Bee Gees vs Atlatls (Aug 9-12)
Posted: Wed Aug 7, 2013 11:25 pm
Aug 9th: Jarrod Parker (7-6, 4.02 ERA) vs. Esmil Rogers (3-6, 4.67 ERA).
For a brief, shining moment in June, Esmil Rogers was our best starter. By far. We won four of his five starts, all but one of which came against highly competitive teams, and his punchy little reliever's delivery seemed to be surprisingly good at inducing groundballs from competent hitters, even as his strikeout rate faded.
Reality then set in, like gangrene in a poorly-tended wound. Suddenly swings that had been grounders were turning into rocketed line drives a ridiculous 28% of the time, and his ERA began to climb. Though it's not entirely his fault (relievers have done their part) we've surrendered 7+ runs in five of his last six starts, and it's rather difficult to win baseball games that way.
None of which is really Rogers' fault. On any other team, he'd pick up a couple spot starts, and when results began to go against him, he'd be shuffled back to the 'pen where he belongs. But we're not any other team; if you can lift you arm above your waist and make a throwing motion 50+ times without dying, you're needed in the starting rotation, so there Rogers will remain, his numbers regressing back to his career marks all the while. Your only mistake is that you didn't suck for a few games, Esmil, and now we expect more than the guy with a career ERA located somewhere north of Iqaluit.
Aug 10: Sonny Gray (1 career start, 4 scoreless IP with a 6:1 K:BB and two hits) vs. Mark Buehrle (7-7, 4.41 ERA).
In a season of tumult, Mark Buehrle is comforting. The comfort comes not from consistent results, but from the fact that Buehrle is essentially a bit player in the drama of a Buehrle start. He'll never leave the mound with anyone in the stadium thinking "he just didn't have his good stuff today", because Buehrle doesn't have stuff. If the Jays roster was a twelve-step program -- and we all need one by now -- Buehrle would be the bit about surrendering one's self to a higher power. His job is just to get the ball in front of the hitter...from there, it's out of his hands, literally and figuratively.
The gods have been fickle, transforming his starts into chaotic and uneven results. But Buehrle is not chaotic, he is consistent and bland and unflinchingly mediocre. He is a cheese sandwich on white bread with extra mayo. He is a pair of $30 stain-resistant khakis. He is the eye of the storm of his own creation. He'll lob somewhere between 80-100 slow-motion pitches in the general direction of the plate, and they'll get hit, or they won't. And he'll be chased in the fifth inning, or he'll still be there at the end of the game. No matter.
For a brief, shining moment in June, Esmil Rogers was our best starter. By far. We won four of his five starts, all but one of which came against highly competitive teams, and his punchy little reliever's delivery seemed to be surprisingly good at inducing groundballs from competent hitters, even as his strikeout rate faded.
Reality then set in, like gangrene in a poorly-tended wound. Suddenly swings that had been grounders were turning into rocketed line drives a ridiculous 28% of the time, and his ERA began to climb. Though it's not entirely his fault (relievers have done their part) we've surrendered 7+ runs in five of his last six starts, and it's rather difficult to win baseball games that way.
None of which is really Rogers' fault. On any other team, he'd pick up a couple spot starts, and when results began to go against him, he'd be shuffled back to the 'pen where he belongs. But we're not any other team; if you can lift you arm above your waist and make a throwing motion 50+ times without dying, you're needed in the starting rotation, so there Rogers will remain, his numbers regressing back to his career marks all the while. Your only mistake is that you didn't suck for a few games, Esmil, and now we expect more than the guy with a career ERA located somewhere north of Iqaluit.
Aug 10: Sonny Gray (1 career start, 4 scoreless IP with a 6:1 K:BB and two hits) vs. Mark Buehrle (7-7, 4.41 ERA).
In a season of tumult, Mark Buehrle is comforting. The comfort comes not from consistent results, but from the fact that Buehrle is essentially a bit player in the drama of a Buehrle start. He'll never leave the mound with anyone in the stadium thinking "he just didn't have his good stuff today", because Buehrle doesn't have stuff. If the Jays roster was a twelve-step program -- and we all need one by now -- Buehrle would be the bit about surrendering one's self to a higher power. His job is just to get the ball in front of the hitter...from there, it's out of his hands, literally and figuratively.
The gods have been fickle, transforming his starts into chaotic and uneven results. But Buehrle is not chaotic, he is consistent and bland and unflinchingly mediocre. He is a cheese sandwich on white bread with extra mayo. He is a pair of $30 stain-resistant khakis. He is the eye of the storm of his own creation. He'll lob somewhere between 80-100 slow-motion pitches in the general direction of the plate, and they'll get hit, or they won't. And he'll be chased in the fifth inning, or he'll still be there at the end of the game. No matter.
