Let's Bitch About Our Stupid, Annoying Baseball Team: the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays Thread

Find myself not caring all that much:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-guerrero-jr-unable-to-reach-deal-ahead-of-arbitration-deadline/

Didn't know there was Vlad Jr. Jr.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/report-mets-sign-16-year-old-prospect-vladi-miguel-guerrero/

Not a video game guy, but yeah, there might have been a better choice or two (or 40)

https://www.sportskeeda.com/baseball/news-you-re-kidding-me-so-many-better-options-fans-left-stunned-mlb-the-show-announces-vladimir-guerrero-jr-cover-athlete

I have no strong feeling towards Justin Turner one way or the other.

remember when they used to pick a different player for the canadian version of the show? i sure do. americans had miggy but we had dang ol' brett lawrie on the show 14 cover

Vlad wins:

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/vladimir-guerrero-jr-wins-record-19-9m-arbitration-hearing-against-toronto-blue-jays-1.2072949

xp ha, yeah! i assumed this was the Canadian cover. I don't think he's a bad pick at all though. Dude is primed to explode imo, if he can avoid the curse of The Show cover athlete (which i'll readily blame Vlad's underwhelming 24 season on)

I used to follow Vladdy on Instagram and he would play The Show after games so it’s nice to have someone who plays the game on the cover. He’s an attention-getting high profile player. It’s fine.

The Athletic gives Toronto's offseason a D

The most memorable part of the Blue Jays’ offseason was a tweet declaring who was decidedly NOT in Toronto (nor headed there, at the moment or eventually). Overall, the Jays’ winter suffered from expectations heightened by their pursuits of Shohei Ohtani or Juan Soto. In a vacuum, bringing back Kevin Kiermaier and bringing in Justin Turner are fine moves; in this vacuum, they leave a kind of … void.

Whereas Alek Manoah’s probably going to be better than his nightmarish 2023, Toronto shouldn’t count on 128 starts from the other four members of their likely rotation. Yariel Rodriguez, who excelled in Japan following a shift to the bullpen, could be a candidate for more innings here.

Offensively, Toronto is hunting rebounds across its lineup, especially from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. But whatever positive regressions accrue there may be mitigated by the loss of Matt Chapman at third, with the light-hitting Isiah Kiner-Falefa (.655 OPS over the last three seasons) slated for significant time on the infield. As with Tampa Bay, Toronto’s offseason feels underwhelmingly unimaginative. In an American League without a behemoth like the Dodgers, that’s a missed opportunity to position yourself nearer to the top.

It's too early to say, obviously. I've had a resentment rattling around in my head about how they've proven they have $600M to play with (yes, Ohtani is a special case), so go land a big one! every contract is going to be terrible, let's be real. it's wait-and-see rn tho

Another utility infielder:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-agree-to-deal-with-veteran-escobar-adding-versatile-infielder/

We're going to lead the league in...scrappiness.

scrappiness

This is very exciting: I now live about a 15-minute walk from Davis Schneider's uniform, in case I'm ever seized by a sudden urge to see it.

Davis Schneider’s uniform from his MLB debut is going to be featured in the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame.
https://t.co/d3URSe64NY

— Jays Journal (@JaysJournal) February 17, 2024

Not exactly news, I know:

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2024/02/hyun-jin-ryu-discussing-contract-with-kbos-hanwha-eagles.html

He’s signed now, I saw

Ah, wrong link--I meant to post about his signing. I don't know if he'll ever make it back--he pitched decently last year, but he's just shy of 37.

Might have decided to cash in and move close to home. Can’t blame him

FB teaser so I'd click: "Check out Alek Manoah's motto for 2024." I clicked, and his new motto is "They don't give out World Series trophies in Triple-A."

I was rooting for "Shut the fuck up."

did he confirm whether or not they give em out in Complex League? 😉

Alex Manoah 2024 ST debut:

IP: 1.2
H: 3
R: 4
ER: 4
BB: 1
K: 0
HRA: 0
XBHA: 2
HBP: Torkelson (by Manoah); Canha (by Manoah); Kelly, C (by Manoah)
ERA: 21.60
WHIP (inc. HBP): 4.20

Yikes. We may have a cerified case of Steve Blass Syndrome here.

Not surprised at all by this outcome

Incredible article about the Ohtani flight tracker and the Blue Jays. Half the roster was at Manoah’s wedding tracking the flight on the golf course!

ROMANO: “I remember where it was. We were sitting by the pool, actually. I was kind of on my phone. And then I was like, ‘NO WAYYYY.’ And then I was telling all the boys. … I was like, ‘Oh, he’s headed there. He’s got to be signing with us.’ So we were all really, really pumped up about it.”

But there were also 18 holes of golf to play. So Romano, Kevin Gausman, Tim Mayza and Danny Jansen hopped in their cart for one of the most distracted rounds of golf ever played.

GAUSMAN: “I remember somebody said, ‘How about this whole Ohtani thing?’ And I was, like, ‘What?’ What do you mean?’ But as we were playing golf, it just got crazier and crazier.”

