Whit in CF right off the bat.

Merrifield, Bass and Pop active.

Collins, Gage and Peacock optioned.

And Merrifield is vaccinated, so that's news.

Merrified in CF is a Blackadder level cunning plan to make us all stop complaining about Tapia in CF. Genius.

It shows they're going to keep Zimmer for his late inning defense and running.
Probably the end of Jansen DHing.
Maybe the end of Kirk DHing as well.
Could be Springer's main spot for a while.

7:40 start? Not bad.
6 left bats against Manoah.
Teoscar grabs the cleanup spot from Bo.
Merrifield hits 8.
Biggio over Espinal today, hitting 9th.

Chapman hitting 7 has great numbers against Sonny Gray.

Merrifield says he'll be in Toronto "when the team is there" which suggests he got his shot(s) before the trade deadline. He says he knew this might be coming.

make us all stop complaining about Tapia

The complaining had kind of died down, hadn't it? Of course the guy hit .323 and slugged .528 in June/July, which is hard to complain about.

Or only 5 left bats? I guess I can't count.

They are a bit short of catching, so Sanchez is the guy tonight.
They acquired Sandy Leon as the backup.

Buxton is the DH for this one.
Not unlike Springer, I think. He's their own glass canon.

Bo and Teoscar have flipped spots. The slumping Espinal gets a night off. Whose spot on the roster is Merrifield taking?

Never mind. I now see Gerry's post.

Springer's been just a little more durable than Buxton. He's played in 90% of his team's games since he came to the majors to stay (and more than Buxton every single season.) Buxton's only been able to play in 66% of his team's games since coming up for keeps in August 2015.

Springer is DHing tonight. We'll see if he has recovered enough to be effective, but I have my doubts. The bar is high if he is taking PAs from Jansen and Kirk.

The bar is high if he is taking PAs from Jansen and Kirk.

I dunno. Kirk (who's catching tonight) is 3 for his last 21. Jansen is 2-24. The bar's not too high.

I'd almost prefer Springer go on the IL for a couple of weeks, tbh. Maybe there's no short-term relief for what ails him (bone chips?), but his ground ball rate is worse than it's been for a long time, and his production shows it.

The primary goal should be to have Springer as healthy and productive as possible in the postseason. The team’s current decisions about resting or using Springer should reflect that goal.

I would definitely prefer him to go on the IL. He missed the All-Star game, and hasn't looked right since.

The secondary goal should be to keep him healthy in the longer-term. He is under contract for four more seasons!

Manoah looks good; Springer not so much.

My guess for Springer is a bone spur. IL won't solve the issue. Surgery will, but that may cause him the rest of the season.

So, with Jackie Bradley Jr being released today do the Jays sign him for the minimum and dump Zimmer? Same type - defense and speed with horrid offense. But slightly less horrid than Zimmer. 58 OPS+ vs Zimmer's 29. Both are positive defensive WAR but negative offense. I'm more meh about it than I expected to be. But if they can IL Springer then might as well and see if he can be part of a mix-match in the OF.

It's not about solving the issue- it's letting the symptoms ease so that he can perform OK for whatever time he can.  It seemed to have been aggravated when he made those two throws from rightfield. 

When the Jays bats go cold, they go really cold.

joe mentioned Springer hitting ground balls. Major league average is 42.9%. Our first 6 batters are all above that, from Kirk's 48.9% to Teoscar's 43.7%.

Anyone else sick of Jesse Pinkman? Or just me>

Jesse Pinkman forced me to give up on watching Breaking Bad by season 1 episode 3.

Thankfully he wasn't in Better Call Saul (until last week) so he couldn't ruin the best TV series in history for me, too.

Well I've had Sportsnet drop my cast twice surrounding the ball back to the mound. Always with cutting out during the dramatic moments.

This is not a good development.

And now bases loaded 2 outs just stops. Damn Rogers.

Watching Gray pitch is not fun. 

Thankfully he wasn't in Better Call Saul

Man oh man. Finding the Jesse Pinkman character annoying should not be a reason to not watch BB, especially on the heals of BCS where you get to enjoy the chronological continuity.

Hating on Aaron Paul for annoyingly hawking a gambling site is a whole other thing.

*heels

Breaking Bad by season 1 episode 3.

The show doesn't get good until season 1 episode 7.

By the final season, it's as good as any TV has ever been.

Why do our hitters keep pounding the ball into the ground in crucial moments? Where is Dwayne Murphy?

Thank you Hypobole Murphy!

Teo carrying the team at the moment.

he hit it that time but Bo is still hacking at everything.

Get the W for Mount Manoah.

Under discussed story - Vladdy has turned himself into one hell of a defender at 1B.

Yes! And how about those two plays by Chapman. Remember when the Jays tried Biggio at third base?

No I don't, and you can't make me.

I don't recall ever seeing a 3B do everything so calm and confident, from picking 100mph short-hops to throwing at the 1B's chest every time. Heck, I was a bit shocked when that throw on the charging ball on the line nearly took Vlad off the bag. Of course, the next throw? Chest-high on the bag again.

The Wire has something to say about Best show ever.

The Wire has something to say about Best show ever.

That's what it comes down to, I think. I think The Wire is Dickensian and Breaking Bad is Shakespearean. Dickens was pretty great, but Shakespeare's my guy.

