Win 4 and the Jays are +5.5 games. Win 3 and the Jays are +3.5 games. Win 2 and the 1.5 game lead remains unchanged. Anything less is bad, so now you know.

THIS. IS. BASEBALL.

Even better actually, PLAYOFF BASEBALL.

Rain out.

I haven't been this disappointed since that year they cancelled Christmas.

seriously? dammit.

I had tickets and am leaving NYC tomorrow afternoon. I'm still in denial. Might be breaking into mylegacy's stash tonight.

Not sure what this means for the rotation, but I have a feeling that it adds options, which is almost always a good thing.

Also- very unlikely that they'd use either of their bullpen studs twice in a day, so there's a silver lining.

Saturday will be epic.

Doesn't change the rotation as far as this weekend goes. Friday is Price, Saturday is Estrada & Stro. Sunday is Dickie.

It does give them useful options next week though.

While we are stuck in the rain delay, interesting article at BP on transaction trends.  Looks like AA is not the only mad scientist when it comes to the Buffalo shuttle and waiver wire pickups.  In fact, if I counted right, 33 options is not even that much more than league average.  This bit is part of the free content so I'm reposting:

The Dodgers enjoyed using Oklahoma City …
Much has been made of the inventiveness and resourcefulness of Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman's frankenadministration in Los Angeles. Those attributes were most apparent in how and why they used their new Triple-A affiliate. The Dodgers led the majors by issuing 53 optional assignments (49 of which directed players toward Oklahoma City), seven more than the next-closest team (the Red Sox), 10 more than the next-closest contender (a tie between the Angels and Yankees), and nearly 24 more than the league median (29.5).

What compelled the Dodgers to farm out players so often? A seeming desire to keep the bullpen as fresh as possible. Whereas outfielder Chris Heisey (six times), catcher Austin Barnes (thrice), and infielder Jose Peraza (twice) were the only Dodgers position players optioned more than once, six Dodgers pitchers were demoted more than three times each, usually when they required a breather, or when the bullpen needed some length

… and the waiver wire.
Zaidi's obsessive adjustments sometimes required a corresponding 40-man roster move. Resultingly, the Dodgers necessitated a majors-leading 23 designations for assignment.

Seems to me that AA could use the Buffalo shuttle even more often and, presto, no more 8 man bullpen...

When Stroman pitches Saturday, it should be considered the first of his late preseason games. He needs as many starts as he can get because you don't need him that much for the regular season, you just need him urgently for the postseason. The only way he gets ready for that is pitching many innings. With 5 starts possible for the balance of the season, that should easily be enough.

I'm not totally sure, but today's rainout changes the rotation for the next few weeks. If at all possible, one of Buehrle's regular starts should be skipped to see if that helps. If needed, one of Estrada's starts and one of Hutchison's starts should also be skipped to set up the rotation better. Of course, they both could use a rest.

Chuck brought up a bunch of ex-Jays in the Boston thread. Here's another one - J. A. Happ. 2+ seasons with the Jays. 50 starts of 90 ERA+ worth a total 1.8 bWAR.

Goes to Safeco and is worse - 81 ERA+, 0.3 bWAR over 20 starts. Dumped to the Pirates for a fringe/non prospect. 7 starts with the Pirates - 217 ERA+, 1.5 bWAR!!!

He's not that good, but he is with arguably the best pitching coach in the majors - Ray Searage.

This is from almost a month ago.

NEW YORK — Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage watched J.A. Happ's first start with the Pirates on Aug. 4 “intently.” He watched him throw three bullpens. He kept seeing the same flaw.
“I went back and said ‘This is something I have to talk to him about,' ” Searage said.
From Francisco Liriano, to Edinson Volquez, to Happ, there is a consistent theme when Searage has searched for delivery fixes in attempts to rehabilitate a struggling pitcher.
Direction.
Like Liriano and Volquez who flourished in Pittsburgh, Searage saw Happ using inefficient movement in his delivery. Instead of striding directly to home plate, Happ, like Liriano and Volquez, had too much rotational movement in his motion which dropped his arm slot and made the ball easier to track for opposing hitters. It also negatively impacted his control.
Happ had better direction to the plate vs. the Mets, helping him raise his arm slot, improve command — fewer east-west misses — in addition to a velocity increase as Happ's fastball touched 94 mph. His fastball is averaging 91.7 mph this season.
“What happens is they are over-competitive and in a hurry to pitch,” Searage said. “Allow your body to set up so you can have quality pitches come out of your hand. Execution of pitches is going to come from the delivery, and you have to give yourself a better chance to get that release point.”

http://triblive.com/sports/pirates/8910950-74/happ-hurdle-pirates#axzz3lJ7KD92z

That makes a lot of sense, hypobole.  Searage wasn't much of a pitcher, but his record as a pitching coach is pretty impressive.

What the rain delay does is give Price and Estrada an extra day of rest. Since Monday is an off day you don't need anybody to pitch on short rest. Hutch would pitch again Tuesday, as normal. You still can pencil Buerhle in anytime he's ready.

They Yankees don't have an off day until the next Thursday, so they'll either need a 6th starter on the 14 against Tampa or they'll have to bring in Severino on short rest.

Hutch isn't going Tuesday, Buehrle is. Price will then pitch Wednesday with a decision for Thursday of Hutch, Stroman or Estrada.

In my mind Hutch has used up all his credit. If we need to keep a rotation on rest, or allow someone to skip a start then sure- but he wouldn't be in my rotation at this point.

I'm surprised that nobody has gone after Searge yet. If we can't get David Price re-signed then there is a good argument to be made that we should just

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jUBbCgMWmE

Bringing together the subjects of pitching coach tweaks and the work of John Lott, fine examples of Lott's work and the tweaks can be found in this article on Brett Cecil.  I had noticed the pitch pattern changes that Russell Martin refers to, but not the mechanical changes.  Interesting.

I tried to name all managers and pitching coaches on the other 29 teams. Remembered 25 managers, but only 9 pitching coaches. But which is truly more valuable?

Imagine you're a GM with an average manager and average pitching coach. The best manager and best pitching coach become available, but you can only hire 1. Which would you go after? In most scenarios, I'd go after the coach.

That's a great question Hypobole.  As a kid in the 80s, I was convinced that Walt Hriniak was a mad genius, and have long been fascinated by the likes of Al Widmar, Mel Queen, Galen Cisco, Tom House, Leo Mazzone and Dave Duncan.  Butterfield convinced me that non hitting / pitching coaches could dramatically impact games, and not just by waving guys home from 3rd or putting up a stop sign.

But I really don't know the impact on wins and losses.  Would love to hear what game changing coaches people see out there. 

