The team from the land of Bob and Doug McKenzie is the latest to succumb and be mathematically eliminated. So let us remember these 2012 Toronto Blue Jays.
By the time you finish reading this, another Blue Jay pitcher will have injured himself ...
What went right
Edwin Encarnacion was the surprise breakout player of the year, as he became just the eighth player in franchise history to hit 40 or more homers in a season. Brandon Morrow was outstanding when healthy, and Darren Oliver keeps on keeping' on. Oh, and the Red Sox were around to make the Jays feel good about themselves.
What went wrong
The Jays endured a ridiculous number of injuries to their already suspect rotation, and they simply couldn't survive all the carnage. In all, they've used 32 different pitchers this season. That's … not good.
Jose Bautista was limited to 92 games because of a wrist injury, and Colby Rasmus has failed to improve since his trade from St. Louis. August also wrent wrong, as the Jays went 9-19 and posted a run differential of -43 for the month. Even the offense, which was expected to be a strength, was middling on a park-adjusted basis (7th in the 14-team AL in runs scored). Yunel Escobar's recent controversy was the capstone to what's been a long, disappointing season.
Compounding all those miseries is that the Jays may wind up watching the Orioles, for so long their fellow sufferers in the AL East, play in the postseason.
MVP: Encarnacion. He's batting .279/.382/.565 with 40 bombs and 77 walks. His drastically improved plate discipline is as surprising as his power spike.
LVP: Ricky Romero, one of the few Jays starters to stay generally healthy, was a huge disappointment. In 167.0 innings pitched, he's got an ERA of 5.87, and he also leads the majors in earned runs and leads the AL in walks. Romero's been one of the worst qualifiers in all of baseball this season.
MLB free agents to be: 2B Kelly Johnson, RP Jason Frasor, SP Carlos Villanueva
Game plan heading into the offseason
Perform triage on the rotation. Given the number of pitchers who'll be rehabbing, that may require loosening the purse strings and finding some solutions on the free-agent market.
Ridiculously premature prediction for 2013
More struggles in the rotation and another lost season in Toronto. John Farrell doesn't finish the year as manager.
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