By the way, that recent David Simon series - We Own This City - was really great.

Who is/was better, Chapman or Scott Rolen? I am not sure who I would pick.

Like brother, like brother? If I’m not mistaken, Yuli Gurriel (career .288/.332/.458 / wRC+ 115) once said that Lourdes was a better hitter than him.

In his career, Lourdes is now .289/.332/.478 / wRC+ 117. This year he’s hitting .314/.367/.429 / wRC+ 125.

I don't think Rolen had Chapman's range tbh.

and it's nice having vladdy in the 2-hole.

It’s really difficult to choose. I will say that Rolen probably made the play down the line with the long throw better than any Jay ever. Chapman is just so athletic.

Not often you see fans in the left stands jumping to get out of the way.

That's funny, I was just going to say that Rolen seemed more athletic vs Chapman's smooth. I am watching a Rolen highlight reel, though, to refresh my memory.

I think I'll second option C: Don't Make Me Choose.

Chapman or Scott Rolen?

Geez, I don't know. Probably Rolen. I think. Maybe. He was near close to perfect. Just an amazing athlete for such an enormous person. But that's a really tough call.

I think that you can hit and run with Merrifield. 

Chapman for me, for his all-around defensive ability. With the caveat that Rolen was 33-34 when he was with Toronto, whereas Chapman is only 29. So it’s a bit of an apples and oranges comparison in that sense.

As Magpie says, Rolen was incredibly athletic for an enormous man but I do think Chapman is more athletic (and much smaller). The defensive stats that have Chapman as average or just above average this year are broken.

Sopranos
Mare of Easttown
Homeland

Those are 3 of the best written shows.

For international espionage, Le Bureau tops Homeland.

Hatufim, the Israeli series upon which Homeland was based, also tops Homeland.

Other people have seen Le Bureau and Hatufim? Wow! And yes, really really good.

The first season of Homeland was pretty great.

Alas, my knowledge of any of these TV shows is glaringly absent (beyond The Wire, which I watched over a decade ago. And it is pretty darn amazing)

The Blue Jays had a lot of kind of partial third basemen, players with one elite feature but not all that much else. Gruber was so athletic. Glaus wasn't very mobile, but every single throw was just perfect, lasers on a perfect line at head height. And Tony Batista had the quickest hands - I've never seen anyone get rid of the ball quicker.

But Rolen and Chapman were/are both utterly complete. Everything about their defensive play is elite.

my knowledge of any of these TV shows is glaringly absent

Well, I used to work an overnight gig where I sat around for eight hours doing almost nothing, and I passed the time watching TV on my laptop. And because it had such crappy sound, I sought all those foreign shows because they had subtitles.

Where can one watch Le Bureau and Hatufim in Canada?

Glaus was really good at charging in on the ball. I remembered him starting at SS for a few games, but forgot it was @ ATL in an effort to keep Hillenbrand/Overbay in the lineup. Sinking ships.

Vlad has done well - FanGraphs has him at -3.5 for defense, but at 1B only 2 guys are ahead of him - Christian Walker (the only 1B with positive defensive), and Ryan Mountcastle (-2.4 in 70 fewer innings).

For OOA it goes Walker (11), Mountcastle (4), Vlad (3)
For DRS you get Walker (15), Vlad (6), CJ Cron & Josh Bell (3).

No matter how you cut it it seems Vlad is now one of the best defensive 1B in baseball at the moment. I thought it was mostly hype by broadcasters and hometown bias but the stats seem to put him as #2 or #3 in MLB, and maybe #1 in the AL (Walker is in Arizona). I love his doing the splits and he always seems to put 100% into it out there.

For a quick check, in 2021 he was 17th in Def (-12.1), 7th in rPM (4), 11th in DRS (2). FOr 2020's freak year he was 22nd (guys with 200+ innings) in Def (-4.1), 27th in DRS (-4). So no question we've seen a MASSIVE improvement each year from him.

For comparison here are the Def ranks for other positions for Jays (qualified only with Springer an exception)...

• 2B: Espinal: 5.9 (3rd)
• SS: Bo : 3.8 (14th)
• 3B: Chapman: 1.6 (7th) - sounds way too low to me.
• LF: Gurriel: -5.2 (10th)
• CF: Springer: 0.0 (18th for guys with 400+ innigs)
• RF: Teoscar: 0.0 (5th)
• OF: Tapia: -6 DRS (52nd out of 57), his Def isn't listed on leaderboards but on his own page is -7.7 (yikes!) but his bat has improved so his overall fWAR is now up to 0.0. Took a killer hot streak but he finally reached replacement level.

So now what? We have a decent looking team at the moment. Merrifield is the new Swiss Army Knife of the team (taking Biggio's slot more or less) and will probably be in CF a LOT for the next week as Springer tries to keep playing despite being hurt (1-4 with a walk, a run and 2 RBI suggests it could work out and Kirk probably needs some rest with his current slump). A couple of interesting names on the waiver wire in Jackie Bradley Jr (probably an upgrade on Zimmer) and Didi Gregorius (a pure SS who hasn't hit since 2020 but used to be a 120 OPS+ guy - I suspect someone will give him a shot to play everyday despite his 60 OPS+ this year). If Bradley is willing to be a 5th OF he'd be nice but I doubt he would - odds are he'll wait for someone to offer him either an everyday position or at least a platoon type situation. Zimmer, on the other hand, appears to have accepted his 'play the 9th inning' role.

