GhostofPotvin29
New member
bustaheims said:
Thanks for that - I had just taken a quick glance at B-ref and read an article touching on his trade to Oakland. That provides much better context.
The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Thread
- Thread starter hockeyfan1
- Start date
Thanks for that - I had just taken a quick glance at B-ref and read an article touching on his trade to Oakland. That provides much better context.
bustaheims
Active member
pmrules said:
Their schedule makes it even more difficult. After the series against the Rays, their season finishes off with 3 against the Orioles in Baltimore, 4 against the Yankees in NYC, then back home for 4 against Seattle and another 3 against the Orioles. If they're going to get in, they're going to have to go through some tough teams and stadiums they've struggled in recently.
Corn Flake
New member
bustaheims said:
Yup, but there are a lot of things coming together right now that make this team look pretty dangerous. The SP's have been mostly excellent, reducing the amount of time the sketchy bullpen has had to pitch - plus some rest for those guys is a good thing, the expanded bullpen has added some really good young arms, and the Pillar/Gose duo out in the field and at the bottom of the order has brought a jolt of speed and small ball ability that hasn't been there until now. Goins at 2B seems to solidify the infield defense, as long as Gibbons keeps him as the go-to and stops pulling him late in the game for Kawasaki, and Bautista is hitting absolutely everything.
Just feels like a lot of holes in this team suddenly seem to be filled and everything is coming together.
Chev-boyar-sky
New member
If EE and Bautista get hot at the same time down the stretch, they should be able to make it in. We need the EE that hit 16 homers in a month (or whatever it was).
GhostofPotvin29
New member
Corn Flake said:
Speaking of which, I hope I never have to watch Gose attempt to bunt again in my life.
dappleganger
Active member
It's very unlikely the Jays make the post-season, but if they do, they'll be one of the hottest teams in the league peaking at the right time. Unlike some other teams... (cough)... Oakland... (cough)
L K
Active member
I'm disappointed they kept Pillar down as long as they did. He deserved a demotion (or at least a decent benching) for his temper tantrum, but he spent two months in the minors hitting extremely well while Rasmus and Gose were providing pretty mediocre play. When the Jays offense went completely dry, they probably could have used his bat.
3.5 games is still a bigger deficit than it seems. It's probably going to take 90 wins to get a wildcard spot this year and that would require the Jays going 14-3 over their last 17 games. They play Baltimore 6 times. They play the Yankees 4 times (IN NEW YORK). They face wild-card rival Seattle 4 times.
The Jays are 10-3 over their last 13 games but are also coming off a 4-12 stretch with thrilling series losses to the Astros, White Sox, Red Sox and Rays. They also lost a series against Seattle and Baltimore.
Tampa is the weakest opponent the Jays have in their remaining stretch and that is a team they struggle against.
3.5 games is still a bigger deficit than it seems. It's probably going to take 90 wins to get a wildcard spot this year and that would require the Jays going 14-3 over their last 17 games. They play Baltimore 6 times. They play the Yankees 4 times (IN NEW YORK). They face wild-card rival Seattle 4 times.
The Jays are 10-3 over their last 13 games but are also coming off a 4-12 stretch with thrilling series losses to the Astros, White Sox, Red Sox and Rays. They also lost a series against Seattle and Baltimore.
Tampa is the weakest opponent the Jays have in their remaining stretch and that is a team they struggle against.
GhostofPotvin29
New member
L K said:
10-6 this season against them though, and facing them at a good time I think.
Corn Flake
New member
Potvin29 said:
The sweep last time in TB was a good omen. They have at least shaken the thinking they can't in in the Trop.
GhostofPotvin29
New member
Corn Flake said:
They also just shut down Drew Smyly for the season. He was scheduled to face the Jays tomorrow.
Andy007
Active member
This team does this all the time. They go on nice runs in September when the games are close to meaningless and they are playing teams that are mostly comprised of September call-ups.
If KC makes the playoffs this year Toronto will be the team with the longest playoff drought in the MLB. Pretty sad.
If KC makes the playoffs this year Toronto will be the team with the longest playoff drought in the MLB. Pretty sad.
L K
Active member
Potvin29 said:
Mind you Nate Karns is a pretty decent prospect pitcher they will be facing. He's not Drew Smyly but he had a pretty dominant end to his year in the minors. He strikes out a tonne of guys too and that can be a problem with the Jays if they start chasing home runs against a rookie pitcher.
GhostofPotvin29
New member
bustaheims said:
Hopefully they're in it going into that last series with Baltimore. Dan Shulman made the point that the Orioles could be resting key players in that series so maybe there would be an opening there.
bustaheims
Active member
Potvin29 said:
They just lost Chris Davis for the next 25 games, so, that might impact things there.
L K
Active member
bustaheims said:
I kind of feel bad for the guy in this one. He got a medical exemption for Adderall last year. He didn't file for an exemption this year and gets suspended for the same medication he was allowed to take last year. Now, ignoring my personal dislike of the overdiagnosis of ADD/ADHD; it seems like this is more of a mild misunderstanding type of situation.
And credit to Chris Davis, he's not doing one of those stupid "it wasn't me" defenses like a lot of people seem to use. He owned up to the problem and accepted the suspension.
GhostofPotvin29
New member
L K said:
And there you go.