Road To The Bat Flip (Part II): Highs and Lows

Despite some stellar performances, the Jays find themselves with a losing recording heading into the All-Star break...

Photo Credit: Keith Allison

Catch up on Part I of this four-part series here.

Josh Donaldson was having an all-star worthy campaign through the first half of 2015.

By the time he was named to the team in early July, the Toronto Blue Jays star was hitting .295 with 19 home runs and leading the American League in total bases. He had also caught the attention of fans around the league with spectacular defensive play, including a catch on June 24th when he dove into the seats at Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay to catch a foul ball destined for the third row.

“The last thought that was probably in my head was to try to get over top of the people,” Donaldson said after the game, “because it's natural for fans, when the ball is in the stands, for them to reach up and stand up, so I was just trying to get up over the fans to be able to catch the ball.”

In just his first season with the Jays, the 29-year-old third baseman was already proving to be popular amongst fans. Traded in the offseason for a package that included Brett Lawrie, a fan favourite from British Columbia, a lesser player might have felt as though the deck was stacked against him. Donaldson, however, took the opportunity the Jays offered him and ran with it.

Perserverence is key to Donaldson’s story. As a child, his father, Levon Donaldson, was arrested and sentenced to prison for aggravated battery, sexual battery, and false imprisonment in 1992. He wasn’t released until 2007. Motivated by not wanting to follow a similar path, the younger Donaldson committed himself to baseball. “I saw the kids in my extended family going down that wrong path,” Donaldson told ESPN Magazine in 2014. “I didn't want to be part of that.”

Drafted in the first round by the Chicago Cubs in 2007, Donaldson wouldn’t become a major league regular until 2012 when the Oakland A’s, who had acquired him from the Cubs in 2008, converted him from a catcher to a third baseman. Although a slow start that season led to him being briefly sent back to Triple-A, when the A’s recalled him in mid-August, he was in the big leagues to stay. He would appear in playoff games in 2012 and the 2014 All-Star Game.

Given his recent success in Oakland, Donaldson being an All-Star candidate again was no surprise. He had blossomed into an elite offensive and defensive player with his former team and had brought those skills with him to Toronto. What was a surprise was the unprecedented level of support he received. When the All-Star ballots were finally tallied, Donaldson had received 14 million votes, the most in MLB history.

In his corner, Donaldson had some powerful voices pushing fans across Canada and the US to vote him into the midsummer classic’s starting lineup. Popular, but controversial, hockey commentator Don Cherry loudly advocated for the third baseman. The “Coach’s Corner” star was never shy with his opinion and called on Canadians to vote for Donaldson during a broadcast in the Stanley Cup finals.

While Cherry rallied Canadian sports fans, another high-profile Jays fan encouraged a different audience to support Donaldson. In 2015, Toronto-born actor Stephen Amell was starring as Oliver Queen, aka the DC Comics superhero the Green Arrow, in the CW TV series Arrow. Amell had turned social media engagement into a superpower of his own, utilizing his popular Facebook page to regularly interact with Arrow fans. He started posting highlights of Donaldson’s play and soon had the Arrow faithful stuffing the ballot box in his favour.

Donaldson called the support “mind-blowing.” It was a well-deserved honour for a player who had been lighting up the league with his play through the first half of the season. But the third baseman wasn’t satisfied with individual accolades. Despite his success, the Blue Jays got off to a mediocre start in 2015. The losing got to Donaldson, who expected better of the team and himself. Like his high-profile supporters, he didn’t hold back with his opinions, a trait that would endear him to Jays fans for years to come.

On May 17th, the Jays fell to the Houston Astros 6-5, their fourth straight defeat and brought their record to 17-21. Donaldson addressed the media after the game and called out his teammates for their lack of success. “This isn't the 'try' league, this is the 'get it done' league,” he told reporters. “And you know, eventually they're gonna find people who are going to get it done.”

