TORONTO BLUE JAYS NOTES:
THE LATEST: The Blue Jays dropped the finale of their three-game Opening Weekend series in St. Louis by a score of 9-4…Are 0-1 in rubber games, after going 5-6 in such contests last season. Toronto is now 1-2 in Interleague Play (13-7 in 2022)… Started a season vs. an NL opponent for the 1st time in team history.
A CHAPPY FEELING: Matt Chapman doubled and scored in both the 2nd and 6th innings yesterday…Added a single in the 8th to finish 3-for-4 with an RBI…Was already his 2nd three-hit game of the young season, one of five players this season to record two such efforts…Recorded seven
three-hit games last season.
WELCOME TO THE VAR-SHOW: Daulton Varsho singled to lead off the 2nd inning, then stole a base and scored on Matt Chapman’s double…Pickeup up another hit in the 3rd and finished the day 2-for-4…Both singles came off lefty Jordan Montgomery…Had one game with multiple hits off a LHP last season, notching two on Oct. 2 at SF.
BO KNOWS BASE HITS: Bo Bichette picked up a single in a 1-for-4 effort yesterday…Is the only Blue Jay with hits in all three games to begin this season…Is now 6-for-14 (.429) with a double, an RBI, and two runs scored to start the season…Led the AL in hits in each of the last two seasons, becoming the only player in team history to lead the league in hits more than once, and was the first player to do so since Whit Merrifield in 2018 and 2019 for the Royals.
PATIENT APPROACH: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled to go 1-for-4 yesterday afternoon…Finished tied for 8th among AL batters with 67 extra-base hits a year ago…Also ranked T-3rd in the AL in total bases (306), T-5th in RBI (97), 6th in hits (175), T-7th in home runs (32), and 10th in SLG (.480).
KK WITH THE HH: Kevin Kiermaier has multiple hits in each of his two games played this season…Is now 4-for-9 with a run scored to start his Blue Jays career…Hit .228 while limited to 63 games for the Rays last season.
HITS WITHOUT HOMERS: The Blue Jays have notched 32 hits (5th in the AL) without recording a home run so far this season…This marks the 1st time in club history to start a campaign with three straight homerless games. Toronto’s team batting average of .299 sits 4th in the AL as the season begins…Also rank 4th in OBP (.381), 8th in OPS (.736), and 9th in SLG (.355).
GETTING ON: Toronto has had 48 runners reach base through three contests…Are now on a streak of 21 games with 8+ runners on base, the longest of all MLB clubs (courtesy Stats Perform). The Blue Jays led the AL in times on base in 2022 (2,395) as Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. tied for 3rd most among AL hitters at 306.
LENGTHY ROAD WORK: The Blue Jays start the season with 10 straight road contests as renovations wrap up at Rogers Centre… Ties the longest road trip to kick off a campaign in team history (10G in 1984)…Marks the 3rd trip of 10+ games to begin a season by any team in the last 20
years, joining the 2019 Red Sox (11G) and the 2022 Athletics (10G)…Played three games in St. Louis (1-2), will now settle into Kansas City for four contests and then wrap up the trip with three games in Anaheim. Toronto’s .556 road win% in 2022 (45-36) ranked 3rd in the AL and tied for 2nd best in team history (1st: .580 in 1993)…Blue Jays hitters led the AL in road runs (416), AVG (.266), OBP (.331), SLG (.428), and OPS (.759)…The pitching staff ranked 5th in the AL in road ERA (3.70), 5th in road WHIP (1.24), and 6th in road opponents’ batting average (.245).
BERRÍOS ON THE BUMP: José Berríos makes his 1st start of the 2023 season…Tied a career high with 32 starts last year…The club went 23-9 in those contests for a .719 win%, which is 5th best among MLB pitchers with at least 20 starts since last season began.
MORE THAN YOUR AVERAGE TEAM: The Blue Jays led the Majors in 2022 with a .264 team batting average and 1,464 hits…Also led the AL in OBP (.329), SLG (.431), and OPS (.760) while ranked T-1st in extra-base hits (519), 2nd in runs (775), 2nd in doubles (307), and 3rd in home runs
(200)…Topped the AL in AVG, OBP, SLG, and OPS for the 1st time in team history.
