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

i'm really starting to hate Stroman. constant humble bragging about his lifestyle to bitching about how unfair the game is to him/players and now this:

Stromans puppy 4 days ago. Stromans puppy 24hrs ago. Apparently HDMH stands for Height Doesnt Measure Humanity. pic.twitter.com/SiMZuYGWF2

— 🕶 (@JaysTrain2Reign) March 11, 2019

which is a shame because i love the intensity and hustle he brings to the field.

anyways. Anthony Alford is having an electric spring and i'd love to see him open as our starting LF or CF. hopefully last year was a fluke. (i hope this comment doesn't age brutally)

ugh - didn't realize the pic would display like that... sorry everyone!

When he's winning and the team's winning, I want all the theatrics from him that I don't want when they're not. (I get the feeling he's really worried about going on the market--another poor season and his value will be comparatively nothing--so he's flailing about trying to do this, that, and the other to get an extension.)

Why the fuck would you do that to a dog

Sorry, I just glided past the dog photos--Stroman did that? I don't get it. When I said theatrics, I meant his on-field theatrics.

Ya he did that for reasons beyond my understanding. I had to unfollow him on social medi a while back because I couldn’t handle his jeuvenile bs anymore.

https://www.thedodo.com/ear-cropping-cruel-1212872917.html

it's a shitty thing that people do to their dogs for aesthetic reasons. when i see it in vancouver it's exclusively rich peoples' dogs. but i think the practice has origins in dog fighting

That was my first thought when I saw the ears (not that I thought he was fighting the dog, but it’s the dog fighting “look”.

So the Jays just gave 50% raises to all their minor leaguers apparently!

Bo Bichette this spring: 42 PA, .421/.476/.816. That has to be ideal for a young guy playing in the shadow of someone like Guerrero.

it's just spring, but ya - certainly beats him going 5/30. he's also looked pretty good in the field. he keeps this up and i think we'll see him up some time after the break (whenever the super-two date passes).

with him, Vlad, Jansen and Borucki all (probably) playing this year, i'm going to enjoy watching them this season. when i saw that "faith and hope" thing on mlbtr, all i could think about is how much i'm looking forward to this season and the seasons to come – with Biggio, Smith and Pearson all due to debut over the next couple years. it's going to be fun.

i'm going to the game at the olympic stadium tonight! no vlad :( but maybe bichette/biggio?

anyone i shd keep an eye out for? man the jays depth chart is one of the most deeply uninteresting rosters i've seen in a while :/

conversely the brewers depth chart is nice

I was going to lead with "Please post if you see the ghost of ______________," but I just looked up 15 or 20 Expos from the early '70s, and every last one of them is still alive.

Only spring training, for sure. I was just thinking of how much harder it would be for Bichette if all the focus were on him. He's totally under the radar--if Guerrero had had that kind of spring, he'd probably be a bigger story than the Raptors or Leafs right now.

not much on display at that game i am afraid! barely anything even hit as far as the outfield for the first six innings. nice little rally to win it though, and the fact that there's a dude named nate orf meant we got to yell ORF SIDE LONG BEACH a few times, so that was fun! also a "bo bichette" chant started and it took me a second to realize they weren't saying "holy shit"

Bo-ba-fett! Bo-ba-fett! Bo-ba-fett!

Kendrys traded to the As! it's Rowdy time!

Keep getting rid of that dead weight--couple more to go.

48 mil going out to players not on the team!

And looks like they added Alford instead of Tellez.

If Stroman were to have a great year on a poor team, I think he could well be unbearable.

I'm looking forward to seeing whether the Jays can pull off their first proper rebuild since the 80's. Hopefully Stroman also realizes that the window opens next year?

If anyone was born to berate management and demand a trade via Twitter, Stroman's the guy. So I hope you're right.

Between us being the '71 Orioles on the mound or the Tigers being the '68 White Sox with the bat, I'm guessing it's the latter.

Too bad we don't have anyone in the minors who might help jumpstart the offense.

Bichette?

http://phildellio.tripod.com/vladimir.jpg

Not bad. The fact that I noticed Cleveland was the beneficiary before I thought "April Fools" tells you how trustworthy I find current management when it comes to possible collusion.

pillar to the giants

You're next, Stroman.

I'm liking this DePaula guy we're getting back, btw.

Down at the game tonight. Until Vlad gets here, that place is officially a morgue. Attendance: 12,110.

