The 2013 do-over Toronto Blue Jays (AKA the 2014 Blue Jays Thread)

supposed to be back tomorrow!

well, i know that, i'm just being cynical about his ability to _stay_ back

"Jose Reyes's hamstrings of polenta"

http://www.sbnation.com/mlb/2014/4/15/5617388/2014-blue-jays-marlins-trade-dickey-syndergaard

Minnesota - Bottom of 8th	SCORE
Steve Delabar pitching for Toronto	TOR	MIN
S Delabar relieved B Cecil.	5	3
J Pinto walked.	5	3
C Herrmann walked, J Pinto to second.	5	3
E Nunez sacrificed to first, J Pinto to third, C Herrmann to second.	5	3
T Plouffe hit for A Hicks.	5	3
S Santos relieved S Delabar.	5	3
T Plouffe walked.	5	3
K Suzuki hit for E Escobar.	5	3
J Pinto scored, C Herrmann to third, T Plouffe to second on wild pitch by S Santos.	5	4
P Florimon ran for T Plouffe.	5	4
K Suzuki walked.	5	4
D Mastroianni ran for K Suzuki.	5	4
D Mastroianni stole second.	5	4
D Mastroianni to third on wild pitch by S Santos.	5	4
B Dozier walked.	5	4
J Happ relieved S Santos.	5	5
B Dozier stole second.	5	5
J Mauer walked.	5	5
C Colabello walked, D Mastroianni scored, B Dozier to third, J Mauer to second.	5	7
J Kubel singled to right center, B Dozier and J Mauer scored, C Colabello to third.	5	9
J Pinto walked, J Kubel to second.	5	9
C Herrmann struck out looking.	5	9
E Nunez grounded out to third.	5	9
6 Runs, 1 Hits, 0 Errors

buck_martinez.wav

According to STATS research dating to 1974, this was the only game that featured an eight-walk, three-wild-pitch inning.

Wow, no shit, thanks STATS research!!

STATS is also saying that it's the first time the Jays have given away a game to a mediocre team since a couple of days ago.

Nine K's for Hutchinson through five has already tied his career high.

buehrlehh eh

Ryan Goins optioned at last; sorry HACKING MASSers

fuck – i'd managed to climb up to the mid 400's. this will set me back.

looks like Santos shoulda thrown more sliders in that 9th

Welcome back, AJ.

The Jays are now third in MLB in runs scored behind the Rockies and the White Sox. If they can keep this up, things might get interesting.

yea these guys have been mashing like rockies north

If they can keep this up

Six words I've tried to excise from my Jays-watching the past 10-15 years. Haven't quite been able to, which is good.

They couldn't even keep the momentum going through the weekend.

does anyone else think that bringing Stroman up only to dump him in the bullpen with irregular work was the dumbest thing they could have done?

2-0 win over Darvish. They're maddening.

maddening? i dunno - i'll take it!

Encarnacion has been seeing the ball well lately.

Curious to see what they do this afternoon. "Momentum is tomorrow's starting pitcher"--okay, then, they've got their best pitcher going today, they've won five out of six, playing a team that's lost six in a row (complicated by the fact that Boston has their best starter going today). I know there's a thousand ways you can shoot this down, but I just feel like, if the Jays are a serious contender, they should win this game.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/47518/edwin-encarnacion-one-of-baseballs-best

I completely forgot that he was sent to the minors and eventually released after the 2010 season. I think that was before they made him a full time DH though -- I remember a lot of fans not liking him because of his awful defense.

Two home runs in the first (not by Encarnacion) off Jon Lester is a nice start. I want to believe!

7-1 in the 2nd!!

Sorry, Tug McGraw, that's our new slogan: "I want to believe!" (Extended director's cut: "I want to believe! I really do--I'm just not sure I have anything left at this point.")

Win over the A's? 1.5 game lead in the East? I still can't see how we're going to pull this off with only one reliable starting pitcher.

I did not expect a sweep of the A's.