Ups and Downs

Part of what’s remarkable about the Blue Jays’ 2015 season is how unremarkable the first half of it was. When the team posted losing records through April and May, it looked to be more of the same for Toronto. A team with some very talented players, but still couldn’t put it together. The raucous, sold-out crowds during the later months of the season and the playoffs are now the stuff of legend, but revisiting highlights from the start of the year shows a Rogers Centre that is mostly empty.

It’s fair to say the success of Jose Bautista and the Toronto Blue Jays was intrinsically linked in 2015. The achievements of a professional sports team tend to mirror those of their superstar, but that mirroring felt more pronounced in 2015 between the Jays and their Dominican right fielder. When Bautista struggled early in the season, so did the Jays. When the Jays were borderline unbeatable in August, Bautista had arguably his best month of the season, hitting .285 with 10 home runs and 20 RBIs.

And then, of course, there was the highlight of his career and the Blue Jays’ recent history in Game Five of the ALDS. But we’ll get to that later…

As we discussed in Part I, the Blue Jays had not given their fans much to cheer about since 1993. The fanbase was ready to support a winning team, but after so many false starts, they were skeptical that this bunch was going to be the ones to bring them back to the promised land. The Jays went a dismal 12-17 in May, bringing their record to 23-29, well below .500 and not the sort of start you expect from a playoff team.

In June, however, there were signs that things might be turning around. Journeyman infielder Chris Colabello went on an impressive 18-game hit streak. Colabello was raised in Rimini, Italy, where his father, Lou, played baseball for seven seasons, including pitching for the Italian national team at the 1984 Olympics. In that tournament, Lou Colabello started for Team Italy in their game against Team USA at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles (which the Americans won handily, 16-1).

The younger Colabello had begun his pro career in 2005, playing for the Worcester Tornadoes in the now-defunct Can-Am League. He finally got his chance at the MLB in 2012 when he joined the Minnesota Twins farm system, eventually making it to the show in 2013. In December 2014, the Blue Jays claimed him off waivers from the Twins. Though he began the season with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, he was called up to the Jays in early May, making his debut against the New York Yankees on May 5th. He had a hit in his game with his new team, which he then followed up with a four-hit game on the 6th.

His hot start earned Colabello a regular spot in the Blue Jays lineup, an opportunity he made the most of. From May 20th to June 8th, he recorded at least one hit in every game. Though a long way away from Joe DiMaggio’s all-time hit streak record of 56 games (long considered to be one of baseball’s unbreakable records), Colabello’s 18-game hit streak was still a great feat. It was even more impressive to manager John Gibbons, who noted in his autobiography that Colabello, “wasn’t fast, so he wasn’t getting any infield hits.”

The unfortunate caveat to any discussion of Chris Colabello’s accomplishments is that the following season, he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. MLB suspended him for 80 games in 2016 and ruled him ineligible for the playoffs, a significant loss for the Jays since Colabello was a big part of the 2015 run.

Coinciding with Colabello’s hitting streak in 2015 was an impressive turnaround for the team’s success. Starting June 2nd, shortly after Donaldson’s “try league” comment, and extending until June 15th, the Blue Jays won eleven games in a row, tying a franchise record. By the end of June, the Jays had a winning record with 41 wins and 38 losses.

The winning streak, for the first time all season, showed that this group was capable of living up to its potential. They had it in them to shake off a poor start to the season and battled back to above .500, but fans still worried that this might be a mirage. In 2013, the team had also gone on an eleven-game winning streak in June, tantalizing fans with the prospect that maybe that season—which had also begun with so much promise—might be about to turn around. After the 2013 streak, however, the Jays lost eight of their next eleven, cementing their fate as a disappointment.

The 2015 team fared better than their counterparts from two years prior, though not by much. Following the end of the streak, the Jays went 11-16 going into the All-Star break. When the season paused, the Jays once again held a losing record: 45-46.

The Rotation

Photo Credit: Ian D'Andrea

Ask a Jays fan to name a starting pitcher from the 2015 roster, and the names you’re most likely to hear are Marcus Stroman or David Price. Ironically, neither of them played a game in a Blue Jays uniform before August. Price made his debut for the team on August 3rd, after being acquired from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline, while Stroman tore his ACL in Spring training and wouldn’t start for the team until September 12th.

