Regarding the weekend, the Jays' strength of schedule, Alek Manoah, Atkins speaks!, the radio broadcast and more!
The Jays had a good series over the weekend, and an interesting week ahead. So let’s talk about it!
But first, please indulge me while I attempt to make a living. Because if you’ve been sent here by a friend, or are an existing subscriber who would like to move to a paid membership so you can comment, ask questions the next time I open up the ol’ mail bag, or just plain old support what I do, click below to upgrade or become a subscriber. I will be eternally grateful if you do!
After a rough start on Friday, the Jays came away with a series win against the Phillies in Dunedin over the weekend. Let’s catch up on it with a little three up, three down…
▲ Starting pitching
On Friday, Steven Matz had his best start since April 17, allowing just four hits and three walks over five shutout innings while striking out nine. It could have been even better, too. Phillies outfielder Andrew McCutchen should have struck out to end the third frame, but a blown "no swing" call from first base umpire Dan Iassogna extended the inning.
Here's how the booth called it.
BUCK: Check swing — he went around. No, he didn't! The entire Blue Jays infield was running off the field. Dan Iassogna is hearing it from the Blue Jays' dugout. Boy, it sure looked like he went after it, but McCutchen is rewarded with a walk.
PAT: Base on balls number 23. That's a swing.
BUCK: If he hits it it's a double.
*Assorted horse laughs*
PAT: That's a swing.
BUCK: Oh my goodness.
Two batters later, Bryce Harper was also gifted a walk by the umpiring crew.
The fact that he was able to limit the damage was very encouraging, but Matz may have had a chance to pitch another inning if not for the extra work he was unduly forced into. And that could have changed the course of the game dramatically. With an extra inning of Matz, maybe Charlie Montoyo doesn’t try to get two out of Trent Thornton, putting the rest of the bullpen is in better position to succeed as well. But alas.
On Saturday, Anthony Kay — who I confidently predicted doom for on Friday’s podcast — was better than one could have ever expected. Kay was less than efficient, needing 79 pitches to get through four innings, but you can’t argue with no runs, one hit, two walks, and six strikeouts over that span.
Or, OK. I mean, you could. You could point out that the Phillies also managed to struggle against Travis Bergen and A.J. Cole, which might suggest it simply wasn’t their day. (The Jays’ PR man Richard Griffin tweets, for example, that the Phillies were 5-for-10 with three walks and a hit-by-pitch with nobody on base, but somehow just 1-for-23 with runners on). Still, full credit to Kay, who definitely earned himself another start.
Then there's Robbie Ray, who was great for four innings on Sunday, and nearly gave the Jays six. A line of four runs over 5 2/3 innings with seven hits and three home runs doesn't exactly look great, but gets better when you remember that the Jays scored the first eight runs of that one. It was a real comfortable day for a while! In a closer game, Ray would have likely been lifted in the fifth, after he allowed two homers and a triple to the first three batters he faced. Instead he gave the Jays some much needed length, limiting the damage to four runs over his final two innings.
▲ Vlad
Three homers in three games for Vlad took his wRC+ up to 188, which is currently second in baseball behind Mike Trout. Despite the value-limiting fact that he almost exclusively plays first base or DH, his 2.3 WAR so far in 2021 ranks third in the sport. He's on pace for 9.6 WAR according to FanGraphs.
Sunday’s homer, which left Vlad’s bat at 114.1 mph and travelled 465 feet, was his third hit of the day. Ho hum.
▲ Chase Anderson and the Phillies’ defence
Chase Anderson didn't get a big-money two-year deal from the Blue Jays following the 2019 season, nor did he get labelled as the guy who was going to come in and eat a lot of innings while raising the floor of the rotation. Nor was he simply handed a rotation spot to start this season. As such, even though he had a worse year with the Blue Jays a year ago than Tanner Roark did, Anderson doesn't elicit nearly the same level of animosity among Jays fans as Roark does. In fact, he's a downright welcome sight on the hill when he's wearing an opponents' uniform. He showed why on Sunday, though he, uh, had a little help.
The fact that the Jays let the Phillies eventually make this one a contest again wasn’t great, but the fun parts were fun!
▼ Injuries (What else?)
