Marcus Stroman won't stop tweeting; 2019 Vlad Guerrero Jr/Blue Jays thread

Dan Shulman

Trying to figure out if this team's for real or not. I've been fished in by fast starts before.

When I look at performance levels, though, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot that's out of whack.

Semien and Bichette (almost identical stats right now): if anything, they may get a little better.

Vlad: what everyone expected (hopefully won't wear down over the season).

Grichuk: the one guy who's clearly playing over his head.

Teoscar: nothing unusual, I don't think.

Biggio, Guriel, Tellez: all underperforming.

The starters don't seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary; Ryu looks like he's pitching in a little luck.

The bullpen, I guess, has been a huge surprise. I don't follow closely enough to know just how fluky.

And they're one game under their Pythagorean record.

The pen feels pretty fluke-y considering all the injuries. Maybe Charlie is really good at managing the pen, maybe Pete Walker is a demigod. I feel like their streak of no blown saves will have to hit a wall at some point tho either way.

This is off to a rough start

Catching up on the thread -- sorry to hear about your loss, Thermo.

The bullpen has been great but they're pitching way too many innings. Last night:5.1 IP, one run allowed, which is great (even though the team lost) but there have been way too many games like that and they'll be worn out by September.

Springer / Manoah / the Ghost of Nate Pearson all loom on the horizon. This team will continue to perform, they're not to be slept on

I forgot all about Springer in that rundown above, so that's another (big) potential plus.

I think Manoah is the real deal too. He was blowing people away in spring training and his line in three AAA starts (after only appearing briefly in lower A ball before) is 18 IP, 1 ER, 7 hits, 3 walks and 27 strikeouts!!!
There’s no way this guy isn’t up by the all star break.

I feel like their streak of no blown saves will have to hit a wall at some point tho either way.

― FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Wednesday, May 19, 2021 4:28 PM (yesterday)

Welp...

what have you done

Yeah that loss last night was rough. I thought Dolis was a bit unlucky, they were hitting some good pitches ... until the Martinez HR, which was a big fat meatball.

God. What DID I do? Two games in a row the pen has biffed it.

Damn, that would be something, maybe even a first: a walk-off cycle.

Arenado did a few years back vs the Giants!

This bunting on two strikes bs needs to fucking stop.

This is the worst game for our pen yet. Total fucking meltdown in the 9th. Rays barely had to take their bats off their shoulders to turn a 2 run deficit into a two run lead.

What the fuck did I do

After all these completely disheartening losses, time to shake it up. Manoah up against Yankees on Wednesday! 🤞😮

it's a panic move, but i am down.
contemplating starting him in our fantasy league.

Go for it! High stakes, this is what it's all about! 🎰

I benched rodon last time out for fear of the Yankees and swiftly learned the Yankees are not very fearful right now

Start Manoah with confidence imo

Meet your new hero, Thermo.

Laughed when he patted the base ump on the back as he came off the field (presumably finished for the day)--shades of Fidrych!

I missed that!

kid's definitely not shy

I know the Yankees are not very yankee-like right now (Odor batting second?! Lol) but the kid looked good.

that first Judge at-bat was so awesome. had him fall to a knee and then had him so boggled he swung about a calendar year too late

Like Bichette without the contact!

Big night for Vlad: 4-4, double, 3-run homer (so far).

He should have tried to stretch that second single into a triple.

Also he’s got the AL lead in home runs now, ahead of that guy nobody’s heard of in Tex.

Not watching right now, but I see Vlad belatedly stretched one of his singles into a triple. (Also just noticed he's one RBI short of a Triple Crown right now.)

Manoah didn’t look so hot today, and no Vlad RBI, but they got a Walkoff in the 9th at least!

He's leading the league in hits, homers, all three slash categories, and total bases (and IBBs!)

I think he’s got the triple crown after today.

I’d also want it noted, for the record, I called all of the Jays runs today. My only witnesses were a disinterested 6 year old and a toddler that can barely talk (but can manage “Milwaukee”)

This bullpen is so bad.

Vlad's six BA points shy of an MLB triple crown and an MLB slash triple crown.

i love him so much

I'm going to look into that today. Incredible longshot, but my guess is it's never been done before.

Started working backwards and got to Ted Williams in '42. He led the (white) majors in all five categories--batting average, on-base, slugging, HR, RBI--but Baseball Reference has dropped him to third in batting average behind two Kansas City Monarch players.

would i recognize their names?

Not Josh Gibson-level famous; I didn't recognize them, but I probably should (Ted Strong and Bonnie Farrell).

no clue.

I don't think it would be a bad idea to give Vlad a night off. He had that phenomenal series in Fenway, almost had a couple of 0-fers against the Yankees. He's played every game.

Manoah looked amazing tonight. Had a no hitter go into the 6th… wound up pitching 7 shutout innings with 10 strikeouts!

Hurrah

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/31829476/toronto-blue-jays-get-approval-canada-health-officials-july-30-return-reportedly-likely

I wonder if I have a hope in hell of seeing a game.

TOR-TEX runs in the series: 25-2. Can we always play Texas?

I wonder what the series record is since the bat-flip...will look that up.

Overall: 21-14 for Toronto (18-14, + 3-0 playoff sweep).

rough inning