The Blue Jays are fighting for their playoff lives Monday, down 2-1 in their best-of-five American League Division Series. With Monday’s crucial Game 4 just hours away, here are five pressing questions and concerns facing the Jays.
Can Dickey remain dominant?
After some speculation of another start for David Price, manager John Gibbons said Sunday that knuckleballer R.A. Dickey will take the mound Monday.
At 41, that’ll make Dickey the oldest pitcher to start a postseason game — his first postseason appearance — and against the team that originally drafted him.
Dickey’s been dominant in the second half of 2015, with a 2.80 earned-run average.
Behind the plate, we’ll likely see Canadian Russell Martin return after taking a day off on Sunday, so here’s hoping that Canadians can indeed catch baseballs. Dickey can be tough to catch, but he and Martin have worked together well.
READ MORE: Twitter erupts after MLB analyst says Canadians can’t catch a baseball
But if he’s off, he’s prone to surrender home runs. And if the Rangers get to him early, we may see…
Unusual bullpen appearances
Gibbons hinted Sunday that starter David Price could make a relief appearance, and the ace did take a long warmup, although he never appeared in the game.
The Jays bullpen took a blow in Game 2 when Brett Cecil suffered a season-ending calf injury, so Gibbons would welcome another strong lefty arm out of the bullpen.
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While it might seem Gibbons should save Price for a potential Game 5, he’s also got to make moves to help the team stay alive that long.
A Monday relief appearance would discount Price from a start in the critical Game 5, but Marcus Stroman is certainly up to the task, if his Game 2 performance is any measurement.
Return of the big bats
Toronto’s power trio of Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and MVP candidate Josh Donaldson have stayed conspicuously quiet throughout the ALDS. The heart of the Jays batting order combined for a staggering 120 home runs in the regular season, but are a collective 8-34 with two home runs so far in this series.
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Monday could be a golden opportunity to heat up their bats as they face off against Texas pitcher Derek Holland, who’s had a rough, injury-plagued season and sports a mediocre 4.84 ERA.
Troy Tulowitzki snapped an 0-11 ALDS slump with his big home run last night, and Gibbons hopes his shortstop can heat up.
“If [Tulowitzki] catches fire, we’re real dangerous.”
Bring them home
While the Jays won by a comfortable margin Sunday, they also squandered several opportunities to bust the game wide open.
Blue Jay batters hit their way into four double plays, and the team was 2-8 with runners left in scoring position.
While the Jays aren’t really a small-ball team, they’ve got to find ways to bring those runners home, especially if Donaldson, Bautista and Encarnacion continue their own underwhelming plate performances.
Hamilton breakout?
Former MVP Josh Hamilton is mired in a miserable post-season, but he finally snapped his 0-31 slump with a sharp single on Sunday.
If Hamilton can recover his stroke, he’s a threat, especially to a home run-prone pitcher like Dickey. Hamilton’s on the downside of a tumultuous career, but can still mash the ball if he gets into a groove.
Game 4 starts at 4 p.m. ET.
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