Skip to content

Blue Jays' Buehrle: 'We're going to be going home at the end of the season'

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Reuters

Though the Toronto Blue Jays still have a remote chance of securing a postseason berth, veteran left-hander Mark Buehrle conceded Friday he and his teammates will almost certainly be watching the playoffs on television this autumn.

“Some guys in here are trying to cross minds and figure out what happened, but for some reason we didn't, and we played bad, other teams took off and we're sitting where we are," Buehrle told Sportsnet's Shi Davidi. "Mathematically we’re not out of it, but I think everyone knows the situation, we’re going to be going home at the end of the season.”

The Blue Jays looked both brilliant and ghastly at various points throughout the season, boasting a six-game lead atop the American League East in early June that dissipated as the season progressed.

“We're streaky, we go through a week and say, ‘Man, we’re going to get in here, we’re playing good right now, we've got a chance,’ and the next week it’s like, ‘Should we even belong here? We’re playing pretty bad,’” Buehrle said. “It’s why we play 162 games, we have to finish the season. Four months ago, three months ago, we would have been in the playoffs, now we’re sitting to go home and watch it.”

A rash of injuries befell the Blue Jays this season as Brett Lawrie, Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Lind each missed extended periods of time, and a lack of viable replacements proved costly.

“We dealt with injuries, and again every team has them, it’s not an excuse, but it’s those guys who step in and fill in for your big guys who go down (determining) who’s going to get there and obviously that wasn't us.”

Buehrle himself started the season with promise, crafting a 2.04 ERA through his first 13 starts, but slowed considerably after the first two months of the campaign. The 35-year-old owns a 4.77 ERA in 18 starts since June 12, surrendering 12 home runs and a .323 opponents' batting average in his last 105 2/3 innings.

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox