Your Toronto Blue Jays

[Boges]

Love the acquisition of Navarro.

He wasn't hitting for the White Sox, but he is an immediate upgrade to Thole. This is a weakness filled, and hopefully he can add some leftie hitting.

Shapiro/Atkins have proven to be very underrated management. After wiffing on Storen, they've brought in Upton, Grilli, Benoit, Feldman, Liriano and now Navarro without having to decimate what's left of the farm.

A much needed sweep against the awful Twins on the weekend, but even awful teams in baseball win 4 in 10 games.

[overthere]

On the other hand, why have they been carrying a complete mutt like Thole for so long?

[Guest]

On the other hand, why have they been carrying a complete mutt like Thole for so long?

Apparently, R.A. requested him.

Edited August 29, 2016 by Guest

[overthere]

Apparently, R.A. requested him.

four years ago. Dickey has not done anything that warrants carrying a no hit catcher. And I guess the Jays agree since Thole is now on irrecocable waivers. If Dickey makes the playoff roster, which is unlikeley unless there are injuries, Martin will catch for him.

I think we will see Navarro tonight against Baltimore.

And best to enjoy Dickey in September, we probably won't see him again on the Jays.. He is 41 and UFA after the season.

[Boges]

four years ago. Dickey has not done anything that warrants carrying a no hit catcher. And I guess the Jays agree since Thole is now on irrecocable waivers. If Dickey makes the playoff roster, which is unlikeley unless there are injuries, Martin will catch for him.

I think we will see Navarro tonight against Baltimore.

And best to enjoy Dickey in September, we probably won't see him again on the Jays.. He is 41 and UFA after the season.

Last year Martin suffered while catching for Dickey. Eric Kratz was the best option available it appears.

Unless Thole gets claimed, he'll be back in September when the rosters expand.

Thole or Dickey won't be on a playoff roster.

[Boges]

A series win, on the road, against Baltimore is awesome. They only have to play .500 ball to get 90 wins. Sans a Roadtrip to play Seattle and Anaheim, it's AL East all the way to the finish line.

Aaron Sanchez is back for good now, if you believe what's being said.

Now this 6-man rotation has apparently hurt Marco Estrada, he had 3 bad starts with it but pitched very well on regular rest on Monday. Do they go back to a 5-man rotation and stash Liriano in the bullpen? He's a lefty and everytime I see Cecil, I cringe. Good problem to have I guess.

Edited September 1, 2016 by Boges

[Guest]

A series win, on the road, against Baltimore is awesome. They only have to play .500 ball to get 90 wins. Sans a Roadtrip to play Seattle and Anaheim, it's AL East all the way to the finish line.

Aaron Sanchez is back for good now, if you believe what's being said.

Now this 6-man rotation has apparently hurt Marco Estrada, he had 3 bad starts with it but pitched very well on regular rest on Monday. Do they go back to a 5-man rotation and stash Liriano in the bullpen? He's a lefty and everytime I see Cecil, I cringe. Good problem to have I guess.

I think they will drop down to a 5 man rotation.

[overthere]

A series win, on the road, against Baltimore is awesome. They only have to play .500 ball to get 90 wins. Sans a Roadtrip to play Seattle and Anaheim, it's AL East all the way to the finish line.

Aaron Sanchez is back for good now, if you believe what's being said.

Now this 6-man rotation has apparently hurt Marco Estrada, he had 3 bad starts with it but pitched very well on regular rest on Monday. Do they go back to a 5-man rotation and stash Liriano in the bullpen? He's a lefty and everytime I see Cecil, I cringe. Good problem to have I guess.

I don't see how extra rest at this time in the season could adversely affect anybody in the rotation. It's actually a great and unusual luxury. Estrada may have lost a bit, hitters may have figured out his style more. Stroman too. Neither throws hard enough to get guys out much with the fastball, and if they leave an off speed pitch over the plate....

But you are right, it is not too early to think of the playoffs, but putting Liriano in the pen now has no purpose. The horrific situation the Jays have had with lefties in the pen has not changed all season. Their 40 man includes only Girodo, Loup and Cecil as leftie ptttching. I just cannot imagine the terror of Girodo or Loup late in a playoff game- so it looks like Cecil be default. Scary stuff.

