The Afterglow Has Co$t Us Dearly, Toronto Blue Jays 2026... yadda yadda

new thread to discuss Hoffman wins, Gimenez RBIs and bush party installations

Another thought on the ASB system: Cavan Biggio, your moment has arrived.

where's he at now?

Gausman: K's for everyone, setting records!

Cease: hold my beer

Dylan Cease is something else today: 11 strikeouts through 5, working on seven straight.

Fluharty getting hit with two line drives in a row - yikes

To what extent does your life revolve around Alejandro Kirk!

(I’m watching A’s-Jays and that Kirk nuke in the 9th was incredible)

My dad--I mean ME--turned the game off and missed all that...I'm back, though!

I didn't deserve that.

I also tuned out after the Langeliers GS ... came back for the 10th!

Think Clement got a missed call on that checked swing.

Ya he def went around imho. Anyways… what a game! Cease, Kirk, other new guy, Ernie!

bump

Looking for another walk-off win here.

i will take a scoreless save from Hoffman. Lauer looked amazing and loved seeing Sanchez and Okamoto get their first homers for us too.

they set a record for most (pitching) Ks in an opening series too (49 by my count)

My needs-context joke worked...Jays pitchers struck out 50 (!) in their first three games, a franchise record (one extra-inning game in there). I've got to wonder if that isn't an MLB record--to open the season, obviously, but over any three-game stretch?

Sorry, was typing...I got 50, I don't know.

First 3-0 start since 1996!

Not to worry, but a 77-85 team...Looking back at them, I was surprised to find out that Hentgen's Cy Young year (I remembered that, of course) was close to 9.0 WAR on B-Ref.

Looking at old Jays teams on B-R, I noticed that after the win today, the Jays are exactly at .500 all-time following the win today (3857-3857).

Looking at that '96 Cy, pretty sure there are still Yankee fans convinced that Pettitte should have won. I recall that it was considered a toss-up at the time because of W-L records: yeah, maybe Hentgen pitched a little better, but 21-8 vs. 20-10, award should go to Pettitte.

Hentgen pitched a lot better. (I was arguing for him at the time--no WAR then, just looking at all the old-school stuff--and trying to tell people it wasn't just because he was a Jay.) Forty more innings, 10 CG vs. 2, more than half-a-run edge in ERA, better WHIP. Pettitte had a better K/BB rate.

Hentgen won 110-104 (16 firsts to 11, though).

Re strikeout record for any three-game stretch: the Astros struck out 52 in 2016:

https://www.mlb.com/news/astros-mlb-record-52-strikeouts-in-3-game-set-c180433878

But 50 is an opening-the-season record, yes.

Bo is off to a brutal start (1-14)...he's always been streaky; Jays fans a little more patient than in NY, I'm sure, but not all that patient.

Saw him getting boo’d. Not exactly the best start

Whatever just happened to Cody Ponce there, did not look good at all

Not home, but just read that:

https://www.mlb.com/news/cody-ponce-injured-in-blue-jays-debut

Yuck. Why you load up on seven or eight starters.

Yeah, I'm expecting the worst here.

Five runs in two innings for Heineman. Still a better ERA than his twelve runs in 3.1 innings last year.

As expected, not great: "Blue Jays are 'holding onto' hope of a return this season."

https://www.mlb.com/news/cody-ponce-acl-sprain

Hope springs eternal: six very strong innings from Max tonight, his 298th career QS. It's a stat that's barely ever mentioned anymore, but I got curious:

https://www.statmuse.com/mlb/ask/who-has-the-most-quality-starts

Assuming Verlander falls short of 300 wins, I think 300 QS will be more or less as unlikely as 300 wins. So two more, and maybe Max will be the last.

I was kind of hoping the Gatorade dump would be on Max tonight, but I guess that's something that just doesn't happen.

Hardly ever happens to a SP. who got it (my computer died)?

Jesus (many jokes in the offing here).

i would be very afraid of pouring gatorade on max scherzer

I know--that's exactly what I was hoping for...Had this vision of Vlad doing his thing, then making a mad dash for the clubhouse.

How's that for a nightmarish loss? Up 3-2 in the 10th, two outs from a win. Next guy strikes out, but Kirk is injured from a foul tip during the AB. So two out, runner on third, Heineman in the game. Next guy drops down a surprise bunt, Heineman throws it away. (Would Kirk have made the out? Have to look at it again--maybe he would have at least held on to the ball.) 3-3 now, next guy doubles him home.

Looking at the replay, Kirk would have had the good sense to hold on to the ball.

On top of which, as the post-game commentators just pointed out, the idea that you're going to come off the bench and instantaneously pull off this incredibly difficult throw is wishful thinking. I realize it was a great bunt and a bang-bang play, but Heineman's supposed to think of the possibilities ahead of time. Guy bunts, no play, hang on to the ball.

