Rangers at Blue Jays, July 16-18

A bad baseball team is on the schedule. The Texas Rangers, manged by former Jays shortstop Chris Woodward, are bad in general. Bad at home, bad on the road. Bad in April, bad in May, bad in June. They have one of the worst offenses in the AL, despite playing half their games in one of the best hitting parks in the majors. They sent  three all-stars to Denver, and  Joey Gallo, Adolis Garcia, and Kyle Gibson are all having very fine seasons. So is closer Ian Kennedy. Four good players do not make a team, however, and the rest of them... not so good.

Gallo has drawn more bases on balls than any major league hitter this season. This is mainly because he has outstanding plate discipline, but why would you pitch to him anyway?  Whoever is  hitting behind him isn't likely to make you regret giving him the walk.

For some reason, Gibson isn't scheduled to start any of this weekend's games. They're saving him for the Tigers. The Jays will send their three LH starters to the hill, and Robbie Ray has moved to the front of the line. I'm assuming Ryan Borucki will be added to the roster before game time. It hasn't happened yet, although Anthony Castro has already been optioned to Buffalo to make room. But Borucki was on the 60-Day IL so another roster move would be required.

And first round pick Gunnar Hoglund signed for $3,247,500 (slot value was $3,359,000.)

We still don't know when or if the Jays will be returning to Toronto. Toronto FC is playing at home this weekend, which is certainly a promising sign. I still don't know that July 30 is realistic.

Matchups

Fri July 16 - Lyles (5-5, 4.86) vs Ray (7-4, 3.13)

Sat July 17 - Allard (2-6, 3.69) vs Ryu (8-5, 3.56)

Sun July 18 - Foltynewicz (2-8, 5.11) vs Matz (7-4, 4.72)