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

well they’re almost certainly going to make the playoffs and almost certainly not going to catch the yankees. what do teams need to win short series? these days the answer seems to be More Relievers

and maybe terrance gore

Weird--until I'm reminded, I completely forget that the Blue Jays were once in the same division as the Brewers.

most HRs of all-time hit against Brewers pitching? Reggie Jackson.

Had to check--they moved to the AL Central in '94, then to the NL in '98. They were actually runner-up to the Jays in '92, four back, and the '87 team was a big part of the Jays' collapse at the end.

I remember the brewers were always a pain in the ass for the jays

There was a moment in tonight's game where Guerrero and Tellez were clowning around at first base, Kirk was coming to the plate (just before his HR), and Manoah was in the dugout, still in the game. It felt like all that was missing was Lumpy Rutherford.

1) Pretty clearly, they won't be trading Kirk--he just gets better and better, and is now hitting .320 with power.

2) Pretty clearly, they desperately need pitching.

No idea what they should do.

It’s more than a little concerning how bad Berrios and Kikuchi have been.

Perfect position for tonight: blowout win in the first game, blown lead and then come-from-behind win in the second, and their (non-Fangraphs, anyway) ace going tonight. Foot on the throat, primed for a sweep. But--based on just gut feeling, and knowing it's hard to sweep any series, especially against a good team--the Jays seem to squander these opportunities time and time again.

I didn’t realize Boston’s closer is a leading mind in the medical field and thus, didn’t come north of the border with his teammates. Lol.
Whatever happens today they’re going to have to do it without their best reliever (also I will be at the game!)

Manoah again, lucky you. I was thinking last night about how angry management--and maybe the whole team--must have been at Houck. At a certain point, your "principled decision"--above and beyond how dumb it is from a personal standpoint--really affects the entire team.

"This is our house!"

https://www.mlb.com/news/vladimir-guerrero-jr-gives-blue-jays-walk-off-win

New bullpen acquisition Sergio Romo got in a scoreless inning today in a blowout. Hope he can help, but the recent past isn't promising.

He certainly looks at home in the dugout! I’m liking Max Castillo guy so far. Didn’t think he had quite the stuff for a MLB starter - but I love him for the pen!

So - really tough two games today, but looks like the first base coach, Budziski, got some really bad news during the game, with him and Montoyo leaving part way in.
Hope Mark is ok, whatever happened.

Statement from the Toronto Blue Jays: pic.twitter.com/hD2opEv1l3

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) July 3, 2022

Still not sure of specifics - but sounds like parents worst nightmare kind of thing. Just terrible.

Three months of playing out the string to nab a wild card spot I guess.
― NoTimeBeforeTime, Sunday, June 19, 2022

The good old days--now it's a three-month dogfight.

It’s amazing how our rotation went from being one of the best in the AL to start the season, to being a dumpster fire.

The doubleheader along with zero off days has really fucked us too. And when I think on it, it pisses me off that the lockout and owners greed is what got us here. They played stupid fucking games all the way into spring training - and then didn’t like having to lose some revenue because their lockout ate into the regular season - so they punish the players for it with a fucking brutal schedule.

Just barely hanging on for my Cy Young bet. I was looking for the Jays to score some runs on McClanahan, and for Manoah to get back on track against Oakland. Instead, the opposite.

The panic button beckons.

If the fucking Orioles overtake us…

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.