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

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.

Green made it interesting in the 9th, but the pitching at least came through today.

manoah in dunedin today: 1.2 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 1 HR, 1 HBP, 58 pitches, 26 strikes

"Manoah walked the first four batters he faced, throwing just two strikes in his first 18 pitches."

José Berríos: 18.2 IP, 2-0, 1.45 ERA

rest of team: 75.0 IP, 3-6, 5.98 ERA

From the Canadian HOF FB feed: Davis Schneider's parents at the Hall today.

https://i.postimg.cc/zf6Vy7Mj/davis.jpg

Is he Canadian?!

Just looked him up--no, New Jersey. You don't even need to be Canadian to be inducted, much less displayed.

Ya. He hasn’t reallly done much. Pretty low bar imho !

C'mon, he's probably the game's greatest hitter right now. Career slugging pct.:

1. Schneider - .607
2. Alvarez - .589
3. Judge - .584
4. Trout - .583
5. Ohtani - .559
6. Acuna - .533
7. Stanton - .529
8. Betts - .529
9. Arenado - .526
10. Soto - .525

*minimum 161 career plate appearances

Lol. I guess that’s something

I think playing the Mariners has cured your team.

Painful playoff memories will not fade so easily.

as evidenced by John Schneider being booed as he went to take Berrios out, lol

oh why did i remember that as the M's. all the playoff losses are a sad blur

i think that one was the twins. the bullpen implosion was against the Ms

About 15 minutes before the game today, I messaged my brother-in-law about putting down $100 for me on Berrios to win the Cy, like I did two seasons ago with Manoah. I found an odds tracker that listed him at 58 to 1 on April 10:

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

My brother-in-law messaged back that the bet would be placed at 28 to 1; considered it, but figured it wasn't worth it.

Obviously still a very long shot (and it's not like the Jays are suddenly a good team), but less of one with Cole out of the picture. I may regret this.

(I can still place the bet, of course, but the odds will go down still more after today.)

Murderer's Row:

Springer: .215/.329/.338
Guerrero: .188/.316/.359
Bichette: .217/.277/.333

I like that they all have eight letters...Miracle that they're 9-8--Berrios, Kikuchi, and Turner.

Stroman's second return start in Toronto today, up against Gausman, who's having a miserable year thus far.

Pls no

This would be very silly

It's not all that crazy -- I'm talking about a trade in general, not that one specifically. This year's team doesn't have the talent for a deep playoff run (on paper). Bichette isn't signed to an extension and there's been no serious attempt to sign him long term. The problem is that they'd be selling low if he was traded now. But is next year's team going to make some kind of leap with the players we have now? Unless they add 2-3 impact players via trade or free agency, I don't see it. Then it's better to stock the farm system and build for the future.

there's been no serious attempt to sign him long term

i've heard they've been trying (of course maybe that's just sportsnet telling me that).

i stay well away from speculation on what the FO is doing

can’t trade Bo when his struggling this much. he was huge last 2 seasons.

is there no value in watching an almost-competitive team this year and hope for the best? bc i’d be super bummed to close the window already for prospects where one will halfway work out

they’re 4.5 back of wildcard 3, with KC, Minny, and BOS ahead of us with about 60?% of the season to go and youse have lost all hope? Dr. Frankl has taught me that meaning lies in the redemption arc

The optimum time to trade someone is tricky, obviously--it's exactly when they're playing well enough that you don't want to. I tentatively threw out the idea of trading Kirk at the 2022 AS break, when he was tearing things up:

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...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.

― clemenza, Tuesday, June 21, 2022 9:56 AM

But the outcry if you'd traded him then would have been deafening.

Moreno: will halfway work out for AZ. slap hitter but no one was happy to let home go. now we have Varsh. he may never hit for average but i love that guy. defence is important but the average joe can’t really appreciate it.

but really i just wanna watch what we have. i’ve said here recently: pitching (check), defense (best in the biz - check), offense gets hot at the right time, and that’s a very competitive playoff team. the road there is tough but the texas teams are laying an egg and i’m not overly concerned about the teams ahead of us (re: my last post).

You're a real fan, Francis; more power to you. I'm not anymore. I'm a complainer, a bandwagon-hopper, a (as Ringo would say) a well-known drag.

Oops--George, not Ringo.

i've always been dyed-in-the-wool blue, but sure I'll complain. I mean, the Leafs. I hopped on the Raptorwagon real fast in 2018! However you want to handle this team right now is legitimate, including being a denialist like me! ┬┴┬┴┤ʕ•ᴥ├┬┴┬┴