I'm not sold on Springer. His out at the fence looked better than his hit through the infield.
Guerrero's swing on his homerun was impressive. That was some bat speed.
Bichette awoke.
The ump was very stingy on the bottom of the plate and Polanco walked on 2 balls to score.
Garcia also walked a guy on 2 balls.

Megil is their long guy and had an ERA under 2. (up to 2.92).
I think he's in the low leverage bucket because he's a rookie.
He's averaged a little over 4 outs per outing, not unlike Thornton.
This is what I was talking about regarding the 1 inning per reliever versus having some guys who can give you 6 outs. Megil having a scoreless inning doesn't improve his odd when he comes back for a second one. Duffey is their lowest middle reliever. They didn't care how many pitches he threw. (44)

Both team used 3 relievers. Mayza was stingy again with 8 pitches. Garcia threw 20 against the middle of the order. It seems unfortunate to have to use him here. Bass threw 18. Might want to sit all 3 today. Might not see Megil and Duffey again in this series, depending on what happens on Sunday.

Merriffield was a 27 year old rookie. He played at the university of South Carolina. He signed a club friendly contract but it was more about guaranteed money than the love of baseball.  He made 1M his last pre-arb year than 5M, 6.7M and 7M during his arb years. He's only making 2.75M next year--plus a 500K buyout, which would have been his free agency year.

I don't known who would be a good comp, but Pillar for example, was a 24 year old rookie and made considerably less during his years of control.

Where can one watch Le Bureau and Hatufim in Canada?

I have not seen either available on streaming services so it was DVDs for me. Some library systems have robust DVD collections.

Le Bureau des Legendes is on the French (France) channel of the cable. (Probably doesn't help you.)

Apple TV

<br>I am pissed the offense exploded after I got booted from Sportsnet app for the last time and gave up following the game.

In April I predicted Manoah would win the Cy Young Award this year. But it's going to be tough to beat 39-year-old Verlander (15-3, 1.73). Imagine if the Jays had landed him in the off-season. Gausman, Ohtani and McClanahan are some other AL SPs having very good seasons.

Despite the bizarrely low defensive ratings for Chapman, both DRS (3rd of 30) and FG (5th of 30) agree with the overall eye test - the Jays are a very good defensive team.

Only uglyone commented on my post in the other thread, but Bo's now at 107 wRC+ vs righthanders this year, almost exactly in line with his previous seasons, despite an increase in his K's.

Positive debut for Merrifield, although his 1st hit looked more like an error to me. If he's able to return with the team to Toronto on the 11th, how long ago would he have had to get vaxxed? Thought it was 14 days.

Only uglyone commented on my post in the other thread, but Bo's now at 107 wRC+ vs righthanders this year, almost exactly in line with his previous seasons, despite an increase in his K's.

I wonder how much of this season has been related to the news about his dad becoming public? Would definitely explain extra issues beyond change in offense league wide.

Despite the bizarrely low defensive ratings for Chapman, both DRS (3rd of 30) and FG (5th of 30) agree with the overall eye test - the Jays are a very good defensive team.

I said it before, I think the shift is really impacting Chapmans individual defensive ratings, but not team defense, so it's good there's some evidence to support that.

Officially it is indeed 14 days, and it would be odd if Merrifield got vaccinated before he was traded to the Jays. Perhaps he meant that he will join the team during the homestand, or his Paint skills are on point.

Verlander will be a free agent this offseason. If Scherzer got 3/130, is Verlander worth 50MM on a one year deal?

I wonder how much of this season has been related to the news about his dad becoming public?

I find it beyond strange no reputable news sites picked up on this, because it would be a big deal if true. Is this supposed Dante jr Instagram account really his?

Joe Posnanski wrote this column in 1995.  Dante Bichette is named, along with Robert Parish and Bobby Cox.  I do not know how I did hear about this at the time (or worse yet, have forgotten).

Late to the TV show party...

The three Davids: Milch, Simon, Chase...

Deadwood, The Wire, The Sopranos.

See, that's my point. The assault by Dante on his wife, at a time when domestic abuse was largely swept under the rug, was reported by Posnanski in the Tribune. I found it in a 1995 SI article.

But this one, at a time when the public and media acknowledge the serious nature of such allegations seems to be only reported on junk websites, i.e. clickbait with no fact-checking. Makes no sense if true.

Fleabag is the best written show I've seen in a few years now. 

I wouldn't have read a US paper in the 90s, so I'm not surprised it didn't come up until this year. Though not great on Toronto media for covering for Bobby Cox, even though he was gone.
But I think it was mostly snippets like this that didn't explain the whole horror of the abuse until the big revelation this year.
There's always been a lot of cover for covering up in pro sports. Starts with amateur sports (hi, Hockey Canada, St. Mike's, etc., all those rape cases vs college athletes where nothing happens).
It's a systemic thing, and people with money and power are too interested in maintaining money and power over doing the right thing.
Current Blue Jays admin has been consistent - get rid of the people, but also don't share reasons. So there's doing the right thing, but also maintaining cover. That's last part is complicated, and who knows who asked for stuff to be quiet etc.
I feel good that current management won't look past those issues for staffing/ signing if they are aware of them. But maybe that's optimistic because they are better than many orgs.

