The Blue Jays’ second series of the year begins tomorrow against the Oakland Athletics.
Toronto’s starting pitcher Jo-Jo Reyes, who arrived in Toronto in last year’s trade for Alex Gonzalez, will start for the Jays. In favour of the Jays starter, only four of the Athletics have seen Reyes in the past, and none with any regularity. However, Reyes only made the Jays starting rotation following an injury to No. 2 starter Brandon Morrow, and is expected to return to the bullpen when Morrow returns. Reyes is not a sure thing.
The Athletics’ starter Brandon McCarthy pitched most recently for Texas, and had some success there but has been riddled with injury problems for the past several years. A career FIP differential of only 0.72 suggests a fairly even matchup between these two starters.
In the batter’s box, the Jays will be looking to newly-signed Jose Bautista to continue the strong start he has had to the season, and hoping that J.P. Arencibia can do the same. All eyes will continue be on John Farrell after opening the season with a successful double steal on Friday, but then sacrificing an important out on the Yunel Escobar sacrifice bunt late in the game in Sunday’s loss to the Twins. Although Escobar has a higher than average ground ball rate, he is far from being a serious double play threat, especially considering his speed.
This game should be far from a pitcher’s duel, and should be a nice matchup for Toronto’s hot offense in the year’s second series.
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