Cleveland Indians Welcome the Toronto Blue Jays for Pivotal Series

Toronto’s Pitching Probables

Toronto will send their newest pitcher out for game one, as Francisco Liriano (6-12, 5.46 ERA) will look for his first win in a Blue jays uniform. Liriano – who was acquired in a trade that sent Drew Hutchison to the Pirates – is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in 2 starts with Toronto, and was roughed up in his last outing, giving up five earned runs in 5.2 innings against the Astros.

All-Star righty Aaron Sanchez (12-2, 2.84 ERA) will start game two, and expect manager John Gibbons to watch Sanchez’s workload closely, as this is Sanchez’s first year as a full-time starting pitcher, which has led to him throwing a career high 142 1/3 innings. The Blue Jays were originally planning on sending Sanchez to the bullpen in the hopes of limiting his innings, but instead opted for a six-man starting rotation.

Marcus Stroman (9-5, 4.63 ERA) will start the matinee finale for the Jays. Stroman appears to be out of his early season funk, as he has gone 3-1 with a 3.27 ERA since July. Stroman started in the 19 inning marathon game that Cleveland and Toronto played on July 1st at the Rogers Centre, and threw the ball well, giving up just one run in 6.2 innings.

The Blue Jays have a very strong back end of the bullpen, but mediocre “bridge” relievers (sound familiar?) Roberto Osuna (2-1, 1.84 ERA, 27 SV) is a top-tier closer who has only gotten better as the season has gone on, giving up only one earned run since June 30th, and not blowning a save since June 1st.

Jason Grilli (4-3, 3.09 ERA) has pulled his career out of baseball purgatory to become one of the best setup men in baseball. Grilli had a 5.29 ERA in 21 appearances for the lowly Braves when the Blue Jays acquired him at the start of June, and he has rewarded the Blue Jays so far, as he has gone 3-1 with a 1.69 ERA in 26 2/3 innings for the Blue Birds.

The rest of the Jays ‘pen is pretty rocky. Joquin Benoit (1-0, 0.00 ERA in 8 innings with the Blue Jays) has pitched well since the Jays acquired him, but if we learned anything from Benoit’s latest stop with the Mariners, things can unravel for him pretty quickly. Rookie Joe Biagini (3-2, 2.05 ERA) has stepped up and thrown the ball well so far this year, but he’s also still unproven, much like fellow reliever Ryan Tepera (0-2, 2,89 ERA in 9 innings.)

Next: A Depleted Lineup