VS. THE ROYALS: All-Time: 220-199
2022: 5-2 Road: 99-109
Road: 2-1 Kauffman Stadium: 99-109
The Blue Jays went 5-2 against the Royals last season, taking two of three contests at Kauffman Stadium…Have taken each season series since 2018, going 20-8 vs. KC over that span. Whit Merrifield returns to face his former team for the 1st time…The 9th-round pick of the 2010 draft debuted with the Royals in 2016 and played in 863 games across seven seasons…Batted .286, was named to two All-Star teams, and led the AL in hits in both 2018 (192) and 2019 (206). Matt Chapman went 10-for-27 (.370) with three doubles, two home runs, and six RBI in the seven
games against the Royals last season…Is a career .330 (34-for-103) hitter with 10 doubles, seven home runs, and 18 RBI across 28 contests (1.009 OPS)… His .631 SLG vs. KC ranks 4th best among active hitters (min. 100 AB).
George Springer leads all current Blue Jays with 42 career games played vs. KC…Has hit .244 (41-for168) with eight doubles, two triples, 10 homers, and 30 RBI for an .857 OPS.
STARTING PITCHER – José Berríos, RHP #17
TODAY’S GAME:
Making his 1st start of the season…Beginning his 8th Major League campaign, and his 2nd full season as a Blue Jay. Has made 140 starts since the beginning of 2018, tied for the 3rd most among MLB hurlers (Aaron Nola – 144, Gerrit Cole – 141).
2022 HIGHLIGHTS:
Equalled his 2021 totals with 32 starts, 12 wins, and 17 quality starts.
Picked up his 7th win of the year on 7/12 vs. PHI…Surrendered 3 runs on 6 hits over 6.0 innings with no walks and a career-high-tying 13 strikeouts (13K on 6/4/22 vs. MIN)…Became the 3rd pitcher in franchise history to strike out at least 13 batters without walking any, joining Roger Clemens (4x) and Robbie Ray (2x)…Induced a season-high 20 swing-and-misses, one off his career high set on 6/17/19 vs. BOS.
Earned the win on 7/31 vs. DET, throwing 7.0 innings of one-run ball while scattering 3 hits and a walk with 6 punchouts on 80 pitches (56 strikes)… In 6 July starts, went 3-0 with a 3.00 ERA (12 ER/36.0 IP), 7 walks, and 42 strikeouts.
The Jays won each of his 13 home starts from 9/19/21-7/31/22, passing Roy Halladay (12G from 5/31/07-4/6/08) for the longest streak in franchise history.
Gave up 2R/1ER over 6.1 frames on 9/12 vs. TB with 6 hits, a walk, and 4 strikeouts…Reached 1,000 career innings after striking out Taylor Walls to end the 2nd inning…Became the 6th Puerto Rico-born pitcher to reach the milestone before the age of 29. On 9/27 vs. NYY, fanned Aaron Hicks in the 4th inning for his 1,000th career punchout…Became the 5th Puerto Rican-born player to reach 1,000 strikeouts and the fastest to reach the milestone, doing so in 179 games (2nd: Javier Vázquez – 182 games).
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:
Drafted in the 1st round (32nd overall) by the Twins in 2012.
Pitched for Team Puerto Rico in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, going 1-0, 8.10 ERA (6.2 IP, 6 ER) with two walks and 10 strikeouts.
Named to 2018 and 2019 AL All-Star teams, pitching 1.0 inning in both games.
Acquired by Toronto from Minnesota on 7/30/21 in exchange for INF Austin Martin and RHP Simeon Woods Richardson.
In 2021, set a career high with 204 strikeouts, good for 5th in the AL…His 3.52 ERA was 5th best in the AL while his 192.0 innings pitched ranked 2nd.
VS. THE ROYALS:
Facing the Royals for the 20th time in his career, and 3rd time in a Blue Jays uniform…Over two meetings as a member of the Blue Jays, has allowed 2ER over 12.1IP (1.46 ERA) with 2 walks and 14 strikeouts…Has pitched into the 6th inning in each of his last seven visits to Kauffman Stadium, posting a 2-1 record and a 3.86 ERA (19 ER/44.1 IP) over that stretch.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS NOTES:
RALLY FALLS SHORT: The Royals suffered a 3rd straight loss to begin the season in yesterday’s 7-4 defeat to the Twins at Kauffman Stadium…it’s the ninth time in franchise history they’ve began 0-3 and the seventh time they’ve been swept in a 3-game set to begin the season…after being shut out in the first 2 games, the Royals offense made some noise yesterday, including a solo home run by Edward Olivares in the 2nd inning that snapped the Royals scoreless streak to begin the season at 19.0 innings, and a 2-run homer by Matt Duffy in the 7th inning…Olivares added an RBI single in the 9th but it wasn’t enough to overcome a Twins offensive attack that was led by Joey Gallo’s 3 hits, including 2 home runs…in his season debut, Brad Keller was charged with the loss after allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and 4 walks over 4.2 innings…the bullpen, which had pitched 7.1 scoreless innings through the first 2 games, was tagged with 5 runs in 4.1 innings yesterday. Ê The Royals 3-game losing streak matches their 4th longest to begin a season in franchise history, following a 7-game losing streak that began 1992, 5 straight losses that began 1993 and 4 straight in 2001.