The three Davids: Milch, Simon, Chase...

Hey, what about Larry?

Haven't seen the last few seasons of Curb Your Enthusiasm, but I thought it was great. Although that may be because I turn into a Susie Green clone when I watch the Jays.

I assume you guys are all talking about what you think the best shows are AFTER the undisputed #1 Better Call Saul, of course.

I would make a case that For All Mankind on Apple TV has quietly become the best current TV drama after BCS. It's an alternative history of the space race starting in the 1960s that explores a number of familiar social issues (the glass ceiling, race, gay rights, blowback against environmentalism, etc.) via fictional characters.

Bryan Cranston presented Vin Scully the lifetime achievement honours at the 2017 ESPY awards.

I'm not sure how much lateral range Vladdy has - that is a very hard thing to judge from TV alone - but in all other respects I think Vladdy has become an outstanding defensive 1B. Perhaps the best the Jays have ever had at scooping balls in the dirt.

Perhaps the best the Jays have ever had at scooping balls in the dirt.

We actually kept track of that back in the day, and it turned out that Lyle Overbay was about as good as it gets. Great arm, too.

I generally put The Wire and Breaking Bad at the top of my mountain (waiting for the final season of Better Call Saul to conclude, so I can just inhale it all, so don't tell me what happens to Kim!). But I feel a shoutout to The Leftovers is needed. And Mr Robot. And... oh, stop me now.

Mike, it's not messy. If true, it would be news. Why wouldn't the Toronto Star (among a myriad of other trustworthy news sites) have reported Bichette jr's allegations?

I would make a case that For All Mankind on Apple TV has quietly become the best current TV drama after [Better Call Saul].

I've just started it - so far, so good - but I'm still going to bang a drum on behalf of Succession. I thought I might have the same issues with it that I always had with The Sopranos (the characters are all so utterly loathsome that it's impossible to care about them), but perhaps entitled rich jerks aren't as troublesome as thugs and killers. And so much of the show is about these awful people getting messed over so thoroughly (by the other awful people) that there's a deeply disturbing pleasure in watching them suffer.

What exactly is the news? It was reported long ago what Dante Bichette did. Should the Toronto Star be asking Bo Bichette what he thinks about his dad striking his pregnant mother 30 years ago?

but I'm still going to bang a drum on behalf of Succession

Succession denies the viewer an entry point, a sympathetic character to whom we can hitch our wagon. All the characters tease you with small amounts of humanity, almost enough to sucker you into their camp, but that only ever lasts a brief time. All that's left is the schadenfreude of enjoying the awful treating the awful awfully. Probably like a family weekend at the Trumps'.

And because this thread has taken a TV-themed turn, let me plug the little seen, but critically celebrated, Rectify. Some will recall the showrunner, Ray McKinnon, as the reverend in Deadwood.

Put me in the camp of the best ever show being The Wire.

There have been a lot of good recent shows too (not necessarily part of the "best ever" conversation), I'd recommend to all The Expanse (which probably just had its final season this past year), Arcane (one season so far), and the Third and most recent season The Orville was really surprisingly very strong.

And on the movie front, I was late to see it when I went Wednesday night but Everything Everywhere All At Once is definitely worth seeing.

On the baseball side I'm glad that Manoah being drilled on another comebacker only seemed to effect him for a couple of batters and that he is still the dependable ace starter we need.

Wow that is very weird, I very recently described watching Succession like watching a Trump family dinner party:) It's a very well done show but totally unwatchable for me.

this thread has taken a TV-themed turn

Passing the time while we wait for first pitch... I'm taking a break from the reams of ballpark data I've been reviewing... schadenfreude is exactly the pleasure that Succession provides, thank you Chuck! I probably enjoy that too much, I suppose. And the quality of the performances. I always meant to check out Rectify, forgot to do so, it might be tricky now.

There seems to be an unspoken assumption that the only shows worth consideration are hour long dramas. Half hour shows do tend to be comedies of some sort, not that comedy isn't a high art itself.

Re: all the TV stuff.. Heard all the reviews of Breaking Bad - couldn't get past the bathtub scene in EP 2 or 3. Assumed BCS was more of the same.

Keep meaning to watch The Wire at some point.

yeah The Wire and The Sopranos are obviously right up at the top too. But Better Call Saul is really a magnificent work of art and a departure from pretty much any other show, including Breaking Bad. I don't really have any problem putting BCS right up at the top it's so unique and awesome and rich in every possible way.

And despite the suckage that came after they ran out of Martin's material, GoT has at least 5 seasons of awesomeness that gets in GOAT territory too. Many other "GOAT" shows didn't have a run of quality that long.

Succession is fun as hell. The Boys is great fun too.

Expanse is a good one but man the acting has some tough stretches.

and of course Stranger Things. even this season 4 i'm halfway through is way better than I expected.

A great actor is usually enough to draw me in, and I'd probably watch Brian Cox doing infomercials (we used to say "read the phone book," I'm looking for a substitute phrase!)