Stroman activated (Travis to the 60 day DL) and Chad Jenkins called up.

The search for a reliable reliever continues. Tepera and Loup gave up runs, Delabar gets the call. Delabar gets blown up, lets try Jenkins.

"I tried to name all managers and pitching coaches on the other 29 teams. "

impressive. i think can name the al east managers and maybe 3-4 others. tops.

that is one late call-up.  I'm guessing Jenkins was chilling in his backyard with a beer in hand. Good for him though, i love when the quad A guys get paid..

And so much for AA's 6-8 guys comment.  That's 10 september call-ups.

Pity Travis can't play - our lineup would be insane with him back. 

I guess Jenkins is long-man insurance given the potential kablooeys lying in wait from Hutchison, Stroman and Buehrle.

i think can name the al east managers and maybe 3-4 others. tops.

Start with Canada. Montreal Expos: Gene Mauch. Or has he been replaced?

I figured that Jenkins was called up because of Saturday's doubleheader.  One of the games goes 17 innings.  Who you gonna call?  Chad Jenkins. Not exactly the right rhythm, but good enough.

If Jenkins pulls off another extra innings miracle, he will become my favourite quad A guy forever.  That game last year was top ten all time Jays games in my mind, including playoff games. 

Chuck, Matt Williams is now the Expos manager. Oh, wait, they're in Washington now. When did that happen?

Teixeira found to have a fractured shin. Gone for 3 months, i.e. the rest of this season.

Matt Williams is now the Expos manager

Not for long, methinks...

David Price to face 5 LHB tonight. Price's L/R OPS splits are a little reversed this season, but for his career he's 90 OPS points better against the lefties. I think Girardi is just running out his best lineup tonight, not necessarily trying to make it more left-handed than usual.

4 XBH's in the 1st inning. I'll take it!

Interesting AB here. McCann owns Price.

Blue Jays playing today? Is it 6-0 yet?

And the Yankees bullpen is needed in the third inning. With a double-header tomorrow. Works for me.

"Blue Jays playing today? Is it 6-0 yet?"

Well played. Very well played.

This is relaxing. Soothing. I'm even willing to ask what's happening with the tennis?

If you want excitement, the Canada Basketball game is not very relaxing at all.

At 71 pitches, Severino might be available on short rest next week. Down 5-0 and not throwing strikes, it might be the correct move for them.

Pleasant beginning.  If Price goes 6 innings, that will be just fine.

What do you do with the Bullpen for the rest of the game?  I like Cecil in the 7th and, assuming you're still up by 4, Lowe in the 9th.  This of course depends on the right choice for the 8th - Hendricks?  Actually, maybe Lowe in the 8th, Hendricks in the 9th.

That Martin HR...thing of beauty.

I'd go Bo Schultz for an inning or two and see what the score was.

BABIP is a fickle thing. Yanks were 6 for 14 off Price. The A's are 0 for 19 off Colby Lewis.

Buck was as critical of Gibbons as I've ever heard. Cecil, the only trustworthy lefty, pitches the 7th with a 6 run lead.

Checking B-R Cecil had 2 days of rest plus just 32 pitches over the past 8 days total in 2 appearances. He probably needed that inning of work there. The only guys who probably could use today off were Francis (3 appearances over 8 days, 56 pitches, 26 2 days ago) and Hendriks (4 games in last 8 days, 72 pitches total, 12 pitches 2 days ago). Good thing is saving Sanchez & Osuna for tomorrow. Lowe being under 10 pitches for his one inning is a bonus.

gotta love an opening game beatdown. we could really break the yanks' spirit this weekend.

now only 3gms back of the scuffling royals.

I guess Lowe and Hawkins are going to swap in Gibby's "trust"/"no trust" list.

In more exciting news, it's kind of insane that 6 weeks ago this team was .500 and out of the playoffs and now the Jays are 20 games over and trending towards the best record in the whole damn league. What a turnaround! (And the regular season ends early for Tex and Eovaldi).

He probably needed that inning of work there.

Without commenting on the wisdom of using Cecil in that situation, it's very unlikely one of your best relievers is given work for the sake of work when you have 3 games in 24 hours.

Great move using the arm that's 3rd on the depth chart in the 7th inning of a 6 run game in Yankee Stadium when he's already hot and ended the 6th inning on one pitch, especially with 3 more games coming up. Cecil's 7th inning against the heart of the order helped ensure that Gibbons need not use Sanchez & Osuna, something that would've happened if he tries going with some combination of Schultz/Hendriks/Lowe/Loup and the lead is cut down to 4. Gibby locked down an important win to kick off the biggest series he's ever managed and now can feel comfortable with his options for at least one game on Saturday, provided another opportunity even arises for that. There's 12 relievers in the bullpen right now and even if you want to say that Cecil & Hawkins are unavailable tomorrow (which I don't agree with), that leaves 9 very well rested arms with the LOOGY option of Loup. Giddy up.

I don't blame Gibbons for using Cecil and Lowe. I don't trust the AAA call-ups at Yankee Stadium. Tonight's bullpen use ensured only needing to use Loup against a bunch of lefties in the 9th inning, which is a solid move. I wouldn't want Delabar or Tepera (or the others in that category) to pitch at all in this series unless the Jays are getting blown out. Price only lasting 5 was the problem.

The real test for Gibbons will be how he uses the pen tomorrow, assuming baseball is even played. Weather looks bad.

It was perhaps the most important game in 21 years for the Blue Jays. I think Gibbons was right to be aggressive in going after the win and using a couple of his better relievers after Gregorius's HR, especially in Yankee Stadium.

Is it Stroman-Nova first up?

Is it Stroman-Nova first up?

Nope, Estrada/Pineda.

Is it Stroman-Nova first up?

Won't put the bullpen on red alert in the first game of a double header.

If you are conveniently forgetting Basic Baseball Watching, remember these governing points:
(1) Nothing the Manager does will ever make you happy.
(2) Opposing hitting is contagious, once they break through the deluge starts, unless you can stomp on the fire quick.
(3) Umpires don't like your team, but they love the other Teams.
(4) MLB "has told everyone" that Toronto will never appear in a World Series again.
(5) You can always find something to complain about.
(6) You always need more beer.
By applying these few minor rules to Basic Baseball Watching you can now appreciate any game, anytime anywhere. Have fun.

Each game Toronto plays and retains the lead take one game off the schedule and makes it just that much harder for New York to catch up ground. Just 22 games remain, and the Magic Number is 21. Despite all their September call-ups, NY relievers still pitched six and two-thirds innings; and the Jays crushed their Stud Rookie Star. Bring on the next game.

"Won't put the bullpen on red alert in the first game of a double header."

Instead we see Stroman pitching on a wet mound.

Price: 55 IP, 2.1 BB9, 10.6 K9, 0.5 HR9, 2.20 FIP
Hendricks: 58 IP, 1.6 BB9, 9.5 K9, 0.3 HR9, 2.11 FIP

They have virtually the same results, but of course got there quite differently. And yes, I know these results are easier to achieve as a reliever.

Er, Hendriks. No c.

How long until these MLB.TV Sat afternoon broadcasts stop this blackout nonsense? Sure it's a wall with a door in it but still.

ball is flying today.

well this isn't going according to plan.

thought he put his back right out based on his reaction but he walked off too well for that.

That was really weird. He seemed to turn and laugh and then lost control of his body and just fell.

He's done for game 1, hope he's okay.

The fall looked staged, as if he were goofing around. Catch the ball, put it on the ground, and then fall.

For a man with a history of injury problems, you hate to see that. Goins subbing for Travis is one thing. Goins and Pennington subbing for Travis and Tulowitzki, well that's another.

The game right now is also on Fox TV.  I can choose between Sportsnet or Fox broadcasters on my Rogers Digital Cable here in Ottawa.

i've been on fox since the pregame started. their overwhelming praise of our jays makes me a little giddy.

Nothing worse than giving up a cheapy Yankee Stadium HR.

I'll take it.

I'm hoping the Jays are just being extra careful with Tulo, no silly risks - there are over 20 games left you don't want to lose him for more than necessary so give him a few innings rest and see where he is at. Give him game 2 off too if needed better no Tulo this weekened than no Tulo for the rest of the month.

tick tick tick tick.....

This is the kind of day that evens out Estrada's numbers.  Got a low HR/FB rate- Yankee Stadium with the ball flying out to right will cure that in about an hour. 

Let's get into the Yankee bullpen early please...

Nothing worse than giving up a cheapy Yankee Stadium HR. Times two.

heh. yep - ball is flying today.

I personally like Revere at the top of this lineup. With really good pitching when the homers aren't flying I like having speed and good OBP at the top of the lineup even though he's not as good a hitter as Tulo.

Last team to homer wins.

Vamo EE!!!

Tulo to have x-rays on back and ribs, per Ben Nicholson-Smith.

Ben Nicholson-Smith ‏@bnicholsonsmith 3m3 minutes ago
Troy Tulowitzki will get x-rays on back & ribs after leaving game following collision per #BlueJays broadcast on @sportsnet

so in love with this team.

#CanadianRakin'

X rays negative.  MRI of upper back to follow. 

x rays are probably good news there cuz i doubt that was hard enough to break anything. though i guess ribs can be fragile.

I like having speed and good OBP at the top of the lineup

Sure, who's going to complain about a .380 OBP? But his career line is 294/329/346, which presents a less compelling argument for being the man guaranteed the most AB every game.

I do think Tulowitzki's days as a leadoff hitter are over, but I'm not sure what the correct answer is for leadoff in 2016. Maybe Travis.

Pineda out of the game with 1 out in the 6th.  That's what you want to see. 

what a lineup. what a lineup.

Loved watching Joey and the bench's reaction. Fired up!

I go to Cecil for Gardner

tough call. i'd stay with Sanchez.

Well, could've been a lot worse.

Mr.Pennington, you are now officially a Toronto Blue Jay.

Good thing it wasn't Matt Hague at second base.

But his career line is 294/329/346

Against good pitching I take that line with Revere's speed.  I was actually advocating for Travis to his second mid-year back when we had a completely different team.  With Travis back I think it makes the choice harder for who leads off.

I can't believe that MLB.tv is glitched out today and I am missing this game.

Obviously speculating about a 2016 batting order seems ridiculous when this current season is alive and vibrant, to say nothing of a tense game currently underway. But here I go anyway.

I'd like a 2016 order of: Travis, Donaldson, Bautista, Encarnacion, Tulowitzki, 1B, Martin, Revere, Pillar.

Revere could better leverage his speed in front of Pillar and Travis more than in front of hitters 2 thru 4.

Chad Jenkins is getting a tingling feeling. I'm ready for innings 12 to 17, skipper.

If you are a baseball junkie, is there anything sweeter than extra innings in the front half of a doubleheader? Guaranteed at least 19 innings today.

Also, thanks to Girardi for rather needlessly removing ARod for pinch-runner in the 8th... nice to have his bat out of the lineup now.

Great live stream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ochfS-caTPA

Just what both teams didn't want...extras today. Jenkins being called up looks very smart about now I'd say.

girardi pinch running for Arod (was he even the to ahead run?) was such a Farrell move.

"I'd like a 2016 order of: Travis, Donaldson, Bautista, Encarnacion, Tulowitzki, 1B, Martin, Revere, Pillar."

not bad, but imo it would be even more ideal if Saunders and pompey could earn those 8 and 9 spots.

Tulo would've stayed with Ricky Christmas and tagged him on the over slide.

Tulo probably keeps the tag on and the runner is out. I'm sure somebody will mention this to Goins later.

Yankees bench: Young, Heathcott*, Refsnyder, Ryan, Romine, Murphy, Gary Sanchez
Yankees bullpen: Warren, Shreve*, Bailey, Capuano*, Coldplay, Pinder, Cotham, Mitchell, Rumbelow, Nick Goody, James Pazos*, starters

Blue Jays bench: Smoak#, Martin, Carrera*, Hague, Kawasaki*, Pompey#, Thole*
Blue Jays bullpen: Hawkins, Schultz, Tepera, Delabar, Jenkins, Francis*, starters

September, man.

I'm guessing Hawkins then Delabar then Schultz then Tepera then Francis is the order now.

The Jays need to score this inning.

PH Martin for Goins?

This is what pennant race baseball is all about. For you kids, this was everyday from 1985 through 1993 almost.

I guess that's a yes.

Gibbons should have had Martin pinch-hitting for Navarro instead of for Goins.   But it seems to have worked out anyway.  (If their pitching holds the lead in the bottom of the inning.)

Patience, Pillar! That was ball three.

Patience and Pillar both start w a P and there ends the similarities.

And that was ball five.

Pillar really made a hash of that PA.

I revere Revere.

Revere gets Pillar off the hook after about as bad an at bat as you'll ever see.

Other than Pillar, it's a good thing the Jays have not been Chasen.

Pillar just guesses. For the moment, I think y'all are going to have to accept him for who he is. Better this than passivity. Oddly, I think he's a decent bet to have reverse splits going forward.

Just call him Christmas Shreve.

This is the best, watching the Yankees BP crumble after they have spent their big guns. I might add they're probably not available for G2.