JUST KEEP SWINGING: After being shut out on a total of 6 hits in their first 2 games, the Royals scored 4 runs on 6 hits in yesterday’s loss to Minnesota, and they finished the series 1-for-19 in scoring situations…the Royals 4 total runs match their fewest runs in franchise history through the first 3 games of a season, previously done in 1999…despite the lack of results, Dave Holtzman points out that the Royals lead the Majors with a 53.8% Hard Hit Rate (defined as exit velo. of 95 mph or higher) and rank 4th in the Majors with a 90.7 mph average exit velocity.
NEW START TIME: Tonight marks the first of 16 Royals weeknight home games that will begin at 6:40 p.m. CT this season, including 5 in April, 8 in May and 3 in September…of the remaining 65 home games, all but 2 will begin at 10 minutes past the hour, the only exceptions being FOX national broadcasts on Saturday, July 1 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers and Saturday, Aug. 12 vs. the St. Louis Cardinals both of which will start
at 6:15 p.m. CT.
Tonight marks the first of 3 straight 6:40 p.m. CT starts, followed by a 1:10 p.m. CT start on Thursday.
ON DECK: After hosting the Twins for 3 games over the weekend to begin the 2023 season, the Royals tonight welcome the Blue Jays to Kauffman Stadium for the first of 4 games to wrap the first homestand… the Royals first road trip will take them to San Francisco this weekend for the Giants home opener on Friday, then to Texas—where they played 2 exhibition games last week—for 3 night games…tonight marks the third of 12 consecutive days with a game before the next off day on Thursday, April 13.
VS. TORONTO: The Royals went 2-5 against the Blue Jays in 2022, losing their fourth straight season series since 2018, a stretch in which they’ve gone just 8-20…during a 4-game set in Toronto last July 14-17 to close out the unofficial first half of the season, five different Royals made their Major League debuts, including Nick Pratto, Nate Eaton, Michael Massey, Freddy Fermin and Maikel Garcia…their 3-1 win last July 14 marked just the third time in team history in which the Royals starting lineup featured two players making their Major League debuts (Pratto and Eaton) and Eaton became the fourth player in Royals history to homer in his Majors debut.
Since the Royals defeated Toronto in the 2015 ALCS, they’re 14-26 (.350) in 40 games vs. the Blue Jays.
Tonight marks a return to Kansas City for Whit Merrifield, who spent the first six-plus seasons of his big league career with the Royals, before being traded to Toronto at last year’s Trade Deadline… before the trade, Merrifield played in a franchise-record 553 consecutive games from June 25, 2018- July 10, 2022, a stretch in which he led the Majors with 654 hits…during his Royals tenure, Merrifield led the Majors in hits in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19, led the Majors in steals in 2018 and led the American League in steals in 2017 and 2019…he also tied for the Major League lead in doubles in 2021.
CAPTAIN SALVY: The Royals announced prior to Thursday’s season-opening game that Salvador Perez has been named team Captain…Perez, 32, joins Royals Hall of Famers George Brett (1989-93), Frank White (1989-90) and Mike Sweeney (2003-07) as the only team Captains in club history…Salvy is a seven-time American League All-Star, a five-time Rawlings Gold Glove Award winner, a four-time Silver Slugger Award winner and a two-time Royals Les Milgram Player of the Year…he was unanimously named the Most Valuable Player of the 2015 World Series, and ranks among the Royals all-time leaders in home runs (223, 2nd), RBI (732, 7th), extra-base hits (472, 7th), total bases (2,207, 8th), doubles (238, 9th) and hits (1,278, 8th).
BALANCED SCHEDULE: For the first time since Interleague play was introduced in 1997, Major League Baseball has adopted a balanced schedule starting in 2023, in which the Royals will play all other 29 teams…they’ll play a total of 52 games vs. American League Central opponents, 64 games vs. teams from the American League East and West and 46 Interleague games, including 4 vs. St. Louis and 3 vs. all others…following their 2-game set at Busch Stadium from May 29-30, the Royals are scheduled for back-to-back off days on May 31-June 1, before beginning a 3-game homestand vs. Colorado…this will mark the first time that the Royals will have scheduled back-to-back off days since April 6-7, 2016…another scheduling quirk later in the season will come after the Royals host the Cardinals for 2 games from Aug. 11-12…on the following day, Sunday, Aug. 13, the Royals have a scheduled off day, which will be the first known originally scheduled off day on a Sunday in Royals history.
