Mid-afternoon in a nearly empty Blue Jays clubhouse at Rogers Centre, prior to the series finale against the Royals, newcomer Michael Lorenzen walked in. The veteran righthander looked around, then headed for the locker at the far end with his name already on it. He had never been in this clubhouse before. His signing had not even officially been announced, but his space was ready.
Lorenzen did not know it yet, but he would be making his Toronto debut in less than six hours. Things move fast in MLB in times of crisis.
The 34-year-old righthander, released by the Rockies just a week ago, stopped briefly to introduce himself to new teammate Spencer Arrighetti, who was slouched on the sofa, watching TV, preparing for that night’s start. That’s the way the season has gone for the Jays. It is no wonder, as Kevin Gausman pointed out before he departed, the Jays’ former World Series chemistry is not the same. There is no way it could be. Thirty-eight pitchers used with still 27 games left.
The Jays did nothing to impress their newest player on this Thursday night, dropping a 13-2 decision in the rubber-game of the series vs. the Royals. Lorenzen was even asked to pitch, despite not having been in anyone’s uniform for the previous nine days, arriving straight from his home and strapping it on following a six-run sixth inning by the Royals vs. Simeon Woods-Richardson.
Pressed into action, Lorenzen reached the mound to warm up for the seventh and seemed to tip his cap to his catcher Alejandro Kirk, who would have been a complete stranger until the pre-game pitchers’ meeting.
“He was ready to go,” manager John Schneider said in a subdued post-game media session. “He said ‘I’ll throw every single day.’ I kind of said thanks for doing that, his first day, 40-ish pitches. The impression? He’s a veteran guy. He knows how to pitch. He’s got a good feel for what he’s trying to do.
“He said after his second inning, that’s kind of been the story of his year, with a cutter to the lefty that kind of sneaks through (the infield). Some of the batted-ball luck has not been great, but overall he knows how to pitch and he’s going to be available for us every single day in a variety of roles. It’s nice having another veteran presence out there.”
Lorenzen’s role on the Jays seems to be changing from his Rockies experience. He has mostly been a starter since 2022, with just eight relief appearances in 126 total appearances. He will be available to start, but right now that’s not on his dance card.
Arriving directly from his home in Southern California, Lorenzen, with his eighth different major-league team, got a call from his agent several days ago saying the Jays had called and needed pitching and was he interested. He has a backyard mound at the house and on Tuesday threw an 80-pitch bullpen on his own, claiming he is ready for another 80 at any time. That time became sooner rather than later.
A former first round pick of the Reds in 2013, Lorenzen has had some good success over the course of his 12 major-league seasons … but not in his four-months in Denver. It was mostly rocky. He was 3-11 in 26 games, with a 7.08 ERA, allowing 168 hits in 115.2 innings.
“Colorado was tough, but you learn from your failures,” Lorenzen said in a dugout media session during batting practice. “You learn a lot from hardship. To get released and then have this opportunity come up, yeah, it’s exciting for sure. I learned a lot about myself, perseverance. I put my faith in Jesus, so I learned how to lean on him more and more.”
“It’s not fun to lose your job,” he continued. “For you to work hard and not see results. You work hard and want to see results, but in this game it doesn’t always happen.”
For those unfamiliar with the disadvantages pitchers face at that mile-high elevation in Denver, Lorenzen spoke about both the major environmental issues and how they had affected his disappointing season. Consider the ball goes three feet farther for every 100 feet traveled, meaning outfields play deeper opening more grass to hitters. Second, there’s the loss of movement for pitchers that rely on finesse and command.
“It’s the green grass,” Lorenzen said, when asked whether it’s the home runs or extra real estate. “So, if you’re allowing guys to put the ball in play it’s tough. It’s like my sinker coming back (into the strike zone), it just doesn’t come back (at altitude). My pitch profile doesn’t play well there. Not trying to make an excuse, but I tried to figure it out, everything I could.
“A lot of my strengths were taken from me there. It was tough to try and figure it out, so you’re changing the use of your (repertoire) ‘cause you’re trying to appease altitude, then when you’re going on the road, it affects you. I went into Colorado confident that I was going to put in the work and there would be some type of improvement there. There wasn’t so that was frustrating. I learned how to lean on God, more and more.”
Hopefully his faith will not be shaken when he sees this Jays team’s Jesus (Sanchez) roaming left field behind him.
The Jays rotation now and seemingly for the immediate future would likely be Dylan Cease, Jose Soriano, Max Scherzer, Arrighetti and a returning Jameson Taillon, who is making a rehab start at AAA-Buffalo on Friday (50 pitches). Taillon is expected to start in Cleveland next week.
How tough has this season been for the Jays’ rotation as they have gone from spring training riches to Dog Days rags? Consider this current active roster has accumulated just 58 Jays starts out of the team’s 135 games, while the departed group, plus pitchers now at Triple-A and others on the IL have made 77 starts led by Gausman (23), Trey Yesavage (18), Patrick Corbin (15), Shane Bieber (11), Eric Lauer (6) and Taillon (2).
The Jays host the Mariners for three games on the weekend, highlighted by Buck Martinez bobblehead day and the opening of the Hall-of-Excellence, both on Saturday.
Schneider definitely seemed deflated. Understandably so. To me this game exposed our season for what it really is. Extremely bad. I looked at our expected record (although I don't understand how this is computed) and according to that we should be 15 games under .500. The fact that we have performed as well as we have...and are even within shouting distance of a playoff spot... is truly remarkable (and kudos to Schneider as a manager for making that happen). But this game showed two things: i) we can't hit and our offence has sucked all year long; and ii) the two waves of injuries to our starters have been a massive blow. The fans really seemed to lose it tonight. Fair enough. I am grateful we had that brief window of 'fun' and hope after the trade deadline, but things seem to be on the precipice of a cliff at the moment.
Still need to hit.