Blue Jays: 2015 edition

[Nad Smith]

I keep wondering now that M. Saunders is chief of police, will he ever play left field for the jays?

 

[saxon]

With all due respect to a team's self imposed salary cap I say again ...

What the fuck was Oakland thinking ... or rather what was the GM smoking ?


Donaldson must have requested a trade. 3/4, another RBI last night ... hitting .345(I know it will not stay that high), 11 RBIs on the season so far.
I see him rapidly becoming a fan favorite and a lot of Donaldson jerseys in the crowd by late June.

I had read a few articles just after the trade that Donaldson was butting heads with the A's GM and some other management types in Oakland. So I wasn't surprised he was dealt.

 

[saxon]

News just in. Bautista will not play for a few days because of a strained shoulder, he may have to go on the disabled list if there's no improvement over the next few days.

 

[mandrill]

Hey look, the 5th deck, the uppermost deck in the stadium (check the 2nd video in the following link).

Edwin territory, as of yesterday. See video halfway down the page.

https://www.facebook.com/BlueJays?fref=nf

 

[saxon]

Jays win, I think Sanchez will get the W but an ugly outing 7 walks. He needs to get his control under control or he will find himself in Buffalo.

 

[mandrill]

Jays win, I think Sanchez will get the W but an ugly outing 7 walks. He needs to get his control under control or he will find himself in Buffalo.

Err, replaced by whom exactly? I didn't know we had depth in SP's.

 

[saxon]

Err, replaced by whom exactly? I didn't know we had depth in SP's.

Someone who can throw strikes.

 

[shack]

Someone who can throw strikes.

A name would be nice.

 

[shack]

I was just following last night's game on the internet on the ESPN box score every 30 minutes or so because I couldn't listen to it or watch it and just happened to click in when Aaron Loup came into the game with 0.0 innings pitched and Jays leading 3-1.

And I said to myself, that's it, the game's over. There's no way they can survive a blunder move like that.
I know his stats are somewhat okay; but, still, Aaron Loup has screwed the team over way too many times in the past to be trusted late in a tight game in a high leverage situation.
Castro is bred to be a starting pitcher and was showing no signs of being tired; so, what was the point of switching over to a pitcher with much less talent than Castro.

I generally support John Gibbons; but, to me this loss is his fault. Sometimes a manager has to just get out of the way of the players and let them do the job they can do.
Instead he artificially meddled in a situation where meddling was not necessary. All he had to do was keep things in cruise control.
Anyway, Osuna and Castro both pitched brilliantly last night while Loup and Cecil were total clunkers.

I worship at the church of "whatever works right now baby" and I hope the wheels start turning in John Gibbon's mind because if he keeps managing the bullpen like he did last night, this team is going to melt faster than the wicked witch of the west

Martin should have been replaced after Gibby went to the bullpen. He was so focused on catching the knuckleball he had nothing left for the relievers. His pitch selection was poor and the relievers didn't respond. Sometimes you have to put the chance to win over an individual player, Gibby has never done that.

So I've asked you guys a couple of times if you agree with Castro as the closer.

The manager doesn't get to use hindsight. What is your opinion, while the jury is still out?

 

[Ironhead]

Jays win, I think Sanchez will get the W but an ugly outing 7 walks. He needs to get his control under control or he will find himself in Buffalo.

Seven walks ? Yeah, but did he not also get around seven or eight outs in a row.
Do not ignore the negative but maybe we can focus on the positive a bit more.
Also I will give Sanchez until the end of May at least. You have to send him out start after start letting him know that a small mistake here or there will not land him in Buffalo.
Allow him to gain confidence that regardless of what happens in this start, he will start again in five games all the while teaching him.

 

[teassoc]

Seven walks ? Yeah, but did he not also get around seven or eight outs in a row.
Do not ignore the negative but maybe we can focus on the positive a bit more.
Also I will give Sanchez until the end of May at least. You have to send him out start after start letting him know that a small mistake here or there will not land him in Buffalo.
Allow him to gain confidence that regardless of what happens in this start, he will start again in five games all the while teaching him.

Agreed.

Also some guys on BBB thought that the umpire was squeezing him a bit more than Jimenez. Couldn't have helped his confidence at throwing strikes.

Lovely to see Travis and Smoak get home runs, to earn Sanchez his first win..

 

[mandrill]

Sanchez gave up two earnies in 5.1. Not brilliant, but enough to get the win and eat a few innings. Sounds promising to me.

How about that Devon Travis?! Rookie is near the top of the AL in ave and rbi.

 

[Jennifer_]

Jays win, I think Sanchez will get the W but an ugly outing 7 walks. He needs to get his control under control or he will find himself in Buffalo.

The game started with a warning which took away inside pitches from him. I'm sure that didn't help his control (and limited his ability to strike guys out).

7 outs in 21 pitches after all those walks is pretty-impressive though- it's too early to make a real judgement on him.

He won't be going to Buffalo. If he fails as a starter, (for now), he'll be going into the bullpen and Estrada will go into the rotation.

Hopefully that doesn't happen- Estrada is good as a reliever but his stats change drastically when he starts.

 

[Jennifer_]

How about that Devon Travis?! Rookie is near the top of the AL in ave and rbi.

It's impossible to not cheer for him. He's such a nice guy. I'm thrilled that he's doing so well.

 

[Dawgger]

The 7 walks is a problem that is difficult to overlook, not only does it put a man on base but it really elevates the pitch count. If Sanchez is going to continue starting he will have to go further into the game, as 5 1/3 will not cut it. Having said that, it was an improvement over his previous starts and if that improvement continues he should be OK.

 

[saxon]

Navarro on 15 day DL.

 

[shack]

Navarro on 15 day DL.

With what? Did he overeat?

Seriously, though, lots of tweaks and sprains etc. Bautista, Travis, Navarro, Reyes. They can start adding up unless the replacements pull their weight. This is where depth is needed.

 

[mandrill]

It's impossible to not cheer for him. He's such a nice guy. I'm thrilled that he's doing so well.

Told ya. You've forgotten Kawasaki already, haven't you?!

 

[mandrill]

The game started with a warning which took away inside pitches from him. I'm sure that didn't help his control (and limited his ability to strike guys out).

7 outs in 21 pitches after all those walks is pretty-impressive though- it's too early to make a real judgement on him.

He won't be going to Buffalo. If he fails as a starter, (for now), he'll be going into the bullpen and Estrada will go into the rotation.

Hopefully that doesn't happen- Estrada is good as a reliever but his stats change drastically when he starts.

Good analysis. I don't get SNET-1 and I just check in on the BJ website from time to time. So I didn't know that.

I guess the umps were afraid of the JoeB vendetta continuing throughout the series.

 

[bemeup]

Err, replaced by whom exactly? I didn't know we had depth in SP's.

How about this guy? Scott Copeland. 2-0 at Buffalo with an ERA of 0.90 and a WHIP of 0.65.