When they fluffed up that one inning, I thought they'd lose for sure. Somewhat in shock. (The Jays were up by a run in the middle of the game, and they had bases loaded, none out, Bautista and Encarnacion coming up. After an out at the plate and the popular 8-1 putout--after an unsuccessful appeal--they came out of the inning with one run.)

It was definitely one of those games when I was waiting for them to somehow blow it. I thought bringing out Happ for the 7th was a mistake, but he turned in his best inning of the game. McGowan looked shaky too but he somehow got through his inning. And of course there was inning with the 8-1 putout at second on a misjudged pop up, right after Reyes got thrown out at the plate.

juggernaut

7 games!

myself and some coworkers, on a whim, went to the game today. did not disappoint.

Skepticism at Sports Illustrated:

http://mlb.si.com/2014/05/28/toronto-blue-jays-first-place-al-east-contenders/?eref=sihp

I'm skeptical too, but I'm not sure I get the logic of: last year this wouldn't have been a surprise, they barely changed anything, now this year it's suspect.

i don't see a cakewalk, but this is the proverbial "winnable" division.

xpost I agree, it's the same as last year's team, and that team didn't have enough pitching either.

petty much. we are now without Josh Johnson occupying the DL, and instead this year have Hutch and Drabek back from tommy John. so.. slight improvement?

at any rate i think we're a starter &/or 2B away from being able to hang onto 1st long term.

This is Monday morning quarterbacking, but the thing I like best about this year's team so far is Francisco. I didn't pay any attention when the Jays picked him up. But the one thing I always notice on playoff teams are these 2-3 WAR guys that come cheap and in a lot of cases nobody wanted. I go back and look at Francisco's career box, and you can see that there was some potential for a breakout year: in 2012-13, he hit 27 HR in 540 AB. I'm sure such acquisitions don't work out more often than not, but they make such a difference when they do. He's getting 1.3 million this year.

i wouldn't expect Francisco to keep his current pace up. he's already cooling off noticeably.

Encarnacion's going crazy--just hit his second of the game, upper deck, now has 16 HR and 33 RBI for the month.

@gregorMLB
Encarnacion has 16 in the month of May. That's one shy of the Barry Bonds mark set in May of 2001. #BlueJays

@gregorMLB
Encarnacion's five multi-homer games in the month are tied for most Major League history. Albert Belle (Sept. 95),Harmon Killebrew (May, 59)

welp

Don't know if there's a good way to end a winning streak, but that ain't it.

the 9-3 putout was nice at least

Billy Butler makes a mad dash to first on a single to right field.

Thank goodness. I'm sure I wasn't the only one nervous about Thursday night triggering a losing streak.

7 runs in the first inning = nope, all good!!

4-0 win behind Buerhle. I like this team.

KC being so anemic, I wish they'd won three, but that's okay, they came back well. Double and another homer for Encarnacion--needs a nickname.

It's Déjà Do-Over All Over Again.

Another Canadian Icon Sullied - The 2015 Toronto Blue Jays Thread

Crackstarter - Gawker crowdfunding the 2015 Toronto Blue Jays: good or evil?

Lol

xpost that one is legendary

John Dewan on Buehrle's durability:

http://www.billjamesonline.com/mark_buehrle_%E2%80%93_one_of_the_most_durable_pitchers_of_all_time_/

Some amazing context:

On that list, Buehrle became the current Rotation Emperor when Justin Verlander missed a start in late August of this season. Buehrle currently has 228 consecutive starts, which dates back to September of 2007. What’s interesting is that Buehrle did not miss a start then because of an injury. Instead, manager Ozzie Guillen skipped Buehrle to allow rookie John Danks to get a start off the DL...Had Buehrle’s streak not been snapped in 2007, his active streak would be 452 consecutive games. That would have been the longest streak, by far, of any pitcher Bill studied, going back to 1955...

(I'd probably look for another name other than the rather clownish sounding "Rotation Emperor.")

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/marcus-stroman-discovered-roy-halladays-sinker