Marcus Stroman won't stop tweeting; 2019 Vlad Guerrero Jr/Blue Jays thread

i'm really starting to hate Stroman. constant humble bragging about his lifestyle to bitching about how unfair the game is to him/players and now this:

Stromans puppy 4 days ago. Stromans puppy 24hrs ago. Apparently HDMH stands for Height Doesnt Measure Humanity. pic.twitter.com/SiMZuYGWF2

— 🕶 (@JaysTrain2Reign) March 11, 2019

which is a shame because i love the intensity and hustle he brings to the field.

anyways. Anthony Alford is having an electric spring and i'd love to see him open as our starting LF or CF. hopefully last year was a fluke. (i hope this comment doesn't age brutally)

ugh - didn't realize the pic would display like that... sorry everyone!

When he's winning and the team's winning, I want all the theatrics from him that I don't want when they're not. (I get the feeling he's really worried about going on the market--another poor season and his value will be comparatively nothing--so he's flailing about trying to do this, that, and the other to get an extension.)

Why the fuck would you do that to a dog

Sorry, I just glided past the dog photos--Stroman did that? I don't get it. When I said theatrics, I meant his on-field theatrics.

Ya he did that for reasons beyond my understanding. I had to unfollow him on social medi a while back because I couldn’t handle his jeuvenile bs anymore.

https://www.thedodo.com/ear-cropping-cruel-1212872917.html

it's a shitty thing that people do to their dogs for aesthetic reasons. when i see it in vancouver it's exclusively rich peoples' dogs. but i think the practice has origins in dog fighting

That was my first thought when I saw the ears (not that I thought he was fighting the dog, but it’s the dog fighting “look”.

So the Jays just gave 50% raises to all their minor leaguers apparently!

Bo Bichette this spring: 42 PA, .421/.476/.816. That has to be ideal for a young guy playing in the shadow of someone like Guerrero.

it's just spring, but ya - certainly beats him going 5/30. he's also looked pretty good in the field. he keeps this up and i think we'll see him up some time after the break (whenever the super-two date passes).

with him, Vlad, Jansen and Borucki all (probably) playing this year, i'm going to enjoy watching them this season. when i saw that "faith and hope" thing on mlbtr, all i could think about is how much i'm looking forward to this season and the seasons to come – with Biggio, Smith and Pearson all due to debut over the next couple years. it's going to be fun.

i'm going to the game at the olympic stadium tonight! no vlad :( but maybe bichette/biggio?

anyone i shd keep an eye out for? man the jays depth chart is one of the most deeply uninteresting rosters i've seen in a while :/

conversely the brewers depth chart is nice

I was going to lead with "Please post if you see the ghost of ______________," but I just looked up 15 or 20 Expos from the early '70s, and every last one of them is still alive.

Only spring training, for sure. I was just thinking of how much harder it would be for Bichette if all the focus were on him. He's totally under the radar--if Guerrero had had that kind of spring, he'd probably be a bigger story than the Raptors or Leafs right now.

not much on display at that game i am afraid! barely anything even hit as far as the outfield for the first six innings. nice little rally to win it though, and the fact that there's a dude named nate orf meant we got to yell ORF SIDE LONG BEACH a few times, so that was fun! also a "bo bichette" chant started and it took me a second to realize they weren't saying "holy shit"

Bo-ba-fett! Bo-ba-fett! Bo-ba-fett!

Kendrys traded to the As! it's Rowdy time!

Keep getting rid of that dead weight--couple more to go.

48 mil going out to players not on the team!

And looks like they added Alford instead of Tellez.

If Stroman were to have a great year on a poor team, I think he could well be unbearable.

I'm looking forward to seeing whether the Jays can pull off their first proper rebuild since the 80's. Hopefully Stroman also realizes that the window opens next year?

If anyone was born to berate management and demand a trade via Twitter, Stroman's the guy. So I hope you're right.

Between us being the '71 Orioles on the mound or the Tigers being the '68 White Sox with the bat, I'm guessing it's the latter.

Too bad we don't have anyone in the minors who might help jumpstart the offense.

Bichette?

http://phildellio.tripod.com/vladimir.jpg

Not bad. The fact that I noticed Cleveland was the beneficiary before I thought "April Fools" tells you how trustworthy I find current management when it comes to possible collusion.

pillar to the giants

You're next, Stroman.

I'm liking this DePaula guy we're getting back, btw.

Down at the game tonight. Until Vlad gets here, that place is officially a morgue. Attendance: 12,110.

What do we think of Grichuk's extension? I guess the price is right, so why not.

Through six games, the Jays are 1 for 55 in the first three innings.

re: Gritch – it's ok i guess. he a good defender, young and can hit some dingers. so there's some value there and they pay looks appropriate. maybe what's more important is the team is signalling (in this small way) that they are interested in keeping *some* guys around.

Vladisaur Jr. will be activated off the IL for tonight's Dunedin Blue Jays vs. Clearwater Thrashers game.

first homer of the minor league season belongs to cavan biggio (off gio gonzalez)

This season is going to both suck - and be fun as shit.

VladJr goes 1-4 with a run scored for High A Dunedin route of the Clearwater Thrashers.

Outshined by Cavan Biggio!

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2829741-blue-jays-reply-to-fan-asking-about-source-of-justin-smoak-info-literally-us.amp.html

Looking at the Jays boxscore today (so today's game is included), eight of the nine guys in the starting lineup are hitting between .077-.217; five are sub-Mendoza.

I thought Toronto's .183/.261/.318 slash line might be historically significant, but there are three or four teams right there with us or worse this year.

ya, it hasn't been that long. just feels long. gonna be another long two weeks.

matty shoes for cy young

bo bichette, broken hand

matty shoes for cy young

the Curse of Mook

Happy Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Day! @BlueJays

— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) April 26, 2019

We were trying to guess where he'd be in the order today: 2nd or 5th for me, a co-worker thought 7th.

He has arrived. Ya llegó. @vladdyjr27 @VladGuerrero27 #VladDay #VladdyJr pic.twitter.com/pkKroNvshO

— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) April 26, 2019

clem wins: he's batting fifth

I’m not sure I’ve ever heard the crowd clap at the end of batting practice before.

— Susan Slusser (@susanslusser) April 26, 2019

If he wasn't cool enough already, Vlad Jr.'s walkup song is Old Town Road 😎🤠https://t.co/0bwNdxtAut

— SI MLB (@si_mlb) April 26, 2019

why isn't mlb.tv's boxscore working, and what did he do first PA?

I haven't heard "Old Town Road"

Grounded out to 1B

ok I saw that one

I don't get all the fuss about Vlad Jr when there's a guy named Rowdy Tellez on the team.

rowdy rulez

I cannot stop calling him Rowdy Roddy Tellez.

Anyways. That game was awesome.
I had a capsule before going in and the experience was kinda surreal.

<3

Got to see his first AB in a bar; I had already bought tickets weeks ago to a documentary on a band whose contribution to history was such thought-provoking songs as "My Erection Is Over."

That sounds worthwhile tbh

with a 'capsule'

just woke up to look at the box. you gotta be kiddin me

The mega hype for Vlad's debut is one thing in "favour", maybe, of service time manipulation. There's no way it gets this much attention if they had brought him up for a few weeks last season. One then might even argue that delaying his debut raises his profile and therefore his marketability and future income, but I don't think I'd go that far.

Hey, look at us, scoring runs.

/s ?!

Thought this revive would be about Vladisaur Jr getting benched tbqh

He's sat for at least two games, maybe three. Which probably would've been the case even if he were hitting. Which he's not. Cliché, but he's almost certainly pressing.

stroman doesn't seem like the kind of guy who can go 1-6 with a 3.12 ERA without publicly ripping his offense/bullpen for long

he has arrived. two home runs tonight.

Great (though I wish they'd given him the traditional silent treatment on #1--I always love that). Maybe he needed a little space: late game on the coast, virtually the entire city focused on the Raptors.

jays fans seem v. perturbed that vladdy did not start this holiday home game

I don't blame them.

(I say "them" because I'm a Raptors guy now.)

Cavan Biggio up

just in time for the raptors game tomorrow night

btw mississauga's own josh naylor will also be making his debut tonight in toronto (for the padres)

Friend and teammate of Darren Shred, I think--has evidently made out much better.

I've been paying zero attention to the Jays this year during the Raptors run (to baseball in general, really), so I wasn't aware of just how bad the team's offense was in terms of BA. They were talking about it on McCown's show today. They were hitting .218 going into tonight's game...Lowest team average in AL history were the White Sox in 1910, .212. The Yankees hit .214 in 1968.

I like Rowdy Tellez--great name, and he's certainly more fun than Justin Smoak. He may be one of the six thousand guys who hit 30 HR this year. Unless he conjures up some plate discipline, though (17 walks in his first ~300 AB)--which doesn't usually materialize at age 24--he's really just a younger Kendrys Morales, but worse.

ya, Rowdy's power is fun, but man his avg/obp is horrid.

2/3 in Boston - not bad!

I've made it pretty clear I'm not the world's biggest Marcus Stroman fan, but hilarious that Eckersley was complaining the other day about his theatrics...Eckersley! The guy who used to do all that gunslinger schtick in the late '80s. I haven't seen it, but Stroman supposedly tweeted the image of Alomar after his ALCS home run in response--nice!

I am fucking loving this Biggio kid.

How long do they keep throwing Sanchez out there? He's either hurt or he's terrible.

They don’t really have many options. Maybe when Borucki (sp?) comes back they can move someone to the pen... but we have SRF starting and Law being used as an opener. Bad options all around.

Was down at the game last night.

2-0 Boston after two pitches.
4-0 after one inning.
We left in the 8th, down 10-3.
Missed Vlad's two-run double in the 9th.

Money well spent!

hahaha oh man

fwiw i went to the bos-nyy game Sunday. bos hit three home runs in the first. ended up losing by four. "daddy this is boring." well, fuck everything.

On the bright side: Devers was awesome, I'm always happy to see Price win (23-3 lifetime against the Jays now), and it was $1 hot dog day.

