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The Toronto Blue Jays come in to town with a record of 56-65 but they are riding a high after taking two out of three from the Boston Red Sox to finish their 7-game home stand with a record of 3-4. Despite losing 11 of their last 17 games the Red Sox series proves that teams can't sleep on the Blue Jays who despite numerous injuries still have talented roster of players.
The pitching matchups over the weekend will be Jeremy Hellickson (10-6, 4.93 ERA) vs R.A. Dickey (9-11, 4.46 ERA) on Friday night at 7:10 p.m., Roberto Hernandez (6-12, 4.95 ERA) vs J.A. Happ (2-2, 5.11 ERA) on Saturday night at 7:10 p.m, and Chris Archer (6-5, 3.10 ERA) vs Todd Redmond (1-1, 3.62 ERA).
The Disable List:
Melky Cabrera (knee), Colby Rasmus (oblique), Steve Delabar (shoulder), Josh Johnson (forearm), Dustin McGowan (oblique), Brandon Morrow (forearm), Ramon Ortiz (elbow)
The Bullpen:
Casey Janssen (Closer), Sergio Santos, Aaron Loup (LHP), Neil Wagner, Darren Oliver (LHP), Brad Lincoln, Mickey Storey, Brett Cecil (LHP), Thad Weber
Times have changed for the Blue Jays bullpen which had been on quite a roll the last time the Blue Jays and Rays met up in Tampa. Steve Delabar has landed on the disabled list and Brett Cecil has struggled.
Cecil was fantastic in the first half and his performance landed him on the All-Star team. Overall his numbers (5-1, 2.89 ERA) look fantastic but over his last 15 appearances he has posted an ERA Of 8.25 (11R/12IP). The main reason has been his lack of control issuing 10 walks in the 12 innings of work.
The Blue Jays Bullpen over the past 30-days:
| Name | W | L | SV | G | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | HR/FB | ERA | FIP |
| Casey Janssen | 2 | 1 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 9.3 | 2.8 | 9.1% | 4.66 | 3.25 |
| Aaron Loup | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 13 | 6.2 | 2.1 | 10.0% | 4.15 | 3.58 |
| Sergio Santos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4.8 | 1.6 | 0.0% | 4.76 | 2.51 |
| Neil Wagner | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 7.3 | 1.0 | 14.3% | 3.12 | 3.27 |
| Mickey Storey | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 27.0 | 0.0 | 0.0% | 0.00 | -2.96 |
| Brad Lincoln | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 3.7 | 7.4 | 0.0% | 0.00 | 4.68 |
| Darren Oliver | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 7.2 | 2.7 | 22.2% | 6.30 | 5.24 |
| Brett Cecil | 2 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 9 | 9.3 | 5.6 | 20.0% | 7.45 | 6.46 |
The Offense:
Edwin Encarnacion, Brett Lawrie, and Jose Bautista have all been crushing the ball of late. In a limited role against LHP Mark De Rosa has proven to be very valuable as a spot starter/pinch hitter.
The Blue Jays offense over the past 30-days.
| Name | PA | BB% | K% | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS | wOBA | wRC+ |
| Mark DeRosa | 32 | 15.6% | 18.8% | 0.296 | 0.406 | 0.630 | 1.036 | 0.441 | 182 |
| Edwin Encarnacion | 117 | 16.2% | 6.0% | 0.320 | 0.427 | 0.557 | 0.984 | 0.415 | 164 |
| Brett Lawrie | 105 | 8.6% | 11.4% | 0.333 | 0.394 | 0.559 | 0.953 | 0.410 | 161 |
| Jose Bautista | 118 | 12.7% | 11.0% | 0.287 | 0.381 | 0.535 | 0.916 | 0.394 | 149 |
| Colby Rasmus | 93 | 5.4% | 29.0% | 0.307 | 0.344 | 0.455 | 0.799 | 0.349 | 119 |
| Jose Reyes | 122 | 9.8% | 16.4% | 0.273 | 0.344 | 0.455 | 0.799 | 0.348 | 118 |
| Emilio Bonifacio (N/A) | 37 | 5.4% | 32.4% | 0.286 | 0.324 | 0.429 | 0.753 | 0.330 | 106 |
| Melky Cabrera | 37 | 5.4% | 10.8% | 0.286 | 0.324 | 0.343 | 0.667 | 0.298 | 83 |
| Adam Lind | 99 | 15.2% | 21.2% | 0.169 | 0.303 | 0.301 | 0.604 | 0.277 | 69 |
| Josh Thole | 40 | 15.0% | 15.0% | 0.152 | 0.300 | 0.212 | 0.512 | 0.251 | 52 |
| Rajai Davis | 58 | 6.9% | 15.5% | 0.222 | 0.276 | 0.278 | 0.554 | 0.251 | 51 |
| J.P. Arencibia | 65 | 4.6% | 24.6% | 0.164 | 0.215 | 0.295 | 0.510 | 0.228 | 36 |
| Maicer Izturis | 86 | 12.8% | 8.1% | 0.137 | 0.247 | 0.151 | 0.398 | 0.198 | 15 |
| Kevin Pillar | 4 | 0.0% | 25.0% | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | -100 |
| Munenori Kawasaki | 4 | 0.0% | 25.0% | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | -100 |
The Pitchers
R.A. Dickey
Over his last 5 starts he has faced he has posted a record of 1-1 with a 3.58 ERA. He has worked 32.2 innings and struck out 30 while walking 8.
The last time he faced the Rays was back on July 21st in Toronto. He took the loss going 6 innings allowing 4R/ER striking out 8 and walking 1 in the Rays 4-3 victory.
The last time he faced the Rays at Tropicana Field was back on June 21st and he delivered a masterpiece. He only needed 93 pitches to throw a complete game shutout allowing just 1 hit striking out 6 and walking 1 in the Blue Jays 3-0 victory.
J.A. Happ
Happ last pitched at Tropicana Field back on May 7th and was struck in the head by a line drive off the bat of Desmond Jennings. As a result of the line drive he suffered a skull fracture but he also sustained two strained ligaments when he was spun to the ground.
He has made 2 starts since his return. On August 7th he faced the Seattle Mariners and allowed 7R/6ER in 4 innings of work.
His next outing was much better as he went 7 innings allowing just 1R/ER on 3 hits striking out 6 and walking 2 against the Oakland Athletics.
Todd Redmond
Over his last 5 starts he has not recorded a decision but has an ERA of 3.65. He has worked 24.2 innings allowed 24 hits while striking out 32 and walking just 6.
His last outing was on Tuesday evening against the Boston Red Sox holding them to just 1R/ER on 3 hits striking out 5 and walking 1 in 5.1 innings of work.