The Blue Jays announced that they have optioned struggling right-hander Drew Hutchison to Triple-A, as Shi Davidi of Sportsnet first reported they would. His demotion (along with yesterday’s demotion of left-hander Aaron Loup) clears way for Toronto to bring up outfielder Ezequiel Carrera and infielder Matt Hague, though Carrera’s promotion has not yet been made official. The Blue Jays will utilize a four-man rotation until a fifth starter is needed on Aug. 29, according to Davidi.
Hutchison, 24, was expected to hold down a rotation spot for the bulk of the 2015 season, with some projecting him to be Toronto’s most effective starter. Hutchison worked to a 4.46 ERA in 2014, but he struck out a batter per inning with good control (2.9 BB/9) and was looked upon more favorably by stats such as FIP (3.85) and xFIP (3.82). Those same stats feel he’s been slightly worse in 2015, but not to the point where his ERA should be a its current mark of 5.06.
The timing of Hutchison’s demotion has to be difficult for the right-hander, though, as he’s turned in a pair of very solid outings in his two most recent trips to the hill (combined three runs on seven hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings). He’s already cleared three years of service time this season and wouldn’t have had a chance at four, so this move won’t prevent him from reaching arbitration and won’t delay his free agency.
Hague, 30, was claimed by the Blue Jays 364 days ago and will join the big league club for the first time on the one-year anniversary of that transaction. He’s currently hitting .348/.427/.482 with 10 homers at Buffalo. He’ll serve as a bench piece, with the Blue Jays presumably hoping that he can fill a role similar to that of Danny Valencia earlier this season.
Carrera, 28, has already logged 70 games with Toronto this season. The speedy outfielder has batted .279/.327/.374 in 164 big league plate appearances this year and is batting a very similar .276/.349/.345 in Triple-A.
A'sfaninUK
Ok so now this has happened and Felix won the Cy, can we just fully do away with pitcher W-L now?
For SPs:
QS
For RPs:
CI (CI = Clean Inning)
Explain how pitcher W-L is superior to those. You cannot.
stl_cards16 2
Wins are attached to an important position in every sport. Pitchers, QB’s, goalies…. The people that are actually evaluating a player, know these are meaningless, but they will always be thrown around by the media.
stl_cards16 2
But QS is still a terrible stat.
JoeyPankake
You could theoretically pitch a QS every time out and have an ERA of 4.5. That stat needs some modification.
batman
how about something like this xWS (Expected Win Start)
Pitch 6/7 innings and give up 2 runs or less or
Pitch 8/9 innings and give up 3 runs or less.
Your single game ERA will never be higher than 3.375, and with the mlb avg runs per game around 4 the last couple years, you should realistically expect to win most of those starts. Just a rough idea of a little modification
Scheister of Doom
He’s looked great his last couple times out. Now they’re just making moves to make moves.
joshb600
His last couple times out were at home. Check out his home/road splits
thecoffinnail
With the way he handled the Yankees on opening day I thought he was going to have a monster year.. His fastball had great movement and his breaking stuff was biting hard.. He made most of the Yankees starters look bad in that game..
Henry Limpet
Good for Matt Hague. Hope he gets a legitimate chance for a decent amount of at bats. He will do well. Clint Hurdle called him “The Hit Collector”.
neilmak
The Jays had three off days over the next week and a half – they were not going to need him – he was sent down to keep working and on regular rotation.
He will be back after 10 days