Baseball is a tad hard to watch when the calendar has just flipped to June and you recognize your favourite team is already out of contention.
The Jays used a combination of rabbit’s feet and mirrors to actually get off to a reasonable start this season.
But it did not take much analysis from anyone in tune with the American League East to determine they were at best a third place team in one of baseball’s toughest divisions.
The only apparent strength of the Jays going into the regular season was the starting rotation, and the wheels have not just fallen off, they have exploded into oblivion as Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, the expected aces have been ineffective or injured for most of the season.
Roberto Osuna was to be a highlight too as closer, but his future with the Jays now seems questionable.
Charges with assaulting a woman by Toronto police the stalwart closer has been placed on administrative leave by the MLB, and there is no indication when he might return. The guess is not this season as the assault could lead to a formal suspension of at least 50-games. Whether Osuna ever resurfaces as a Jay seems unlikely.
With the starters, at least those not named J.A. Happ, scuffling, and no closer to rely on, a veteran bullpen who had been good early is suddenly overworked, showing signs of fatigue, and frankly are a group is disarray.
But lots of teams have bad pitching, some past Jays teams among them, but there was always one or two players that were worth watching.
Players such as Carlos Delgado or Roy Halladay always gave at least a glimmer of hope in the darkest days of the franchise.
This year the promise guys like Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., both standouts in the minors, so they are like some mirage on the desert right now. We hope when they finally get to the bigs they are stars, but Dalton Pompey and a raft of other blue-chippers have come up only to disappoint, so we cross our fingers and wait.
In the meantime who on this Jays team carries the torch?
Josh Donaldson should be, but with only five home runs, and a batting average of .234, Donaldson who has missed a number of games with injuries is inspiring no one right now.
There is also a high expectation Donaldson, a free agent at the end of the season, will be traded this summer, which again lessens his stature since it’s unlikely he factors into the team even in 2019.
Justin Smoak has seven homers and has lost the lustre of the break-out year in 2017.
Russell Martin is playing wherever the Jays need a body, but with a .161 batting average the signs are there that he is done as more than a sage voice, catcher mentor, and one day coach perhaps.
And around the diamond it’s more of the same, old guys with limited futures with the Jays, and young guys failing to show even spurts of being valuable pieces on a winning team.
So the Jays went through May without registering back-to-back wins, a feat in futility they had not achieved since 1979.
So watching this ramshackle crew of sputtering near has beens, and never will bes, almost leaves your eyes bleeding many days.
Thankfully we are only days away from the start of the Canadian Football League regular season to save our summertime sport viewing.