Both would play meaningful roles down the stretch and in the playoffs, but the Blue Jays’ rotation in the early months of the season looked very different from the one that took the field in the playoffs. The team cobbled together a pitching staff that combined veterans and up-and-coming prospects, and crossed their fingers it would be enough for a winning season.

The organization had high hopes for Opening Day starter Drew Hutchison, who had held the Yankees to just one run during the first game of the season. However, Hutchison’s earned run average (ERA) quickly ballooned to over five. Despite posting a winning record, thanks to the team’s impressive run support, Hutchison was unable to drop his ERA below five for any significant period of time. The team even sent him back to Triple-A for a brief stint in August, hoping he could regain his command.

RA Dickey, meanwhile, was no longer expected to be a Cy Young Candidate he was when the team traded for him ahead of the 2013 season. That said, the team still expected him to be a reliable presence in the rotation and maintained hope that he could return to elite status. At the All-Star break, however, he had a dreadful record of 3-10 with an ERA of 4.87. A contributing factor, though, to Dickey’s struggles was the death of his father in June, after which he briefly went on bereavement leave.

With both their would-be aces struggling, eyes turned to veteran middle relief pitcher Mark Buehrle to keep the rotation afloat. Buehrle was one of the few remaining pieces, along with shortstop Jose Reyes, from the Jays’ blockbuster trade with the Miami Marlins heading into the 2013 season. Though the other pitcher in that trade, Josh Johnson, had been a major disappointment, Buehrle had delivered on what was expected of him: he had a winning record.

Throughout his career, Buehrle rarely had a sparkling ERA or a lop-sided record, but was known as a reliable presence in any starting rotation. And, he was capable of moments of greatness. In 2007, while a member of the Chicago White Sox, he pitched a no-hitter against the Texas Rangers. He followed that up two years later in a 2009 game against the Tampa Bay Rays by pitching just the 18th perfect game in MLB history. The feat earned him a phone call from then-President Barack Obama, a lifelong White Sox fan.

In 2015, he delivered exactly what was expected of him. Heading into the All-Star break, he had a 10-5 record with a 3.34 ERA, demonstrating the same leadership he’d shown throughout his career. “Buehrle was thoroughly professional in everything he did, and he let the game come to him,” reflected longtime Blue Jays radio broadcaster Jerry Howarth in his memoirs, “setting the bar high for other pitchers to work with their catchers.”

But, the Jays weren’t betting solely on their veterans carrying the day; there was also a youth movement that looked poised to take over the pitching staff. Beyond Hutchison and the injured Stroman, the team had big expectations for Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris, who began the season in the starting rotation, and Roberto Osuna and Miguel Castro in the bullpen.

Castro would be included in a trade for Troy Tulowitzky later in the season, but Osuna worked out better than anyone had hoped going into the season. Quickly, the 20-year-old Mexican pitcher established himself as the Blue Jays closer. He would finish the season with twenty saves and an ERA of 2.58.

Osuna remained as the team’s closer through the playoffs and the following two seasons until he was arrested and charged with assault in May 2018. MLB suspended him for 75 games for violating the league’s domestic violence policy. The Jays traded him to the Astros as soon as his suspension was complete. The charges were later withdrawn in exchange for a Peace Bond in September 2018.

In the rotation, however, the results of the youth movement were decidedly mixed. Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris, both 22 at the start of the season, made the cut for the starting rotation. Both had spent the last few years working their way through the Blue Jays’ development system and were now expected to take the next step. Along with Stroman, they were thought to represent the future of the Jays’ pitching staff.