The image above is a still from Rowdy Tellez’s plate appearance in the eighth inning on Sunday. Immediately after Guerrero hit his third home run of the weekend, Tellez shot a Brandon Kintzler pitch to the opposite field, turned to run to first base, and had his left leg awkwardly slip on home plate. After hobbling to first, Rowdy clutched his leg above the knee while being examined by the Blue Jays' trainers, then exited the game.
"There's a good chance of that," manager Charlie Montoyo said afterwards when asked if Tellez would be headed to the injured list. The team is calling it a “mild hamstring strain.”
At the time of this writing, Rowdy’s status for the week ahead is unknown. So, too, is the status of Jordan Romano, who was examined by trainers on the mound in the ninth inning Sunday, but was allowed to stay in the game to face two more batters before being replaced by Jeremy Beasley (who allowed the tying run to get to second base, and had a tense battle with Bryce Harper that resulted in a game-ending strikeout). The Jays say Romano is fine, and they’d better hope that’s true. Not only has he been hugely important all season, but the team also key reliever Ryan Borucki to the 10-day IL over the weekend, and were forced to move David Phelps to the 60-day.
Rafael Dolis has been spotted doing some intense agility drills, and seems like he should be ready to return sometime this week, which will help. But things are awfully thin down there at the moment. Especially when not everybody is going as well as they could be. *COUGH*
▼ Tim Mayza
I don't want to pick on a guy having a rough go, who everybody likes, and whose comeback story was a highlight of the spring, so I'll make this brief. But Tim Mayza has allowed multiple earned runs in each of his last four appearances. He couldn't get a single out on Friday, coming in with two runners on and two out, only to walk Bryce Harper, walk J.T. Realmuto to bring in a run and tie the game at 1-1, then give up a three-run double to Rhys Hoskins.
Sunday was better, but not by a lot. Down 9-4 in the top of the eighth, the Phillies went single, flyout, single, bunt pop out, then double steal off of Mayza, prompting a mound visit. A Nick Maton single later and it was 9-6 with Jordan Romano coming in as the third Blue Jays pitcher of the frame. They eventually got out of it, and through the ninth... somehow. But it was a weird way to end what should have been a blowout, and yet another reason to be concerned about Mayza's performance.
▼ Camo hats
Seriously? We’re really still doing this?
The week ahead
Tuesday vs. Boston, 7:37 PM ET: Ryu (LHP) vs. Rodriguez (LHP)
Wednesday vs. Boston, 7:37 PM ET: Stripling (RHP) vs. Richards (RHP)
Thursday vs. Boston, 7:37 PM ET: Matz (LHP) vs. Pivetta (RHP)
Weekend: vs. Tampa Bay
At the time of this writing MLB.com lists the Jays’ starter here on Tuesday as TBD. That’s allowed some fans — me, for example — to have some fun dreaming of Alek Manoah potentially making his big league debut, as he hasn’t pitched since last Wednesday, with Ryu perhaps getting bumped back a day. Instead it was Manoah getting bumped back a day, as he’s now listed as Wednesday’s Bisons starter. Stripling and Matz are officially on the schedule for Wednesday and Thursday for the Jays, meaning that I think it’s safe to say Ryu will be getting the ball tonight in the opener against the Red Sox.
More interesting about all that, I think you’ll agree, is the fact that Manoah has now been bumped back from Ryu’s day to Stripling’s day. Hmmm.
Anyway, Boston comes into this one with a 1.5 game lead on the Jays in the AL East, sitting on a 25-17 record to Toronto’s 22-17. But don’t let those records confuse you as to how good each of these teams is. The Jays have played a significantly harder schedule so far than the Red Sox.
Boston has already played the Orioles 10 times this year, plus four with the weirdly awful Twins, and four with AL West bottom feeders the Mariners, Angels, and Rangers as well.
Things don't exactly get easier for the Jays from here, mind you. After the Red Sox are here this week they host the Rays for four (including a day game on Monday), then visit the Bronx and Cleveland to close out May. They begin June hosting the Marlins for two and the Astros for three, then it's off to Chicago to face the White Sox, a visit to Fenway, then three "home" games in Buffalo against the Yankees before things ease up.