And I've got to say: Joe Biagini did something that really makes you wonder about the guy. He's pitching in the 8th, they're down 8-3, he gets two quick outs, then walks Betts on four pitches, a couple of which looked borderline. Why in the world is he nibbling in that situation? Jesus, throw the ball underhand, but throw strikes. So of course Devers comes up and hits a HR.

Home run was off underhand pitch.

dalton pompey dfa'd ;_;

If the call-in show is to be trusted, Sanchez's 10-consecutive-losses (meaning a decision every game, not spread out) is the longest streak since 1949. Whatever you think of W-L record, he's kind of earned it:

IP - 45
H - 68
HR - 9
BB - 28
K - 28
ERA - 9.40

There was one decent start in there.

En route for another L so far through 4. Not looking terrible tho. So far.

He’s off the hook!

Tough call with Stroman--I don't know where Shapiro and Atkins need to draw the line on return before making a trade, other than they can't fuck up another one.

aside from everyone talking about how they're going to trade him - they don't have to trade him. he's controlled for one more year and they could still extend him through the years they are hoping to be competitive.

Things that complicate that: 1) you risk his value plummeting because of some injury (as with Sanchez); 2) he's obvious really unhappy with management, saying last night they're not talking to him and no offer has been made--he wants out, and when a guy like Stroman is unhappy, he's a problem; 3) I think he's pitching a little over his head this year--his trade value might be at a maximum right now.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that it's a tough call.

1/3 yes. he's having a career year and his value will never he higher. but he's being a drama queen about the team not talking to him about an extension. if they were to hang onto him and talk to him in the offseason, he's going to forget about his little snit right away. despite his recent unhappiness with the FO, it does sound like he likes it a lot here.

Well this has been a fun game!

The Jays' win probability was as low as 0.3% -- down by six with four outs left. Was this the greatest Jays comeback ever?

According to B-R it's at best the third greatest comeback, behind a 10-0 comeback vs Boston in 1989 (a game I remember fairly well!) and a similar six run comeback vs TB last year that I'd completely forgotten about!

Yes--Ernie Whitt's HR in the 10-0 comeback an all-time Jays moment.

First time ever: team comes back from seven down one day, same two teams the next day and the other comes back from seven down.

The other day, in advance of Stroman leaving, one of the call-in shows was canvassing callers for their top 5 Blue Jay starters ever. The hosts talked for 10 or 15 minutes first. Halladay and Steib, obviously, they agreed. They both included Clemens--I wouldn't, because you're talking about a two-year stint, but if you want to, fine. After that, they batted around Hentgen, Stroman, Guzman, Estrada...not even once did Jimmy Key's name come up! Checking Blue Jay leaders, Key still sits 3rd in WAR, 3rd in ERA (tied with Stieb; 2nd among starters), 4th in wins, and 4th in IP. He's such an obvious pick for me, either third or fourth depending upon Clemens.

i hear bo’s been called up?

Ya.

The one thing that seems clear is that Shapiro and Atkins were fixated on getting rid of all remnants of the '15/16 teams--just Smoak is left, who I guess is cheap enough and drama-free enough that he gets to stay. So they have their clean slate, and they have their core of young position players right on or ahead of schedule. Now all they have to do is conjure up a pitching staff out of thin air.

i think that's why the deals we saw were light on the returns. they had their plan and were going to stick with them. extending Stroman might have made sense - most their future hitting core are up, so why not lock in a solid arm, or at least see how things look next year. but i think they were just determined to move everyone they could for what they could.

they went into the deadline around 21 on the fangraphs farm system rankings and have moved themselves into the #16 slot (most of that movement was from from Kay and SWR). but i feel like they could have done a lot better.

With the very large caveat that we've been playing the Orioles and Royals, the new guys are kind of exciting right now. I'm nicknaming them "The Squad."

Stroman not good, Sanchez throwing a no-hitter through 6--win some, lose some.

Very small sample size but how in the world does Brent Strom get all these pitchers to be that much better?

Someone get Tim Lincecum to Houston.

They actually did it (6 innings from Sanchez). Means nothing, I know, but it will be funny to listen to all the panicked hand-wringing on the Monday call-in.

Is every no-hitter now multiple pitchers?

oh god

This is too funny: 2 HR and 5 RBI for Sogard.

What did Vernon Wells do tonight?

i dunno – but Fisher took a fly ball to the face and had to leave the game last night,

Slump (or simply reality) on deck, but what a start for Bo Bichette:

32 AB, 7 XB hits, 2 HR, .406/.457/.750

He can tie the jays record tonight for hitting streak to start a career. I don’t watch games too often, but might put this one on tonight.

Barfield and Goins (looked it up)--speaking of whom, Goins is playing really well for the White Sox (although not all that often).

yes – Goins is part of the depressingly long list of recently departed Jays who are doing unexpectedly well.

Bo: 2-2, double and a homer.

That was a sweet start to the game.
I kind of find Fishers black eye hilarious.

nine games. blue jays record. also set some mlb record for xbh streak to start a career or somesuch. no biggie.

Yes: 10 XBH in his first nine games--first time ever.

Another double for Bo, his 8th in his first 10 games.

All streaks alive: HR for Bichette today. (We don't concern ourselves with things like "wins" and "losses" anymore.)

This kid.
Also new guy has hit his 2nd home run for us!

double in nine straight games is a major league record

Was just going to post: XBH in nine straight games, first rookie to do that since Ted Williams of the MFL.

Ridiculous start. Plus Vlad Jr seems like he has some potential too...

Cavan Biggio has 41 walks in a little over 200 AB!

(59 games)

seems legit

so the one game i do not check in on.

vlad since bo arrived: .373/.429/.686, 191 wRC+

never let them be separated again

Bo now 1/5th of the way to his dad's career bWAR! (only a smidgen over 1/10th of the way according to fWAR).

Another record last night...sort of--these x-number-of-games records are admittedly a little contrived.

🚨 MLB HISTORY ALERT 🚨@19boknows is the only player EVER to record 15 extra-base hits in his first 15 games! pic.twitter.com/5PL1ljeUsw

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) August 13, 2019

They Won't Shut Up About Bo Bichette: 2019 Blue Jays Thread

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EB7t92uXUAAP4xh.jpg:small

ha!

2020 Blue Jays Thread: *I* won't shut up about Nate Pearson.

Didn't realize we had more spawn on the way: Griffin Conine, currently leading the Midwestern League in HR. (22 in A-ball doesn't seem that special, but they had somebody on the call-in yesterday who was high on him.)

http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=conine000gri

Oh--50-game suspension last year.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/suspended-blue-jays-prospect-griffin-conine-releases-statement-twitter/

he's def got his flaws. his k-rate is the big red flag. he's also playing around dudes roughly his age, normally with prospects you like to see them succeeding against players older than them. not sure why they haven't promoted him either – if it's the Ks or his defence or what.

That's the thing that gives me pause too--by "22 in A-ball," I meant his age, not how many HR he's hit. They'll have to start moving him up the ladder quickly if they want him up here before he's 25.

(They always link fathers-sons-brothers on Baseball Reference, but they don't Griffin linked to Jeff yet.)

maybe BR knows something Jeff/Griffin don't!

I clicked on "contact" and sent them a message about this a few days ago, got a response today:

"We only link major league player relationships. If Griffin makes it to the majors, then we'd add the link on his newly created major league page."

That seems kind of silly to me. Your father is only officially your father if you make it to the majors.

I wonder if Guerrero's finished for the year? Not a lot of incentive to bring him back too quickly.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/expect-blue-jays-cautious-guerrero-jr-regardless-diagnosis/

This would be his 3rd IL stint this year iirc?

They’re saying that the mri came back clean, so I’d be surprised if he was done for the year, even with being cautious.

#17 prospect and 2016 first round pick TJ Zeuch just threw a no hitter for the AAA Bisons!

First Bison no-hitter since Bartolo in 1997:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5u2Hb12Tieg

(Odd that Zeuch only struck out three, though--more luck than usual, I would think.)

I know there was some good plays behind him. I think pitching to contact and not having a lot of battles was what allowed him to go the full 9.

True enough--the high-strikeout, CG no-hitter is pretty much extinct.

Getting killed, but Bo has homered twice off Kershaw.

Thermo's guy, Nate Pearson, had a great triple-A debut last night: 7 innings, 3 hits, 3 strikeouts, no walks or runs, 55 strikes in 88 pitches. Maybe he and Zeuch and one more solid starter will be enough to get us back into the wild-card picture next year. (Probably jumping the gun by a year--and if they're looking to trade, they'll likely have to part with Biggio or one of the young catchers to get that starter. I don't know what else they can offer.)

i see Zeuch as another Pannone/SRF type who could eat up innings at the major league level, but not much beyond that. Pearson I'm obv pretty high on – Kay could also have some impact next year (who we got for Stroman). and then it's probably 1-2 full years before we see the younger guys in our top-10 (Manoah, Pardinho, SWR, Kloffenstein). hopefully we can lure a mid-rotation guy in the offseason – see if we can compete for the WC next year - and bridge us to the younger, high-ceiling guys who are all looking p good so far.

Former Jay, but I'll post here.

http://nypost.com/2019/08/24/mets-marcus-stroman-sounds-off-on-just-about-everything/

The title reeled me in: "This should be great, he's going to go off on the Jays, Shapiro, Sanchez, everything." I've only skimmed, but he sounds off on just about nothing.

the pen blew it, but Kay's debut went well today. his curve looked filthy at times. even my five year old was wowed by the pitch he ended the first with, that Meadows thought was going to hit him.

Stroman also pitched tonight. 4 ER in 4 IP with half the strikeouts (4) Kay racked up through 5.2!

must you?

Bo wears a throwback mullet

my daughter wants me to have hair like him.

http://bluejayhunter.com/2019/09/impossible-task-naming-every-2019-blue-jays-pitcher.html

i got 21. missed a couple obvious ones.

blue jays twitter is aghast that the team released clayton richard on his birthday

he apparently just taught Thornton the curveball he used in the Red Sox game yesterday (where he did pretty well) too!