Let Pompey bat? Go to Smoak?

Who would you pitch in the bottom half of the inning?  Hendriks for a batter or two?  Then who?

Pillar just guesses.

It's like he decides before the pitch is even thrown if he'll swing. Two strikes? Swing. Hitter's count (2-0, 3-1)? Swing. No impulse control at all. Of course that same trait serves him well on defense... when he's not crashing into infielders.

It appears that Jeff Francis's status has been made clear. 4 lefties? Tepera.

I hope Tepera isn't intimidated by the situation.

Massive play by Donaldson.

Hey, in 45 PA the lefties are hitting .128/.244/.282 against Tepera. (Although I would bet pretty much anything on him not having a reverse split for the rest of his career.)

"I hope Tepera isn't intimidated by the situation."

His attempts to throw the ball 200 MPH seems to indicate he might be.

Not second guessing. Francis makes me nervous.

Looking better now.

Tepera can thank Hendriks for setting up the save opportunity.

Beautiful. Now, let's have some good news about Tulo.

This is like binge-watching a TV show. Fire up another episode.

Barry Davis, asking the tough questions. You like chocolate? And beer? You like beer? There you have it, folks. Joe Slabotnik likes chocolate and beer.

Although if Tepera can throw that slider at 91 to both sides of the plate without his arm falling off, maybe he can imitate Mariano Rivera? Not a bad inning at all.

Meanwhile, the big bad Royals are losing once again, down 4-1 to Baltimore. They've lost 6 of 7 heading into today, and they'll be staring down Carrasco, Tomlin, Salazar and possibly Kluber next week.

(The Royals immediately tie it up. You're welcome, Royals.)

the big bad Royals are losing once again, down 4-1 to Baltimore.

From your mouth to Moose's ears. All tied up. T for the Tillman.

I'm very pleased the Jays won Game 1 so we don't have to hear from the curmudgeons about how terribly, in their omniscient minds, Gibbons managed the bullpen.

"....I don't trust the AAA call-ups at Yankee Stadium...."

The AAA call-ups did very well at Yankee Stadium today.  Quite possibly the Jays wouldn't have won without them.  And they're likely to be valuable again in the second game of the double-header.

As well as the whole moving up a game in the standings thing vs. the Jankees too.

Bo Schultz, Steve Delabar, Chad Jenkins and Jeff Francis are available to pitch in Game Two. Just fills me with confidence. Hawkins could pitch to one or two batter if needed. Having anyone else, not a Starter come in, is worse than stupid.

I can't help but think that Gibbons expects nothing from Stroman in Game Two. Guess he just hopes to survive this game.

Stroman's got Papa Buehrle's catch-and-throw pace. I like it.

Well, he survived the first inning quite nicely. :) 4 or 5 more like that would be just fine.

Yanks not looking terribly sharp.

pennington and revere on the same day. all we need is thole to put one out tommorrow to conclusively prove this park is a joke.

we have a real chance to crush their souls this weekend. if we keep doing this the yanks' wildcard spot might be in jeopardy.

That's not fair. I don't think Pennington's homer was a cheap one.

How soon before Girardi comes out screaming "no mas" and just concedes a 9-0 forfeit? Would certainly be easier on his pen. Nova will be challenged to go 5.

Agree with James. Pennington's blast was one of the few legit ones of the day. He even went into a home run trot right away.

approaching 60 pitches in the 2nd. oh what oh what oh what will girardi do now?

(p.s. chuck if you could just randomly generate inane barry davis questions every inning or two i would appreciate the lols)

6-0 yet? Soon. Very soon.

Maybe the Yankees will just concede.

this is really starting to look like the best season ever.

like now? :)

The Yankees' best bet at this point is to stall and do a rain dance.

It's 6-0 guys.

Maybe the Yankees are hoping that they can draw this out so that the rain arrives before the game is official.

just think back to what you felt when you heard stroman's knee broke in spring training.

and just savor this weekend. savor it.

Well, Alex, there's a guy from Duke on the mound, so the best thing for the Yanks is the UNC 4 corners strategy.  Pitcher records a strikeout- throw it out twice around the infield.

Young guys don't know about 4 corners. Google time.

It's about time somebody did an homage to the infamous 1906 Phillies-Pirates game which Pittsburg won by forfeit when the home Phillies led 1-0 heading into the top of the 8th but then, in the darkness and pouring rain, refused to get anyone out.

how many hits has stro allowed?

Not gonna say.  :)

Been listening to the Yankees feed on Sirius and boy are they giving up the division. They feel it is time for the Yankees to focus on the wildcard now. Always nice to hear stuff like that. Nova lasting 5 outs instead of 5 innings helps.

Stroman has allowed one hit, Uglyone.

Today alone is making the Pennington pickup look good

Geez what's with the butterfingers this inning. Guess the rain is making everything slippery.

Oops. Reality check time. He's good, but apparently human.

They feel it is time for the Yankees to focus on the wildcard now.

At this point, there's no real difference. Either way, they're still trying to win as many games as possible. It's not like losing the Jays helps them win the wild card.

Gotta get the O trying again and pad the lead. It'll be the B corps from the pen in this one.

Tulo "small crack in L shoulder blade" -davidi

Never heard of that injury before so no idea what treatment is.

Supposedly 6-8 weeks. Bourgeois of the Reds fractured his left scapula in spring training, and was out until late June. Hopefully, not so bad...

Ugh Schultz and Loup. Well hope our bats awake again cause it looks like we'll need the,.

That sounds terrible actually Magpie.

I'm thinking we're going to need some more runs in this game.

So the middle infielders for the playoff roster could well be Goins, Pennington and Kawasaki?

Purely speculative, but maybe a situation where Tulo could come back sometime during the playoffs? Sometimes players heal faster than expected - sometimes much faster, as Pujols did after his wrist fracture a few years ago.

Bourgeois' injury was described as a fracture and the original prognosis was 4-6 weeks (although it actually took 3 months.) They're calling Tulowitzki's a crack. One hopes that means something.

At least Goins and Pennington offer strong defense up the middle. That's something.

Middle IF depth is pretty depleted, but we could call up Andy burns if gibbons wants a second middle IF. Or Jonathan Diaz for glove only purposes.

How do you break a bone on a play like that? I collide with people harder coming out of the elevator at work.

Keep it going. Gotta make this game Francis-proof.

The Yankees sure miss Teixeira. 

You have to admire what low-key stuff that Anthopoulos did at the deadline.  Revere, Lowe and Pennington were solid useful acquisitions. 

I collide with people harder coming out of the elevator at work.

If you see Pillar on your elevator, let him get off first.

