Blue Jays Fans, It's Time to Panic
Sunday's 3-0 shutout loss to AL East rival Tampa Bay with the Blue Jays' best pitcher on the mound was emblematic of a mediocre, overrated team that's apparently going nowhere
Sunday's loss at Tampa Bay was the breaking point.
A 3-0 loss to the second-place team in the AL East speaks volumes about the problems in the Blue Jays' dugout, which is a bench loaded with underperforming hitters and disappointing results.
This is a third-place team ranked DEAD LAST in Major League Baseball in hitting with runners in scoring position. Zero runs on Sunday did nothing to help those percentages.
What's really frustrating is – Toronto wasted another good pitching effort. Alek Manoah [7 starts; 4-1 record; 1.65 ERA; 41 SO; 0.869 WHIP] after Sunday's loss when he allowed just one run in 6 IP – did his job on the mound. When your starter fires heat all game long and gives up just 1 run, your team should win. But once again, the Blue Jays bats were silent.
This is getting embarrassing.
To be clear, Toronto is one game over .500. They're already 7.5 games behind the evil empire NY Yankees in the AL East and 3 games out of the Wild Card hunt to Tampa Bay and Anaheim. Blind faithful fans who aren't watching what's happening on the field will say – it's a long season ahead, and that's true.
However, when your ace pitcher takes the mound versus a team that you need to beat to gain ground in the standings, and it gets skunked by the opposing pitcher who has a losing W-L record and and ERA three times higher than Manoah's numbers, the panic button needs a reset. When the team can't produce even one run, it's time for some kicking and screaming and heads to roll.
This is unacceptable.
Toronto Blue Jays' fans should be pissed, angry, and frustrated with the subpar level of playing we're seeing on the field. This is not the team we expected to see compete for the AL pennant in 2022.