THE ATHLETIC (TO JORDAN ROMANO): “What about the story where Kikuchi had an entire restaurant reserved for dinner with Ohtani that night? Did you try to confirm that? Did you even question whether Kikuchi would be in Toronto in December?”

ROMANO: “No, because I knew he was. So that made sense. Because I knew he was working out in Toronto. I even knew the place he was working out at. So that was just another piece that just felt like: This is getting real.”

TA: “And since you were at this wedding in Puerto Rico, there was no reason for you to think: ‘Why wouldn’t he have invited me to dinner?’”

ROMANO: “Exactly.”

But not all of Kikuchi’s teammates were content to assume it must be true. Like Bo Bichette, for instance. He went right to the source.

TA: “Did you ever ask anybody, like Ross Atkins or Mark Shapiro, if any of this was true? Or Kikuchi, who supposedly rented out that restaurant?”

BICHETTE: “I talked to Kikuchi a little bit about it, yeah. So I kind of knew that the rumors probably weren’t true when he texted me and said: ‘I don’t know what’s going on.’ I figured he would know.”

Been trying to formulate a joke related to Manoah's wedding; it would help if he were the one throwing the bouquet.

I can’t think of one either, so here’s a nice photo of the lads at the wedding reception
https://i.postimg.cc/3R71qX96/IMG-6144.jpg

Gausman, Manoah, Espinal, Romano; far left is Mike on my bowling team; far right, blanking out.

Danny Jansen?

Jansen

Vlad's birthday yesterday:

https://jaysjournal.com/posts/a-look-at-vladdys-career-accomplishments-as-he-turns-25

Their conclusion: "It's easy to forget how young Guerrero still is considering how long he's been around, but it's important to remember what he has done for this team and that his best years are still ahead of him."

My conclusion: "There's 2021, and then there's everything else."

To be fair, one day before Bryce Harper's 26th birthday, I would have summed up his career exactly the same--there was 2015, and then there was everything else. So I know there's lots of time to turn things around. Whether that happens or not--and if it does, whether or not it hpapens in Toronto--nobody knows.

Votto homers off Wheeler on the first pitch he sees as a Jay. Rolls ankle on a bat immediately afterwards, leaves game

(as previously reported in the Votto thread)

I haven't a clue what Santiago Espinal is worth, but this is what we got:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=mcelva000chr#

Hasn't pitched in the majors yet.

the main thing, i think, is he doesn't need to be on the 40 man. inning eater at best if he makes the bigs, by the looks of it.

Something else fell through for tomorrow, so think I'll watch the opener at the Canadian HOF. They're going to be showing every Friday game there for the rest of the season.

Going to leftfield with the girlfriend to watch. Screw work and making money!

Varsho Cove, I think they call it.

Watched the first six innings at the (Canadian) HOF, left because their feed was kind of choppy. I had a cardboard stand-up of Fergie Jenkins looking over my right shoulder the whole time. About 30 people were there.

They flashed a graphic of Berrios's GS the last five years (excepting the COVID season):

2018 - 32
2019 - 32
2021 - 32
2022 - 32
2023 - 32

Not as amazing as Khris ".247" Davis's streak--GS is a lot more predictable than BA, plus the COVID year intrudes--but still eye-opening. Apparently Berrios has never missed a start in his career.

Not watching--down on them already!--but Turner has a single/double/HR is his first three AB...ah, just walked. Should get one more AB, but hasn't had a triple since 2020.

Jays are getting n__-h__ by Benny Blanco from the Bronx, a 30-year-old making his eighth major league start and with a career ERA near 5.00.

(My sourness and sarcasm is 100% directed at the Jays. His name is Ronel Blanco, and obviously a great story.)

He's thrown 81 pitches through 7, has a 10-0 lead; who knows, but hope they give him one baserunner.

Whoah--10 pitches, 1-2-3. Kiner-Falefa, Biggio, and Springer left to go. (He walked one earlier in the game, so back to Springer.)

One.

Two! Jesus, this is fast.

Did it! CG no-hitter. Almost got in under 100 pitches but walked Springer on a full count. Even exciting on a laptop.

Just seeing the highlights now. Great play by Abreu in the 9th.

Third game in five where the Jays have been hapless at bat. Even with their big first game, now hitting .184 as a team.

Well todays (technically yesterdays) went much better. Glad I stuck around until the end

Looks like their haplessosity was in effect for most of the game, till Groucho took charge, but a win is a win is a win. Hope Berrios keeps it up; a Cy contender would be something to root for if the team meanders.

Pathetic. Now hitting .176 as a team.

It turns out that the big off-season strategy to overhaul the offense by signing every utility infielder on the market wasn't such a bright idea.

Now I get it: we've built our offense around wild pitches and passed balls.

I had to stop by the (Canadian) HOF for a minute today, and parked in the lot were two Blue Jay Irrigation trucks--there are five baseball diamonds there, so obviously they were doing some work. When I went inside, Scott, the guy who runs the hall, was there.