The second half of June and start of July is where the Jays will have a real opportunity to win a lot of ballgames. On the 18th they start a three game set in Baltimore, they then visit the Marlins for two, host the Orioles for four, then the Mariners for three (including an afternoon tilt on Canada Day in Buffalo). Then it's three at home to the Rays, another visit to Baltimore, before going into the break with a series at the Trop.
As for more immediate concerns, be sure to note that Manoah and the Bisons will have their first pitch on Wednesday at 6:35 PM, giving you an hour of viewing time before the Jays and Red Sox take flight.
Ra-dio stationnnnn de-cide yourselllllllllf
Sportsnet executive Rob Corte was asked this week about the network's decision to get rid of their dedicated radio feed for Blue Jays games this season and instead simulcast the call from the TV broadcast booth on radio. “So far, so good,” he said, speaking to Gregory Strong of the Canadian Press.
That is, uh, not the sense I’ve gotten from fans on Twitter, or from the times I’ve listened to the Jays this year on the radio myself. (Strong’s piece points out several examples of times when fans listening on radio have been left to fill in blanks for themselves, while Awful Announcing gives several other recent examples of fans voicing their displeasure about the radio situation.)
“We’ve had a few discussions about how we can make it a little bit more ‘radio’ at times without compromising the television product. But it is a fluid process and we’re constantly tweaking it and looking for ways to get better as the season goes on,” Corte added. “We’re not quite there yet but I’m happy with the progress. But as I said, there’s still a little bit of a way to go before we find the sweet spot where we’re completely happy.”
Beyond the absurdity of Sportsnet having their radio play-by-play guy, Ben Wagner, following the team around and doing TV work from the ballpark every night, yet apparently not being able to have him just sit behind a microphone and call the game for radio himself, what bugs me about this response is how it essentially places the onus to “find the sweet spot” on the guys in the booth who were hired to do one job and now — depending on how much you believe him when he says that management is actually pushing for radio-friendly changes — have had a whole bunch of other responsibilities (theoretically) foisted upon them. I don’t think that’s fair, and I certainly hope fans see it that way. This is Sportsnet’s mess, not Buck and Pat’s.
Links!
• Over at Blue Jays Nation, Paul Berthelot takes a deep look an intriguing signing that the Jays announced over the weekend, as they’ve picked up a formerly very effective reliever in the the form of Carl Edwards Jr.
• My friend and former colleague Kaitlyn McGrath asked Marcus Semien over the weekend about playing home games in Dunedin, and he didn’t mince words about the reality of the situation for the players there. “I’ve enjoyed being on the road this year, actually, just because we’re playing in big-league stadiums,” he said, as Kaitlyn reported on Monday. “It’s a little different here. I do enjoy the Tampa area, Dunedin area, living here, off the field. But I think a lot of us wish we were in a big-league ballpark, so, yes, when you go on the road, you may get booed or no cheers for you, but it seems like that’s how it is in Dunedin here, too. There’s a lot of fans of other teams. Personally, I don’t think playing here is a relief or whatever you want to call it, I just enjoy living in the Tampa area.”
• Speaking of Semien, Gregor Chisholm of the Toronto Star looks at how, after a slow start, the Jays’ big (one-year) investment in their new second baseman has really started to pay off.
• I helped get Red Sox fans setup for their meeting with the Jays this week by appearing on the most recent edition of Matthew Kory’s awesome Sox Outside podcast. Have a listen!
• Apparently Memmo is a site like Cameo, where you can pay celebrities of varying degrees to record messages for you. And, uh, apparently John Gibbons is on it. Pay that man his money!
Atkins Speaks!
Back on Sunday, fresh off a recent trip to Trenton to watch Alek Manoah pitch, Jays GM Ross Atkins sat down for a Zoom session with local reporters. Here be the highlights.
On Alek Manoah
It was a lot of fun to go into Trenton and see minor league baseball again, and see that environment. Casey Candaele, Jeff Ware, Devo, Corey Hart, those guys are creating a great atmosphere there. It was a very good feeling to see minor league baseball.
Alek has been, obviously, very effective since, you know, really the start of the 2021 baseball season — and that certainly includes spring training. One of the things I'm so excited about is Alek's time away from the field. Or just the time when he's not pitching, how consistent he's been. So just the time when he can do things to improve his career, and do things to be consistent when he is on the mound, has been incredible. He's been one of the most (consistent) with his routines, with his work, in Triple-A.
