So for a season when we were all supposed to be back to normal, what in the world is up with the Buffalo Bisons and the parent Toronto Blue Jays?
Talk about bizarro worlds. Nothing is normal with either club.
Both teams have changed managers, but both are somehow battling for playoff spots. They're both struggling to find depth in their starting pitching. Offenses are inconsistent.
Both teams had a 2-0 lead after one inning Tuesday night, with the Jays getting their runs on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s bolt to left field. Within seconds of each other, the games became 2-2 as Alek Manoah gave up back-to-back homers to the Baltimore Orioles in the top of the fifth and Buffalo's Thomas Hatch was stunned by a 410-foot bomb to Sahlen Field's dead center in the sixth by Lehigh Valley's Dalton Guthrie after a walk to .083-hitting No. 9 hitter Karl Ellison.
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The Blue Jays went on to lose meekly, 4-2. But the Bisons were undaunted. They got three runs in the eighth, two on catcher Zack Collins' double to right-center, to beat the IronPigs, 5-2, in the opener of a key six-game series.
That's how it's gone for both clubs lately. The Jays (61-54) are brutally underachieving, going 2-8 in their last 10 and barely holding on to the last wild-card slot by a half-game while committing an MLB-high 11 errors in August. GM Ross Atkins didn't make the big move at the trade deadline to help the rotation and it shows.
Meanwhile, you have to give it to the Bisons for being within a sniff of the East Division title in the International League. After going 7-4 on a two-week road trip to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Syracuse, Tuesday's win before a Polish Festival Night crowd of 7,055 got the Herd to 60-51 and kept Buffalo 2 1/2 back of Durham in the division.
"This team has been rolling. The pitching has been unbelievable keeping us going," Collins said. "We scored five runs today but only needed three as it turned out. We just have a lot of guys who are really good baseball players. Not crazy power or crazy tools. Just guys who play the game right."
The Bisons lost their manager. They lost Samad Taylor, Max Castillo and Jordan Groshans at the trade deadline. Top prospect Gabriel Moreno missed most of the road trip with a thumb injury after getting hit by a pitch, is back DH-ing and could catch again Wednesday night. There are callups all over the place. It doesn't seem to matter.
The Herd is 17-9 under interim manager Jeff Ware, who took over when Casey Candaele was promoted to bench coach in Toronto following the firing of Charlie Montoyo in Toronto. Bench coach John Schneider took over the Jays and, well, it doesn't look like Montoyo's fault. Toronto is 30-42 against teams above .500. Not a good recipe.
Ware, meanwhile, keeps pushing all the right buttons, and his team is now starting a 12-game homestand.
"Two weeks is a long time. The good thing is nowadays you have the six-game series so it does make it go a little bit quicker," Ware said. "You're not checking in and out of hotels three days later. ... But still. We left here it was like late July and now it's August 16. These two series will be good challenges for us to see two other clubs (Lehigh Valley and Columbus) that are both second in their divisions."
"It's a big win and it definitely feels good," said Collins, who is 7 for 17 the last five games. "I was trying to do anything to get that one run in. Put it in the outfield, be aggressive and I got it done."
Buffalo Bisons pitcher Thomas Hatch throws to Lehigh Valley during the first inning at Sahlen Field on Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2022. (Harry Scull Jr./Buffalo News)
For all the talk in baseball these days about launch angle and exit velocity, the scampering Herd is conjuring images of the 1980s St. Louis Cardinals. Their offensive stats entering Tuesday were downright bizarre.
Buffalo had scored 462 runs – last in the 20-team IL and 172 behind league-leading Columbus. The team batting average of .242 was 18th. The slugging percentage (.357) and OPS (.692) were both last. The home run count (68) was 29 behind every other team, and this might be just the third time since the fences were pulled in for the 1996 season that Buffalo will finish under 80. There may not be a 10-homer man for the first time since 1991 unless Nathan Lukes or Logan Warmouth (both at 7) get hot.
But the Bisons are 25-16 in one-run games and 7-2 in extra innings. They improved to 53-6 when leading or tied after seven innings and 42-1 when leading after eight. Their stolen base total of 140 leads the league and they've made just 65 errors in 111 games.
"We're doing a lot of things the right way. I think if you can do things the right way, you're gonna get a lot of W's," Ware said. "We've got guys that are playing hard. They're working on exit 'velo' and creating homers while still stealing bases. Then on the pitching side, we're creating more velo, being a little nastier with pitches."
#Bluejays note -- #Bisons C Zack Collins on Julian Merryweather: "He was electric like he always is. Extremely good slider, nasty changeup, as good as it can get. The stuff is definitely there. Second time I've caught him. Last time was New York. It's been the same. He's back."
— Mike Harrington (@ByMHarrington) August 17, 2022
Starter Thomas Hatch threw six strong innings Tuesday and rehabbing Julian Merryweather tossed two lights-out innings of relief. The Bisons are planning openers/bullpen games each of the next two days before ace Casey Lawrence (9-4) goes for his 10th win Friday night. The pitching coach turned interim manager is liking what he sees.
"Definitely more comfortable for sure in my spot," Ware said. "I'm fortunate to have a good staff behind me to help out on those areas. And from being a pitching coach, you're locked in on all your pitching and not so much as the running game or lining up your defense in certain areas. So I've learned a lot there as a manager. You've got to be a batter ahead, a few pitches ahead all the time."
