Over the winter, the Blue Jays had enough confidence in their pitching staff to trade away one of their stars, Shaun Marcum, for a prospect. Looking at the team after their 6-4 loss to Boston Wednesday night, that confidence seems misplaced. Offensively, the team does well. In Yunel Escobar, they have one of the better offensive shortstops in the league. Jose Bautista smashes the ball better than anyone, and Adam Lind is a classic slugging first baseman. J.P. Arencibia doesn’t hit much, but does hit for power, and Travis Snider returned from the minors on a tear. They rank fourth in the AL in runs per game, but the pitching just hasn’t been there. Ricky Romero is the bright star in the rotation, and he couldn’t stop the Red Sox last night. So instead of their offense being a bonus, their pitching held them back from being a contender, and they sit nine games out in the wild card race.
because, clearly, they were going to win this year if they had marcum.
Marcum struggled badly with the Red Sox as well.
Blue Jays need an ace, but aces do not grow on trees, and Marcum is not an ace (not in the AL East). Romero is good against everyone else by the Red Sox who pound him.