I, personally, haven't met the major league starting pitcher that hauls innings year in and year out, and is getting major league hitters out at a regular clip, that doesn't check those boxes. So that's exceptionally encouraging for us.
As it relates to the timing, and how we're making that decision, obviously his effectiveness is a huge piece of that equation. And the objective and subjective views of how effective he will be at the major league level are all really encouraging. It's just not as simple as, 'OK, he's had two starts, now let's just see if it (only) works in Triple-A.' However, the fact that he is doing a lot of the things that I previously mentioned is exceptionally encouraging. As that continues, he's making that very much something we're discussing and talking about."
Atkins tends to keep his cards close to the vest, but I got the sense here that he’s very much hoping the same way we are that the trajectory Manoah has been on over the last few months is really real. Hard to blame him!
And yes, the massive leap Manoah seems to have made has really only come in the last few months, which Atkins touched on on when he was asked about workload, and potential limitations for him (and other up-and-coming young pitchers).
It's actually something, obviously, that gets talked about a lot for very good reason, and something that I think every executive — that's 30 times 30 executives, not 30 executives, not 30 GMs — in baseball gives time and energy to, and thinks about workload for starting pitchers. And reliever as well, and trying not to spike that too much.
With Alek, and what you have to be careful of, is not putting people into boxes, and making sure you're treating them individually. And that's what we'll do with Alek. He's fortunately had a very strong workload in 2019, and disrupted in '20 by COVID, obviously, and by the pandemic, but that 130-plus workload in 2019 is a great starting point. The fact that he's always pitched in high school, and pitched through the NCAA run successfully, and has always been very durable and healthy, those are the most important markers as you think about adding innings to someone's year, to their career. So he's checking a lot of boxes, as it relates to thinking about workload. It's not something that we feel like we need to be restricting him, by any means, in development. It's just something that we need to be mindful of and set the right parameters, and the right measurement tools up to make sure that we can monitor fatigue as we move forward.
No, “disrupted by COVID, and by the pandemic” wasn’t a slip. When asked later about how players’ work at the alt-site last year was being weighed, Atkins ended up elaborating on that.
Different for every individual. And it's easier to actually be specific, because Groshans' experience was very different than Alek's experience, and the reason for that is because Alek had COVID and wasn't able to participate as much. And had he had that Triple-A, Double-A, some major league, hybrid experience on a consistent basis, he would have benefitted greatly. Unfortunately he didn't. And that is being factored in, that he missed an opportunity there. However, he absolutely maximized his off-season, and maximized spring training, and is getting absolutely every ounce out of Triple-A baseball right now, because of all the things I mentioned before. So, generally, we are looking at that time for all of our players individually. What their influence was, what they were able to do.
Is it me or is Atkins implying here that Manoah could have got to the major leagues last year if not for the pandemic?
That all said, Atkins was mindful to be cautious about Manoah when the opportunity arose.
There's always something, for sure. Even the best of the best. And, for sure, he could be better with command. He could probably be better with changeup usage, using his breaking ball in different counts — behind in counts. His fastball is such an effective weapon that he has to challenge himself against certain hitters to use his entire arsenal.
As Nick and I have joked on the podcast, Manoah’s batters-hit-per-nine is still a touch high, and Atkins is definitely right that he could probably survive in Triple-A on fastballs alone, so the next level could definitely prove a serious test for him. But his current level is not proving to be one. Another start here on Tuesday like the previous two might just punch his ticket to the big leagues.
He may even be right on schedule.
On Nate Pearson
The two most intriguing additions that the Blue Jays could make this year are currently in Triple-A, so before we move on to big league stuff, we’re going to have a look at what Atkins said about the other one — starting with the status of his shoulder.
Not concerned about it in the long-term, and not really even concerned in the short-term. He will progress relatively quickly as it stands right now. He could have a setback, but don't expect him to miss too much time at all.
Well that’s at least good news. And, indeed, here on Tuesday we learned Pearson is slated to return to the Bisons’ rotation this week.
Asked if Pearson’s command issues in his big league start two Sundays ago were at all affected by the shoulder, Atkins steered clear of a grievance:
No. I don't have any reason to believe that would be the case. I think Nate is such a competitor, he's worked so hard to get to this point, and it just hasn't worked out on the timeline that he had hoped. But the expectations are no less from him, from us, and we remain exceptionally excited about what's ahead.