What do we think of Grichuk's extension? I guess the price is right, so why not.

Through six games, the Jays are 1 for 55 in the first three innings.

re: Gritch – it's ok i guess. he a good defender, young and can hit some dingers. so there's some value there and they pay looks appropriate. maybe what's more important is the team is signalling (in this small way) that they are interested in keeping *some* guys around.

Vladisaur Jr. will be activated off the IL for tonight's Dunedin Blue Jays vs. Clearwater Thrashers game.

first homer of the minor league season belongs to cavan biggio (off gio gonzalez)

This season is going to both suck - and be fun as shit.

VladJr goes 1-4 with a run scored for High A Dunedin route of the Clearwater Thrashers.

Outshined by Cavan Biggio!

https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2829741-blue-jays-reply-to-fan-asking-about-source-of-justin-smoak-info-literally-us.amp.html

Looking at the Jays boxscore today (so today's game is included), eight of the nine guys in the starting lineup are hitting between .077-.217; five are sub-Mendoza.

I thought Toronto's .183/.261/.318 slash line might be historically significant, but there are three or four teams right there with us or worse this year.

ya, it hasn't been that long. just feels long. gonna be another long two weeks.

matty shoes for cy young

bo bichette, broken hand

matty shoes for cy young

the Curse of Mook

Happy Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Day! @BlueJays

— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) April 26, 2019

We were trying to guess where he'd be in the order today: 2nd or 5th for me, a co-worker thought 7th.

He has arrived. Ya llegó. @vladdyjr27 @VladGuerrero27 #VladDay #VladdyJr pic.twitter.com/pkKroNvshO

— Marly Rivera (@MarlyRiveraESPN) April 26, 2019

welp

i believe cito gaston is available

Ha! Guessed what your post meant right away. Wondering if they'll go after Maddon.

Obviously upper-management monitors the Blue Jays Nation site very closely.

https://bluejaysnation.com/2022/07/10/its-time-to-fire-charlie-montoyo-next-week/

i feel like the shine is kind of off maddon (although the angels have been drastically worse since firing him)

John Schneider, bench coach...okay, I'll admit it, the name didn't register with me at all, even though he's been here for three years.

The Brewers and Jason Alexander can have their Seinfeld-related jokes; we get The Dukes of Hazzard.

Have already heard everyone's favourite--"You can't fire the players"--two or three times.

True. But you could start by firing Bradley Zimmer, who now sports an OPS+ of 32.

(Yes, I realize that's a tiny piece of the puzzle, and that I'm fixated on this. But honestly, even as a decent defensive sub, is it that hard to find a guy who can catch the baseball and provide something approaching replacement-level offense?)

would normally complain that you can't actually expect any real change simply by elevating the bench coach, but the experience of phil nevin instigating brawls at least suggests the possibility

it's weird when you think about it, that they decided that "ahh, whoever we got lying around... Schneider, i guess" > Montoyo for the remainder of the season.
i don't think anyone is surprised. after that skid, something had to change.
and re: Zimmer, is his WAR still better than Tapia's?!

It is--0.0 to -0.8.

Tapia's offensive numbers, though far from spectacular, are much better than Zimmer's. (So are Charlie Brown's.) You watch much more than I do--is Tapia that awful on defense?

I'm sure this was a story when he got hired, but I never realized till today that Charlie Montoyo was a career .400 hitter in the big leagues.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/montoch01.shtml

Seriously, though, why didn't he get more of a chance in the majors? He had a .404 career OBA across 4,000+ PA.

(Minor-league PA, that is.)

Oh wow. He was an OBP god about a decade before anyone cared!

Embarrassing that they lost this one

Save some for the rest of the season, guys.

I switched over to something else when I took a nap: it was 3-0 at the time. Woke up, 17-3. Just went out for coffee, 27-3 when I got back.

i opened with a nap too, but my gf got me after the inside the park grand slam.
so i've seen them score a few so far!

will the modern record fall tonight?!

also: do you not plan on sleeping tonight?!

Wow that Tapia inside the park home run—haven’t seen a CF dramatically misjudge a fly ball like that in a long time

Retirement: "naps," "sleep," "tonight," these words lose all meaning.

I’m at the @RedSox @BlueJays game.
Between innings, a guy proposed to his girlfriend, she said yes, and the stadium dj played, “We Fell in Love in a Hopeless Place.”