PACE OF PLAY: In addition to the balanced schedule, another big change for the 2023 season is the new pitch timer rules, which provided stunning results during Spring Training…in 453 games that lasted 9 innings across both leagues this spring, the average time of game was 2 hours, 34 minutes, and only 40 of those 453 games (8.8%) lasted at least 3 hours…Kansas City played 33 Cactus League games and 31 of them lasted 9 innings with an average of 2 hours, 31 minutes, slightly below league average…the other 2 games were shortened by rain…the Royals longest game of the spring was a 3-hour affair on March 11 vs. Milwaukee and their shortest 9-inning game was the March 26 contest in Mesa vs. the Cubs, in which they finished in 1 hour, 57 minutes…in the 2022 regular season, the Royals average time of game was 3 hours, 3 minutes, which tied for the 4th-fastest in the Majors.
Through 49 games that have ended in 9 innings across the Majors over the first four days of the regular season, the average game time has been 2 hours, 38 minutes, and only 11 of the 49 games (22.4%) lasted at least 3 hours…the Royals and Twins finished their 3 games at 2:32, 2:18 and 2:35
TONIGHT’S STARTERS: RHP BRADY SINGER (10-5, 3.23 in 2022)
BRADY SINGER is making his 2023 season debut and 67th appearance (64th start) of his career tonight vs. Toronto…it’s his 3rd career start vs. the Blue Jays and 1st since June 8, 2022…Singer was originally selected by these Blue Jays in the 2nd round of the 2015 Draft out of high school, but elected to attend the University of Florida…in 2018, the Royals drafted Singer in the 1st round (18th overall).
A STAR IS BORN: Singer pitched a career-best 153.1 innings in 2022 in a career-high-tying 27 appearances (24 starts)…he began the season in the bullpen, but only pitched in 3 of the Royals first 16 games before being optioned to Triple-A on April 28…he returned on May 17 and made a team-high 24 starts from that point on.
Upon joining the starting rotation last May 17, Singer went 10-5 with a 3.11 ERA (51 ER in 147.2 IP), 8th best in the American League from May 17 through season’s end…his 10 wins were the most by a Royal since Jason Vargas tied for the Majors lead with 18 in 2017…Singer’s 3.23 ERA (55 ER in 153.1 IP) for the season was the 5th best by a Royal (min. 150.0 IP) in the Wild Card Era (since 1995), trailing only Zack Greinke in his 2009 Cy Young Award-winning season (2.16), James Shields in 2013 (3.15) and 2014 (3.21) and Yordano Ventura in 2014 (3.20)…the last Royal with a lower ERA than Singer’s and a higher win percentage (.667) was David Cone during his 1994 Cy Young Award-winning season, in which he went 16-5 (.762) with a 2.94 ERA (56 ER in 17.12 IP).
Singer made 7 starts last season in which he pitched at least 7.0 innings and allowed 1 run or fewer, which tied for the 4th-most such starts in the American League, trailing Martín Pérez (9), Justin Verlander (8) and Shohei Ohtani (8)…it was the most such starts by a Royal since Edinson Vólquez had 7 in 2015, and the last Royal with more such starts was Shields (10) in 2014.
He had a career-high 12 strikeouts last July 23 vs. Tampa Bay, a game in which he did not allow a hit until the 6th inning…his 12 strikeouts were the most by a Royal in three years, and he followed that start with 10 strikeouts over 7.0 scoreless innings—with just 1 hit allowed—on July 28 at Yankee Stadium…in doing so, he became the seventh Royal with back-to-back 10-strikeout starts, joining Nate Karns (May 8-13, 2017), Ventura (Aug. 27-Sept. 2, 2015), Greinke (April 18-24, 2009), Bret Saberhagen (July 4-9, 1989), Bill Butler (July 15-20, 1969) and Kevin Appier, who had a franchise-record three straight such starts in 1996.
Brady recorded 7.0 scoreless innings in back-to-back starts on May 17 and May 22 upon his return from Omaha, and extended his scoreless streak— which began on April 10—to 18.2 innings before it was snapped on May 28 in Minnesota, marking the longest scoreless streak by a Royal since Wade Davis recorded 22.0 consecutive scoreless innings in 2015.