Jesus - Tim Meza justvwent down in a heap on the mound. Dude was in tears, it did not look good.

this game was emotional.

saw the clip on the twitter: looked like a UCL tear. has he been TJ'd?

Not that I know of - UCL was my guess right away.

TJ confirmed.

2/3 from the Yanks - not bad! Was there today to see Zeuch get his first pro W.

Biggio!!!

https://i.redd.it/cugsfbebkdn31.png

Keith Laws irrational hatred of anything Blue Jays is becoming comical.

Wild game tonight, I wonder how many lead changing two out ninth inning grand slams have there been in Jays history?

This is such weird/bad baseball right now, I love it.

V. happy we avoided the 100 losses season.

We’re looking at pick#5 in the draft.

And I came here because BIGGIO JUST LEGIT BUNNTED A MF DOUBLE

Trent Thornton now tied for the team lead in wins (six).

Along the same lines: sad, but Grichuk is the first Jay to lead the team in six key offensive categories (they ran through them last night: I think it was hits, 2B, 3B, HR, RBI, and something else). A .233 hitter, OBA under .300.

On the radio they were all “he’s been eleit this season”... ya, no.

At $5M, maybe he's something of a bargain, I don't know. But the fact is, his OPS+ is below league average, and he's 0.5 WAR. He strikes me as basically a replacement-level player this year, so what's the market value for someone right at replacement level?

Less than what he’s gettting paid the next few years.

Old stats bear out new stats (James tweet):

"Once more, 38% of you got it right, which was a plurality. Randal Grichuk missed more opportunities to drive in runs than any other major league player in 2019."

He seems to have done much better when he wasn't batting cleanup.

first of a series in which young-ish blue jays write scouting reports on themselves, which is an interesting angle

https://www.mlb.com/news/blue-jays-thomas-pannone-aims-to-improve

Pearson struck out 3/3 yankees today on 10 pitches.

Go Jays. (I would've entered the '92 team rather than the '93 team. The '93 team had more star-glamour and the big offense, but the pitching advantage to the '92 teams is sizable.)

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/article-classic-jays-and-expos-to-face-off-in-computer-simulated-playoff-to/

"'92 team"

give me that '87 outfield any day.

Sorry, but after extensive professional counselling, I have successfully obliterated 1987 from my memory.

I only remember the glory.

The no travel restrictions element of this is particularly interesting for #BlueJays given the Canada fed gov’s seemingly more stringent response compared to that of the United States’ fed gov. What happens if teams can travel within the US but still can’t cross the border? https://t.co/HPLIsUMrvY

— Laura Armstrong (@lauraarmy) March 27, 2020

@joe_sheehan
Remember that in 1995, Ontario law barred the use of strike breakers, so the Blue Jays were going to have to play in Dunedin before that plan, brought to you by Hall of Famer Bud Selig, fell apart.

Hadn't given him any thought until I saw this, and then I thought yeah, what happened?

https://jaysjournal.com/2020/03/30/toronto-blue-jays-whatever-happened-chris-colabello/

toronto has banned all public events through june 30

doesn't include sporting events. its things that require a special city permit for, like pride or caribana.

http://theathletic.com/1701961/2020/03/30/a-shocking-fun-yet-legit-ranking-of-the-greatest-blue-jays-position-players/

Three different lists--the first one is partly a joke.

I was up at 4:00 last night watching the bat-flip game...A couple of things I'd forgotten: 1) the fantastic one-handed play Donaldson made just prior to the bizarre errant throwback that put the Rangers up; 2) the Pompey slide at home just before Bautista's home run--that the catcher somehow managed to hang on to the ball, and that Texas was fishing for a double-play because of the slide. I've never heard anything like the noise-level, and right from the start of the game; it was so loud, there were constant audio drop-offs. The broadcast crew didn't even mention the bat-flip for at least the first four or five minutes after the home run (went to bed at that point).

how

how on earth do you go to bed right after that?!

I felt confident they would win.

vlad moving to 1B

Not sure if they want him as a back-up 1b option, or if they’ve just realized he’s never going to be a passable 3b and want him there full time.
Either way, about time.

Also surprised the revive wasn’t about a storman tweet.

I guess I wasn't paying attention down the stretch last year, because I didn't realize--until they were talking on the radio yesterday--how badly Guerrero faded at the end (.232/.264/.293 in September, no HR). They also said that, according to Guerrero, that's because he was worn out.

The punchline: he comes back this year not having lost any weight. Maybe you can place some of the blame on the pandemic, but wow, that seems clueless.

idk -- the weight isn't ideal, but it's pretty common for players that young to fade in their first season playing that many games

i understand the lack of nu-thread motivation when the season may end next week, but i was lookin fwd to "2020 Buffalo Jays"

(xpost) True, but it's hard to believe Guerrero's weight didn't play a part in that, maybe a large part. Honestly, I'd give him some kind of an ultimatum on the weight, within a reasonable time frame. If he doesn't get rid of it, get rid of him, when he still has tons of trade value, and spare yourself the next Prince Fielder/Ryan Howard.

Aside from that one home run last night, he hasn’t looked so hot so far.

Anyways - really looking forward to watching Pearson pitch tonight!

xp jesus you're hard to please! howard wasn't a full-time starter until age 26, fielder age 22. they combined for 10 top-10 mvp finishes before hitting walls at age 30. howard turned into a joke because the phillies gave him an absurd contract, not because he wasn't an extremely good player for five or six years

the jays don't have to pay vlad $30m for each of his decline years, they simply get to work with him for a while while paying him very little. he was an above-league-average hitter as a 20-year-old, which is extremely rare, and he is roughly the same size as pete alonso, whose weight doesn't seem to concern many people

admittedly he hasn't torn shit up like his reputation suggested, but it's not like the jays are pressed for time or have any better options, so you might as well be patient -- he has a very high ceiling and even if he doesn't pan out it won't be anywhere near the disasters you mention

That's it--just disappointment in the gap between good rookie season and the second coming.

Are the Aerostar uniforms new?

https://cs.copart.com/v1/AUTH_svc.pdoc00001/PIX133/ce4e5875-3245-48c8-bf24-bf86100f3e20.JPG

hahaha I knew they looked familiar
yes they're new, and they're quite ugly

I like the powder blue!

Also they are playing like dog shit today. Like fucking single A amateurs.

I'm against powder blue in the loose-fitting age in general. How do you like the hats?

Vladdy looking especially like a DH today that may or may not be able to hit. I hate to be negative but I have difficulty watching this team sometimes

esp. with those uniforms :'D

Vlad has been one of the hardest things to watch about this team.

def.

hits a home run on queue

I should trash talk him more often.

last time i checked this game was 8-2 and now it's 11-11

I saw that. Turned it back on. Now they’re down 14-11 almost right away.

maybe if Stroman re-signs with the Jays this winter you lazyboys can keep using this thread

Stroman tweets will always be relevant!
Speaking of which, I saw he opted out of the season. Pretty amazing haul the Jays got for him considering he only wound up starting 11 games.

not when you consider who they traded with :/

https://ultimateclassicrock.com/geddy-lee-cardboard-cutout-blue-jays/

This team is so much goddamn fun to watch.

My interest had been awakened a bit before the Yankees series. Hard to care at this point, even if they back into a "playoff" spot.

Didn’t expect them to take 3/4 of this series after how the last one against the Yankees went; but they’re playoff bound!

I think it'd take them advancing to the second round for me to begin to take a sincere interest, but it they were to win today, that'd be a half-step towards that: .550 is at least a legitimate record for a playoff-bound team. So I guess the schedule just lined up perfectly with whatever good 60-game stretch they were going to have during an actual season.

they oscillate between frustrating to watch and really fun.

i don't like this Shoemaker thing.

Ryu & Walker 1-2 makes a lot more sense, especially since they only need 2 wins, and then throw everybody you have into game 3 if you need to
oh well, we'll be in much better shape if they actually pull game one out

So Shoe did ok. I guess he had really good splits v the Rays and Walker's are terrible.

"I did not get to the second training well, and I told myself that this cannot happen again. I was overweight, I said that it couldn't happen again, and I got to work at once."

That's a start.

https://www.thescore.com/mlb/news/2047080

Vlad has reportedly dropped 40 pounds.

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/jays-gm-atkins-sees-benefits-of-gurrero-jr-off-season-weight-loss-1.5920904

why do you refuse to say he's in the BEST SHAPE OF HIS LIFE

As long as he's not still round, any shape will do.

dropping 30-50 lbs before spring training every year can't be good for your health or baseball production

Kirk, too, is all aboard the best shape of his life train.

bo: fastest to 100 hits in blue jays history

An unexpected list of names there.

Also Julian Merryweather has looked like a fucking god in the two innings he’s pitched so far.

Matz looked great today. Good start to the season this far!

Ryu + Scrubs seems like an ineffective game plan, with hindsight

Two of the scrubs are there because the starters are injured!

I know, but relying on Pearson as the number 2 guy was my main problem even before he was foreseeably injured. Just frustrated is all

Yeah I wish they went for someone like Odorizzi.

vlad's off to a nice start eh

Him and Grich!

man, Grich was looking like Pillar in that first Angels game -- couple of huge diving grabs

One was because he jumped the wrong direction at first tho.

hah i didn't realize that. he personalized it then

Well this game was fun. The new kid, Polacios, had himself a night!

Walk-off HR for Bo.

Another fun game to watch. Glad the pen kept it together even tho they e lost three solid arms now and Romano can’t throw strikes.

Didn't realize Teoscar tested positive the other day.

Yup. And they just added three more pitchers to the IL. That’s our closer out, our set up guy, our replacement closer, our replacement set up guy, our long man and also Phelps.

Pearson can't come back sooner.

He had such a rough time starting last year, I’m not expecting him to be the jays saviour this year either way.

Hoping George Spring is real.

Springer even.

george springs eternal

Grand slam for Vlad off Scherzer.

