TORONTO – Downtime due to a bye during the wild card round caused Toronto Blue Jays well during the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees, allowing them to balance the various needs of their players before winning in four games.
“We know this can be an advantage or a disadvantage,” Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro said on the Yankee Stadium field during Wednesday's clinch celebration. “The way we creatively managed our time to balance recovery and much-needed rest for some key players, while also gaining momentum and remaining competitive in these two intrasquad games was almost perfect. It played a big role in allowing some guys to get healthy who had serious injuries and our pen being refueled throughout the stretch.” to get the rest you need.”
They'll get three days of rest this time rather than five, but it will be just as valuable for the Blue Jays, who will host Game 1 of the American League Championship Series on Sunday night against the winner of Friday's game between the Seattle Mariners and Detroit Tigers.
Bo Bichette is the main beneficiary of this runway as he tries to prepare for a possible return from a sprained left knee, although he far from the only one.
Chris Bassitt and Ty France, who also finished the regular season on the injured list, had more time to recover, while Max Scherzer remained at his best, simulating a five-inning, 90-plus-pitch game on Tuesday.
They're all in the game as the Blue Jays consider their lineup for the ALCS, which is scheduled to tip off at 10 a.m. Sunday. Some of their considerations will be different this time as the best-of-five divisional round, “something like a Wild Wild West shootout,” according to pitching coach Pete Walker, gives way to a best-of-seven, 2-3-2 format. “The weekend, the way you use the starting XI is a little different – the best of seven is a little more traditional sometimes,” Walker added. “But we will think it through and choose the best group that will give us a chance to win.”
Without a doubt, and while the Blue Jays are at it, let's take a look at where key lineup decisions are made and how they're shaped:
As in the last round, each team receives 26 roster spots, with a maximum of 13 pitchers allowed. Players can be replaced due to injury, but they are ineligible for the next round, meaning they will miss the World Series if their team advances.
Last year, four LCS teams had either 12 or 13 pitchers on their rosters, with two New York teams drafting a player at the secondary position.
Yankees, Mets: 12 pitchers, 14 position players.
Guardians, Dodgers: 13 pitchers, 13 position players.
Obvious Locks (12): Alejandro Kirk, Tyler Heineman, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andres Jimenez, Ernie Clement, Addison Barger, Anthony Santander, George Springer, Daulton Varsho, Miles Straw, Nathan Lux, Davis Schneider
Factors to consider: Barring any surprises, the Blue Jays will likely have 13 pitchers, meaning there's only one position open here, and if Bichette is ready to go, the discussion will end right there. The star player, who left after moving to Austin Wells on Sept. 6, raised hopes of a return this week when he met with Scherzer and Bassitt on Tuesday and then had a short run on Wednesday when he said: “I've made a ton of progress in the last few days. I'm very optimistic about where I am.” The comment was notable because Bichette doesn't like to exaggerate.
The key test, of course, is whether he can run the bases, and it's worth keeping in mind that before the ALDS round, manager John Schneider set the bar for Bichette being included in the lineup with regular use, meaning they didn't want to carry him as a two-run bencher. Could that change now that he's shown enough stability in his knee to withstand major league pitching? Is there more value here than in protecting Kiner Falefa?
Kiner-Falefa was in the lineup for two ALDS games started by lefties—Max Fried in Game 2 and Carlos Rodon in Game 3, replaced as soon as the latter left the game—and was late in defense in the remaining games.
The Tigers' rotation features one left-hander in ace Tarik Skubal and two in the ALDS bullpen in Brant Hunter and Tyler Holton. The Mariners have only two lefty hitters in the ALDS lineup – Gabe Speier and Caleb Ferguson – so outside of late-inning defense, he appears to have fewer opportunities to get playing time this round.
Does this make France better suited to play situationally or even start against Skubal if Bichette is not ready? Or is Loperfido's extra left-handed bat, who practiced daily with the major league team last round, more useful in this scenario?
It all starts with Bichette and how much stress his left knee can handle.
Obvious Locks (11): Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Trey Yesavage, Jeff Hoffman, Ceranthony Dominguez, Yariel Rodriguez, Louis Varland, Brendon Little, Eric Lauer, Braydon Fisher, Mason Fluharty
Additional Candidates (4): Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, Tommy Nance, Justin Bruhl.
Unavailable due to injury (1): Jose Berrios
Factors to consider: The Blue Jays got creative with a full day's work in their plans in the last round, and while the LCS round tends to be more demanding of full-staff outings, the Dodgers used two of them last year while demolishing the Mets in six games.
However, it would be surprising if Scherzer doesn't make the roster this time around as the Blue Jays return to a four-man rotation. John Schneider said he would have been in the lineup if they had faced the Red Sox instead of the Yankees and their six lefties, and for what it's worth, the right-hander had one of his best performances of the season against Detroit on July 27, when he struck out 11 while allowing three runs in seven innings. He didn't face Seattle, but what's notable is that both clubs can line up six lefties and rotate hitters, and lefties have hit 13 of the 19 homers he's allowed.
Bassitt threw three innings and 45 pitches during Tuesday's sim game, seemingly preparing him for a relief role. He's adaptable enough to do it, and that length can be useful in case another starter has a short outing, as Bieber did during Game 3 when he didn't escape the third inning.
Adding both would mean subtracting two pitchers, and based on their usage against the Yankees, it could leave Justin Bruhl and possibly Tommy Nance on the bubble.
Bruil was added as a fourth lefty to help counter the Yankees, and while the Mariners (Josh Naylor, J.P. Crawford, Dominic Canzone and Luke Raley plus hitters Cal Raley and Jorge Polanco) and Tigers (Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Zach McKinstry, Parker Meadows and Colt Keith) plus hitter Wencel Perez) has a number due to the left-handed bats he has to contend with, seemingly having fewer pockets in the lineup.
Nance, meanwhile, played two low-leverage matches during DS, and while he saw some leverage work during the regular season, the length and adaptability that Bassitt can offer may be better suited for the LCS with the potential of five games in six days.
