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Bluebird Banter

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A Win and a Loss Recaps

A split squad day that had a loss: Jays 1 Yankees 5 Jose Berrios had a great day. 4 innings, no hits, 2 walks 2 strikeouts. Couldn’t ask for better against most of the Yankee regulars. Other pitchers: Hitters, starters: Others: And a win. In Dunedin, the Jays beat the Phillies. 7 to 5. Dylan […]

Saturday Spring GameThread

We have two spring games today, so we get two GameThreads in one. That is our reward for making it to the end of February. Both games have some players I’d like to watch. More of the regulars are in the Phillies game. And we can watch Dylan Cease pitch in that one. Jose Berrios […]

Quick Spring Recap: Jays Lose To Rays

Jays 5 Rays 6 The Jays are now 1-5 with a tie, this spring. It wasn’t a good day for Eric Lauer. He went 1.2, allowed 3 hits, 3 earned, hit a batter, and gave up 3 earned. It is early, but if he wants a starting rotation spot, he should give up less runs […]

Friday Open Thread

Last Thursday, I put up an open thread, saying that I was going to do so every Thursday so we could have a place to talk about whatever was on our minds. And then, Yesterday, I totally forgot about that. So this week, it is a Friday Open Thread. You can discuss anything you like […]

Friday Bantering: Jays Bits

Today’s game isn’t on TV. I planned my day around getting to sit and watch tonight’s game. And it isn’t on TV. I guess I’m going out to shovel snow. It was +9 yesterday. I wore a light sweater. Overnight it snowed, a lot. The joys of living in Calgary. Today’s lineups: Today’s Lineups BLUE […]

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man Roster: Jesús Sánchez

Jesús Sánchez is a 28-year-old, left-handed hitting, outfielder. The Jays traded Joey Loperfido to the Astros to pick him up. Loperfido will be 27 in May, so there isn’t that much difference in age. Sánchez has played 580 MLB games and has a 4.8 bWAR. Loperfido has played 122 games and has a 1.1 bWAR. […]

Quick Recap: Jays Lose to Marlins

Marlins 8 Blue Jays 7 When I had to leave the Blue Jays had this one well in hand, but they gave up 4 runs in the 8th and 2 more in the 9th and lost. Pitchers: Hitters, Starters: Others: The Jays are now 1 and 4 this spring. It doesn’t look like they going […]

Spring Game #6 GameThread and Jays Notes

The Jays and Marlins play in Dunedin at 1:00 Eastern today. We have a bunch of regulars in the lineup. It actually could be close to the lineup they would put out against a lefty starter. And Kevin Gausman gets his first time out there this spring. Gausman set a personal record for innings pitched […]

Jays Sign Max Scherzer

The headline says it all, but the Jays have signed Max Scherzer to a one-year contract. He’ll make $3 million with ‘up to’ $10 million in incentives. He won’t be starting the season with the Jays. I’d imagine the plan will be to get him going in May with the idea he could join the […]

Question Time: The Outfield

The Jays have a logjam in their outfield this season. Daulton Varsho is locked into centre, and George Springer looks to mostly man DH, but after that things are up in the air.Addison Barger is probably the priority among the other players. He had a strong rookie season last year, and at 26 with many […]

Wednesday Bantering: Jays Bits

Today’s Jays’ game is not on TV, one of the few that aren’t on TV. The game is at Lakeland, Florida in the Tigers’ spring park, Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium which has to be up there on the list of longest ballpark names, as well as getting two sponsor names into it. It […]

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-Man Roster: Tyler Rogers

Tyler Rogers is a right-handed, submarine style pitcher. He’s 35. The Jays signed him to a three-year, $37 million contract (with a vesting option for a fourth year at $11 million). Signing a 35-year-old reliever for three or four years, generally, would seem like a bad idea, but then Rogers isn’t your average reliever. We […]

Quick Spring Recap: Jays Lose to Yankees

Yankees 8 Blue Jays 7 We got to see the ball/strike appeal system, several times. It works great. Very quick. Beyond that, well, the Yankees scored a lot of runs. Jays pitchers: Batters: Starters: Subs: Tomorrow’s game isn’t on TV. Can listen on radio if you really are hard cord. The Jays are now 1-3 […]