!

i think the kid might've figured something out

Youngest to get 3 hr & 7 RBI since 1901, apparently!!

Consider how often I watch the Jays these days, I'm lucky I got to see the first.

wow Alomar. i remember some allegations back in 2009, but nothing came out of it that i knew. then all of the sudden he's banned from baseball and the jays are dropping his banner from the level of excellence. crazy.

Just read about that. Is he banned or suspended? I've heard so much stuff about Alomar over the years, things that seemed plausible and things that seemed crazy made-up. Sad.

St. Marys weighs in:

https://lfpress.com/sports/local-sports/roberto-alomar-no-longer-welcome-at-canadas-baseball-hall-of-fame

always curious about what ‘special assistants’ to teams and ‘consultants’ to the league actually do

This game right now is ridiculous. 10-0 in the 6th. Kirk has two home runs. So far.

I feel like every game we lose a reliever to the IL.

Not quite on the bandwagon yet--that's me sitting roadside on a lawn chair--but I am starting to keep tabs online. Glad they didn't blow that one.

Next 10 games are against division rivals and then 4 against the team their ties with for the wild card.

It will be nice to not be the only one on here watching the games live. I lost one of my best friends last week and we would text regularly during games.

I didn't realize that--very sorry to hear that. I saw a couple of photos on FB but missed any explanation if there was one.

Thermo I'm very sorry to hear of your loss - I've been watching games. Fun one today (super sloppy on both sides!), I'm on the bandwagon for sure with this bunch (tho I'm still pissed about the lack of veteran starting pitching)

Most important series of the year so far and they are off to a hell of a start this game. They win here, first place is within reach.

18 hits 😎

Pat tryna tell me there can be a save situation in the 7th or 8th inning
just nod and smile

strictly speaking it's true, but it's not what he meant i assure you haha

Anything is better than him going off about catchers on one knee.

tbh, because i watch through computer I usually listen to the away broadcast but it's boston, sooo.. no

I don’t mind our guys too much tbh. Tabler, I could live without, but Dan Schumann is solid.

Dan Shulman

Trying to figure out if this team's for real or not. I've been fished in by fast starts before.

When I look at performance levels, though, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot that's out of whack.

Semien and Bichette (almost identical stats right now): if anything, they may get a little better.

Vlad: what everyone expected (hopefully won't wear down over the season).

Grichuk: the one guy who's clearly playing over his head.

Teoscar: nothing unusual, I don't think.

Biggio, Guriel, Tellez: all underperforming.

The starters don't seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary; Ryu looks like he's pitching in a little luck.

The bullpen, I guess, has been a huge surprise. I don't follow closely enough to know just how fluky.

And they're one game under their Pythagorean record.

The pen feels pretty fluke-y considering all the injuries. Maybe Charlie is really good at managing the pen, maybe Pete Walker is a demigod. I feel like their streak of no blown saves will have to hit a wall at some point tho either way.

This is off to a rough start

Catching up on the thread -- sorry to hear about your loss, Thermo.

The bullpen has been great but they're pitching way too many innings. Last night:5.1 IP, one run allowed, which is great (even though the team lost) but there have been way too many games like that and they'll be worn out by September.

Springer / Manoah / the Ghost of Nate Pearson all loom on the horizon. This team will continue to perform, they're not to be slept on

I forgot all about Springer in that rundown above, so that's another (big) potential plus.

I think Manoah is the real deal too. He was blowing people away in spring training and his line in three AAA starts (after only appearing briefly in lower A ball before) is 18 IP, 1 ER, 7 hits, 3 walks and 27 strikeouts!!!
There’s no way this guy isn’t up by the all star break.

I feel like their streak of no blown saves will have to hit a wall at some point tho either way.

― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, May 19, 2021 4:28 PM (yesterday)

Welp...

what have you done

Yeah that loss last night was rough. I thought Dolis was a bit unlucky, they were hitting some good pitches ... until the Martinez HR, which was a big fat meatball.

God. What DID I do? Two games in a row the pen has biffed it.

Damn, that would be something, maybe even a first: a walk-off cycle.

Arenado did a few years back vs the Giants!

This bunting on two strikes bs needs to fucking stop.

This is the worst game for our pen yet. Total fucking meltdown in the 9th. Rays barely had to take their bats off their shoulders to turn a 2 run deficit into a two run lead.

What the fuck did I do

After all these completely disheartening losses, time to shake it up. Manoah up against Yankees on Wednesday! 🤞😮

it's a panic move, but i am down.
contemplating starting him in our fantasy league.

Go for it! High stakes, this is what it's all about! 🎰

I benched rodon last time out for fear of the Yankees and swiftly learned the Yankees are not very fearful right now

Start Manoah with confidence imo

Meet your new hero, Thermo.

Laughed when he patted the base ump on the back as he came off the field (presumably finished for the day)--shades of Fidrych!

I missed that!

kid's definitely not shy

I know the Yankees are not very yankee-like right now (Odor batting second?! Lol) but the kid looked good.

that first Judge at-bat was so awesome. had him fall to a knee and then had him so boggled he swung about a calendar year too late

Like Bichette without the contact!

Big night for Vlad: 4-4, double, 3-run homer (so far).

He should have tried to stretch that second single into a triple.

Also he’s got the AL lead in home runs now, ahead of that guy nobody’s heard of in Tex.

Not watching right now, but I see Vlad belatedly stretched one of his singles into a triple. (Also just noticed he's one RBI short of a Triple Crown right now.)

Manoah didn’t look so hot today, and no Vlad RBI, but they got a Walkoff in the 9th at least!

He's leading the league in hits, homers, all three slash categories, and total bases (and IBBs!)

I think he’s got the triple crown after today.

I’d also want it noted, for the record, I called all of the Jays runs today. My only witnesses were a disinterested 6 year old and a toddler that can barely talk (but can manage “Milwaukee”)

This bullpen is so bad.

Vlad's six BA points shy of an MLB triple crown and an MLB slash triple crown.

i love him so much

I'm going to look into that today. Incredible longshot, but my guess is it's never been done before.

Started working backwards and got to Ted Williams in '42. He led the (white) majors in all five categories--batting average, on-base, slugging, HR, RBI--but Baseball Reference has dropped him to third in batting average behind two Kansas City Monarch players.

would i recognize their names?

Not Josh Gibson-level famous; I didn't recognize them, but I probably should (Ted Strong and Bonnie Farrell).

no clue.

I don't think it would be a bad idea to give Vlad a night off. He had that phenomenal series in Fenway, almost had a couple of 0-fers against the Yankees. He's played every game.

Manoah looked amazing tonight. Had a no hitter go into the 6th… wound up pitching 7 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts!

Hurrah

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31829476/toronto-blue-jays-get-approval-canada-health-officials-july-30-return-reportedly-likely

I wonder if I have a hope in hell of seeing a game.

TOR-TEX runs in the series: 25-2. Can we always play Texas?

I wonder what the series record is since the bat-flip...will look that up.

Overall: 21-14 for Toronto (18-14, + 3-0 playoff sweep).

rough inning

Do the Jays normally play a three-game series' with a different uniform style in each game? Against the Mets they wore the grays, the powder blues, and then the dark blues in succession.

I’m honestly not sure how it’s decided.

on some teams at some times it's supposedly the starting pitcher's choice (assuming a certain veteran prominence)?

in general i suspect it has more to do with the marketing department? as wedded to routine/comfort as players are, i'll bet the whole thing drives them fucking nuts a la chris sale. i can't blame them

That would make sense. I heard Ryu loves the powder blues.

attn clemenza: https://sportsstories.substack.com/p/the-king-and-his-court

Thanks, I'll read that. I think I mentioned that I saw him give an exhibition once--very hazy memory, but I'm pretty sure.

Jays just traded Adams (totally expendable) for Brad Hand.

So that series vs Boston was epic.

yeah.

I can’t watch this team anymore. They can’t score runs when it matters and the pen can’t hold a lead.
These guys are killing me.

well they did just shut out the Rangers but yeah the pattern is pretty bad. beat up on bad teams, choke against good ones.

They manage to make AAAA pitchers look like Nolan Ryan far too often for my liking as well. Having one massive 12 run game every two weeks isn’t going to get it done

lol sorry wrong thread!! xpost

basically all your comments about the jays apply 100% to the sox

variety: red

Ya, I thought you were just confused about the team (Tex vs Det)

Tho, I’d rather have the Red Sox problems right now.

would you really though

Did you see what happened today?! Yes.

Pretty cool six-run comeback w/2 outs in the 8th, and then another comeback in the ninth.

I had the game going in the background while a (non-baseball fan) neighbour was over and he was 100% invested by the 9th. It was fun.

So this is a weird fucking play. Can’t say I’ve ever seen a pitcher throw a body check before. I don’t want to say it was intentional - but I have no idea why he went straight into him like that

https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/plskn8/game_thread_september_10_toronto_blue_jays_7762/"> https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/plskn8/game_thread_september_10_toronto_blue_jays_7762/

Ok, that link was funky…

https://bdata-producedclips.mlb.com/012edaf5-308f-4c66-b402-6d690b91907c.mp4

Most animated jumping-around on that Springer HR was from Gurriel, who evidently knew how terrible that bit of baserunning was.

I was with the kids and missed the game, but had written it off as a loss last time I checked the score, I guess, prematurely!

This has to be the weirdest, liveliest Blue Jay doubleheader ever.

It was an insane 14 innings for sure.

Especially that last inning!!

Gurriel and Teoscar are going crazy.

Manoah's stuff looks insane right now too.

Are you watching? I was in the next room, so I may not have heard him exactly, but I swear Pat Tabler complimented the Jays on their small-ball play recently (not being ironic, either).

team is running amok

if only the yanks had lost today, alas

Boston losing rn!

to Clem: i have gotten very good at tuning out Tabler.

this HR is nuts

Vladdy Jr. is the 3rd player 22 or younger to hit 45 HR through 143 games in a season (Mathews, DiMaggio). pic.twitter.com/3o3NLqKCw0

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) September 14, 2021

That thing was a laser

15 degrees

Another quality cy young caliber performance today.
1 run through 7 with 13 Ks!!!

