Mulliniks’ Moustache #17 – Monday Musings (PitchTalks, Stroman, Gose & MORE)

Just some random food for thought on this sunny Monday, with the Blue Jays sitting in first place, enjoying a 3.5 game lead over the New York Yankees. Just let that sink in for a minute. First place on June 2^nd. Okay, onto the musings:

1. How much fun is it watching the Blue Jays play right now? As I mentioned in my last entry, they’re firing on all cylinders – the line-up top to bottom, no matter who is in the starting line-up, both starting and relief pitching, the defence. Jeez, it even seems like their TWEETS are improving recently. I, for one, can’t really remember a time they’ve played so well. Sure, there was that magical 11-game win streak last year, but that always seemed like a mirage (and the 151 games that book-ended those 11 games prove that it was). John Gibbons mentioned that he was the manager when they went 20-10 in May of 2009 (after which he was fired three weeks later). The 2003 team was pretty solid and stacked with offensive juggernauts (Carlos Delgado in what should have been his MVP season, a still-productive, on-the-rise Vernon Wells, plus Eric Hinske, Shannon Stewart et al and the team ace was, of course, Roy Halladay). There had to have been some solid play during “Vietnam Vet” Tim Johnson’s lone year of 1998, which is still the Blue Jays high-water mark for wins in a season in the past 20 years with 88. I can’t really explain it, but this year’s version of the Blue Jays just seems…different. More real? More dominant? Who knows? I’m open to theories as to why I feel that way; assuming others have the same (warm, fuzzy) feelings as I do. My happy-go-lucky, unicorns and rainbows and fluffy kitten feelings may be a little bit too much sentimentality and grasping for straws because there’s still four months left in the season and it could all go south really quickly, but I’m enjoying the hell out of watching these guys play. 

Mulliniks’ Moustache #15 – Dustin McGowan & the Catch-22

It appears as though the Blue Jays have created an awkward situation for themselves: Dustin McGowan was a key, stabilizing force in their bullpen last year – one of the few bright spots in a disaster of a season. And now in 2014 they’re in desperate need of him to move from the starting rotation back to the bullpen to solidify their current, far-more-shaky version. However, with Brandon Morrow possibly out for the year with an injured finger, they’re even leaner at starting pitching than originally thought. Further complicating the issue is that McGowan, complete with his new fatigue-busting in-game insulin pump, has strung together a couple of really solid starts. The sad reality is that no matter where McGowan pitches, the other side will be left lacking. Dustin McGowan: 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Team Lynchpin, who would have thought that?

If McGowan was struggling and still only able to throw 65 effective pitches at a time then the decision would be easier, but it doesn’t make sense to move an effective starter to the bullpen and in the process weaken an already weak rotation. It would be a case of robbing Peter to pay Paul. It’s simply not the right time to play around with rotation/bullpen members.