It wasn't that hard of a play, Heineman should have thrown him out to end the game, he just blew it.

Three out of four games dropped to two of the worst teams in MLB, Ponce injured, Kirk may be injured, the vibes are bad after that 3-0 start.

Looked at it again...I think it's a more difficult play than that because he picks up the ball facing the other way and had to wheel around. I don't know--it he'd made it, I would have been impressed, especially having just gotten into the game.

He should have held into it imho- play was going to be close and looked like it *could* roll foul. Runner wasn’t going to score on the play - they would have just had to get the next guy out.

Kirk out for probably close to two months. Ugh

Heinemen's adequate, but what do they do? I guess they're long past the point of giving Varsho some games there...Anyone at Triple A? Trade for a stopgap?

For a second, I forget about Tyler Heineman's controlled demolition thing.

He had a pretty bad day today

I've been watching baseball long enough, that I'm sure I've seen many errors uglier than his rundown-toss to third today. Nothing immediately comes to mind, though.

They traded for Brandon Valenzuela in the offseason, who looks like he could maybe be a slightly better option than Tyler?

He sure did look demoralized in the dugout.

Apparently he was inconsolable after the game.

That's not correct. Steve Pearce hit two in one week in 2017!

Found a reddit thread that claims this was the fifth in club history. Varsho, Pearce (twice), Gregg Zaun(!), and George Bell.

Someone said it on the broadcast last night--evidently incorrect.

The Dodgers are signing Lauer?

Hmm that happened yesterday. Just saw the news now.

Traded for bag of balls apparently

This is so painful to watch. I'm invested in two games already (probably around $400), there'll probably be a third, and I think that's going to be it.

Context...two nights in a row they blow a lead (last night they were up 3-0 with Cease pitching), mount a comeback in the ninth, then end the game with a feckless ground ball. It's going to be a long season of watching them plod along, occasionally move to within two or three games of a WC (because of league-wide mediocrity), then immediately fall back again.

They were talking about something on the Fan this morning that I was going to post about last night but stopped myself: Vlad's SF in the 7th inning. "You're too critical of Vlad"--he got the run in, so I didn't.

I also found it an alarming AB, though. Bases loaded, one out, Jays have just gone up 1-0. You're looking for Vlad to really drive the ball, to wait for the fat strike that should be coming at some point. I don't think I've ever seen a more defensive AB from a hitter who's supposed to be one of baseball's best. It was like he was so fearful of hitting into a DP, he just waved the white flag and punched a half-swing flyball to right. (Some context: he's in the middle of one of his epic slumps.)

He got another run in, and maybe he deserves praise for acknowledging the slump and doing what he could. Interested to hear from anyone else who saw it. Again, I (and the radio guys) found it alarming.

Vlad is too good to be looking so bad, which leads me to think that he's injured and is trying to play through it.

You can find it somewhere here:

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/blue-jays-vs-yankees/2026/05/20/823547/final/summary/highlights

It was a good pitch, broke late, so I don't know--maybe I'm making too much out of it. You might have something about playing injured, though.

Also: said I was down Sunday, but had the day wrong--I'm there Saturday, so I'll be seeing Skenes.

I couldn't figure out how to see how Vlad ranks in Chase %, but Jays look to be ranked only ahead of Colorado, and Vlad is having his worst chase season (last year was his best) of his career. Very often seems completely flummoxed by anything off-speed, and so you see that defensive swing time and again.

Will be majorly surprised and even more majorly impressed if Hoffman saves this game.

Oh me of little faith.

he wouldn't be nearly as frustrating of he wasn't occasionally lights out.

Yeah--after the line drive out, the two strikeouts were awesome...any Jays fans find John Schneider's litany of nicknames almost as clunky as Trump's?

https://www.espn.com/mlb/game/_/gameId/401815437/blue-jays-yankees

Why didn't Miles get credited with the win? The Jays took the lead when the opener was on the mound for 1.1 IP, so he cant get the win, shouldn't it go to the pitcher who pitched best after that?

Fairly good series, they caught some bad breaks in losing the first two games. The offense is still half asleep but the pitching staff is championship level. They had Judge's number, he struck out seven straight times!

Great game vs Skenes there.
Was at the game super early yesterday to get the bobblehead and was also a good one.

I was there this afternoon--great game. Springer lead-off HR (15 behind Henderson now), jumped all over Skenes, Corbin defying the odds again, the Canadian guy Macko, topped off by Hoffman stiking out the side for the save. Too late or the giveaway, which had something to do with cricket.

Vlad and Cease possibly join the injury parade--unbelievable.