The four man playoff rotation will come down to either Stroman or Liriano, and I reckon the other will for sure go to the pen. Either can do some strong long relief, though long relief usually means you've already lost the game if the starter got pulled early. The real advantage in having them there is either one is an adequate replacement starter if anybody else goes down to injury- Happ, Estrada or Sanchez. Another reason to have one of them there is that pitchers don't often last even 7 innings in the playoffs, the jays have some quality in either Stroman or Liriano. Stroman might be better in the pen because he is more likely to come in and throw strikes, an absolute prerequisite for a reliever.

[Boges]

But with Liriano being a Lefty, it kind of helps out that Cecil/Loupe thing.

Cecil came in last night and came 3 feet from giving up a Home Run to Chris Davis.

I'm hearing that Biagini is their high leverage mid-inning guy from now on. Gibby trusts him in any situation. He should replace Dickey in the starting rotation next season IMHO.

[overthere]

But with Liriano being a Lefty, it kind of helps out that Cecil/Loupe thing.

Cecil came in last night and came 3 feet from giving up a Home Run to Chris Davis.

I'm hearing that Biagini is their high leverage mid-inning guy from now on. Gibby trusts him in any situation. He should replace Dickey in the starting rotation next season IMHO.

It could help, unless the decision is to demote Stroman to the pen. It will depend somewhat on how the two starters do down the stretch- they have to keep one of them. I still think Cecil is going to be on the playoff roster no matter what, even if Liriano goes to the pen.

Cecil has dropped his ERA since the all star break, but he has some really crap numbers overall.

One that is puzzling is that leftie batters are hitting nearly .300 against him! Righties are over .300. That makes it hard to even bring him in to pitch against lefties, one or two batters. There might not be any solution other than going to Liriano in the pen. That makes me uneasy, because he has had control problems and relievers must throw strikes when they come in!

I think Gibbons has another approach altogether: score 10 runs and who cares about a shaky pen?

I agree that Biagini has been a very pleasan surprise and has earned a starter shot next year to replace Dickey. Big cash saving there too. They will lijkely give Feldman a chance too.

[Boges]

Interesting piece in support of John Gibbons. Obviously on Sportsnet so the bias is there.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/shows/tim-and-sid-show/ts-john-gibbons-get-enough-credit-jays-success/

[Guest]

I love Gibbons interviews. It's like listening to Boomhauer:

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

Edited September 2, 2016 by Guest

[overthere]

I reckon it is time for a change in the Jays batting order, to address a big hole: Bautista at leadoff. It just is not working anymore. Today was an example.......1 for 5, 5 runners LOB. I don't know how or why Bautista has lost his mojo, and it doesn't matter. But he has lost it. If he does not hit, he is not an everyday player any more. The Jays have tried many players now at leadoff, and it is apparent that Joey B is not the right guy. So who is? I think it comes to 2 possibles: Travis and a new name, Upton. Upton is a gamble, but I think he would play better if he played more. And he can still steal a base, and he is not worse than Bautistta in the field. Travis just hits much too well to lead off, and he hits for average. He should be hitting second or perhaps fifth/sixth- not ninth.

My new lineup.

Upton LF

Travis 2b

Donaldson 3B

Encarnacion 1B

Martin C

Tulo SS

Navarro/Bautista DH (Navarro to start as C one out of 5), Saunders and Joey can also platoon in RF

Saunders RF

Pillar CF

Our lineup is stagnant. Time to shake it up. I know it won't happen, because Gibbons if horrified at the idea that he might hurt a veterans feelings.

[Boges]

Jays picked a great time to start slumping. The Red Sox have been struggling as well. Can't hide later this week when they visit the Rogers Centre.

[overthere]

There is little to nothing they can do now about the decline in quality of starting pitching.

And there is no evidence to suggest they will attempt to address their unwillingness to advance runners, score key runs and thereby win close games. The manager won't do it, and the players as a group have refused so far. That factor becomes crucial against playoff teams, since all of them have good pitching and it is hard to mount big innings.

The Jays 'strategy' will be to do what they always do: hope for the big hit no matter what.

It does look to be an entertaining home stretch, not much separates the teams in the AL East and the wild card race in the AL will be hotly contested by several teams.

[overthere]

It is not evident that the Jays will be hotly contesting that wild card race now........Bosto looks they will take the AL East, their starting pitching is strong and their batting is ridiculous. Half a dozen teams are in the running for the wild cards, and the two that go on runs will be there at the end. All those close games wasted by the Jays come into the equation now.

