Chris Bassitt said everyone in the Toronto Blue Jays organization should be held accountable for this poor season.
Bassitt (8-9) made the remarks after the Tampa Bay Rays crushed the Blue Jays 13-0 on 16 hits on Thursday. Toronto’s record dropped to 46-56.
“I would say there’s not one person, probably in the entire organization, that’s not disappointed right now. It really sucks. I don’t think anybody thought this was going to happen. I don’t think there’s one person that has clean hands right now. I really don’t think we’ve done anything right this year. Maybe just the defensive play of [Daulton] Varsho. Apart from Varsho’s defensive play, I don’t see anyone who can say ‘I did what I had to do’.
Bassitt also mentioned that the embarrassing loss was due to the team battling “demons.” What did he mean exactly? “Everything that’s going on right now,” Bassitt said.
“That’s all it is,” he said. “Giving up so many hits, not being able to hit, the trade deadline. Who’s going to be here and who’s not? There’s a million different things going on right now that just aren’t fun.”
With the Blue Jays falling short of expectations five days before the trade deadline, general manager Ross Atkins can be expected to trade some veterans for prospects.
“You can have an idea of who’s not going to be around for a long time and a lot of those people mean a lot to you, so yeah, it’s not fun,” Bassitt continued.
The Blue Jays starter also admitted he wasn’t at his best in front of the 41,148 fans at Rogers Centre.
He left after five innings and with his club down 3-0, having allowed five hits and one walk. He struck out six batters.
But then reliever Trevor Richards came in and it was even worse. He faced just seven batters, allowing four runs on four hits and two walks.
“He’s been really good for us, especially earlier this year,” Blue Jays manager John Scheider said of Richards. “But he’s not in control of his changeup right now. When you have two pitches, both have to be good. He’s not in control right now and he’s behind schedule.” [dans ses duels face aux frappeurs]. »
After that four-run sixth inning, the Rays added five more in the seventh.
Third baseman Ernie Clement came on with his butterfly pitch in the ninth inning to save the bullpen from further exhaustion. He allowed one run as the Rays ran their hit total to 16.
Taj Bradley (6-4) allowed two hits in six innings, striking out seven batters. He walked one.
His record is 5-0 since mid-June, in eight outings.
Isaac Paredes drove in four runs, including a two-run single and a one-run double.
He also drove in a runner at home plate while drawing a walk.
Brandon Lowe moved to a triple of a carousel, driving in three runs. His day included a solo homer in the first.
Alex Jackson also had three RBIs, hitting a single and a double.
Josh Lowe provided an RBI single and added a fielder’s choice to make it 13-0 in the ninth.
The next visitors to the Rogers Centre will be the Texas Rangers, starting Friday.
The reigning World Series champions will first send Andrew Heaney (4-10) against Yusei Kikuchi (4-9).