Toronto Blue Jays: Time to end Derek Fisher experiment

After a Derek Fisher blunder led to an embarrassing blowout loss for the Toronto Blue Jays, it’s time to give a more deserving player the opportunity to play.

They always say that in sports that “you win as a team, lose as a team,” but in the Toronto Blue Jays case, the errors by Derek Fisher really make the statement hard to believe.

With a chance to get through a clean inning against the New York Yankees, Fisher misplayed a pair of fly balls that put his pitcher in a tough spot. If there is one thing you don’t want to do against the Yankees is give them extra opportunities at the plate.

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If there is one thing Taijuan Walker deserved after that game was an apology considering he was dealt a tough hand. At the same time, Fisher wasn’t at fault for Shun Yamaguchi’s disaster that followed but the whole complexion of the game changed after the Fisher disaster.

Since being acquired from the Houston Astros in exchange for Aaron Sanchez and Joe Biagini, the 27-year-old is slashing .183/.303/.408 with seven home runs and18 RBIs to go along with 21 walks and 53 strikeouts over 55 games.

After the game, Walker told reporters he needed to pick up his teammate instead of throwing Fisher under the bus which is something you expect. On the other hand, manager Charlie Montoyo wasn’t ready to jump on Fisher for his errors.

This season has had its ups and downs but if there is one thing Montoyo has been rightfully criticized for is some of the decisions he’s made and for the lack of accountability for players at times. In this case, he probably knows that his player is getting a lot of backlash for the play but when a player makes two errors like that, it’s hard to defend that.

At this stage given how crucial these games are for the Blue Jays, you can’t have Fisher in the lineup. This is a case where management needs to realize that a player who struggles to produce offensively and defensively can’t be on the roster.

As Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi writes, Fisher would have to go through waivers as he is out of options and with the need to add pitchers and make room for players coming back from injury, there is a risk involved with that. A simple thing would be to option Jonathan Davis but unless you are playing someone not named Fisher, that’s a tough call to make.

At this stage, Fisher was someone the club believed was worth giving up Sanchez and Biagini for and to throw that trade away will not look good on management. It would be simpler to just sit him and not throwing him away right now but a conversation has to be had with Montoyo about his usage.

Remember when Montoyo decided to pinch-hit Fisher over Vladimir Guerrero Jr. late in a game because he believed in what Fisher could do at the plate. With more than enough options on this team, the Blue Jays can’t let Fisher take the field with his confidence visibly shaken.

This is why management gets paid to make the tough decisions and at this point in time, they have to think about what’s more important, asset management of having the best current roster.

In this case, having Fisher on the roster is proving to be a negative effect than a positive one.

What are your thoughts on the Fisher blunder? Is it time to end for him to be taken off the roster or is this situation being overblown? Let us know in the comments below.