Me: "Blue Jay Irrigation--seriously?"
Scott: "Yes--and Joe Carter runs it. Not that one, a different Joe Carter."

Not quite, but still amazing. From their website:

In 1986 my father incorporated as Blue Jay Sprinkler Systems Inc. He dropped the landscape and lawn care and became strictly an irrigation company. My father was never one to back down from a challenge. I loved hearing the stories of his first golf install in the early 90’s. This involved him and his salesmen Joe Carter walking the parking lot of the golf course through skids upon skids of pipe stacked sky high...

https://bluejayirrigation.com/

Totally missed Bowden Francis's start yesterday...His last four starts:

4-0, 29 IP, 6 hits (6!), 32 K, 3 BB, 0.62. Is this for real? (I.e., has he turned some kind of corner?)

I am now tuning in just to watch him pitch. This is some Roy Halladay shit.

His WHIP over his last four starts is apparently an MLB record??

Record for 4 starts?

Took a look at Johnny Vander Meer's game log for 1938. His six starts from May 27 to June 15, including the two no-hitters: 6-0, 55 IP (all six were CG, one 10 innings), 17 hits, 35 BB, 24 K, 0.65 ERA. Different game, so the SO/BB ratio is ugly, but the rest, wow.

No doubt Gibson's got a few four-game stretches in his '68 log that were awesome.

Cy Francis won AL Pitcher of the Month yesterday...Saw a graphic that said he set a record for four consecutive starts with a 0.32 ERA. That doesn't make sense to me: Hershiser (59 IP) and Drysdale (58 IP) both had their long scoreless streaks.

Must have been a team record

It wasn't--it was Francis plus four others in the HOF or--Sale--close. The graphic said these were the five lowest in the modern era...maybe by "modern era" they meant this century.

I goofed: lowest WHIP, not ERA.

https://jaysjournal.com/posts/bowden-francis-blue-jays-best-uncovered-gem

now i'm debating going back to MLB:The Show so I can use that undoubtedly beautiful card on some fools

was at the game today and there was a guy behind me telling anyone with ears that he was Addison Barger's uncle; showing off his official batting practice pass with his name (Barger) on it.
did chat a little with him, he'd flown up from Seattle the day before and was *really* enjoying Toronto.

blue jay nation, i deliver news from the cardinals broadcast - jim edmonds just said the first interesting thing i can ever remember him saying. he said that vlad jr was hitting .383 since the all-star break. i double-checked, because jim edmonds is not to be trusted, and he was right! so i ask, "is vlad jr 'back', or maybe he never left?"

happy 500th rbi to him today

He's definitely back (for now), and the Jays are about to pay very dearly for the combination of not getting him locked down earlier and his impressive resurgence.

Berrios is now 16-9, 3.44. A Cy Young ballot only has 5 spots, and you can't make a case for him as one of the AL's five best pitchers, but if a ballot had the 10 spots and MVP ballot has, I think he'd finish in the Top 10. So my $100 bet maybe wasn't all that bad.

Vlad needs 9 hits in 7 games for 200; still has an outside shot at the batting title, but he'd probably need for Witt to go into free-fall.

only need 6 now and is only 7 points behind Witt!

Yeah, I messed that up. Sample scenario:

Vlad goes 11/22 (205/615), finishes with .333.
Witt goes 7/22 (213/639), finishes with .333.

That would be a dead heat. So: if Vlad can have a big finish, he won't need Witt to fall apart at all.

What’s going on here, George Springer

https://streamable.com/o24sf8

That's funny...He hasn't been down there a lot this year; he's just trying to familiarize himself with what a first baseman looks and feels like.

Blue Jays commentary is very knowledgeable - just watching some of last nights game on mlb.tv and selected the sportsnet stream and they were reeling off a load of info about Justin Slaten. I don’t think I’ve heard a single commentary team tell me about his strikeout to walk ratio before.

Jays fans are spoiled in that regard. the broadcast team is fantastic.

Also, the camera angles are so dynamic, you really get up close to players in the on deck circles

In Toronto today, so caught some talk radio. A couple of hosts went off on Atkins because of something I missed the other day: in a press conference, he said that power is "low-hanging fruit." The playoffs are often a HR showcase--this year, for sure--so not great timing from the GM of a team that finished 26th in HR.

(Two years ago I was urging them to commit to defense and pitching--seemed like the Jays were forever waiting around for the HR, and anemic when it didn't come--so I don't even know where I'm at now.)

Nine years ago today:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UdsVO7HaJg

I'll never forget how I felt at that moment. I still watch this clip from time to time, it never loses its power no matter how many times I see it.

I do too, sometimes finding some excuse to play it in class. Pretty sure I'll never experience another baseball moment like it.

https://www.facebook.com/TorontoBlueJaysBaseballFans/videos/1575967349663775

I don't know if that will work--Teoscar talking about Toronto with Hazel Mae.