Stanger Things was more fun than I expected - the kids make it work, they're really good. Which reminds me - Reservation Dogs is back.

I recently started watching Mythic Quest (on Apple), and have been pleasantly surprised.

The news is that a couple of weeks ago "Dante jr" claimed his father regularly abused him.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Torontobluejays/comments/w62l14/dante_bichette_jr_brother_of_bo_opens_up_about/

Posters here mentioned this at that time, not the 30 yr old abuse. If Dante jr regularly got bloodied protecting Bo, some legit site would have delved into the accusations is what I'm saying.

Not quite in the GOAT pantheon, but Broadchurch is a fantastic, seemingly little-known show this side of the pond - David Tennant and Olivia Coleman are brilliant.

Today's a late 8:10 start. (I drunk extra coffee.)

Lineups are not up yet, but Tapia is 4 for 10 against Mahle and Merri is 2 for 3.
Springer has great numbers against the Saturday starter.

I don't think news sites would be all over the Bichette family problems...there are many, many stories of abuse and misbehaviour around pro sports and it's rare for one to break through. In Canada, in particular, the massive scandal around hockey Canada has likely occupied the few reporters who would touch a story like this one.

I do think the abuse making the news could put Bichette off his game...clearly close to his father, likely abused himself in some manner. Not around to support his mother/brother/father (whoever he would side with). Rough.

How about even 1 legit news site. Find 1.

Bo is playing defence better than he ever has. He's hitting RHP's about about the same as he has in the past. Lefties, who he mashed in the past, have killed him this year, partly swing and miss, partly horrible BABIP luck.

Springer on the bench.

Merri leading
Gurriel hitting 3rd DH
Teoscar still cleanup
Jansen hitting 7th
Tapia 8th
Espinal 9th.

Looks close to optimal offense/defense.

There are some fantastic shows about villains like BCSw, Breaking Bad, The Shield, The Wire..

But if you want to laugh, I think you should leave and Nathan for You are both brilliant

I also really liked Severance

The Wire is Dickensian, perhaps, but it was always intended partially as a modern twist on a Greek tragedy.

The politics/police politics stuff in The Wire was pretty much a copy of the great Kubrick film Paths of Glory.

The scenes of the drug trade were very much taken from Clockers by Richard Price.

This is not to disparage the masterpiece, David Simon is very open about where he stole from.

See if the Jays can get the division lead under 10 games
after tonight.

That was a good baserunning risk by Hernandez.  If you never get thrown out, you're being too cautious. 

Sorry but that was bad base running by Hernandez (with no outs).

I can’t really agree Mike - but part of my problem is that he didn’t run hard to first. He then turned it on after he saw the CF had cut it off.

I was shocked that they got him. Perfect defensive play.

It was a good throw but watch Hernandez’s running. I think you will be less impressed with the whole thing.

I did watch, Nigel.  I thought that he ran hard straight out of the box.  Maybe I missed something. 

Well, that went to hell in a hurry.

Looks like Berrios is breaking bad (again).

Any kind of breaking would have been good. 

Fair enough Mike. I’ve watched it three times now. I see him running about 75% to 1B, he rounds 1B, sees the CF cut the ball off, and then he goes full out. But it’s all irrelevant with this imbalance in starters.

I’ll wear this one guys. Got home and started watching just an inning ago when it was 0-0 and started licking my lips at Mahle’s then elevated pitch count. Needless to say, things have gone poorly since.

Berrios’ Jekyl and Hyde act is very strange. Nights like tonight (the Hyde nights) he seems to get squeezed a lot, like that last AB to Leon… but then his problem is the opposite of Kikuchi’s. Berrios was throwing meatballs down the middle and he might honestly be fortunate to escape with only the five runs allowed (depending on how Richards does to bail him out)

Though there was a nasty pitch right after the HR to Gordon. But yeah, Robo Umps can't come soon enough. 

The Jays were in a bind at the trade deadline. They really could have used someone like Castillo to help create a more formidable front three in the rotation. But they didn’t have the trade chips to make it happen. I’m glad the team didn’t sell low on Moreno or Tiedemann, but Berrios is going to get crushed in the postseason if he pitches like this.

Whoa. Vladdy is good.

Espinal looked a lot better, even striking out.  More coming.

Pop looked pretty good. Nice debut.

Bichette got a good pitch to hit leading off this inning, but he fouled it off. Then struck out on a slider out of the zone. Frustrating in a one-run game.

I would not have used Pop for more than one inning after a successful scoreless inning in his debut.

Phelps does have a bit of nonchalance when he’s out there, especially in a tough spot doesn’t he? Never noticed it before this season (although he has previously only pitched a couple dozen innings as a Jay due to separate circumstances of course). Serious veteran moxie.

oh boy was I ready to to pounce on Tapia there.

he must have felt it.

Who needs Soto or Happ?

I love love love love that inning. those were playoffs quality at bats.

this sport is good sometimes.

Great game, huh?

I love Garcia’s determination in that inning. And the way he picked up his teammate (Biggio).

Those were some bush league ABs from Hernandez and Bichette.

oh Danny boy...

And some bush league D in the bottom of the 10th.

Painful ending, but a great game. 

Indeed.

Meanwhile, the Yankees bullpen blows another one. And the Dodgers don't seem too shaken by the upgrades in San Diego.

Ironic that the Jays lost tonight’s game because the Twins were aggressive on Chapman in the bottom of the 10th while the Jays were conservative on the 1 out single in the top half of the inning.

the Jays were conservative on the 1 out single in the top half of the inning.

That wasn't conservative. It was a no-brainer. He'd have been out by at least ten feet if he tried to score. He had no jump at all - he had to wait and make sure the ball cleared the infield.

The home/road splits for Berrios continue.

Apart from Vladdy taking his walk, the ABs in the 10th were underwhelming.
Overtime on the road, you play for 2. I get it, but I sense that game wasn't heading into the 11th and I called it a night.

<br>ibstopped watching almost immediately, turned it on for the hr to make it 5-0, then sportsnet quit.
Looking status the boxscore I see Romano with a K but no IP. Was there a mid AB switch?

Nope. Romano's third strike was in the dirt and the batter reached (Jansen blocked the ball and it rolled up the first base line and...- never mind, watch the play, there was a lot going on)

Romano got the strikeout but the batter reached on the Jansen error on the throw to first.

<br>https://mobile.twitter.com/StatsBySTATS/status/1555771341122551810

Last night's game was fascinating and a couple of things stuck with me, which I will write about after the market. The title of my Game Report will be "Under Pressure- decision-making in motion and a partial defense for Raimel Tapia". /teaser

Shouldn't have mentioned yesterday how good the Jays have been defensively lately.

Chapman has been great lately but that was a brutal short hop he gave Danny in the 10th.

that was a brutal short hop he gave Danny in the 10th.

It was not an easy play for Chapman - he had to rush because the runner was off on contact, and the ball took him a few steps in the wrong direction - but you have to get lucky to catch a throw like that cleanly.

The game story I saw referred to two "miscues" by Jansen. Give the guy a break! There was the short hop from Chapman, and before that Vlad not giving him a good lane to throw to first on the third strike in the dirt (as Joseph - an ex-catcher, natch - noted immediately after the game.)

It absolutely was conservative base-running by Biggio, Arraez was nowhere near catching the ball. Then the throw home came way up the first base line. An aggressive-running Biggio would have easily scored on the play.

At least they came back down from 5-0. It would be great to see these guys morph into the 2015 club, where any early deficit felt like a small hill to climb. They have the talent to make the Yankees sweat in September, assuming the rotation stays healthy and Manoah isn’t too limited down the stretch.

It was pretty telling that Springer either wasn’t available to pinch hit last night or he was considered a lesser option than Merrifield, Tapia, Jansen, and Biggio. He probably needs a couple weeks off.

<br>springer DL retroactive to 5th. Shame he wasn't DLd a few da6s ago when we all knew it was necessary.

Lopez active to replace him, and Thornton optioned back to Buffalo to clear a spot for White.

Bo looks like he's just guessing on every swing and usually he's guessing "74 MPH screwball".

Well, he did guess right his last AB. Now if a few other guys would just start guessing that.

Bichette almost always looks terrible when he makes an out, and just like everybody else, he makes an out more often than he succeeds. It's just the way he hits. He's hit better than Kirk, Jansen, Espinal, Springer, Biggio these last few weeks. But you'd never know it.

Polanco doesn't have nearly as large a platoon split as they're suggesting. Over his career, it's not a big deal at all.

The baseball gods are not being very kind to the Blue Jays so far tonight.

And they're not getting kinder.

Recovery time for a dislocated shoulder varies from case to case, but the Blue Jays will be very lucky if Mayza can play again this year.

That was a strange decision.

I am really looking forward to hearing the thought process behind Tapia pinch hitting for Merrifield.

Just wondering....does Bo ever dive? Has he made plays like Correa did earlier in the game where he dived and popped up to make the throw?

I can't remember any right now.

I am really looking forward to hearing the thought process behind Tapia pinch hitting for Merrifield.

From the Monty Burns school of managing "It's called playing the percentages."

I assume it was about getting the platoon advantage - what else could it be? Tapia had never faced Duran before, Whitfield had faced him five times and got a base hit against him the night before. I dunno.

Jordan Montgomery and three relievers toss a two-hit shutout, Yankees lose 1-0. Karma!

I've been surprised by Merrifield taking lots of pitches down the pipes and striking out a lot, but he's gotten his hits.

Mayza was used a lot, so this will hurt.

I think it was fairly predictable that Mayza would get hurt. He was the player without an obvious replacement on the roster and they didn’t find one at the deadline. This is what the baseball gods do - they are spiteful and punish those who spit into the wind.

Guessing Atkins is asking Jake McGee's agent if McGee has any interest in Buffalo.

Real good at bat by Tapia. Best I can remember seeing from him.

They post a little stat bit on the screen showing Kirk is 0 for his last 17 with 6 walks and 2 Ks.  The W/K tells you that it's not your typical cold streak. 

  	   G	 PA    AB    R    H  2B  3B  HR   BB   SO  BAVG   OBP   SLG   OPS 																	  
Mayza	  193   340   312   32   62  11   1   7   24   87  .199  .263  .308  .570 
Garcia	  230   412   375   50   78  16   2  20   28   91  .208  .267  .421  .688 
Richards  150   761   663   78  151  22   7  23   83  179  .228  .315  .386  .701 
Phelps	  308  1349  1182  162  290  51   9  42  137  311  .245  .330  .410  .740 
Bass	  302   906   809  129  213  44   6  27   81  152  .263  .332  .433  .765 
Cimber	  201   335   288   42   70  23   4   8   36   78  .243  .337  .434  .771

I don't know why you would pull Gausman here.  You keep him in the blowout to get an opportunity for the win, but here, when it really matters, he's gone after 84 pitches (fewer than in the blowout) working on a shutout.

I imagine he's thinking - he pitched 8 innings last time, and I've got the three guys I want - Bass, Garcia, Romano - each lined up for a clean inning. And I Have a Quick Hook!

It isn't even a particularly hot day at Target Field, and the bullpen has been thrown a lot of the pitches the last 3 games. 7-8-9 due up, they were 0/6 against Gausman.

That would make 3 appearances in 4 days for Bass and Garcia, rendering them both down or tired for tomorrow's game. Gotta ask for more from your SP.

I can definitely see why he might want Garcia for the top of the order - Garcia is the best guy standing against LH batters. But I would have been more than fine with one more from Gausman.

Extra innings in part due to a balk and an HBP is an annoying development.

I'm surprised they overturned that, but if that didn't count as blocking the plate then the rule would be meaningless.

The folks at Mensa will not be reaching out to Kepler.

Gurriel doesn’t always make good, quick decisions on the basepaths.

That was intense, as the Repo Man says.

Gurriel often seems to think he runs faster than he actually does.

I was reminded of Jim Rice today - it's the 50th anniversary of the day he jumped into the stands and literally saved a kid's life - and it occurred to me that our Vladdy is basically Jim Rice with (much) superior plate discipline.

I didn’t watch this one, but based on the boxscore and the last couple of games of the series, this was an important win for the team.

Didnt watch....why was Gausman pulled on 84 pitches while cruising?

We were all wondering that very thing!

Romano wasn't great with a runner on first.
The slide step seems to impact his ability to locate the slider.
Need to work on that one some more.
 
The win is the important thing. Gaus was great even if he didn't get the W.

Gage could be a lefty option, but for now, they probably need Thornton to provide depth.

I'm glad they overturned the ruling at the plate both because it meant the Jays won and also because it protected the rule.

There were at least two problems with the way the catcher played that ball:

1. He setup before the throw was even coming with no lane to the plate (a no no by the rule).

2. While the throw was to him in an area where he'd (probably) have to be giving no lane to field it, he (probably) didn't need to drop the leg to fully cement the block in advance of getting the ball.

From the meta processing, as long as you are going to have the rule in the first place, you can't let fielding like that be rewarded with an out or else you'll be back to most plays being collisions.

Also count me in the crew that live while watching the game would absolutely not have pulled Gausman after 6. He was averaging 14 pitches an inning right on and seemed as effective in the 6th as any earlier and was due to face the end of the order (7/8/9) so getting him to pitch the 7th and leaving fewer innings to the bullpen would make sense. When he was on 70 innings after 5 I was trying to figure out where I'd want him after 7 innings to pitch the 8th and I figured, if it were me, if he seemed effective and was at or under 90 pitches after 7 I'd let him pitch the 8th (or at a minimum start it), but certainly at 84 I'd let him pitch the 7th (and he'd still be on pace to finish 7 on less than 100 pitchers).

Also, Archer had pretty much the worse follow through of a pitcher I've ever seen. It seemed like every other pitch he was possibly injured with the falling down and complete lose of balance on his delivery. That he was still somewhat effective was I think largely due to the umpire giving a lot of questionable calls of balls as strikes. There was only one walk in the game (the intentional walk to Vlad in extras), but there were several guys that were thrown 4 balls with a couple of them called as strikes. Bring on the roboumps!

Rocco, as you can imagine, is not happy. Post-game, he described the call as "ch*ck*nsh*t" and expanded on his views:

It's one of the worst moments I think we've seen of umpiring, in any game I've ever been a part of in baseball. I think it was pathetic.

I'd be pretty mad myself.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals roughed up Frankie Montas for six runs in three innings, and they just scored another three on Scott Effross. The lead could be down to single digits by the end of the day.

Do yourselves a favour and flip over to the Mets game.

Oof, Chuck, that was a heckuva jinx :)

I stepped in it real good.

I did have to laugh - I'm streaming music through the TV, so went to gameday to see what was happening. Just as I was scrolling through the boxscore to see DeGrom's no hits, 1 walk, and 12Ks, Swanson homered.

It was no hits, no walks, and 12Ks when I summoned the alert. My days as town crier may be over.

It's possible though that no team improved itself as much at the deadline as the Mets did. Just by activating That Guy.

Originally I thought it was a 50/50 call for that play at the plate. But after the game Caleb Joseph was saying that Sanchez should not have setup over the plate like he did as now catchers generally receive the ball in front of the plate and swipe the runner.

There was a similar play in the Baltimore game today with the same result.

Great win today. Bo with a clutch bullet toss to Biggio to finish the game.

Say what you will, but these guys are not boring. Blowing the lead, scoring via a challenge, scary bottom of the 10th. Keeps you watching.

Hypobole I suspect is right - the Jays should be checking in on Jake McGee about now. Last year he was lights out - 8.7 K/9 vs 1.5 BB/9 over 59 2/3 IP 153 ERA+. This year he has stunk with a 60 ERA+ 2.3 BB/9 (not bad) vs 5.0 K/9. As a LHP he'd be nice in the pen if the problems are more fluke than permanent. I figure the Jays have him fully evaluated by both scouts and stats. Certainly has the potential of being ideal as generally he has been a very effective left handed reliever. Problem being who do you drop? Thornton is the obvious choice but the Jays need a long man tomorrow for sure (Kikuchi pitching).

At least our weekend went better than SDs. They get all excited about getting Soto and such only to be wiped out by the dodgers. Still some time to salvage a single game from the series today.

It's nice having the mandated 4-man bench without the unnecessary 3rd C. It allowed Schneider to bring Zimmer into the game in the 7th inning for defense, even though there was a decent chance Tapia's spot would come back up in the order. With Espinal, Biggio, and Merrifield covering 2B and Lopez on the bench there's a lot of versatility and flexibility to make moves. They can add Moreno to the mix in a few weeks and have the whole diamond well covered.

It was interesting listening to the post-game interviews. I was surprised the call was overturned, because Merrifield could have gone wider to escape the tag. He said he went straight into the plate because he thought Sanchez was blocking the plate.

I know the catcher has to give the runner a lane, but until today I thought the catcher chooses what to offer. I guess that’s incorrect after reading the rationale and the players talk about it. The runner chooses where they want to slide and the catcher can’t impede the runner in any way until he has possession of the ball. When you hear the Twins talk about it, they clearly believed that the catcher chooses what lane to offer, so I can understand why you’d be upset if that’s your understanding of the rule.

Agreed 92-93. Today showed the value of only having 2 catchers. Generally I felt it was a good idea to have a 3rd as the last man on the bench rarely played or had much purpose but now with so many who can play all over the place - Biggio, Lopez, Merrifield, Espinal can all cover an assortment of positions while Zimmer & Tapia can cover LF/CF/RF as needed. Of note: despite being in the minors most of the season and only having 60 PA Moreno has twice as many hits as Zimmer (86 PA) although Zimmer has more extra base hits (4 doubles, 2 HR vs 1 double). Each player has a purpose on this roster now which is good to see.

Of note for 2023: Lopez will still have an option, as will Thornton, Pop, Pearson. I think Merryweather's bonus option will still be in effect as he was in the minors on rehab not option IIRC (I could be wrong). Saucedo also will have one left. Collins won't (so I expect him to be let go once the season is over), Capra and Moreno will still have options left. Hatch, Kay, Peacock, Griffen all will still have options left too. But White and Casey Lawrence won't.

How the Jays handle their 40 man this winter will be interesting. I don't think it is a super crunch yet, but choices will be hard. Just like the 26 man roster will be. If they make the playoffs (and odds are very good, up by 2 on Tampa & Seattle for the top wild card, up by 4 on Baltimore & Cleveland for a wild card of any kind, ChiSox are 5 back, Red Sox 7 behind the Jays. Everyone else is too far back to worry (12+ games behind are Texas, LAA, KC, Detroit, and poor Oakland 19 1/2 behind the Jays). Jays are now 9 1/2 behind the Yankees for the AL East title so not 100% out of reach - very hard to catch them but stranger things have happened.

First 3 of 15 vs Baltimore starting tomorrow. Kikuchi going (gulp) so the pen better be ready for at least 5 innings of work. Manoah against a guy with an ERA over 6 for game 2, and Berrios for game 3 (on the road so the pen again better be ready).

Weird stat of the day - quality starts by Jays - Manoah 17, Gausman 12, Berrios 11, Kikuchi & Stripling 3 each. Ryu had 1. Who'd have thought before today that Gausman ERA+ 129 would've had as many QS as Berrios ERA+ 76. Baseball is a funny game.

Runners go wider when the catcher is in front of the plate so they can slide under the tag while out of reach.
There's no point in sliding wide when the plate is blocked.

The spirit of the rule is to avoid contact at the plate.
So while the rules says you can stand on the plate to receive a throw, it seems you have to let the runner slide and try to tag him before he reaches rather than block him.

Merri could have bowled Sanchez over and he would have been out.
It's all a reflection on how early the ball was there.

Merryweather's bonus option will still be in effect as he was in the minors on rehab not option IIRC

He's on a rehab assignment now, but he was optioned to Buffalo for two weeks back in May. He was down there for 16 days.

Thanks Magpie. I couldn't recall of he was optioned down or not. That cuts his value in 2023 significantly as he'd have to stick on day 1 throughout the season. Wouldn't be shocked then if he gets taken off the 40 man early in the off season. A shame as he has looked good at times, but right now I wouldn't lock him in for a 26 man slot.

You need to spend 20 days in the minors to burn an option, so Merryweather might still have one.

Yeah, the catcher can choose what lane to offer the runner and then the runner needs to use that lane. But when the catcher offers no lane (which is what Sanchez did on this play), then the runner chooses a blocked lane, and Merrifield chose the direct middle lane as the fastest to the (blocked) plate and slide feet first rather than try an outside (longer/slower and still blocked) slide path.