The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Thread

[L K]

Credit to Happ, he's giving the Jays good pitching performances.  Three straight starts pitching into the 7th inning and he has gone at least 5 innings in his last 5 starts.  I'mt still not a huge fan of Happ, but with the Jays offense working in overdrive, Happ gives the team a reliable chance to win games right now and that's good for me. 

Going into the season we talked about the Jays needing things to go right with the starting rotation.  That certainly has happened with Buerhle pitching like a #1 and Hutchinson pitching fairly well.  The bullpen has been up and down a bit but for the most part has been pretty decent.

Where I'm most impressed is the surprises in the position players.

Francisco has been huge.  It's turned a very good 3 hitters (Lind, Bautista, Encarnacion) into four guys who are mashing.  That tires out a pitcher very quickly.  Throw in Melky who is on pace to be the 1st hitter to reach 200 hits in a season since Vernon Wells in 2003 and that's 5 guys in a row who can really cause some trouble. 

Then a lot of credit should go to a guy like Steve Tolleson.  Provides solid defense late in the game at 2nd and his bat has been very good (.920 OPS over 52 at bats). 

The only thing that needs to be addressed at this point is carrying 3 catchers for no reason.  One of Kratz/Thole needs to be moved for someone with a little more versatility.  Thole's obviously a hard one to do that with given that he is the personal catcher to Dickey...that and although his numbers are grossly inflated, he's matching and exceeding Kratz's offense (minus the power).  To me, I would much rather see the Jays find a backup utility infielder and/or keep Gose and Pillar up when Rasmus comes back instead of carrying a 3rd catcher.

 

[L K]

Dating Kate Upton hasn't been good for his pitching. She's very distracting.

Is dating supermodels and a 180 million dollar contract really a comfort when your ERA is over 4?

Oh it is? Dang.

I have it on good authority that he spends his evenings crying into his money while being embraced in her arms...on second thought, that might actually just be tears of happiness.

 

[Peter D.]

I've been in denial about it for over a year, but I can no longer be blinded by it -- this team is just like the Leafs in that while there are a few talented pieces in place, the team's construction is so fundamentally flawed that it will never win anything in its current state.

I hate thinking this when there is so much season yet to play, but it's almost time for a reset (again). Almost 200 games as is now and this doesn't have the makings of anything more than a middling team.

I'll gladly admit I'm an idiot.

 

[bustaheims]

Dating Kate Upton hasn't been good for his pitching. She's very distracting.

Is dating supermodels and a 180 million dollar contract really a comfort when your ERA is over 4?

Oh it is? Dang.

I have it on good authority that he spends his evenings crying into his money while being embraced in her arms...on second thought, that might actually just be tears of happiness.

Arms? ;D

 

[L K]

Dating Kate Upton hasn't been good for his pitching. She's very distracting.

Is dating supermodels and a 180 million dollar contract really a comfort when your ERA is over 4?

Oh it is? Dang.

I have it on good authority that he spends his evenings crying into his money while being embraced in her arms...on second thought, that might actually just be tears of happiness.

Arms? ;D

I'm trying to keep this safe for work.  You may want to know what her legs are doing but that's just not kosher from 9-5.

 

[L K]

Francisco, Cabrera and Lawrie all hit their 10th homerun of the season today.  That gives the Jays 5 hitters with 10+ homeruns.

 

[Kin]

Going into the season we talked about the Jays needing things to go right with the starting rotation.  That certainly has happened with Buerhle pitching like a #1 and Hutchinson pitching fairly well.  The bullpen has been up and down a bit but for the most part has been pretty decent.

I still think that's an area where they need to be proactive. Things look pretty good right now but at some point you have to figure that Buerhle is going to remember he's not Cliff Lee. Between Hendriks, Happ and Dickey looking pretty ordinary there's a lot of spit and duct tape there.

 

[bustaheims]

1 pitch save for Janssen today.

 

[Kin]

1 pitch save for Janssen today.

With a 4 run lead. Don't you feel safer?

 

[Corn Flake]

Sweeping the Tigers.  Pretty impressive.


I hope they can sweep again!

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Sweeping the Tigers.  Pretty impressive.


I hope they can sweep again!

How sweep it is, amirite?

 

[Kin]

On to more good news, the draft is tonight and the Jays are as well situated as anyone, picking #9, #11 and #49.

 

[Bender]

On to more good news, the draft is tonight and the Jays are as well situated as anyone, picking #9, #11 and #49.

 

[Andy007]

On to more good news, the draft is tonight and the Jays are as well situated as anyone, picking #9, #11 and #49.

Only problem is that it's AA doing the drafting

Hopefully he can stay away from the raw HS pitchers (Bickford) and tool-sy non-hitters (Davis) and actually get a position player or someone with a little more pedigree (Pentecost would be huge). The team has a ton of pitching prospects; they really need to get some players who can hit and/or play a valuable position.

 

[Kin]

I mean, the problem with Bickford isn't that he was in high school, the problem is he didn't sign. I think there's good value in high school pitchers and, let's be fair, you can never have too many good pitching prospects.

 

[bustaheims]

I mean, the problem with Bickford isn't that he was in high school, the problem is he didn't sign. I think there's good value in high school pitchers and, let's be fair, you can never have too many good pitching prospects.

Also, Bickford was totally worth the risk. It was either sign a high ceiling pitcher or have another high 1st round pick in a much deeper draft year. Much better than the play-it-safe strategy of his predecessor.

 

[Andy007]

I mean, the problem with Bickford isn't that he was in high school, the problem is he didn't sign. I think there's good value in high school pitchers and, let's be fair, you can never have too many good pitching prospects.

Also, Bickford was totally worth the risk. It was either sign a high ceiling pitcher or have another high 1st round pick in a much deeper draft year. Much better than the play-it-safe strategy of his predecessor.

The problem is, you can't keep doing this. It's another year that your, potentially, top prospect isn't maturing and making his way through your system. Jays are the only team that has failed to sign their 1st round pick twice in the last four drafts. That's going to hurt you in the long run. It absolutely is not worth the risk, particularly when most analysts thought Bickford was a huge overdraft.

I never liked JPR and his "play it safe" strategy, as you put it, but you also can't go completely the opposite route. You need balance and shouldn't trek too far in either direction, imo.

 

[Kin]

The problem is, you can't keep doing this. It's another year that your, potentially, top prospect isn't maturing and making his way through your system. Jays are the only team that has failed to sign their 1st round pick twice in the last four drafts. That's going to hurt you in the long run. It absolutely is not worth the risk, particularly when most analysts thought Bickford was a huge overdraft.

I never liked JPR and his "play it safe" strategy, as you put it, but you also can't go completely the opposite route. You need balance and shouldn't trek too far in either direction, imo.

Even then it seems like the criticism should be doing more diligence on the signability of the players taken rather than avoiding HS pitchers.

 

[bustaheims]

So, the Jays used they first pick on Jeff Hoffman - a pitcher who's going to miss significant time thanks to Tommy John surgery, but, may also be the best arm in the draft class.

 

[Kin]

Hopefully he can stay away from the raw HS pitchers (Bickford) and tool-sy non-hitters (Davis) and actually get a position player or someone with a little more pedigree (Pentecost would be huge). The team has a ton of pitching prospects; they really need to get some players who can hit and/or play a valuable position.

Well, you got your wish. A college pitcher and Pentecost.