The good thing is the Jays have been on fire even with Tulo hitting just 232/314/368 as a Jay.
Goins: 242/312/348
Pennington: 094/211/125 (ugh)

Didn't know Pennington was that bad so far (not counting his 1 for 3 with a walk in the nightcap).

Still, I think as long as we keep getting wow defense at 2B/SS the Jays will survive to the playoffs. Dias would be OK as he is basically Goins #2. Travis making a shocking comeback now would be wonderful.

Agreed on all three mike, and at a very low cost in prospects. Revere in particular has been very significant ... At the time I figured Pompey would be as good or better, but clearly revere has outperformed what could be expected from dalton

Devon Travis can't come back before Sept. 26 by my count, since he was placed on the 60-day DL, and played last on July 28.

clearly revere has outperformed what could be expected from dalton

Revere has outperformed what could be expected from Revere. He's at 345/392/393. I'm sure AA would have been happy with Revere's career numbers and some non-embarrassing defense in LF.

The baseball gods struck a deal with Tulowitzki. We'll give you all the talent in the world, but you'll only play 120 games a year. We won't tell you how or when exactly the end will come, but mark our words, it will come. Some years we may forget to intervene -- sometimes our hands are full doing things like resurrecting Josh Hamilton from a bout of drug abuse and we won't have time for you -- but we'll balance the ledger eventually.

Nice of Francis to give Lowe the save opportunity.   There's been a lot of teamwork on that front. 

Sheesh. What a set of games so far....
11-5, 9-5, 10-7. Crazy stuff. 30-17 total. Yankee pitchers & fans must be feeling a bit shell-shocked by now.

My son is 8 and into the Jays for the first time this year. Hopefully his 8 year old season ends better than mine. (1987)

Bit concerned with EE but then again with Monday off and the Atlanta series coming up he can just not play til Friday and that should be fine I think. Not sure on Tulo, but I've read 2-3 weeks could be possible. I think we won't lose anything defensively, but losing his aggressiveness will hurt. Also despite how poor he's been hitting Pennington has been much worse.

But Stroman looked really good. If not for poor fielding conditions he'd have gone five scoreless. Very nice stuff and keeping the ball down in the zone for his fielders to get to.

Relentless. Nothing else will describe this Team better.

Tulo's down and EE is day-to-day. For how long, who knows?

The Jays are going to win the division. It's really going to happen.

After his Buffalo game, I dared to question Stroman's readiness.  I was very wrong.  And I've never been so happy to be so wrong.  The Jays need him now.  They can't give more starts to Hutchison, and they don't know the extent of Buehrle's "dead arm" phase, or whatever it is.  I never thought Stroman would emerge as a crucial pitcher for the Jays in September -- I thought he would just get a few innings of action to help him prepare for 2016 -- but I'm very glad that I was wrong.

Yeah I hate losing Tulo. Hope the guy is back this season but between Pennington and Mune we can cover his defense, and Tulo hadn't really gotten into a groove offensively. I mean we knew it would likely happen. But it just hadn't yet other than the first couple days.

But Stroman gives us something we can't replace at all, quality starting innings. I think as he gets more into game shape his velocity will tick up. A rotation of Price, Dickey, Stroman is really going to screw with hitters timing in a series. Slot Estrada or Buerhle in as four.

EE just seems to have what he did earlier after the all star break. Sore fingers. Good thing is we can just use Cola tomorrow, have Monday off and then a three game NL series where he was likely going to sit some. I think he can just sit til Friday with not much loss for the team.

Seriously, I saw the replay and I don't see how there was an injury on the play. Weird stuff happens, though, and Tulo is supposedly fragile.
It's frustrating, because Pillar should be calling Tulo off, and I saw a 3rd person waving Pillar off, but Pillar didn't notice I guess?
Just bad communication there on that play. Contact should never have happened.

Glad they won both.

Since we don't know when Gibbons will pull Dickey, I thought I'd check on who's available in the Bullpen. Both Chad Jenkins and LaTroy Hawlins did not pitch Saturday so they should be available for 1-3 innings. Aaron Sanchez, Roberto Osuna, Liam Hendriks, Ryan Tepera, Bo Schultz and Steve Delabar just pitched once on Saturday but not on Friday. They should be ready to pitch, but not for more than one inning at the most.

In 1987, the jays were seemingly on their way to a division title when the Tony Fernandez injury happened, resulting in the most nightmarish week in Jays history - hope this turns out better.

I wonder if there might be a push for Travis to come back this year - maybe for the postseason

I don't think the jays will call up Andy Burns / Jon Berti - I think they want a more experienced player - maybe Jonathan Diaz , also Matt Dominguez is on the 40 man roster.

I won't be surprised if they acquired an experienced backup veteran (likely an expiring contract) as insurance even though he would be ineligible for the post season.

I don't think this is a nightmare, although obv rather have him playing. His .230 avg and .650 OPS can actually be replaced and Goins/Pennington is as good defensively. Also we have a pretty capable third guy in Mune. He's not great, but he can make a big hit, is capable defensively and works the count pretty well anyways.

Pre Buster Olney:

"The Blue Jays will know more in next few days re: Tulowitzki, but if he responds positively, could be back in the next two to three weeks."

Now for a Sunday morning quiz.

Of all the players AA has traded during his tenure, which 2 have the highest fWAR this year?

"....Of all the players AA has traded during his tenure, which 2 have the highest fWAR this year?...."

Without any checking or even thinking much, I would guess Yan Gomes and Travis d'Arnaud.  Other possibilities could be:  Reyes, Syndergaard, Lawrie, or Yunel Escobar. 

Another monster trade! Darwin Barney for two (big) buckets of balls.

I'm thinking pitchers, mainly because D'Arnaud has been hurt so much. Escobar has been good. But anyway Syndegard and De'Sciafani.

Good question. Checking FanGraphs for top players I see Bryce Harper is #1 with Josh Donaldson #2 - both with 8+ WAR and both worth over $60 mil. In the $50 mil range you get Trout, Cepedes, Votto, Goldschmidt. Guess arbitration will be a heck of a battle this winter for the Jays/Donaldson.

Just looked it up. I think it's Hechavarria and De'Sciafani.

I was thinking of catchers or shortstops as the answer to Hypobole's question because they would have a higher defensive WAR to add to their offensive WAR.   But I had forgotten about Hechavarria, and I had also forgotten about Desciafani.   The problem is that AA has traded so many dozens of players away that you can't possibly remember them all without checking.

CF - Not quite. Thor is the closest, TDA and Yunel also 2+ WAR, Lawrie only with 1.6, Reyes and Gomes sub-1 WAR (and Reyes with negative WAR in Colorado).

