ST: Red Sox @ Blue Jays | May 8 - 10

[Schad]

Get your predictions in: which of our bottom-of-the-lineup guys will touch up Koji Uehara for a three-run homer.

Isn't this where Colabello hits a 2 run HR to set up a 1 run loss?

If Colabello manages a two-run HR, I'll be pretty impressed.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

After all the early season panic, the Jays are now 17th in Bullpen ERA, and 14th in Bullpen FIP.

[Santoki]

After all the early season panic, the Jays are now 17th in Bullpen ERA, and 14th in Bullpen FIP.

And the panic about the rotation?

[Santoki]

I'm the last person to use the "if only we could take that one AB away" for Dickey but you can't help but think this would have been much closer if Pillar could have held onto that ball in the first.

[BigLeagueChew]

I'll pick Smoak I guess. 1 for 1 off Koji with a home run.

[Randle McMurphy]

Get your predictions in: which of our bottom-of-the-lineup guys will touch up Koji Uehara for a three-run homer.

Isn't this where Colabello hits a 2 run HR to set up a 1 run loss?

If Colabello manages a two-run HR, I'll be pretty impressed.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

After all the early season panic, the Jays are now 17th in Bullpen ERA, and 14th in Bullpen FIP.

And the panic about the rotation?

What about it? The rotation is obviously a concern, but I'm just talking about what's looking more and more like an above-average bullpen. I'm happy we didn't panic trade for Papelbon or panic sign Soriano.

[Schad]

Save us...Thole? What.

[Randle McMurphy]

After all the early season panic, the Jays are now 17th in Bullpen ERA, and 14th in Bullpen FIP.

Good thing they started the season with Osuna, he's a lot of that.

[Waylanderz]

Disappointed at not getting the sweep but not really surprised...

[Lateral Quicks]

Oh well, lots of positives to take from these past two series. They're trending in the right direction.

[s e n s i]

let's not use our best hitter (this season) because taking a couple hard hacks is just too hazardous to his long-term health

[Randle McMurphy]

let's not use our best hitter (this season) because taking a couple hard hacks is just too hazardous to his long-term health

Managers wanting to give their starting catchers a full day off isn't exactly uncommon in baseball. We're lucky Gibbons doesn't feel the same way about giving other veterans a day off (which Cito used to do just about every Sunday). I always dreaded those Sunday lineups.

[Sifu]

R.A Dickey is done, i know he's had rough starts to a season before and i know he outperforms his peripherals but he's never had a drastic drop in K rate like this before. He's just not missing bats anymore, that's not something that will regress to the mean, that's a decline in skill due to aging. You can live with the walks and the homeruns if you're generating lot of swings and misses but he isn't anymore

Let's say the rest of the season plays out the same as Dickeys starts so far, would you resign him/ pick up his option after this year?

[Schad]

Let's say the rest of the season plays out the same as Dickeys starts so far, would you resign him/ pick up his option after this year?

Dickey's option costs $11m (as we're on the hook for $1m no matter what). That's cheap for a starter these days, but no...I wouldn't pick it up if this continues apace. Being able to go deep into games is valuable, without question, but only if the performance in those innings is at least adequate.

Could just be a small sample, but there are no good signs in his peripherals right now; walk rate is poor, strikeout rate is frighteningly low, giving up a lot of line drives and fewer pop-ups than in years past, and getting by far the lowest rate of chases on pitches out of the zone since his rebirth with the Mets.

[dballislife]

Offense cost us another one, they should know we need 7+ runs most nights to win

[Michael Bradley]

I'm also concerned about Dickey's K rate. In his past two seasons, he was at 7.1 and 7.2 K/9 respectively, which is good. Coming into this game he was at 4.6 and it got lower after he struck out no one in 6 IP today. He was striking guys out fine in his first three starts (19.1 IP/16 K), but it's gone downhill in his last four. Might be something he's doing to limit walks, maybe trying to initiate contact, but not a good trend regardless.

With this rotation the way it currently is, the sacrifice that needs to be made might need to be with the FIP Gods. Ugly would be an understatement with this rotation.

[Randle McMurphy]

“This last three-game stretch has been a very odd one for me,” he said. “Striking out four guys in three outings is very bizarre for me.”

He is missing the swing-and-miss knuckler that helps him escape jams. Last year he made 34 starts and struck out at least two batters in every one. In 15 of those starts, he struck out six or more.

He insists he will find that putaway pitch. He will confer with pitching coach Pete Walker and his catcher, Josh Thole, and get back to his “baseline,” he said.

So far, his baseline has been jagged, like his team’s. But, he stressed, “there are many seasons within a season.”

Doesn't look like it's a conscious decision to throw it differently for less BBs.