They had a chart up during tonight's game of most WAR for a Jays' rookie pitcher (Manoah's in the Top 10). Surprised at #1: still Jerry Garvin from '77! It was a very '77 kind of season--ERA over 4.00 (FIP of 4.55), fewer than 5 K/9, more than a hit per inning, 33 HR. But almost 250 IP, and a lousy team behind him.

I saw that I thought it might need a little more context. Like IP and/or GS

Was an odd collection of names too.

God, that foul ball was close--two feet, and the Jays probably lose.

That game felt like a bet to see how many guys they could walk without losing.

Jays plunking Kiermaier for swiping (and not returning) the card and then Walker unloading on Joe West was hilarious.

Really pulling for Boston today. After today, Boston has three against the Orioles and three against Washington; the Yankees, three against the Jays and three against Tampa Bay; Toronto, three against the Yankees and three against the Orioles. We have a significantly better chance of making up two games on New York.

ya, i should set my phone to give me updates on that game.

Damn good thing they won today--didn't see a path if they'd lost.

I think they're in OK shape. Depending upon the Yankee-Red Sox game tonight, they'll go into the Yankees series either 1 or 2 down. They don't have to sweep; if they can win two, they'll either be tied or 1 down. Finishing against Baltimore, while the Yankees play the Rays, that's about the best you could hope for if you need to pick up a game. So I'd say they have at least 75% control of their own fate; they'll probably need a bit of help from Tampa Bay.

Life would be a lot easier if they'd taken three from the Twins.

I guess if Boston lost tonight they could still catch them, but that would involved counting on the Orioles and Nationals--not good.

unfortunately the rays aren't likely to have anything to play for in that final series vs the yanks. which doesn't necessarily mean anything, but still

That crossed my mind too, but I figure with one eye on a possible playoff match-up with the Yankees, they'll want to put a decent lineup out there and make a good show (and even though baseball players never admit to this, I'm sure they'd rather play the Jays down the road, who basically can't win in Tampa Bay).

So I'd say they have at least 75% control of their own fate

Actually, 100%; win all six games, they're in.

at the risk of getting all andy murray . . . COME ON

Some weak shit so far.

bo, vlad and semien all over 100 RBI

Plus Teoscar. First team with four guys since some Braves team from the early 2000s...I turned the game off tonight when the Yankees tied it, missed Bo's second HR.

So Semien has the all time single season home run record for a 2b!!!

Also got his 1,000th career hit!

The powerhouse Seattle Mariners are going to blow past both the Jays and the Red Sox.

The Mariners are playing 14 games above their Pythagorean record...I didn't think that ever happened.

Please tell your team to beat the Yankees

in general that game was not as i would have preferred, and Ray - despite looking good – had a fairly bad game. still like him for the Cy tho.

I think he's a lock for the Cy.

i guess he'd have to be now that i'm looking at thing. lead the AL in ERA, Ks, bWAR, ERA+ & IP!

Of interest to Thermo: a question I sent to Bill James yesterday concerning something Pat Tabler said (second from the top right now).

https://www.billjamesonline.com/hey_bill/#61556

Actually, you may need this link:

https://www.billjamesonline.com/hey_bill/#61546

If the Jays last past today, they've set themselves up perfectly to either score another 10 or be shut out.

Good question - have to agree with the answer

Semien adds to that 2b record home run total! What a nuts game.

Also the first Jay since Delgado 20 years ago to play 162. I totally love that he doesn't point to the sky when he crosses the plate on a HR...guys routinely do it on singles now.

Yes!

One thing I've gathered from all the post-game chatter is that the other players have a deep reverence for Semien.

Sheehan:

Their run differential, +182, is better than that of the Red Sox and Yankees combined. They had the best record in the AL after August 31, at 22-9. If you line up the rosters as they are today, the Jays certainly look the best of the three. Eliminating the Blue Jays and limiting their potential Division Series opponents to the Yankees and Red Sox was the best thing the Rays could do for themselves yesterday.

The Blue Jays should be back, with their young core and talent on the way, for years to come. They head into the winter as a clear #2 to the Rays for 2022. It is reasonable to be concerned that two of the top seven or eight players in the AL this year were on this team and can be free agents, Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray. That’s a lot of wins to replace, although the consensus is the Jays will compete for one or both on a free-agent deal. Ray was great this year, but I’d be more comfortable betting on Semien for the next four years.

Keep this thread title!

https://dailyhive.com/toronto/marcus-stroman-open-to-blue-jays-return

Ya but are the Jays?!

Lose Semien, get Stroman--that doesn't affect clubhouse chemistry at all.

If they took his Twitter away, and he accepted that Vlad and a few other guys are the engine of the team, not him, I wouldn't be averse to that; he has pitched very well the past two seasons (missed 2020). Ryu, him, Manoah, and Berrios would be a nice front four.

After two games of the ALCS, I'm fairly confident that the Jays are better than both of these teams. We have actual SP's for one thing! And an offense that is just as good.

i basically said the same thing to my dad yesterday and in classic dad fashion he just says “then why didn’t they win”

I’ve been asking myself that question too. We have a Cy young, a mvp runner up, and second baseman that will also get mvp votes and set a home run record. Plus two big name free agents out there. Possible silver slugger RF, elite closer. A big name trade deadline addition.
I honestly think it’s embarrassing they didn’t make it.
I can’t point to anything Montoyo did wrong (outside of maybe trotting out struggling relievers in close games), but I really feel a need to finger point somewhere. This is a team that should have made the playoffs.

i'm wondering what, if any, effect this craziness going on over at rogers will have on the team.

happy joe carterversary

love this Berrios deal! i never thought of him as an "ace" like many were calling him when he came over, but this is good value for a very dependable arm. in terms of prospects i thought it was an overpay for a 1.5 year rental – but this deal obviously makes it a lot more palatable.
his similarity scores through age 27 are also pretty encouraging:
John Lackey (983.0)
Trevor Bauer (977.5)
Max Scherzer (974.0)
Michael Wacha (972.5)
Ubaldo Jimenez (968.0)

He does look solid, doesn't he? Put his rookie year aside, and he's had five straight seasons of ERAs under 4.00 (one exactly 4.00) and less than a-hit-per-inning, and his career K/BB ration's over 3.00. And he's durable.

Ratio, not ration--I don't think strikeouts and walks are rationed these days. (And suppose a K/BB over 3.00 isn't all that noteworthy in this era; that was still a benchmark of excellence 20-25 years ago.)

I think this is the most money and years (by far) that the Jays have ever paid for a pitcher?

Watching Berrios down the stretch, I felt he was "better than his stats" ... or maybe pennant race euphoria was clouding my judgement? True #1 SP's are getting $30M-plus/yr these days, so $19M/yr for a strong #2 is good I guess? And if we learned anything in the playoffs this year, you can win the WS without any semblance of a rotation at all! So having a couple of decent starters is a great bonus.

not your imagination. apparently (according to some rando on reddit) he made a mechanical adjustment at the end of August and pitched:
6 Starts
46 Innings
6 and 2/3 per start
2.93 ERA
2.87 FIP
53-5 Strikeout-Walk Ratio
0.98 HR/9
0.98 BB/9
6.3 H/9
45 percent ground ball rate

Didn't see this when it came out last August.

https://www.stadiumtalk.com/s/best-mlb-lineups-by-team-2564e2426da3434a

Catcher: Ernie Whitt (1977-89, .253/.327/.420)
First base: Carlos Delgado (1993-2004, .282/.392/.556)
Second base: Roberto Alomar (1991-95, .307/.382/.451)
Shortstop: Tony Fernandez (1980-1990, 1993, 1998-99, .297/.353/.412)
Third base: Josh Donaldson (2015-18, .281/.383/.548)
Left field: George Bell (1981, 1983-90, .286/.325/.486)
Center field: Devon White (1991-95, .270/.327/.432)
Right field: Jose Bautista (2008-17, .253/.372/.506)
Pitcher: Roy Halladay (1998-2009, 1969-84, 148-76, 3.43)

Don't think I'd change anything there...this one kind of writes itself. (Maybe Vernon Wells in CF? Not White's equal as measured by WAR.)

Should have included a DH (McGriff?) and closer (Henke, obviously).

Bell was the best LF we ever had?! I think we’d be better off moving Wells or Barfield over.

I didn't read the guy's intro, but I'm guessing he stuck to a natural-position rule. Honestly, I think I'd rather have Bell anyway. I know he's diminished some by current analytics, but he's crucial to the franchise's history, and he was kind of the Jim Rice of his day (meant in the good sense--one of the three or four most feared hitters in the league from '84 to '89).

Stieb had a higher WAR for the team than Halladay, and just as many great years. It's a close call.

I have no issues with Bell in left, but yes, Barfield had a higher WAR (thanks to his defense).

If they had picked both a right-handed and a left-handed starter, as these lists sometimes do, I think Jimmy Key's the lefty, right? Am I forgetting someone obvious? For manager, it has to be Cito, controversies and all--unless you think it should be Bobby Cox. Mascot, I'll take Munenori over B.J. Birdy.

David Wells...Would have to compare their time with the Jays, but my intuition is that Key was better.

I think Key for sure over Wells. Well’s best years were elsewhere and was a reliever for a while here. Key was solid for a long time and I think went kind of unnoticed in Stiebs shadow.

Clear advantage Key:

Key - 9 years, 3.42 ERA, 1.196 WHIP, 122 ERA+, 2.34 K/BB, 3.70 FIP, 29.7 bWAR
Wells - 8 years, 4.06 ERA, 1.275 WHIP, 110 ERA+, 2.67 K/BB, 3.84 FIP, 15.0 bWAR

Better K/BB for Wells, nothing else.

I still remember Wells best as the dude who threw the ball into left field because he didn’t want to get taken out of the game.

Didn't he have the opposite controversy too, where Cito left him in to get absolutely shelled one game?