Darwin Barney has a lot more MLB experience than Jonathan Diaz or any other middle-infielder in the Jays minor-league system, and he's probably a better hitter too.  Some nice depth.  But he certainly won't replace even a quarter of what Tulo brings to the Jays -- even the relatively low-hitting Tulo of the past few weeks.

Barney is insurance, and very good insurance. Barney is a perfectly fine platoon second baseman/late inning defensive replacement.  In the event of injury to Goins or Pennington, the other plays shortstop and you can still run out a Kawasaki/Barney platoon at second base. 

Well done, Mr. Anthopoulos. 

Barney, to my surprise, is earning $2.5-million this year, so I guess the Jays are on the hook for 3 weeks of that, pro-rated. 

Despite his career .629 OPS, he managed an excellent burst of .303/.467/.424 for the Dodgers last year in his 22 games after they acquired him from the Cubs, so perhaps he can replicate that again in a short burst with the Jays.  He also hits much better against LHP, so he could be a pinch-hitter and late-inning replacement in certain situations.

"....you can still run out a Kawasaki/Barney platoon at second base....."

Yep, Kawasaki hits somewhat better against RHP (although it's nothing to boast about), so a platoon makes sense.

Barney managed a .707 OPS against LHP last year, which is respectable, although it was only 79 plate appearances.

Barney replaces Pennington, Pennington replaces Tulo.

Barney has been a plus defender and has hit lefty pitching much better than either Goins or Pennington. Smart pick-up.

Thought of the quiz after seeing yesterdays box score where Desclafani beat the Cards - 1 run 10 K's.

Barney is insurance, and very good insurance.

I agree. The organization seems to not think too highly of Jonathan Diaz since it was always Kawasaki, of the two, who seemed to get the call-ups. Given the left handedness of the middle infielders, having a righty in the mix is a nice addition. Depending on how Barney looks, he might earn the playoff spot ahead of Kawasaki.

I don't for a minute believe that Tulowitzki will return. I think players are always overly optimistic about healing times and a cracked shoulder blade doesn't sound like the kind of thing you just shake off. But I've never had one, so what do I know?

CF, Barney has had a significantly large platoon split than typical for a RHH over his career.  Mitchel Lichtman would say that the sample size (about 500 PAs) is still not large enough and you ought to regress numbers against both LHP and RHP pretty heavily.   Even so, Barney is a better option than Diaz or Kawasaki against a LHP. 

Barney not eligible for playoffs, Chuck

EE will be sitting today's game out. Colabello DHs.

Barney not eligible for playoffs

Even with all the injury replacement rules? Is it because he was acquired post Sep 1?

Post Aug 31, Chuck, per MLBTR

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/09/blue-jays-acquire-darwin-barney.html

Post Aug 31, Chuck, per MLBTR

Thanks. I guess I won't rush out and buy a Barney jersey then.

Darwin Barney, as per the Sportsnet article, might be a better defender than Goins. That's good news. Right now, the less the defensively challenged Munenori Kawasaki plays the better. Mune's a very decent defender, but he's now the fourth best defensive Middle Infielder, not named Troy Tulowitzki, on this team. The fact that Barney's slightly offensive challenged, on this Team is not significant. Goins got better, why can't he? Barney is under contract for at least 2016. So that's a good acquisition.

The Jays clearly want Goins glove in the everyday lineup, despite his struggles vs. lefties, so to me, this looks like a pennington / Barney 2b platoon, Goins to short.  Pennington has played more at short for his career but seems more effective at 2b, while barney has a gold glove at 2nd (vital detail, I know) having played there nearly exclusively. 

Pennginton has a career .674 OPS vs. righties,.614 for lefties, while Barney is 84 points better vs. lefties at a career .692.

It appears with this year's focus on D, Kawaskai remains the 4th man depth-wise.  Jonathan Diaz's bat is too anemic to get any starts, and Barney should get a few. 

I like this move.  But man, I'll be a lot happier if both Tulo and Travis recover miraculously before October. 

What do they say in Oz?  We might have a bit o' a barney happening?

At any rate, that makes 41 on the roster unless I can't count.

Good call Scottt.  So long Donn Roach??

so assuming we sweep today ;) -

not a lot of races across the game this September, with the exception of the wild NL central and the surprisingly competitive NL West. Texas has really surprised and Mike Trout is single-handedly keeping the Angels on the fringe of the race.  Somehow the Twins are still around. and I guess the Indians (7% chance of the WC on Fangraphs) are still kicking.  

but it looks like the 5 NL playoff teams are already set.

Copeland gone.

Copeland can be reacquired by the Jays if he doesn't get claimed by any other team. This has already happened this year with Cabrera, Tolleson etc.   I'm assuming the waiver wire works the same way in September as it does in other months.

Makes sense, as Copeland was the only person still on the 40 man who had been called up at some point but not back up for September, plus he is a minor league free agent if not on the 40 man this winter. Barney will be the 24th hitter on the team this year. 28 pitchers have been used. Phew.

Quite the turnover this year. AAA free agents should be very happy to sign here as odds are they'll get a shot at some point.

Pillar - we don't care if you run into a wall to save a hit in the regular season because you are eminently replaceable.

We do care when you take out a player we've invested 100M in on a simple pop-up as we approach our first playoff appearance in 20 years.

Take a deep breath dude and pick your spots.

Yeah, I think New York has acquired Capuano 4 times this year. I kinda felt bad for him how he got thrown to the wolfs to buy some rest for the other Yankee pitchers. He got 2 clean innings in!

That was the CF's ball, FYI.

Maybe today will be the game that Kevin Pillar switches off his strategy of taking a first pitch called strike in every at bat.

Quite the turnover this year. AAA free agents should be very happy to sign here as odds are they'll get a shot at some point.

The Jays have only 3 options more on the season then the league median, as I noted earlier in the thread.  I used to think that AA was a mad scientist with roster moves, but Friedman and Zahidi in LA lead the way by a long margin.  It seems that the game has changed and AA is more typical than might appear. 

Hello hangover effect. This game has all the energy of a spring training game.

Joe Girardi uses Dellin Betances in a 4-0 game vs. the bottom of the Jays order the day after throwing 20 pitches. The former Manager of the Year clearly doesn't know as much about leverage or arms as many Batter's Box posters.

Manager of the Year isn't a high bar. See Williams, Matt.

Great series. Really in the drivers seat now when it comes to the division. Jays play in Atlanta, then come home vs Red Sox and Yankees. NY meanwhile goes to Rays, Mets, then Toronto.

3 out of 4 ain't bad. 3 1/2 game lead on September 13th. Who wouldn't have taken that back in the spring?