SPRING FORWARD: Brady followed his 2022 breakout season with an eventful spring, going 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA (3 ER in 12.2 IP) in 4 starts with the Royals, recording 18 strikeouts (12.8 K/9) and 2 walks (1.4 BB/9)…he also pitched 2.0 innings in the World Baseball Classic for Team USA, who lost in the championship game vs. Team Japan.
CLOUD NINE: Singer had a career-best 9-start unbeaten streak from Aug. 9-Sept. 23, 2022, in which he went 6-0 with a 1.89 ERA (12 ER in 57.0 IP)…his ERA during that stretch ranked 2nd in the American League, trailing only Shohei Ohtani (1.45), and Brady became the first Royals pitcher to go 6-0 or better with an ERA under 1.90 over a 9-start stretch within the same season since Kevin Appier went 6-0 with a 1.81 ERA 26 years prior, from June 23-Aug. 12, 1996…Singer was one of two pitchers in the American League in 2022 with such a stretch, along with AL Cy Young Award winner, Justin Verlander.
CHANGE OF TUNE: Brady threw 182 changeups in 24 starts in 2022, which accounted for 8.0% of his 2,273 pitches after returning from Triple-A Omaha on May 17…that total was more than double the 88 changeups he threw in 27 starts in 2021, which equaled 3.8% of his pitches thrown…after returning from Omaha on May 17 with a focus on mixing in the changeup, Singer went 10-5 with a 3.11 ERA (51 ER in 147.2 IP), after going 9-15 with a 4.67 ERA (103 ER in 198.1 IP) in his previous 42 career appearances (39 starts)…from May 17 through season’s end, opponents went 8-for-34 (.235) vs. the changeup.
CASTING CALLS: In 24 starts after his May 17 recall last year, Brady induced a called strike on 478 of his 2,273 pitches (21.0%), 2nd most in the Majors, trailing only Adam Wainwright (519)…Singer’s rate of 21.0% called strikes led the Majors after his recall (min. 1,500 pitches), ahead of Wainwright (20.8%)…since his 2020 debut season, Singer’s called-strike rate of 20.9% ranks 2nd in the Majors (min. 3,000 pitches), trailing Wainwright’s rate of 21.2%.
WALK THIS WAY: Singer issued 35 walks in 153.1 innings in 2022 for a 2.05 BB/9, a significant improvement on the rate he recorded in his first two seasons from 2020-21, when he issued 76 walks in 192.2 innings for a 3.55 BB/9…Singer’s walk rate in 2022 was the best by a Royal (min. 150.0 IP) since James Shields posted a 1.74 BB/9 in 2014…Singer’s 4.29 K/BB ratio (150 K/35 BB) tied Nestor Cortes for 10th best in the American League in 2022 (min. 150.0 IP) and was the 4th-best mark in franchise history, trailing only Zack Greinke (4.75 in 2009), Bret Saberhagen (4.49 in 1989) and Danny Duffy (4.48 in 2016).
singer had 9 starts in 2022 in which he pitched at least 5.0 innings and did not issue a walk, which matched the 3rd-most such starts in the American League, trailing only Corey Kluber (13) and Jameson Taillon (12)…Brady’s 9 starts with at least 5.0 innings and no walks matched the 5th-most such starts in franchise history, trailing only Paul Byrd (13 in 2002), Saberhagen (10 in 1985 and 1989) and Doug Bird (10 in 1976).
VS. TORONTO: Brady is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA (3 ER in 11.0 IP) in 2 starts vs. the Blue Jays, the team that originally drafted him out of high school in 2015…on April 18, 2021, Singer did not figure into the decision of a 2-0 Royals win, despite holding Toronto scoreless on 2 hits over 6.0 innings…in his most recent start vs. Toronto last June 8, Singer earned an 8-4 win with 5.0 innings of 3-run ball…after going 0-3 with a 10.00 ERA (20 ER in 18.0 IP) in 5 starts vs. American League East teams in 2021, Singer with 2-0 in 5 starts vs. the division last season with a 1.80 ERA (6 ER in 30.0 IP).
CROWN VISION: In 15 outings (14 starts) at Kauffman Stadium last season, Singer went 8-2 with a 2.76 ERA (29 ER in 94.2 IP) and .235 opponents’ average (81-for-345)…he hasn’t lost in this ballpark since last June 26 vs. Oakland—a game in which he pitched 8.1 innings—and in 9 starts here since, he’s 6-0 with a 1.67 ERA (11 ER in 59.1 IP), completing at least 6.0 innings each time while holding opponents to 1 earned run or fewer in 7 of those 9 starts.
