While the All-Star Game ended with the National League (NL) losing its 9th straight game, the second half race will be held until October 2nd, starting with 15 games on the 15th (hereinafter Korean time).
The biggest point to watch in the second half is, of course, the moves of the playoff-possible teams. The Toronto Blue Jays are a prime example. Toronto finished the first half with 50 wins and 41 losses, third in the Eastern Division of the American League (AL) and third in the wild card. If the regular season ends now, Toronto will advance to the playoffs with a pull-up and start fall baseball with a wild card series.
Until the trade deadline (August 2), where fate was at stake, ‘keep your spot or fall’, the Toronto club is expected to reinforce its strength in some form. As revealed in the first half, Toronto has obvious weaknesses throughout its pitching.
Among them, 5 starters are designated. During 91 games in the first half, Toronto used six starters. This is the smallest number among 30 teams. Four players, Kevin Gausman, Jose Berrios, Chris Bassit, and Yusei Kikuchi, never missed a rotation. However, Trevor Richards took over as the interim fifth starter while Alec Manoa suffered an inexplicable slump in 13 games and took time to regroup in the minor leagues.
Manoa returned on the 8th and won the victory against the Detroit Tigers with 6 innings, 5 hits and 1 run, allowing Toronto to start the second half with a normal five-man rotation.
But there are still many question marks. First of all, Detroit, which Manoa faced, was 39-50, 3rd in the AL Central Division and 9th in the Wild Card, a team far from advancing to the playoffs. It is a team with weak offense, ranking 28th in team OPS (0.667), 25th in team home runs (82), and 28th in average scoring (3.89). This means that the verification of whether he has found the right condition in the minor leagues has not yet been completed.
Also, the 3rd and 4th starters Bassit and Kikuchi are also uneasy. Bassitt showed relatively strong durability with an ERA of 4.19 in 12 quality starts out of 19 starts in the first half. However, he was sluggish with 1 win and 1 loss and an earned run average of 6.83 in the last 6 games in the first half. Kikuchi also gave up 15 hits and two walks in 9 1/3 innings in two games in July, giving up nine runs.
However, there is no team that does not have this level of anxiety. Toronto was stable in the first half, ranking ninth in team ERA (3.85) and ninth in starting ERA (3.98). Starting 499⅔innings was 5th overall. This means that the Toronto rotation has both strengths and insecurities.
In this situation, it is good news that Ryu Hyun-jin’s rehabilitation pitching is going smoothly. Ryu Hyun-jin took the mound in the Rookie League and Single A games on the 5th and 10th, respectively, and gave up 7 hits and 1 run in a total of 7 innings. The club expects that Ryu Hyun-jin will return to the rotation at the end of this month if he pitches in two more minor league games and raises his pitching and velocity.
However, it is difficult to say that Toronto believes Ryu Hyun-jin 100%. Because he can’t be sure he’s healthy yet, and he can’t ignore the 13-month hiatus. He is also in his late 30s. In this regard, the Jays Journal, a fan media, questioned on the 13th, ‘Hyunjin Ryu is a potential starting agent, but how much can I rely on a pitcher who has been a big disappointment most of the time since wearing the Blue Jays uniform?’토토사이트주소
After moving to Toronto in 2020, Ryu Hyun-jin recorded 21 wins and 12 losses and an average ERA of 4.07 in 49 games. He kept the ace position until 2020 and the first half of 2021, but it is true that he could not do his part due to injuries and sluggishness after that. And in June of last year, I had Tommy John surgery.
After all, he is saying he needs to look into the trade market. The media said, ‘We need to review multiple trade scenarios ahead of the deadline. Some starting pitchers Toronto can target are found. You could consider Shane Bieber (Cleveland), Eduardo Rodriguez (Detroit) and Marcus Stroman (Cubs).”