Aug. 20, 1992: 4.1 IP, 13 earned runs.

https://tht.fangraphs.com/tht-live/20th-anniversary-david-wells-hung-out-to-dry/

Cito was right to do it!

He’s no longer a Jay - but Stroman continues to tweet stroman things.

And continues.

The source is me. https://t.co/ZGVvuRDV6h

— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) November 27, 2021

Seems to have removed the above tweet. Agent to Stroman: "Shut up!"

well now he's in trouble for liking a tweet where a reporter got called a "wop"
this dude literally cannot stop embarrassing himself online. this has to be having a serious impact on incoming offers at this point.

the best RHP in jays history is…roger clemens

*ducks*

If you think of peak as two years, unquestionably--those were two of the greatest seasons by any post-war pitcher anywhere. Obviously the guy was thinking more in terms of players who represent the franchise, though, and Clemens probably had one eye on the Yankees the minute he arrived here.

(The guy who gets lost in the shuffle for the Jays is Carter. Overrated, for sure, and you can't put him ahead of Bautista, but still crucial to Jays' history, beyond even the big HR.)

Is there anybody else ever who did what Clemens did with the Jays--stay for one or two seasons only, both epic (11.9/8.1 bWAR...I guess the second wasn't quite as epic), then move on? There must be.

Last thing, looking over his stats: to show just how much K/BB ratio has been cheapened the past few years, Clemens lifetime ratio is 2.96 (Maddux and Johnson are over 3.00; Pedro is over 4.00). Of the 14 guys who pitched 30+ innings with the Jays last year, all but two exceeded 3.00.

Ray is probably about to do it :,(

Apparently Ray and Matz are both unvaccinated and would not have been allowed to play in Canada next season, which may have made those decisions a little easier for the Blue Jays

Signed with the Cubs, apparently, a few hours before the lockout? And broke the news himself you-know-where.

MLBTR had predicted stroman would land at Five years, $110MM. I am certain he tweeted away at least a year off what he could have gotten.

He's pitched in 29 MLB parks--every park except, yes, Wrigley.

I don't really have any strong feelings about this--pre-COVID, I was getting out to three or four games a year.

https://www.blogto.com/sports_play/2021/12/toronto-blue-jays-rogers-centre-upgrade/

Marcus Stroman won't stop tweeting.

Manclown and his boys need to figure it out and stop ruining the game of baseball. https://t.co/gfQz4ctQas

— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) February 6, 2022

I wonder if other players feel about Twitter Stroman like I felt when Madonna would let loose with some harebrained comment as Obama tried to make his way through a landmine during the 2008 election: please, just disappear for a few months.

(Hoping I can dodge the expected Madonna-love/Obama-antipathy such a post would be greeted with on ILX.)

RIP, Morbs

excellent dave stieb video

(48 minutes...part 1 of 4?!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlviajJlctQ

Will definitely take a look. Jays thread title circa 1985: "Dave Stieb Won't Stop Tweeting."

Jesse Says Relax

Jack Morris or Dave Stieb? https://t.co/CceTcM6f4V

— Jay Jaffe (@jay_jaffe) February 25, 2022

i can't believe that's supposed to be a 4 part series. incredible

lol

>Tom Collins
@TommyCollins99
Feb 25
Replying to
@jay_jaffe
Jack Morris

>Greg Thompson
@gregthompson07
Feb 25
Oh, Tom

Was looking for a famous birthday today to talk about on a supply job, and it's Joe Carter's 62nd.

All these rumours about Freeman are crazy. It makes such little sense. I doubt he’d want to DH full time - and moving Vlad back to 3b would be crazy. He’d be a great player to have if we didn’t already have an all star 1b and didn’t have needs elsewhere (3b/2b) that needed addressing.
Maybe they don’t want to give up the farm for Chapman, but is Bryant really that bad of a signing for 3b? Is Story or Correa as a 2b or SS and siding Bo over and then letting our spare parts play 3rd until (if) Groshans or Martinez are ready not a better option / use of money?

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/blue-jays-agree-on-contracts-for-vladimir-guerrero-jr-10-others-002410791.html

Vlad gets $7.9 million for one year. Not sure how that compares historically--going into his fourth year at 23, coming off an epic season--but I'm glad they avoided arbitration, never a good thing for future negotiations.

Fucking Pete Walker got a DUI last night. Along with doing like double the speed limit.
Fucking selfish asshole. He’s worked all kids of magic with our staff, past and present and now he fucking risks his job because he’s too fucking unless to call an Uber?!

OK what's the new thread named, cuz we need a new one

2022 Toronto Blue Jays - Chappy Bird Friends

not that though X^D

why did they take berrios out, i don't have sound on

Because of all the base runners.

This has been quite the game so far!

love the opening day bullpen game, very 2020s

Jays came back from down 7, Raptors came back from down 24.

raptors? it's like i don't even know you

I'm very indiscriminate in my bandwagonism--Leafs too right now.

(tbf i don't actually know you and also please carry on! auston matthews is awesome)

Oh Clem - I found all the fridge magnate calendars I had told you about! From 2006 (calendar has pics from the Burnett and Ryan signings lol) to 2014 with a couple years missing and then a Reds calendar too somehow.

Great--would still love to get them in a trade, will message you.

Those were two fine games, despite the starters not doing so great

pic.twitter.com/rjlw3z5J9o

— No Context Blue Jays (@No_Context_Jays) April 9, 2022

AL Cy Young obviously just a formality this year...Don't think I appreciated how really good Manoah was last year--should have finished much higher than 8th for ROY (maybe fourth).

bleacher report had his as their darkhorse Cy winner!!

This should have been obvious, but it made me laugh anyway: start to google "Vladimir," and auto-correct fills in Putin first, Vladdy second. Sorry, famous Russian writer, your time has passed.

VLAD

what a game

Before the game today, Buck Martinez announced he had cancer (didn't specify what kind) and would be off the broadcasts for a while.

I placed a $100 bet today online that Manoah would win the Cy Young. The payout would be $1,600...If I had any nerve, I would have bet $1,000, but I don't and I didn't.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/blue-jays-broadcaster-buck-martinez-leaving-tv-booth-following-cancer-diagnosis-1.5864738

Ya, sad news about Buck. Wishing him the best, and also your $100 bet!! (I love Alek, but if I had to bet on a young arm winning the Cy, I’d go with McClanahan)

… tho Manoah will get more innings and more shots at QS

The odds were so good; it's probably close to unheard of to get 16-1 on a guy who was actually picked by a name publication to win (was it Bleacher Report?).

I may have posted about this before, but I've been amazed at times by Buck's ability to call a play or an outcome in advance and have it turn out exactly as he predicted (and not make a big deal of it afterwards). I know he's got the usual array of flaws, but I think he does have a good understanding of the game.

Sad news about Buck.

Does anybody know what were the preseason odds on Ray winning the CY last year? I'm trying to get some perspective on this 16-1 number for Manoah.

Ya, bleacher report was the “publication”!

My guess is the odds on Ray winning were much longer than that. The difference to me, though, is that Ray kind of came out of the blue; he was coming off a season where he only pitched 50 innings (injury? can't remember) and had been traded to a new league. He had a very good 2017, but that was three years ago. Manoah was excellent in 2021, and might have won ROY with more innings--he feels like a legitimate candidate, whereas I don't know if anyone was talking up Ray last spring. Here are the current odds from one site:

https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/mlb/cy-young-odds/

This is the first time I've paid attention to this, so it's just intuition and guess work--wasn't even on my radar until I heard those odds the radio yesterday, and my brother-in-law knew how to place the bet.

Found their 2021 Cy Young chart:

https://www.sportsbettingdime.com/mlb/2021-cy-young-odds/

If I'm reading it correctly, Ray isn't even listed till midway through the season.

Duh--if you hover your cursor over the 2021 graph, you can get the odds on a given day. So on July 28, Robbie Ray was +4750, almost three times the +1600 I got with Manoah. Going back to his game logs for 2021, Ray's record as of July 27 (he started against the Red Sox on July 28):

8-5, 3.12, 112.1 IP, 91 hits, 142 K, 27 BB

Cole's record on July 27:

10-5, 2.74, 125 IP, 95 hits, 166 K, 26 BB

Cole has a definite edge, but that seems reasonably close--betting $100 at that point and getting a potential 47-1 payoff definitely a better bet than what I just made. (I can't remember who else was contending at that point...I never took Ohtani that serious as a Cy Young contender because of his IP.) But betting Ray in mid-April, no matter what the odds, I think I made the better bet. Ray the rest of the way in 2021:

5-2, 2.44, 81 IP, 59 hits, 106 K, 25 BB

My first-ever post about a tag, I think: the one that Chapman just made was brilliant.

is a new golden era for blue jays fans? team seems like they could be in the WS, and also a ton of fun players!

sorry for typos there, but you get the gist

It’s ok. We’re all very excited.

I know things even out, but today's loss was bad--they should have scored more than one in the top of the 10th.

i was a little disappointed at the end there, but i had to remember: I'd already kind of written off the game before the comeback, they still took the series and Romano's save streak was fucking epic.

I was skeptical of Gausman before the season, just because he was a guy who seemed to come out of nowhere at the age of 30. I see now he had a couple of pretty good season with the Orioles. Anyway, he's looked really impressive. Everything's down around the knees. Still hasn't walked a batter over 24.2 innings.

he's looked amazing so far. have to say better than i expected.

God I love Manoah starts.

Was down there today--no Vlad, but very exciting.

I was glad they sent him out for the seventh. First of all, he just doesn't seem like a six-inning starter: he's a horse, very much in the Clemens mode. I also have a proprietary interest because of the bet I made. Snell won a Cy pitching six-innings, but almost all winners, I think, even recent ones, pitch deeper into games than that.

Weird to see the Jays on the wrong end of their Pythagorean projection. The 2015 (underperformed by 9 games), 2016 (2 games), and 2021 (8 games) teams--last two playoff teams, plus last year's near-miss--were all better than their records. With the 2015 and 2021 teams, it was like you were waiting around all season for them to catch up with their run differential. This year's team is now 8-2 in one-run games and 14-8 overall, even though they've scored and given up 89.