If Pearson had been injured while on the Jays’ active roster, sending him to the minors instead of placing him on the big league IL would have certainly caught the attention of the union. So that’s good. Except that… well… an injury would provide a pretty good explanation for why things went so sideways for Pearson back in Houston. Obviously you never want someone to be injured, especially one of your star pitching prospects, but “he completely forgot how to throw a baseball” isn’t exactly a great excuse for that performance either.
Anyway, so what’s expected of Pearson as he returns to the minor leagues yet again? Atkins explains:
To find some consistency and that rhythm. I think efficiency is big for him — getting outs relatively quickly. It's hard for guys who have so much power, that can get the strikeouts on a regular basis, to 'pitch to contact' on a consistent basis. The thing that I've talked to Nate about, and we are so consistently encouraged by, is his work ethic and his preparation. What we've kept talking to Nate about is just continuing to fall back on that, fall back on the preparation, know that will turn into results, and very much look forward of those days of him having those extended starts in Triple-A and having some rhythm before he's coming to the major leagues. It was unfortunate, the circumstance we had. We had a guy on the roster that could protect us a little bit and give us some innings, and that was the situation he came into, and we are excited about this opportunity ahead for him in Triple-A, and really excited about his future with us.
Atkins added that he’d ideally like to see Pearson consistently getting to six or seven innings per start before bringing him back up — though the fact that they rushed him in the first place suggest that a need at the big league level may still bump up the timeline.
“It will obviously depend upon what those innings look like, and how he's recovering from them, and the consistency between those days, but that would be a good outcome,” Atkins said.
On George Springer
George Springer plays for the Toronto Blue Jays! Uh, theoretically!
Fortunately the team’s highest paid player seems to be making some good progress in his attempt to return, yet again, from a quad issue.
He feels good, he's obviously moving around relatively well, but this is just the beginning of the running progression. And once that running progression ends, he'll move to the build-up phase of getting ready for nine innings of play again. Really encouraged by his mindset, his optimism, the medical staff's optimism, and very much looking forward to those days when he's in our lineup.
Same, Ross. Hard same.
Atkins added that there’s a possibility that Springer will be sent out on a rehab assignment at some point, which should be fun for fans in whichever city the Bisons happen to be calling home those nights.
On Thomas Hatch
He's been great. He's recovering exceptionally well. All of his weapons have looked good, the fastball life is there. He is up to three innings. I think he just threw a bullpen yesterday, and he'll be joining the Buffalo/Trenton group here in the coming days. He'll be seemingly an option for us, barring anything unforeseen, when he's eligible to come off, which is the end of this month, or the first of June, I believe. So he's in a great spot, and looking forward to that Triple-A performance.
Hatch will begin his rehab assignment with the Bisons on Thursday. I could see a multi-inning relief role in the big leagues for him in the near future. Yes, he’s a starter and I would imagine will continue to be stretched out to some extent, but I’m of the mind that the two rotation spots currently held by Anthony Kay and Ross Stripling have Manoah and Pearson’s names on them.
On Ryan Borucki
More not-catastrophic news on the injury front, fortunately. Here’s Atkins on Borucki:
It's actually lower than the tendon, it's down in the forearm, which is very encouraging and not something that we are concerned about. And very grateful for Ryan being communicative and talking about it, as we have talked a lot about this year already, we want to make sure that we're being as proactive as possible given all of the challenges that we've had thus far.
I don’t want to get too conspiratorial here, but it’s hard to see this and not think of what Atkins had been asked about earlier regarding Pearson. I obviously can’t say what did or didn’t happen there, but his praise of Borucki’s forthrightness certainly jumped out.
Anyway, it sounds like the issue not too serious, fortunately. “As long as things stay on the same level of recovery and how he's feeling, it has the potential to just be the minimum,” Atkins added.
On Teoscarnandez
Teoscar Hernández has been very good since returning from a 10-day layoff due to COVID. Atkins has not been surprised by this turn of events, apparently.
