The Blue Jays now have no choice but to meet the moment – lest they dig a hole from which they’re unable to emerge. He’s not quite as consistently dominant as Castillo, though he can punch batters out with even greater frequency. Yet the Blue Jays will scarcely have time to sleep before they’re face-to-face with elimination and old friend Robbie Ray, the lefty who leveraged Toronto success into a $115 million deal with the Mariners. No, facing these Mariners is like an arm-wrestling match: Give them an edge and they will gradually increase the leverage in their favor, until you look up and a bullpen far superior to yours has taken over for the dominant Castillo. Perhaps it was Mariners ace Luis Castillo carving those bats figuratively in half, inducing a parade of weak contact and pitching shutout ball into the eighth inning? Was it ace Alek Manoah losing all command of his fastball, hitting the first batter he faced, putting the Blue Jays in a 3-0 hole before their devastating lineup could even grab a bat? Instead, the Blue Jays can pick any one of three unsettling sights from their Game 1 pratfall against Seattle. Rogers Centre was supposed to be a house of horrors for visiting teams this month. And only deGrom can make sure it’s not all over Saturday night. You wonder if this year’s experience might give the massively rich man pause to blindly scratch another enormous check, this one to a 34-year-old with recent injury woes.Īfter all, it didn’t work out so well toward the end this year. The big question: Will Cohen ante up? The Scherzer-deGrom pairing barely had two months together signing deGrom long term would give them two more years to more properly dominate foes.īut that will be Cohen’s call to make. The price of poker has only gone up since he signed an extension with the Mets, and it’s not unreasonable for deGrom to expect a Scherzer-esque per annum. Hard to blame him: The two-time Cy Young Award winner struck out at least nine batters in eight of his 11 starts. Not once did he waver from his intention to opt out of his contract, not even after a scapula injury delayed his 2022 debut to Aug. He made just 11 starts this season due to a shoulder issue.Īnd should he fail to beat the Padres Saturday night, deGrom is free to go. It was most unsettling when combined with the fact Scherzer gave up a pair of home runs and four runs in 5 ⅔ innings of his must-win start at Atlanta a week ago.Īnd now, deGrom – who offers no solace on several fronts.Īfter all, deGrom followed Scherzer’s start in Atlanta by yielding three bombs of his own, in a loss that put the Braves on the brink of their division title.
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