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The Toronto Blue Jays’ first full week of action didn’t go as well as the team would have liked, as the Jays went 2-4 to drop their overall record to 4-5. It saw them win the series opener against the Rangers and blow out the Angels on Saturday night, but they lost four straight in-between those two games. With that all noted, let’s look at some of the biggest takeaways from the previous week.
Tanner Roark
Alright, let’s start with the elephant in the room. Tanner Roark did not have a great 2020 campaign, and he certainly didn’t get off to a great start in 2021.
Roark got the start on Tuesday and pitched three innings, giving up five runs on six hits, three of which were home runs. He looked off from the start and gave the team's offence a massive hill to try to overcome. He certainly didn't provide Jays' fans with any reason to believe we will see a much-improved Roark in 2021.
It does look like for the next little bit, Roark will be moving to the bullpen with Ray about to return. Maybe he will be more effective as a relief pitcher, but 12 million a year is quite an expensive bullpen pitcher.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Vladdy continued his hot start to 2021 this week. On the season, he is currently hitting .379 with two home runs and eight RBI’s.
He looks to be playing the best baseball of his young career and is getting Jays’ fans excited that this could be the year he takes that next step to becoming one of the best hitters in all of baseball.
Rowdy Tellez
As we watch Guerrero Jr. hit the ball amazingly to start the season, we see Tellez do that exact opposite. He is currently batting a whopping .000 with 21 at-bats.
He is swinging at the worst pitches and is killing so many opportunities for runs. Montoyo seems to want to keep giving him opportunities to get out of this slump, but at some point, he can’t keep putting him up to the plate.
There are qualities to his game that are attractive, that fact he has so much raw power and is a left-handed batter in a heavily right-handed lineup. However, if he wants to be a significant part of this team moving forward, he needs to start getting more hits at the plate.
Steven Matz
Matz has given the Blue Jays great value in his first two starts for the team, going 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA in 12.1 innings.
For a pitching staff that has dealt with some injuries in the early going, Matz has provided some stability and is going to quickly become one of the team's most reliable pitchers if he keeps this up. For the part of the team that looks to be the weakest, Matz has been an early bright spot.
Looking at the Week Ahead
Because of a rain delay postponing their Sunday match against the Angels, the Jays will have a day of rest before the Yankees come to Dunedin for a three-game set. This will be another chance for the Jays to create some separation from the Yankees, who share the same record (4-5) as the Blue Jays. They then finish up the week with a four-game set starting Thursday as they travel to Kansas City to take on the Royals.