17 runners LOB last night, 8 earned runs given up by the bullpen.

It is pretty obvious that the league has watched the video on Estrada: lay off the changeup, smash the fastball for extra bases. He isn't fooling anybody anymore. He is walking people now too, because he does not have a pitch he can throw for a strike that does not get hit.

And they are not even competitive in close games, not that they have had many lately.

There is no obvious solution for their woes. Maybe Happ can get lucky and stop the bleeding.

[Boges]

Seasons have ups and downs, this is certainly a down. They have to get their shit together or they'll be lucky to get one of the WC spots.

The good thing is, even though they've been awful this week, they're still competitive for the AL East title.

Edited September 12, 2016 by Boges

[overthere]

Last year it took 86/87 wins to gain a wildcard spot.

This year I think it will take 91 or 92 wins. If so, the Jays will need to win about 14 of their last 20- or effectively win all the remaining series.

It is not impossible, but they must do the things they control to make it happen. They haven't done those things for several seasons now, so unless their hitting goes insane- they are in tough now. They have to move an unproductive Bautista out of a big RBI spot in the batting order, and make other adjustments based on how people are hitting, not how the manager wants them to hit.. But most of all, every player has to do what they must at the plate to win a game. The best play I've seen in weeks was in one of the Jays losses to the Yankees, the second one . Brian McCann is hitting cleanup as DH, and homers his first at bat. His next at bat- he bunts into the shift in a serious attempt to get on base. It didn't work, but I just cannot imagine anybody on the Jays hitting 2 through about 8 on the order trying that. The players won't try to hit in situations, and the manager won';t tell them to do it. It has cost them many games this year.............and will continue until they change or the season ends.

I don't think the Jays are in the running for the AL East any more. The Sox series this weekend made it pretty clear who is the alpha dog in the division now.

[Boges]

I don't think the Jays are in the running for the AL East any more. The Sox series this weekend made it pretty clear who is the alpha dog in the division now.

So had the Jays won an 11-8 shootout, you'd feel differently? Boston has the toughest remaining schedule left.

Edited September 13, 2016 by Boges

[Boges]

I'm about to do a nosedive off the Bandwagon. This team can't hit anymore and JoDo got an MRI today for a hip injury that's not getting better.

AND NOW!!! They go on the road to face teams they've actually lost series' to this year.

[overthere]

So had the Jays won an 11-8 shootout, you'd feel differently? Boston has the toughest remaining schedule left.

I'm not going to pretend that the Jays were in contention in that game after about the fifth ining. Boston just took over, and again showed them how to win. In that particular game, their bullpen allowed two runs, ours allowed five.

I'm about to do a nosedive off the Bandwagon. This team can't hit anymore and JoDo got an MRI today for a hip injury that's not getting better.

AND NOW!!! They go on the road to face teams they've actually lost series' to this year.

The team can hit, they have lost numerous games this year in which they had plenty of baserunners.

And now Zaun and Martinez and Tabler and Shulman are all on my bandwagon, the one I've been on for months: the Jays don't win because they don't play/refuse to play a style of game that allows them to win. It didn't matter today, but if sure mattered in many of their other losses.

[Guest]

Worst team in the majors this September! Go Jays.

[Guest]

Looks like I picked the wrong time to visit Safeco Field...

[Boges]

Looks like I picked the wrong time to visit Safeco Field...

West Coast Jays fans will be out in force for this series. It'll feel like a home game.

Desperation has to be setting in, unless Gibby has lost the room and the teams doesn't care much anymore for a Wildcard game they're still very much alive for.

2 years ago Jays fans would have been pumped to have a team competitive this late in the season. Ironic how one season of success spoils fans.

[Guest]

West Coast Jays fans will be out in force for this series. It'll feel like a home game.

Desperation has to be setting in, unless Gibby has lost the room and the teams doesn't care much anymore for a Wildcard game they're still very much alive for.

2 years ago Jays fans would have been pumped to have a team competitive this late in the season. Ironic how one season of success spoils fans.

Slumps do that, regardless.

Edit> It's like the football at home. I would normally be ecstatic with a tie at a Premier League ground in an FA Cup game, but if we were winning until injury time and they tied it up, it would still be seen as very disappointing.

Edited September 19, 2016 by bcsapper