— Marc Evan Jackson (@MarcEvanJackson) July 23, 2022

Every Jays starter had at least two hits and one run. First time for the franchise--probably been done before.

getting flashbacks to my softball league rn

(we were the Red Sox, always the fuckin Red Sox)

Jays are now a game under their Pythagorean projection.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. making fruit cocktails during last night’s 28-5 win over the Red Sox 😂

(📸: @ArashMadani) pic.twitter.com/sf3OP57Tte

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) July 23, 2022

Get the feeling that photo might be on Boston's locker-room wall today.

(I don't know--maybe my mind's still on 1978 time.)

Toronto's secret weapon this season: COVID vaccination laws. Arenado and Goldschmidt won't play in the series this week.

Maybe this is the year all these covid restrictions wind up as a net positive.
It still sucks that all these amateur virologists are limiting what players they can sign/trade for.

I was never his biggest fan - but it’s great to have buck back in the booth.

Not sure if there's a gap or two in there, but he's been with the franchise as a player/manager/broadcaster for four decades.

(Schneider) is the first manager to have a run differential of +50 or better over his first nine career games since Jim Price posted a +63 for the New York Gothams in 1884.

I guess you really can program a computer to figure out anything.

https://www.mlb.com/news/george-springer-vladimir-guerrero-jr-lead-blue-jays-to-win

Obviously the Jays don't "have to" do anything against Detroit--it's still July. But I'll be very disappointed if they don't win at least three out of four. Their starting pitching is so iffy these days, it feels like they have to open up a cushion for the wild-card.

Opening the series with Kikuchi makes this less easy than one might think.

Good start...but yeah, my last post was kind of tautological: the very reason they might not win three out of four is their starting pitching is so iffy these days.

was a good ball game, tigers kept it close!

Hey, we got some new bodies! Bass and Pop--we're starting a new indie label or something.

https://www.mlb.com/news/blue-jays-anthony-bass-zach-pop-trade

ha ha! glad they did *something*
Bass didn't blow me away his first stint here and Pop looks very interesting. shame we gave up on Groshans tho, but he really wasn't looking good at all in AAA.

man - we didn't even talk about the other nutty trades the jays made!

anyways - the play at the plate today. i watched the replay and though sanchez was indeed blocking the plate the way he threw his leg down... but looks like a lot of people thought the replay office got it wrong?!

Seemed to be blocking the path to me, but I don't know the exact wording of the rule.

Second great start in a row from Gausman. I don't know if my 35-year-old memory can be trusted, but he reminds me of Stieb: compact motion, keeps it low, ball darts all over the place.

I thought the catcher can block the plate if he needs to make a play on the ball? He can't exactly move out of the path of the ball if he needs to make a catch. And the knee only went down after he had the ball. I thought the Twins were robbed but OTOH who cares Jays win!!

Jays are actually within 10 of the Yankees, first time since June 15.

man, i just spent a while looking at diagrams and rules etc.

this call, either way, is definitely in a grey area where it could go either way.

Whit admitted he decided to go straight into Sanchez instead of sliding around because he felt Sanchez was getting overly cute with the rules and had, in this case, violated it.
Sanchez had apparently admitted in the past, he intentionally pushed the limits of where he could plant his feet.

Baldelli was upset because the play had often gone the other way. not like the umps could have done anything about it. tho, i guess a review of a similar play in Pittsburg had also ruled the same.

what looks clear to me was that the ball was coming to sanchez in fair territory, he'd set-up in fair territory – but he had actually started moving to block Merrifield before he caught the ball and had no need to move in that direction to make the catch.

i honestly don't know if I should give Whit credit for knowing he was, technically, on the right side of the rules here and possibly also knowing sanchez like to push the limits of where and when he could move to block the plate – of if he just got incredibly fucking lucky expecting the review office in new york to rule in his favour.

john schneider looks like alejandro kirk's dad

and then there's manoah. dear god the big portly boys i'm looking at

Not sure if I should be excited about Jackie Bradley Jr. or not. Good defender, obviously, but geez, some of those batting averages...OPS+ of 85 for his career.

very much a lateral move out there vs Zimmer

there's a decent chance you guys are about to get TJ McFarland'd. DFA'd yesterday, and he's been awful this year. But he was decent last year, and the blue jays do not have a left handed reliever. Neither do the Mariners, so...good luck

What do you do after you've exercised the fire-the-manager option?

If they lose this afternoon, they will be looking up at the Orioles in the standings. Maybe that'd jolt them out of this.