Toronto Blue Jays: 3 keys to beating Tampa Bay Rays

Montoyo needs to learn from past mistakes

If you ask some Blue Jays fans, some will say that the team was able to thrive despite some questionable leadership from Charlie Montoyo in key situations.

It’s no secret that with the lights shining brighter on the second-year manager, you start to see how a manager can truly leave his mark on an MLB team. Whether it’s decisions with the lineup or when to make a pitching change, those are things that become more critical in the playoffs.

Seeing how the Blue Jays handled certain situations, it’s no question that Montoyo will have to be smarter in certain situations against the Rays. We saw it when the starters were pulled early in favour of the bullpen and certain pitchers were used in situations they shouldn’t pitch in.

We brought up the questionable decision at one point in the season to put Cavan Biggio lower in the lineup. It was a moment where he was too worried about the pitching matchup rather than realize that Biggio should never be hitting in the eight spot.

Now with Alejandro Kirk showing he can be an impactful bat, Montoyo will have more options that weren’t present at the early stage of the season and with Rowdy Tellez still not healthy. He also needs to sort out his pitching situation as his unwillingness to name a Game 1 starter is starting to draw some unnecessary attention.

If the Blue Jays want any chance in this series, Montoyo cannot overthink in certain situations and not let his decision making come into question.