Toronto Blue Jays look to bounce back against the Dodgers while decision on Shane Bieber looms
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The Toronto Blue Jays are looking to bounce back against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday while a decision on a Shane Bieber return to MLB is coming soon.
Facing off in a weekend series against the defending World Series champions presented a good opportunity for the Blue Jays to see how they stacked up against some of the game's biggest stars.
However, while these three games won't define this season for the Blue Jays, the Dodgers have left little to no doubt on who the better team has been this weekend.
The loss was the eighth in the last 13 games for the Blue Jays (68-50), with three of the wins during that stretch coming against the inept Colorado Rockies.
The San Diego Padres did them a solid by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-4 in 10 innings, keeping their lead atop the AL East at three games, but the Dodgers (68-49) are exposing all kinds of vulnerabilities.
"We haven't played good,» lamented Bassitt, who had some of his best stuff of the season, throwing his four hardest sinkers of the season and eight of the top nine ranging from 93.9 to 95.4 m.p.h., over his 4.2 innings. «Yeah, haven't played good.»
That the Blue Jays' skid coincides with George Springer's absence underlines how much they miss him, especially against elite lefties like the ones they've faced at Dodger Stadium.
A power-armed righty looms in Sunday's finale when Tyler Glasnow starts against Eric Lauer, while Springer remains with Buffalo, unable to meet the thresholds in MLB's concussion protocol to resume play.
«You don't want to just say, OK, George is out, this is kind of what we are. We know that we're really deep and we've got a lot of guys that can do a lot of things,» Schneider told Shi Davidi. «But having his presence at the top of the order definitely changes the dynamic of our lineup, just based on his offensive profile. Hopefully he's back soon. You never really know with what he's dealing with. And other guys have got to continue to do their part.»
Decisions on Shane Bieber's return is not only a question of when but whether or not the Blue Jays will run a six man rotation
Decision time on Shane Bieber is coming soon, so space will have to be created and the Blue Jays are thinking about simply adding him to an already full starting staff, even as manager John Schneider said they «haven't really decided if it's definitely going to be a six-man yet.»
«It's a definite possibility that we do that for 10 days or two weeks,» he added. «But haven't finalized it.»
How to slot in Bieber isn't the only major question looming for the Blue Jays with both Andres Gimenez, perhaps as soon as Tuesday versus the Chicago Cubs, and Springer on the horizon.
As things stand, Gimenez likely pushes Buddy Kennedy off the roster, but once Springer is ready, there are only difficult choices as no one is deserving of a demotion.
More players deserving of a roster spot than roster spots to fill is an enviable position for any team to be in.
Difficult decisions lie ahead for a Blue Jays team trying to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Dodgers, who know such dilemmas all too well.
Source: Sportsnet
| POLL | ||
AOUT 10 | 196 ANSWERS Toronto Blue Jays look to bounce back against the Dodgers while decision on Shane Bieber looms Will the Blue Jays bring Shane Bieber back for the Texas Rangers series at Rogers Centre? | ||
| Yes | 121 | 61.7 % |
| No | 36 | 18.4 % |
| Too early to tell | 39 | 19.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
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