All the Jays talk at the moment is about Bowden Francis.
Shi Davidi wrote about the Jays’ ‘tough questions’. Right now, there aren’t many options, so they have to figure out how to get Francis pitching like he did last year.
Francis and pitching coach Pete Walker “have been working really hard in between,” continued Schneider. “And we need him. That’s the bottom line. We need him to help contribute and be the pitcher that he can be. So you keep working to make adjustments. The stuff is where it should be. It’s just the mix and the location you’ve got to tighten up a little bit, that’s all.”
They called up Spencer Turnbull, but it is hard to see him starting. They say his fastball was under 90 mph Friday, and he was being hit hard. On Friday, he gave up 7 hits, 5 earned, with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts in 4.2 innings. I can’t see how they plan to use him, except to soak up innings in games where we are down by a lot. Unless they know something we can’t see, I don’t understand why we’d want him over Paxon Schultz.
Eric Lauer has been the ‘bulk guy’ for our bullpen days, but they will have to start using him as a regular starter for those games. He’s topped out at 4.2 innings and 85 pitches this season. But then he’s been used as a long reliever and a bulk guy. He’s got a 2.08 ERA and has been a starter in the past. Put him in to start the game and hope to get 5 or maybe six innings out of him.
Max Scherzer threw 50 pitches in a simulated game. If we pretend we believe there won’t be a ‘setback’ after that outing, the next step would be a rehab start (after a side session). If you were extremely optimistic (which has never been my way) maybe he could be back with the Jays by the end of the month.
Adam Macko had a very nice rehab start Sunday for Buffalo: four no-hit innings, three walks and four strikeouts. They say he topped out at 96.4 mph, which is great. But he will need at least a couple more starts before they consider bringing him up.
Easton Lucas is the one who could fill in if they decide to take Francis out of the rotation in the next few days. And, perhaps after Bowden’s next start, that could happen.
Yesterday’s Umpire Scorecard, we had a significant edge. Again, the team trailing tends to get an edge. It’s just human nature.