We're either due to win some blowouts or lose some close ones.

Or both. I feel like we’re due for both. Hopefully more blowouts.

Gausman (finished for the day) is up to 31.1 walkless innings--they had a graphic up showing that he's getting close to longest stretch to start a season for the past decade or so.

More:

In 31 2/3 innings this season, Gausman has yet to allow a single walk or home run. This puts him in extremely rare company, joining only Cy Young as the only starters in the World Series era (since 1903) to begin a season with five consecutive outings of no walks and no home runs allowed (minimum 20 innings total).

Posnanski post today:

When the Blue Jays signed the 31-year-old Gausman, they seemed to be taking a pretty big chance. Gausman had once been a mega-prospect with the Baltimore Orioles, but even the most casual of baseball fans know that being a mega-pitching-prospect with the Baltimore Orioles is not unlike being the Spinal Tap drummer.

...or like being dubbed "Infrastructure Week"; that would have worked too.

Ric Parnell, our drummer in This is Spinal Tap, passed away today. No one ever rocked harder.

— Harry Shearer (@theharryshearer) May 2, 2022

Bad timing by Joe, bad timing by me.

Two great starts wasted--disappointing.

(I was thinking about a situation where, late September, it's Manoah and Gausman battling for the Cy Young, and the Jays are in a close pennant race...I might have to root for the Jays winning 10-9 whenever Gausman starts.)

Gausman gave up a walk today--get rid of him.

And the team has yet to bounce back from that walk

Damn you, Pythagoras--damn you to hell!

About to lose again; on the cusp of .500.

Ya. I guess that whole “winning a lot of one-run games” situation cleared itself up.

Even adjusting for the league-wide drop in offense, their hitting has been a major disappointment. Springer, one big game from Vlad, and really that's about it.

And at the same time our pitchers are complaining about how the latest balls feel. I’m sort of confused on that one. Either offence is down, or the new balls suck for pitchers.

In other news, the jays Single A team struck out 24 guys last night.

Can't believe they pulled that one out--they had blown a lead and were down 9-6 when I left for tennis. Can't remember when they last swept a four-game series.

I was just getting updates on my phone and it sounded like an insane affair. Only two innings where no runs scored. Neither starter went beyond the 3rd. The lead in the game was lost more times than I can figure out!
What a batshit first sweep of the season for them.

I'm sure there are reasons having to do with economics or service-time or who knows what, but I'm baffled as to why the Jays carry Bradley Zimmer. He's seems like the very definition of why the concept of "replacement player" was developed. And he's into his sixth season of essentially no value.

i think it's just that our OF is always banged up somehow and I don't think we have any real OF prospects in AAA (outside of one AAAA dude that is doing well in Buffalo). even Tapia, who has flashes of playableness (him stretching a single into a double last night was amazing), is getting more time than i think is warranted.

I'm sure I'm looking at this in a very simplistic way, but looking at the Bisons' roster, couldn't you bring up either Nathan Lukes (27) or Logan Warmoth (26)? I don't know the first thing about either guy, but looking at their stats, they couldn't do any worse than Zimmer, and I have to believe they'd be an improvement. Neither one's ever had a major-league AB--why not see what one of them can do?

he's a former first-rounder and top-30 prospect; maybe the jays thought they could fix him and gambled on him as a fifth outfielder? since they obviously haven't, it seems long past time to cut bait. i guess he's solid in the field at least

Lukes feels like a AAAA fluke, they had him up briefly – and i don't think his glove is all that great – which is the main thing Zimmer has going for him with the Jays.

A friend and I left the game today with the Jays down 8-3 after eight. In the bottom of the inning, as we listened in the car, a three-run homer made it 8-6, someone walked, there was a botched double-play, and Bichette went to 2-0; if he'd walked, Guerrero would have come up with two outs, two on, and a chance to walk it off. I was of course rooting for just that, but a tiny part of me was thinking, "God, do ever want to admit you left such a game?"

Bichette grounded out.

I think Manoah would finish second to Verlander in a Cy Young vote today, but it's close. (Gausman still leads on Fangraphs, but he's taken a step back in more traditional Cy Young-type metrics. Cortes-Cortes-what-a-Yankee is in there too.)

In other big Jays news, we-can't-find-a-replacement Bradley Zimmer now hitting .103, with a OBP of .212 and a slugging percentage somewhere in between.

His glove looks so good out there, but the bat is brutal. Problem is, I feel like Tapia isn’t good enough to be in CF when Springer needs a break.

Jesus. Both fangraphs and reference have Tapia as having a worse WAR than Zimmer despite hitting better.

I know it's silly for me to rail against the 24th or 25th guy on the roster, but every time he's at bat, I wince--it's like we still have the pitcher spot locked in.

and as if by example, Tapia makes a couple mistakes in the outfield – completely cancelling out the home run he hit.

another error for Tapia. ffs

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-top-prospect-gabriel-moreno-joining-team-for-series-against-tigers/

I know I should know all about him, but as usual, I don't--his minor-league stats are very impressive across the board. I was confused at first--another catcher, with the two we have playing so well?--but didn't realize Jansen's out again.

ya – Jano took a pitch to his hand. he seemed ok at first – but went to the DL the next day.
I think Moreno still has a few things that need work (framing)(mainly framing, aparently) and I have no idea why he hasn't hot for power in AAA, but i'm not so concerned about that - dude was still *hitting*.
was able to add him in my local fantasy league. i suspect this will just be a cup of coffee until Jano is back, but I'm excited.

Van Halen's "Hot for Power"--love that song.

Baseball may be the driving force of Montoyo’s life, but music has been the underlying beat. His stadium office is cluttered with bongos, congas, timbales, maracas and records. He plays salsa music to relax before games. And sometimes, he spends weekends during the season accompanying bands in night clubs with a güiro, an instrument which produces sound by rubbing a stick against a notched hollow gourd.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/10/sports/baseball/charlie-montoyo-blue-jays-salsa.html

anyone who plays the güiro, I love them

he's played a few times at a place literally around the corner from me!

Three months of playing out the string to nab a wild card spot I guess.

I think so, yes...Obviously, Manoah's been fantastic, and yesterday wasn't exactly a disaster--one pitch did him in, and we was indeed getting a little squeezed on calls.

Having said that, he was doing one thing that always frustrates me with any pitcher: throwing chase pitches on 1-2 counts that weren't even close. I know he wanted them to be closer, which is the whole point--I understand that--but is there a rule now that you can't go right after someone on a 1-2 count? It's like you take a pitcher's count and automatically turn it into a hitter's count (I'd say 2-2 favours the hitter slightly, because he knows you don't want to go full, especially with runners on base).

("he was"--I'm not that much of a diehard, or that grammatically sloppy)

I certainly don’t regret skipping these games due to my anxiety about them

I bailed yesterday immediately after the hit (and I was nervous less from a team standpoint--as NoTime says, we're not catching New York--than having to do with my Cy Young bet, where a couple of bad starts can be fatal).

Anyway, shows how much I know: I looked up Manoah's career splits, and the difference between 1-2 and 2-2 is miniscule (both involve ~110 PA):

1-2: .129/.143/.186
2-2: .135/.150/.164

That's just when the next pitch produces an out or hit/HB/etc., mind you; in general, as you would expect, he's much better when ahead on the count than when neutral:

ahead: .150/.173/.241
neutral: .230/.257/.314

So throw a strike, see what happens.

Well today went better. I was brave enough to have updates turned

… on!

holy shit i just watched the highlights from this game – wtf did i miss?!

Sounds crazy, I know, but: a friend and I were talking about the logic of trading Kirk. Three catchers are a nice luxury, but they need a starter. You don't trade Moreno, Jansen's trade value is probably minimal, and Kirk's is at a peak.

it's the biggest position of depth they have. i guess the idea is to land another starter to take Ryu's place?

Ryu was pitching so poorly, Stripling probably doesn't give up much, but it's the ripple effect--Stripling was doing really well as a set-up guy, which is more where he belongs. I'd hate to give up Kirk, believe me, but I think he could be part of a deal that lands a solid third or fourth starter.

There are almost no decent hitting catchers in the AL, there has to be a better option than trading Kirk.

It may be moot unless they're a viable contender (theoretically, just getting into the playoffs is enough in baseball, but they're really up and down right now). I don't know who else they have who's tradeable and might actually fetch something. Maybe they can ride it out with three catchers.

https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/the-blue-jays-have-a-catcher-dilemma-234201961.html

Far from a perfect analogy--young, All-Star level catchers are obviously harder to come by than the same at first base--but this seems a little like when they had McGriff and Olerud at first base/DH in 1990. I don't think you could ever engineer the kind of blockbuster trade they did back then today, but hard as it was to part with McGriff, they did.

horrible trivia question:

name the top hitting catcher in baseball right now. hint: the last name starts with "C" and ends with "S"

answer:

Willson Contreras (168 wRC+, just above William Contreras 154 wRC+). very trick-like question because Willson has only appeared in 30 games, 114 PAs, about half of William)

TSN had a guy from The Athletic talking about the Jays' catcher situation tonight. He said they absolutely won't trade either Kirk or Moreno, Jansen maybe. I'm all for it--I don't want to lose Kirk--I just wonder what they can realistically get for Jansen. He's a 27-year-old, injury-prone backup catcher, pretty good power, lifetime average of .213.

i doubt they can get a *lot* for jansen, but probably more right now than ever. he's cheap and still has years and minor league options left

houston in particular is in dire need, and the asking price to rent willson is no doubt astronomical

The Yankees have thrown everything out of whack. In a normal year, the Jays (39-30 after today) would probably be within four or five games out of first. I don't know if they desperately need pitching, or if a little more pitching would just help, which is the case with everybody, all the time.

same with boston. either team would be in first in the AL or NL central.

well they’re almost certainly going to make the playoffs and almost certainly not going to catch the yankees. what do teams need to win short series? these days the answer seems to be More Relievers

and maybe terrance gore

Weird--until I'm reminded, I completely forget that the Blue Jays were once in the same division as the Brewers.

most HRs of all-time hit against Brewers pitching? Reggie Jackson.