With Stroman back, the next hurdle is Mark Buehrle's health.  Let's hope that latest cortisone shot was successful.  Stroman replacing Hutchison is a logical upgrade, but even Marcus Stroman can't replace two starting pitchers in the same rotation. 

Not to mention there is signs Estrada is slowing down (or his home run rate catching up with his career norms) so that puts more pressure on Stroman to keep performing and Buerhle to get healthy.

Joe Girardi uses Dellin Betances in a 4-0 game vs. the bottom of the Jays order the day after throwing 20 pitches.

Maybe he was watching the games on Friday and Saturday, when relievers not named Betances or Miller pitched 16.1 IP and allowed 13 runs. Desperate times, desperate measures. Geez, he probably called Mariano, just to be sure.

It's a small point, but we should probably reconsider that seductive narrative about Ryan Goins as the new OBP superman, with the new and improved batting stance and the permanent new selectivity and patience and hitting skills.  Even before his 3 strikeouts in 3 plate appearances today, Goins was already wallowing in a .211/.268/.342 slash line for September.  Sure, it's a small sample, but so is the August sample that had us anointing him as the New Goins.

I hope Goins finds his lost OBP mojo in time for the playoffs, and maybe he will, but he doesn't currently have it.  Luckily his defence still fully justifies his lineup position.

.57 point difference between avg and OBP isn't too bad, just he isn't hitting much. I think he has become more selective and the walk rate will continue to be improved, but not so sure if he'll continue to be able to hit like he did before. If he can do .265/.325 I'd be fairly happy.

If you told me that Travis would miss most of the season and that Reyes would be traded for a guy who hit for an 89 OPS+ before getting hurt in September during a critical series vs the Yankees, I'd have thought the Jays were doomed. Goins has had an 83 OPS+ before today which is a world better than I ever would've expected.

Gibby's bullpen use was great this whole series, IMO. It was a very unusual circumstance with the double header on Saturday, but I thought he played it exceptionally well. It helped that Dickey was able to eat up nearly 8 innings today even in a loss. Between that and the off day Monday, I feel confident the team will be able to go back to normal by the start of the Atlanta series. It could have been a lot worse with the amount of games in a short amount of time.

The pen being at 100% for the next series is a plus. Another day of rest for Encarnacion will help too. Hopefully the killer defense up the middle will compensate for the lost offense from Tulo and EE (I suspect EE will have Tuesday off, the question is how much longer).

The good thing is thinking about how killer the offense could be in 2016 with Tulo & Travis healthy.

I'd give Edwin the entire Atlanta series off. A combination of the Braves being bad this year and the fact that Edwin would have to play the field in the NL parks, and that's a risk not worth taking at this point. They can win the series without him. Let him play again on Friday against the Red Sox.

Agree with not playing Edwin at 1st base. If he's OK to hit, there will be pinch hitting opportunities.

Jays still 2 1/2 back of the Royals after another beat-down in Baltimore.

Hutch's ugly 5.33 ERA is lower than the AL version of Johnny Cueto (5.43).

One interesting moment of the series occurred in the bottom of the fifth of the second game of the Saturday doubleheader. With the rain coming down, Donaldson caught a pop fly to end the inning. I expected to see a look of satisfaction or relief, as the game was then official. Instead, I saw a look of concern or worry. In my sentimental dotage, I interpreted it as looking out for Stroman.

The worry could have been for himself Mike. Earlier in that inning he trapped a hard grounder but was not able to make a play during it. During the play he put some pressure on his wrist (which was already heavily wrapped) and he looked to be in some pain/discomfort.

Wow. Cueto has really made KC look bad. Glad the Jays picked Price to chase down instead (or ended up stuck with him instead...who knows?).

Cueto was traded for Brandon Finnegan (2 2/3 shutout innings 1 BB 4 SO) and John Lamb (6 starts, 5.18 ERA 77 ERA+, 3.63 FIP). Cueto is at 5.43 ERA 76 ERA+ 4.30 FIP. So basically the Royals would've been in pretty much the same position had they just put Lamb into the rotation instead. Funny.

Price is at 2.28 ERA in 8 starts 174 ERA+, 2.20 FIP
Norris is at 5.06 ERA in his 4 Detroit starts, 4.78 FIP
Boyd is at 6.75 ERA in his 7 starts, 1 relief game, 5.51 FIP

So Norris has done better than Cueto too, but the Jays clearly improved for this year. Jairo Labourt is still in the minors (6.31 ERA for the Tigers in A+ ball so not reaching anytime soon).

i kinda want to take a closer look at how players fs
are after league changes. and not just pitchers. anecdotally it seems its crazy lopsided in favor of the AL.

i don't trust any NL stats, pitchers or hitters.

Just looking at Jays players this year using very basic stats (ERA+ or OPS+) using only 2015 stats (so just our midseason gains)

From NL
Tulowitzki: 107 OPS+ to a 89
Pennington: 63 to a 19
Revere: 95 to a 114 (had spent 3 years in AL previously)
Hawkins: 130 to a 146 (12 years in AL vs 10 in NL)

From AL
Price: 156 to a 174
Lowe: 382 to a 123

Of course, Reyes went from a 96 to an 81 going to Colorado (raw OPS slightly higher there but park effects).

This article from THT and Peter Jensen's comment at the bottom (with respect to Pitch Fx and pitches in the zone called/not called strikes) are very interesting.  Upshot: the backdoor strike (one that does not pass over the front of the plate in the strike zone, but does further back) is called correctly (probably) less than half the time. 

What I gather is Pitch Fx might not be much better than the umps at calling these pitches either.

From this point forward, everything is fun and interesting. Troy Tulowtzki will return if, and when he can. A.A. has done very well covering for any issues here. Devon Travis might be ready/close to ready in time for the Postseason, but that's not happening in the next two weeks so I'll ignore speculation on him. All I need is for every one to stay basically healthy and happy from this point on.

David Price is David Price and he will win every game his Offense lets him win. Marcus Stroman was surprisingly good and must get a regular Rotation slot if we are going to have any success in the Postseason. R.A. Dickey has been amazing. He's done almost everything they've needed him to. He also needs regular starts.

If you are going to a six-man Rotation with David Price pitching every fifth day, that's fine. If you are staying with a five-man Rotation with Price, Stroman and Dickey getting regular starts, that's also fine. The remaining Starters, Buehrle, Hutchison and Estada can fill in the remaining Starts on a rotating basis, to keep them rested and sharper. Their next three Starts could determine their future over the balance of the season and the postseason. I'm sorry, but I have no idea on how well they will pitch. Anything is just mere speculation which does nothing.

