Toronto Blue Jays: Ryan Borucki impresses in MLB debut
Injuries forced the Toronto Blue Jays to bring up Ryan Borucki and give him his debut in the MLB against the Houston Astros and he did not disappoint.
What better way to make your MLB debut than to go up against the reigning World Series champions. That’s exactly what Ryan Borucki did and he gave the Toronto Blue Jays a stellar performance but the team was unable to give him any run support.
The 24-year-old allowed two runs over six innings collecting three strikeouts but also allowed four walks throwing 95 pitches. Anytime a starting pitcher allows two runs or less especially against the top offence in baseball, it is a notable accomplishment.
Unfortunately, that was the only part of the game worth celebrating as they couldn’t muster up a run against the Houston Astros who beat the Blue Jays 7-0.
It was not a strong performance by the offence or the relievers which is a shame given how the team performed the night before against Justin Verlander the night before.
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At this point, the Blue Jays are seeing what they have in the system that can make an impact going forward like they did last season.
J.A. Happ and Marco Estrada will probably be moved at the trade deadline and with injuries to Aaron Sanchez and Jaime Garcia, the Blue Jays are in no position to be picky with who they give playing time to.
It doesn’t hurt to give Borucki an early audition to see how he handles it and at this point, he deserves a chance to make another start.
The 15th round pick from the 2012 draft has taken some time to put things together but once he found his stride, his rise to the big leagues has been well documented.
As Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet wrote, the road to his first start hasn’t been easy for Borucki as minor-league coach John Schneider explained.
"“Ryan’s worked so hard to get to where he is. And just getting to share that moment with him was pretty special — it reminds us why we do what we do,” Schneider told Sportsnet. “You spend so much time with the player — you really get to know the kid, you’re getting to know his parents, you see all the work he’s put in. And then, eventually, you get to see him have this awesome moment. I just couldn’t be happier for him.”"
Considering how tough things have gone for the Blue Jays this season, this is a positive step going forward but of course, this is just one start.
If Borucki is able to put together a couple of quality starts, the Blue Jays front office should be ecstatic about what the future holds for the rotation especially with Sam Gaviglio showing some potential as well.
Next: Josh Donaldson has another setback with calf injury
What did you think you think about Borucki’s performance? Should he stick with the Blue Jays for the rest of the season? Let us know in the comments below.