Blue Jays takeaways: Smooth leather is a good look, bullpen calls raise questions

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 01/04/2021 (1682 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One of the things the Blue Jays stressed over the winter was run prevention, and the defence played a pivotal role in their opening day win over the Yankees.

Marcus Semien, making his first appearance at second base since 2014, made an outstanding diving play to his left on a D.J. LeMahieu ground ball with two out in the fifth on Thursday at Yankee Stadium, stealing away what would have been an RBI single.

Cavan Biggio, making his first start as the team’s regular third baseman, kept the game tied in the bottom of the ninth by making a perfect throw home to nail Mike Tauchman, who was trying to score the winning run on another LeMahieu grounder. The infield was in and the ball wasn’t hit especially hard, but with Tauchman’s speed — he’d already stolen two bases in the inning — the throw had to be right on the money, and it was.

Earlier in the game, Biggio made a play on a Clint Frazier grounder far to his right and the throw across his body was in time, but Vladimir Guerrero Jr. couldn’t keep his foot on the bag as he stretched to try to make the play. Still, that throw, with an above-average runner chugging down the line, should allay any fears some still have about whether Biggio has the arm to play third.

Not to be overlooked is the work Guerrero did at first base digging balls out of the dirt. He made at least three terrific picks of throws that didn’t quite make it to him, including one to complete an inning-ending double play in the seventh with the bases loaded.

• Bullpen choices: Manager Charlie Montoyo mentioned when Kirby Yates was lost for the season that the Jays would not be running with a traditional closer, instead using the best arms to get the biggest outs in the highest-leverage spots. That sounds good in theory, but with the game tied and the middle of the Yankees’ order due up in the bottom of the eighth, the call went to Rafael Dolis, while the more highly regarded Jordan Romano was held back for the ninth, where he wound up pitching against the bottom of the order. Romano walked a pair, which led to him having to face LeMahieu and Aaron Judge with two runners on, but you’d think that the bigger outs to get would have been in the eighth. Despite what we’d heard earlier, Romano was treated as though he’s the “closer,” and it’ll be interesting to see if that sort of usage continues.

• Making sacrifices: After Randal Grichuk led off the 10th with an RBI double (extra innings start with a free runner on second again this year), the Jays had a chance to add to their lead, so nine-hitter Danny Jansen was asked to bunt Grichuk to third. It was a defensible decision, given Jansen’s .208 career batting average and the fact that a one-run lead in extra innings might as well be a tie. The run expectancy with a runner on second and nobody out is 1.068, so the visiting team has to play as though the home team is going to score at least once per extra inning.

Jansen failed to get the bunt down twice, then tried again and bunted through a pitch in the dirt, striking out. Montoyo had said many times in the past that when he asks a hitter to sacrifice, he’s going to keep the sign on through the at-bat, giving the hitter three chances to get a bunt down. So this is just something we’re going to have to get used to.

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• Nearly immaculate: Julian Merryweather struck out the side in order in the 10th to notch his first big-league save in the 3-2 victory, and he almost made history. Merryweather needed only three pitches each to strike out Aaron Hicks and Giancarlo Stanton, and was ahead of Gleyber Torres 0-and-2, just one pitch away from an immaculate inning. The 0-and-2 pitch was a slider in the dirt that Torres didn’t bite on and Merryweather struck him out on the next pitch, a 99-mile-per-hour fastball. Only three Jays have ever thrown an immaculate inning: Roger Clemens, Steve Delabar and Thomas Pannone.

Correction — Apr. 5, 2021: This column was edited to correct that three Jays have thrown an immculate inning.

Mike Wilner is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @wilnerness