Had to check--they moved to the AL Central in '94, then to the NL in '98. They were actually runner-up to the Jays in '92, four back, and the '87 team was a big part of the Jays' collapse at the end.

I remember the brewers were always a pain in the ass for the jays

There was a moment in tonight's game where Guerrero and Tellez were clowning around at first base, Kirk was coming to the plate (just before his HR), and Manoah was in the dugout, still in the game. It felt like all that was missing was Lumpy Rutherford.

1) Pretty clearly, they won't be trading Kirk--he just gets better and better, and is now hitting .320 with power.

2) Pretty clearly, they desperately need pitching.

No idea what they should do.

It’s more than a little concerning how bad Berrios and Kikuchi have been.

Perfect position for tonight: blowout win in the first game, blown lead and then come-from-behind win in the second, and their (non-Fangraphs, anyway) ace going tonight. Foot on the throat, primed for a sweep. But--based on just gut feeling, and knowing it's hard to sweep any series, especially against a good team--the Jays seem to squander these opportunities time and time again.

I didn’t realize Boston’s closer is a leading mind in the medical field and thus, didn’t come north of the border with his teammates. Lol.
Whatever happens today they’re going to have to do it without their best reliever (also I will be at the game!)

Manoah again, lucky you. I was thinking last night about how angry management--and maybe the whole team--must have been at Houck. At a certain point, your "principled decision"--above and beyond how dumb it is from a personal standpoint--really affects the entire team.

"This is our house!"

https://www.mlb.com/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-gives-blue-jays-walk-off-win

New bullpen acquisition Sergio Romo got in a scoreless inning today in a blowout. Hope he can help, but the recent past isn't promising.

He certainly looks at home in the dugout! I’m liking Max Castillo guy so far. Didn’t think he had quite the stuff for a MLB starter - but I love him for the pen!

So - really tough two games today, but looks like the first base coach, Budziski, got some really bad news during the game, with him and Montoyo leaving part way in.
Hope Mark is ok, whatever happened.

Statement from the Toronto Blue Jays: pic.twitter.com/hD2opEv1l3

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 3, 2022

Still not sure of specifics - but sounds like parents worst nightmare kind of thing. Just terrible.

Three months of playing out the string to nab a wild card spot I guess.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Sunday, June 19, 2022

The good old days--now it's a three-month dogfight.

It’s amazing how our rotation went from being one of the best in the AL to start the season, to being a dumpster fire.

The doubleheader along with zero off days has really fucked us too. And when I think on it, it pisses me off that the lockout and owners greed is what got us here. They played stupid fucking games all the way into spring training - and then didn’t like having to lose some revenue because their lockout ate into the regular season - so they punish the players for it with a fucking brutal schedule.

Just barely hanging on for my Cy Young bet. I was looking for the Jays to score some runs on McClanahan, and for Manoah to get back on track against Oakland. Instead, the opposite.

The panic button beckons.

If the fucking Orioles overtake us…

welp

i believe cito gaston is available

Ha! Guessed what your post meant right away. Wondering if they'll go after Maddon.

Obviously upper-management monitors the Blue Jays Nation site very closely.

https://bluejaysnation.com/2022/07/10/its-time-to-fire-charlie-montoyo-next-week/

i feel like the shine is kind of off maddon (although the angels have been drastically worse since firing him)

John Schneider, bench coach...okay, I'll admit it, the name didn't register with me at all, even though he's been here for three years.

The Brewers and Jason Alexander can have their Seinfeld-related jokes; we get The Dukes of Hazzard.

Have already heard everyone's favourite--"You can't fire the players"--two or three times.

True. But you could start by firing Bradley Zimmer, who now sports an OPS+ of 32.

(Yes, I realize that's a tiny piece of the puzzle, and that I'm fixated on this. But honestly, even as a decent defensive sub, is it that hard to find a guy who can catch the baseball and provide something approaching replacement-level offense?)

would normally complain that you can't actually expect any real change simply by elevating the bench coach, but the experience of phil nevin instigating brawls at least suggests the possibility

it's weird when you think about it, that they decided that "ahh, whoever we got lying around... Schneider, i guess" > Montoyo for the remainder of the season.
i don't think anyone is surprised. after that skid, something had to change.
and re: Zimmer, is his WAR still better than Tapia's?!

It is--0.0 to -0.8.

Tapia's offensive numbers, though far from spectacular, are much better than Zimmer's. (So are Charlie Brown's.) You watch much more than I do--is Tapia that awful on defense?

I'm sure this was a story when he got hired, but I never realized till today that Charlie Montoyo was a career .400 hitter in the big leagues.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/montoch01.shtml

Seriously, though, why didn't he get more of a chance in the majors? He had a .404 career OBA across 4,000+ PA.

(Minor-league PA, that is.)

Oh wow. He was an OBP god about a decade before anyone cared!

Embarrassing that they lost this one

Save some for the rest of the season, guys.

I switched over to something else when I took a nap: it was 3-0 at the time. Woke up, 17-3. Just went out for coffee, 27-3 when I got back.

i opened with a nap too, but my gf got me after the inside the park grand slam.
so i've seen them score a few so far!

will the modern record fall tonight?!

also: do you not plan on sleeping tonight?!

Wow that Tapia inside the park home run—haven’t seen a CF dramatically misjudge a fly ball like that in a long time

Retirement: "naps," "sleep," "tonight," these words lose all meaning.

I’m at the @RedSox @BlueJays game.
Between innings, a guy proposed to his girlfriend, she said yes, and the stadium dj played, “We Fell in Love in a Hopeless Place.”

— Marc Evan Jackson (@MarcEvanJackson) July 23, 2022

Every Jays starter had at least two hits and one run. First time for the franchise--probably been done before.

getting flashbacks to my softball league rn

(we were the Red Sox, always the fuckin Red Sox)

Jays are now a game under their Pythagorean projection.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. making fruit cocktails during last night’s 28-5 win over the Red Sox 😂

(📸: @ArashMadani) pic.twitter.com/sf3OP57Tte

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 23, 2022

Get the feeling that photo might be on Boston's locker-room wall today.

(I don't know--maybe my mind's still on 1978 time.)

Toronto's secret weapon this season: COVID vaccination laws. Arenado and Goldschmidt won't play in the series this week.

Maybe this is the year all these covid restrictions wind up as a net positive.
It still sucks that all these amateur virologists are limiting what players they can sign/trade for.

I was never his biggest fan - but it’s great to have buck back in the booth.

Not sure if there's a gap or two in there, but he's been with the franchise as a player/manager/broadcaster for four decades.

(Schneider) is the first manager to have a run differential of +50 or better over his first nine career games since Jim Price posted a +63 for the New York Gothams in 1884.

I guess you really can program a computer to figure out anything.

https://www.mlb.com/news/george-springer-vladimir-guerrero-jr-lead-blue-jays-to-win

Obviously the Jays don't "have to" do anything against Detroit--it's still July. But I'll be very disappointed if they don't win at least three out of four. Their starting pitching is so iffy these days, it feels like they have to open up a cushion for the wild-card.

Opening the series with Kikuchi makes this less easy than one might think.

Good start...but yeah, my last post was kind of tautological: the very reason they might not win three out of four is their starting pitching is so iffy these days.

was a good ball game, tigers kept it close!

Hey, we got some new bodies! Bass and Pop--we're starting a new indie label or something.

https://www.mlb.com/news/blue-jays-anthony-bass-zach-pop-trade

ha ha! glad they did *something*
Bass didn't blow me away his first stint here and Pop looks very interesting. shame we gave up on Groshans tho, but he really wasn't looking good at all in AAA.

man - we didn't even talk about the other nutty trades the jays made!

anyways - the play at the plate today. i watched the replay and though sanchez was indeed blocking the plate the way he threw his leg down... but looks like a lot of people thought the replay office got it wrong?!

Seemed to be blocking the path to me, but I don't know the exact wording of the rule.

Second great start in a row from Gausman. I don't know if my 35-year-old memory can be trusted, but he reminds me of Stieb: compact motion, keeps it low, ball darts all over the place.

I thought the catcher can block the plate if he needs to make a play on the ball? He can't exactly move out of the path of the ball if he needs to make a catch. And the knee only went down after he had the ball. I thought the Twins were robbed but OTOH who cares Jays win!!

Jays are actually within 10 of the Yankees, first time since June 15.

man, i just spent a while looking at diagrams and rules etc.

this call, either way, is definitely in a grey area where it could go either way.

Whit admitted he decided to go straight into Sanchez instead of sliding around because he felt Sanchez was getting overly cute with the rules and had, in this case, violated it.
Sanchez had apparently admitted in the past, he intentionally pushed the limits of where he could plant his feet.

Baldelli was upset because the play had often gone the other way. not like the umps could have done anything about it. tho, i guess a review of a similar play in Pittsburg had also ruled the same.

what looks clear to me was that the ball was coming to sanchez in fair territory, he'd set-up in fair territory – but he had actually started moving to block Merrifield before he caught the ball and had no need to move in that direction to make the catch.

i honestly don't know if I should give Whit credit for knowing he was, technically, on the right side of the rules here and possibly also knowing sanchez like to push the limits of where and when he could move to block the plate – of if he just got incredibly fucking lucky expecting the review office in new york to rule in his favour.

john schneider looks like alejandro kirk's dad

and then there's manoah. dear god the big portly boys i'm looking at

Not sure if I should be excited about Jackie Bradley Jr. or not. Good defender, obviously, but geez, some of those batting averages...OPS+ of 85 for his career.

very much a lateral move out there vs Zimmer

there's a decent chance you guys are about to get TJ McFarland'd. DFA'd yesterday, and he's been awful this year. But he was decent last year, and the blue jays do not have a left handed reliever. Neither do the Mariners, so...good luck