Starters sliding down a slippery slope

Holy alliteration, Batman! As the picture above indicates, sometimes sliding down a slippery slope is an enjoyable experience. Lately, it’s been quite the opposite because the Blue Jays starting pitchers haven’t exactly been pulling their weight.

After Ricky Romero lost his seventh game of the year last night, he gave up a season-high six walks and now has a string of six straight starts where he has not made it into the seventh inning.

But it’s not just RR Cool Jay who has run into troubles as of late, Roy Halladay has also hit a little bit of a rough patch. Here is how the Blue Jays top two starters have fared in their last three starts:

Maybe we should be concerned by these numbers, and maybe we shouldn’t. Halladay’s last three starts have come against the Red Sox (2) and Tampa Bay (1). Romero’s have been against Los Angeles, Boston and New York, so they have definitely faced some tough lineups. The Angels are the best hitting team in the league followed by the Yankees, whereas the Red Sox and Rays rank sixth and seventh when it comes to team batting average. I would be weary to say that there is more concern about Halladay at this point instead of how Rookie Romero is faring.

I’m not exactly sure why Doc is malfunctioning, but he will try to get back on track and attempt to pick up win number 14 tonight against the Yankees and Joba Chamberlain. This will be Joba’s lone start of the season at the Rogers Centre and just the second in his career within the confines of the cable box.

Let’s ensure that his stay in Toronto is as uncomfortable as possible, and to help in that matter maybe the Rogers Centre should parade their best female police officers for tonight’s game. If anything at least A-Rod would enjoy it!