Sounds like they might be aright

Looks that way (will spare you the Sun link):

"By the seventh inning, the panic had mostly subsided. Word from the clubhouse was that Cease was dealing with some mild left-hamstring discomfort.

Guerrero, meanwhile, had a right-elbow contusion, but had already been x-rayed with the x-ray revealing no fracture.

Cease had a date with the MRI machine later Sunday night to determine just how good or how bad things were.

The durable right-hander, who has made at least 31 starts in every season since 2021, told his manager he fully expects to make his next start."

Patrick Corbin again: 5 IP, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 K, 1 run.

Louis Varland has now pitched 30 innings and surrendered one run: 0.30 ERA.

he also has a bWAR of 1.7. that puts him in a tie for 12th with Cease and Fried

Due to come down to earth at some point, but I've gotta believe he's getting close to a cinch for the ASG (100-game mark?).

.500!! We're officially so-so.

They’re one game ahead of the As for the final wild card slot!

Six of the top seven Jays in bWAR are pitchers.

Just checked BRef to see if Myles Straw has a nickname. He does: "Kilometres Straw." That is...perfectly awful. Suggested alternative: "Darryl."

it is happening again

What a meltdown. Just when you think Hoffman has settled into his role, he craps the bed and you remember why he can't be trusted.

I'm flabbergasted. Part of me doesn't blame Schneider: bringing Varland in for the 8th against the heart of the order was smart, and at that point, you'd think Hoffman can hold a four-run lead. Part of me does, though--as soon as he hit the batter, get him out of there. (I know; you can't do that, because it's just not done.) But Hoffman simply falls apart as soon as the first baserunner happens.

I'd like to think Schneider won't allow Hoffman to see a ninth inning the rest of the year--today would be almost worth it were that true--but I'm sure we'll relive this a few times yet. In context, one of the five or ten most calamitous regular-season losses in Jays history.

Blowing saves is too easy. He’s moved onto blowing bigger leads now

If they hadn't talked on the insurance run then Varland comes back out for the ninth? He had only thrown about tem pitches.

No manager in baseball would have pulled Hoffman after the HBP ... but once it was 5-3, there was no justification in leaving him in. But he pitched to two more batters!

*tacked* on the insurance run

Feels important to me that they come back and win today, which would a) close out this 17-game stretch at a very impressive 11-6, and b) shut down the memory of yesterday right away.

It's just one game. The Orioles obviously weren't demoralized from the Jays' comeback the day before. Schneider needs to think more carefully about his bullpen usage, Fisher and Fluharty lead the majors with 30 appearances each, Varland, Hoffman and Rogers are right behind them with 28. They'll all be burned out by August. Obviously he's had to lean on the same relievers over and over because of all the injuries but you have to take workload into account, there are still four months to go.

The Orioles looked demoralized for most of the game yesterday, till the Jays self-immolated. I do believe certain losses can take on added significance, even in the course of a 162-game season. Successful teams always look back on key wins (e.g., Springer's grand slam on Canada Day last year) as inflecton points; it stands to reason that there could be key losses, too (like if they were to lose today and roll that over into a losing streak).

Taking a bit of solace from that mini-comeback. But still nursing ominous feelings till their next win.

One of the Jays colour guys cracked me up after the game, talking about the Sanchez injury. Supposedly it was a 13-year-old kid who, in all innocence, was responding to Sanchez waving his glove (as in "throw me the ball"). He pointed out the odds of hitting Sanchez's wrist from the stands, how you could try 20 times and never come close. (Paraphrase) "Either that kid's a prospect with elite command who you might want to pursue, or it's another example of the Jays being cursed this year."

20-1? I'd take those odds and trade Hoffman for him even up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FBd_WlM3EQ

Our pitching is so bad that we need a guy who's 0-7 with an ERA north of 7?

Bring in the gimp

I wasn't watching (following in a pub), but Varland closes the 8th--good that he's in--they score 4 to go up 7-2, and Varland comes back for the ninth... That does seem a little weird to me with seven straight games coming up, but I guess they'd used up enough pitchers by that point.

He'd come in with two outs in the eighth, getting him warmed up to record only one out would be a bit of a waste (if it wasn't the last out of the game). And he only threw 17 pitches in total.

The team leader in SLG? Ernie Clement, of course! I love Clement, but that sort of encapsulates this team's problems (third last in HR in the AL, last in OPS+).

I voted Clement for the ASG, and I honestly believe he's the best choice; A.L. second base is not a strong position this season.

I look forward to being enraged at who the masses vote in instead

At which point name recognition carries the day, so I'd expect either Altuve or Jazz Chisholm or Gleyber Torres. Mind you, Toronto does get out the vote, plus Clement was as visible as could be during last year's WS run, so who knows.