Spring Game #4 GameThread: Jays @ Yankees

I’m going to post this early because I have to run out this morning, but I should be back about game time. We have an early start time: 1:00 pm Eastern. The Jays are making the stressful bus ride from Dunedin to Tampa Bay to play the Yankees at Steinbrenner Field. I found the worst […]

Quick Recap: Jays Lose To Mets

The important news is that Kazuma Okamoto homered, a two-run shot. Beyond that, Jose Berrios pitched 2.2 innings, allowing 3 hits, 2 earned, 1 walk with 2 strikeouts. It doesn’t sound great, but he allowed them in his third inning of work. And I think he’s the first Jay to throw more than two innings […]

Question Time: Mad Max

The birds are singing, the snow is melting, and pitchers are getting hurt. Spring is here. The Jays have already lost Bowden Francis for the season. Shane Bieber is delayed, and now it sounds like Yimi Garcia will be as well. The Jays wisely invested in depth this winter. Cody Ponce was an interesting signing […]

Spring Game 3 GameThread: Mets @ Jays

No Bo in the Mets’ lineup, which is normal for a road spring game. Teams tend to let veterans skip bus trips. The Jays have set their pitching rotation for the week: Today it is Jose Berrios’ first time on the mound since last September, before he went on the IL and then was left […]

Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-man: Cody Ponce

Cody Ponce is a 6’6”, 31-year-old (32 on April 25th), right-handed pitcher. I wonder if we could get him to recreate the Jon Rauch explosion at umpire Alfonso Marquez where John Farrell tried to hold him back from punching the umpire. The Jays signed Ponce on December 2nd of last year to a three-year, $30 […]

Quick Recap: Jays Lose To Red Sox

Blue Jays 10 Red Sox 11 Of course, batters are ahead of pitchers early in spring training. Lots of scoring. Pitching: On offense, the starters: Others: Now we are 1-1 this spring.

Spring Game #2 GameThread: Jays At Red Sox

Game two of the spring schedule. I was up early and at the bar for the hockey, and that is all I’m saying about it. Though beer at 6:00 in the morning is surprisingly good. The Jays have Fernando Perez as the starting pitcher. He was good in Vancouver last year, 3.05 ERA in 20 […]

Quick Recap: Jays Beat Phillies

Philles 0 Blue Jays 3 As everyone knows, the pitchers are ahead of the hitters at the start of spring training (when the teams score a bunch of runs tomorrow, the opening line will be reversed). Jays allowed just 4 hits and 4 walks. Eric Lauer looked sharp in his inning, giving up a single, […]

Happy Birthday Devon Travis

One of my all-time favourites, Devon Travis, turns 35 today. Travis joined the Blue Jays in a trade with the Tigers on November 13, 2014, with Anthony Gose heading to Detroit. Travis ranked #84 on Baseball America’s top 100 prospects list. Gose, though speedy, had been a disappointment for us, hitting .247/.315/.363 with 34 stolen […]

Spring Game #1 GameThread: Phillies @ Jays

These 1:00 Eastern starts really mess with my day. Being in Alberta, it is an 11:00 start. I like to get a workout in, but I’m not an early riser, so getting a GameThread together and working out before 11:00 is not going to happen. On the other hand, watching an 11:00 start-time game, doing […]

Question Time: Baseball at the Olympics

One more day and we get actual(ish) games. Absent that, I’ve been really glad to have the Winter Olympics to pass the time. It hasn’t been a great year for Canada, although a gold medal in men’s hockey on Sunday morning would do a lot to improve the feeling. That got me thinking about the […]

Friday Bantering: Eric Lauer and Other Jays Notes

After that Canada/Finland, I’m sure I’m five pounds lighter. Tomorrow, we get our first real fake baseball game of the year. The Jays are playing the Philles in Dunedin. It is a 1:00 pm start time and it will be on Sportsnet 1. Eric Lauer is listed to start the game. And speaking of Lauer, […]