Sanchez struggled in his first two starts, but was settling into his role as a starter when he strained his lat muscle in June and was placed on the injured reserve list. He had a 5-4 record with a 3.55 ERA when he went down, but by the time he was reactivated in July, Gibbons announced that he would be moving him to the bullpen. Sanchez would go on to thrive in the pen for the remainder of the season and playoffs, appearing in all five games of the ALDS (including the top of the 7th inning of game five…)

Norris, on the other hand, struggled with what he described as a “dead arm phase” early in the season. As a result of his shaky command, Norris was sent down to Triple-A in early May after five starts with a 1-1 record and a 3.86 ERA. Norris took the demotion in stride, posting “Challenge accepted” to his Twitter account after the move was announced.

This created an opportunity for Marco Estrada. Acquired in an offseason trade, and despite a strong spring training, Estrada began the season in the bullpen, where he established himself as a reliable reliever. When he moved to the ration, there was a slightly awkward transition phase. Although his ERA remained low, Estrada didn’t win a single game in May. Unlike Hutchison, who was bolstered by the Jays’ strong offence, the bats seemed to go quiet whenever Estrada was on the hill.

Things turned around for him in June, when he won his next four starts. In his fifth start, he took a perfect game into the seventh, and a no-hitter into the eighth, against the Tampa Bay Rays. Logan Forsythe ended his bid for history with a weak infield single in the eighth inning. Despite his incredible effort, Estrada was not credited with the win in that game. The Jays would win the game 1-0 in the 12th inning, with reliever Brett Cecil as the winning pitcher.

Estrada would continue to have success through the rest of the season, never relinquishing his spot in the starting rotation after replacing Norris. Estrada’s efforts earned him enough support from the Baseball Writers Association to finish 10th in Cy Young voting. It was a well-earned spot for the 32-year-old who had spent most of his career in the minor leagues with affiliates of the Washington Nationals and Milwaukee Brewers. For his efforts during the regular season and postseason, the Jays rewarded Estrada with a two-year, $26 million contract.

When a team struggles like the Jays did in the first half of the 2015 season, inevitably, pitching is a big reason why. While the Jays were still producing offence, the struggles of Dikey, Hutchison, and Norris put the team on the back foot. Of equal importance, however, is the role Buehrle, Estrada, and Sanchez played in those early months. Their efforts kept the team from spiralling until help eventually arrived in the form of Price and Stroman.

When the playoffs finally came around, however, Buehrle found himself on the outside looking in. Between Price and Stroman’s arrivals, Estrada’s emergence, and a post-All-Star break resurgence for RA Dickey, there wasn’t a place for Buehrle in the playoff rotation. It was a tough ending to Buehrle’s time in Toronto and his major league career. But, ever the professional, Buehrle took things in stride.

“It's tough, it sucks, but I understand the situation,” Buehrle said after the final game of the season. “I haven't been throwing great the last month, and we've got four guys who have been throwing the [heck] out of the ball. They're going to take it and run with it. I'll be ready if something happens. Hopefully it doesn't. But if it does and they need me in the second round or in the World Series, I'm going to be ready to go out and do everything I can.”

Vision of the Future

Donaldson wouldn’t be the only Jay named to the American League All-Star team in 2015. Bautista and Russell Martin were also invited to join Donaldson in Kansas City, though Bautista would decline the invitation due to a sore shoulder.

For general manager Alex Anthopoulos, the season’s start looked like it might prove disastrous. He was in the final year of his contract, and if he wanted to be a part of the organization’s plans going forward, he would need to make a big splash in the second half.

He’d remade the team during the offseason twice in the past few years, but hadn’t seen the results he wanted yet. If the 2015 season was going to turn around, he wouldn’t be able to wait for the winter; change would need to come in-season. After the All-Star break, there were just two weeks until the trade deadline. He would need to work fast if he wanted to save his job.

But even with the pressure to win in 2015, Anthopoulos still kept one eye on the team’s future. Though he had resisted making big changes to the roster in the first half of the season, he did make a free agent signing that would shape the next decade of Blue Jays baseball.

On July 2nd, 2015, Anthopoulos signed a 16-year-old, Canadian-born, free agent from the Dominican Republic named Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

To be continued…

Catch up on Part I of this four-part series below: