A blink ago we were back in school
Smoking by the gym door
Practicing our rock star attitudes
And now we're going down.
Are the Blue Jays trying to figure out which infield configuration they prefer? Do we like Guerrero at third base or Horwitz at second base? They can't both play first base, obviously. Complicating the situation is the arrival of Will Wagner, who sure looks like a major league hitter to me, and whose best position is probably second base (which is why he had no future in Houston.) I can conceive of a future with Guerrero at third and Wagner at second, but I'd want someone like Ozzie Smith in between them at short. What, Ozzie's retired?
In my lament for the 2012 team, I noted that 17 men had more than 100 Plate Appearances for the 2012 Blue Jays, and that just three of them - Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, and David Cooper (!) - managed an OPS+ better than 100. Well, they're doing it again. Now that Turner and Kiner-Falefa have been sent on their way, the Jays are left with just Guerrero and Horwitz who seem certain to end up with an OPS+ better than 100. Clement and Jimenez would also make it if the season ended today. But it doesn't, and I will be quite surprised if both are still be above 100 when it's over. I suppose Springer and Varsho also have a fighting chance.
Matchups
Thu 22 Aug - Canning (4-11, 5.41) vs Burr (0-1, 5.40)
Fri 23 Aug - TBD vs Bassitt (9-12, 4.34)
Sat 24 Aug - Fulmer (0-4, 4.24) vs Francis (6-3, 4.38)
Sun 25 Aug - Anderson (10-11, 3.46) vs Gausman (11-9, 4.24)
Smoking by the gym door
Practicing our rock star attitudes
And now we're going down.
Joey Votto didn't get the fairytale ending he - and all of us, surely - was hoping for. Wearing number 19, a numeral that means an awful lot to this franchise, for his home team. Coming up with some big hits in a pennant race or a post-season game. Well, not everyone gets to go out like Ted Williams or Derek Jeter. Votto was ejected from his last game in the majors. That's different.
It might even be appropriate. Joey Votto wasn't like the other players. It's not that he was quirky or eccentric, not at all (although the game can always use a few of those guys as well.) It's more the company he kept - other baseball players. Baseball players in general are not very interesting people. Well, they're all jocks. More than that, they're all elite jocks, very young men who have dedicated most of their short lives to mastering this silly game and little else. Joey Votto was different, if only by seeming to be a regular human being, with some perspective about himself, his job, and what it all meant in the grand scheme of things. And a wonderful sense of humour about it all.
And a very great player, who should be bound for Cooperstown, although his counting numbers will probably make him wait a year or three (all those walks don't help him here!)
It might even be appropriate. Joey Votto wasn't like the other players. It's not that he was quirky or eccentric, not at all (although the game can always use a few of those guys as well.) It's more the company he kept - other baseball players. Baseball players in general are not very interesting people. Well, they're all jocks. More than that, they're all elite jocks, very young men who have dedicated most of their short lives to mastering this silly game and little else. Joey Votto was different, if only by seeming to be a regular human being, with some perspective about himself, his job, and what it all meant in the grand scheme of things. And a wonderful sense of humour about it all.
And a very great player, who should be bound for Cooperstown, although his counting numbers will probably make him wait a year or three (all those walks don't help him here!)
Random notes....
Erik Swanson had actually been pitching just fine since returning to the majors a little more than a month ago - he'd allowed just two runs in 11 appearances. Both runs came on solo homers. He'd also been used almost entirely in non-pressure situations, most often in blowouts, with his team trailing. Last night was the first time he came into a game with the score tied since early May.
Are the Blue Jays trying to figure out which infield configuration they prefer? Do we like Guerrero at third base or Horwitz at second base? They can't both play first base, obviously. Complicating the situation is the arrival of Will Wagner, who sure looks like a major league hitter to me, and whose best position is probably second base (which is why he had no future in Houston.) I can conceive of a future with Guerrero at third and Wagner at second, but I'd want someone like Ozzie Smith in between them at short. What, Ozzie's retired?
In my lament for the 2012 team, I noted that 17 men had more than 100 Plate Appearances for the 2012 Blue Jays, and that just three of them - Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, and David Cooper (!) - managed an OPS+ better than 100. Well, they're doing it again. Now that Turner and Kiner-Falefa have been sent on their way, the Jays are left with just Guerrero and Horwitz who seem certain to end up with an OPS+ better than 100. Clement and Jimenez would also make it if the season ended today. But it doesn't, and I will be quite surprised if both are still be above 100 when it's over. I suppose Springer and Varsho also have a fighting chance.
I expected Yarbrough to be tonight's starter - this would be Bassitt's normal turn, but they've decided to bump the entire rotation back a day. He may end up as the bulk guy, once the Angels beat up on Ryan Burr.
Thu 22 Aug - Canning (4-11, 5.41) vs Burr (0-1, 5.40)
Fri 23 Aug - TBD vs Bassitt (9-12, 4.34)
Sat 24 Aug - Fulmer (0-4, 4.24) vs Francis (6-3, 4.38)
Sun 25 Aug - Anderson (10-11, 3.46) vs Gausman (11-9, 4.24)