It's generally fun to watch, but if I have to hear Buck/Pat (especially Pat) repeat 17 times per inning "there are a lot of similarities between this team and the '92 or '93 team", I think I might throw something..

there are a lot of similarities between this team and the '92 or '93 team

Listen really closely next time. It's not entirely clear they're not saying simularities.

Interesting game going on down at the Trop.

Yankees continuing their trend of hitting poorly after facing a knuckleballer.

Horrible performance by the Rays' closer (Boxberger), turning a 1-0 Rays lead in the ninth into a 4-1 Yankees lead. He gave up a single, got a DP on a hard-hit grounder, then walked the tying run with two outs, gave up a double, an IBB, and a HR.

good for the yanks and arod.

makes me feel better about the jays' weekend when the yanks keep winning otherwise.

Horrible performance by the Rays' closer (Boxberger)

Indeed. Boo. Boo.

Slade Heathcott (who?) had 2 homeruns in 260 minor league AB. He now has 2 for the Yankees in 18 AB.

Well three game lead is still not all that secure. It sucks when they keep pace in a game all Tampa needed to do was get one more out.

The Royals lost, their lead is down to 2 games for the AL's #1 seed.

Some Blue Jay AL offensive ordinals. Lots of extremes here.

R: 1st
2B: 1st
3B: Last
HR: 1st
CS: Last (fewest)
BB: 1st
OBP: 1st
SLG: 1st
OPS+: 1st
SF: 1st
IBB: Last (fewest)

Some pitching ordinals:

Saves: 2nd last (despite being 2nd in wins)
BB: 1st (fewest)
K: 11th

Various "nets" ('for' minus 'against'):

R: 198
H: 91
HR: 51
BB: 132

Their BB story is interesting. Most drawn. Fewest issued.

On the walks allowed side, the progress of the pitching staff over the season has been quite noticeable.  Walks allowed by month with April first:  83, 80, 72, 42, 53, 28 (Sept. so far).  The team played fewer games in April than in other months, so the progression is even starker if you look at rates of W/PA%: 9.4, 7.6, 6.8, 4.6, 5.5 and 6.1. 

The K rates are also down since the start of the year, as are the BABIPs.  As the team defence gets better, there is less incentive for the pitchers to try to do all the work themselves.  Strikeouts may not be fascist, but there are no Ks or Ws in run prevention and one of each in walk-off loss (hey, it's election season so it is appropriate to be tacky).

Pitching W/PA%:

Split  |  Apr |  May |  Jun |  Jul |  Aug |  Sep
TOR    |  9.4 |  7.6 |  6.8 |  4.6 |  5.5 |  6.1
AL     |  8.1 |  7.5 |  7.2 |  7.0 |  7.5 |  8.1
ML     |  8.0 |  7.5 |  7.2 |  7.3 |  7.6 |  8.3
+/- ML | +1.4 | +0.1 | -0.4 | -2.7 | -2.1 | -2.2

Impressive, sustained, turnaround.

To put a bow around this Yankee thread, Charles P. Pierce wrote a nice summary at Grantland:

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/tangled-up-in-blue-the-jays-pull-away-in-the-al-east/

I'm pretty sure, though, that those sexy royal blue "brand-new personalized bathrobes" that Price was interviewed in on Friday were provided not by "management" but was another gift from Price himself. I believe Ben Nicholson-Smith mentioned this on Blair's show. This is important information, people!

With Ortiz reaching the 500 homer plateau, I wondered about the comparison between him and Edgar Martinez.  Martinez was pretty clearly the better hitter and did play a few seasons at third base.  Ortiz did hit better than Martinez in the post-season, but Martinez was no slouch in that department.  On merit, Martinez is, to my mind, clearly a better player, but it'll be very interesting what the writers say, especially in light of Ortiz' PED issues.  Ortiz was definitely more famous, and my guess is that he gets more support on the Drysdale/Brock theory focused on fame and playoff performance.  I guess we can come back to this when Ortiz retires.

This is where the 5 year waiting period is critical. I think Ortiz will lose support as time goes by while Edgar will gain support. Ortiz is an emotional argument, he led the Red Sox to their WS titles, he has 500 HR despite a late start (he was 27 before he had 500 PA in a season).

His lifetime WAR of 50 seems a reasonable assessment of his career. Very good career, but not quite a HOFer. Mix in the PED rumours and that should slow him down enough not to get in.

A very unsurprising announcement, but here it is anyway:  Hutchison has been moved to the bullpen; Estrada takes his place for Thursday's start.

not sure i trust estrada all that much more right now. hopefully they can shelter him vs bad teams like atlanta and skip him on offdays.

hutch has a chance to be really good out of the pen, though. His velo should creep over 95 regularly in one inning stints and along with his slider could make him pretty deadly.

estrada going thursday means stro gets an extra day of rest.....though that might be as much about not making him hit and run in atlanta.

potential sp sked:

sep 15 @atl: buehrle
sep 16 @atl: price
sep 17 @atl: estrada
sep 18 bos: stroman
sep 19 bos: dickey
sep 20 bos: buehrle
sep 21 nyy: price
sep 22 nyy: estrada
sep 23 nyy: stroman
sep 24: off
sep 25 tb: dickey (5 days rest)
sep 26 tb: price
sep 27 tb: buehrle (6 days rest)
sep 28 @bal: stroman
sep 29 @bal: estrada (6 days rest)
sep 30 @bal: dickey
oct 01 @bal: price
oct 02 @tb: buehrle
oct 03 @tb: stroman
oct 04 @tb: estrada (or dickey on 3 days rest if meaningful)

i was always an Ortiz HoF skeptic but these last 2 inpressive seasons are starting to sway me. especially since it looks like he can go on for a couple more.

There are a number of other steroid users who ought to get in ahead of Ortiz. That said, unlike them, he genuinely appears to be a nice guy and is a presence here in Boston.

I put Ortiz with Pettitte - extremely good players who were key on multiple WS teams who also got caught in the PED cookie jar. Both also are extremely liked and know how to work the media. It'll be interesting to see how they both are treated in HOF voting. Neither should make it but both might, and I suspect will.

Does anybody else think that Edgar Martinez was a considerably better baseball player?  Not that that matters too much, I know...

Hmmm... 4 starts for Buehrle. He is 26 short of 200 innings again so he needs to average 6 1/2 innings per start to get there. Not easy, but possible.

Today's lineup is: Revere, Donaldson, Bautista, Smoak, Martin, Goins, Pillar, Pennington, Buehrle.  I guess the idea is that Encarnacion is only going to be out another 2 days and you might as well keep Donaldson and Bautista in their spots.