigers with Fulmer on the hill, but Sunday isn’t necessarily a lost case. It’s been a couple years since Sanchez was a relevant starter, but he’s been very good since getting back into the rotation. The early work in the pen—and trip to the minors—may have helped him right the ship.
Sanchez has made four starts since his return, allowing eight runs in 23.1 innings. That’s not great, but more than serviceable. The Tigers dropped his first two starts thanks in part to the terrible pen, but they’ve won his last two.
The Jays’ pitchers going opposite of Fulmer and Sanchez over the weekend haven’t been announced.
Marcus Stroman and, to a lesser extent, J.A. Happ are the only starters coming close to expectations. As for Stroman, he’s exceeding them.
The 26-year old is having the season this year everyone expected last year. He’s 9-5 with a 3.28 ERA and 1.246 WHIP. Happ, meanwhile, is 3-6, but his 3.54 ERA is solid even if his 4.43 FIP is not. He also allowed six runs in four innings in the 19-1 loss to Houston, though he was only credited with two of those runs.
Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano both have ERAs over five.
Who's Hot?
Is Troy Tulowitzki finally heating up for the Jays? The former Rockies player was one of the best shortstops in the game for a while. He has gone missing since heading north of the border. He’s defense has still been strong, but the offense has gone away, but he started swinging better heading into the break.
Over Tulo’s last 25 games, the shortstop had hit five homers, at least showing a glimpse of the power that made him an elite middle infielder.
Steve Pearce is another role player hitting well. He’s batting .346 over his last 17 games with a couple homers and a .417 OBP.
The Tigers are having a bad season, no question about it. Their pitching has been questionable outside of Fulmer and their offense has gotten old. Miguel Cabrera, however, has seen his power spike upward in the last month with six blasts. And, in the week leading up to the break, Victor Martinez went 6-for-19 with a homer and a double after a really rough half.
Who's Not?
Kendrys Morales hasn’t filled the Edwin Encarnacion void as the Jays hoped. He’s hitting some blasts, but has 33 strikeouts in his last 96 games. He’s sitting down on strikes a third of the time.
There’s a lot of swing and miss in this lineup with Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson and even Justin Smoak. Donaldson is batting just .226 in his last 24 games. Another struggling batter is Ryan Goins. He’s never been a big hitter, but he was a good fill in early. He’s hitting .183 in his last 22 games.
Much like the Jays, the Tigers have seen a number underachievers, none more than in the bullpen.
Of course, the Tigers bullpen has been a perpetual issue for this team, even with they were good.
Included in the most recent bullpen struggles is Chad Bell. He’s allowed nine runs and four homers in his last 15 innings in a six-game span.
At the plate, Ian Kisnler has a .291 OBP in his last 25 games. Alex Avila, who was one of the biggest surprises for this team this year, is just 4-for-19 in the last week with six strikeouts. Nick Castellanos has struck out seven times in his last 19 at bats.
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