It wasn't surprising. He did have some consistent work he was able to get in at our alt-site at the time, and was able to do some things as he was recovering at home from COVID as well. He also has such a compact swing, and he's so strong, and keeps himself in such great shape that he recovered very quickly. He's obviously been extremely effective since his return, and the power, the on-base, with the hit ability — the batting average has been exceptionally encouraging. Obviously the arm tool. the run tool, he's been a very good major league player.
I’m just going to leave this here:
On Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
The thing that's been the most impressive to me about Lourdes is his lack of success offensively has not impacted his work, his attitude, or his defence, or his base running. Well, actually, it has impacted it in that all of those things have been extremely consistent and just gotten better and better. That's how as a baseball player you continue to earn those at-bats and get the confidence in Charlie, and the confidence in his staff, to keep putting him in the lineup. You've seen recently the consistent contact. He has been a little bit less fortunate this year, but I think for Lourdes there's going to be some ebbing and flowing, and I think that we've got some more consistent offensive production ahead of us.
Hard agree!
On the improving defence
I'm so impressed with how well, especially Bo and Cavan, handled it. They got off to a less than ideal start and they just didn't let it affect their confidence, they didn't let it affect their work, and now are playing — you've seen recently, they're playing seemingly above average defence. So, exceptionally encouraged by that. The influence that Marcus Semien has had on those guys has been very positive.
I can't say enough about Randal Grichuk and just stepping into centre field and being extremely consistent and reliable for us. That doesn't come easily, he works very hard to be in that position and to give us that outcome. I've already mentioned Lourdes, and definitely want to make sure I call out how effective Jano has been at a time that I can't imagine how frustrated he must be offensively, and has continued just to be such a reliable leader and defender for us as a catcher, and Reese McGuire's been great for us since his return as well.
Things have definitely gotten better!
On the eventual 40-man roster crunch
With a bunch of guys on the 60-day IL (i.e. temporarily off the 40-man) who will eventually need to be added back, plus at least one major non-roster prospect who is loudly making the case for a call-up, the Jays are eventually going to have to start thinking about who to cut loose. Atkins, for understandable reasons, is looking forward to the day.
I hope it is. I hope it is, because it means we're not adding others to that list of 60-day ILs, and I hope we do have that challenge to be thinking about. And we're starting to think about what our choices and options will be. Really encouraged about the guys that have gotten opportunities, that have been added to the roster via waiver claim, trade, or just adding them from internal depth — how well they've performed and how they are making that decision very tough for us.
On areas of need
The trade deadline is still 10 weeks away, but it’s never too early to start thinking about where the team needs to upgrade.
I think the obvious one is just getting our starting pitching into a more consistent rhythm, and getting better results to protect our bullpen a little bit more. Having said that, our bullpen has been phenomenal. Charlie and Pete have done a great job of not overexposing those guys. I know we've had some injuries. I think those are more related to time of year, the build up and ramp up, going through a very different prep routine this off-season and last year with the pandemic, than usage. Because the usage has been fair and reasonable and very thoughtful.
Secondarily, it would just be thinking about how we could have more balance in left-handed approach to our infield.
At the same time, don't feel like it's a need, and really feel good about the internal options that we have, and feel great about some of the options that we have in Triple-A as well — more on the outfield side of things. But our infield has actually played really well in Triple-A thus far. Great additions down there by our pro scouting staff. Christian Colón has been really playing well. I'm excited about Logan Warmoth and Kevin Smith and Forrest Wall. Obviously Josh Palacios before the injury. It's really thinking about complementary skillsets and starting pitching.
I mean, fair. But please, Ross, don’t get satisfied at third base too easily now.
On potentially returning to Toronto at some point this season
I know Mark has had a lot of consistent dialogue and communication with the government, and we will continue to do that, but are more focused on making sure that those trends, from a health standpoint, in Toronto and Canada, take the forefront. But encouraged by he communication that has occurred.
Uh… yeah. Good luck with that.
Images and GIFs via MLB.com/Sportsnet
ugh. The fact he says he's happy with the radio broadcast means he doesn't give a fuck about the radio broadcast. Cause it's been terrible. So infuriating. The radio broadcasts were my preferred method of following the team.
This season has been quite remarkable. We have played essentially without our marquee off-season player acquisition. We've had a ton of injuries to our pitching staff. We've had the toughest schedule in baseball. Our bats were largely dormant in April. And we play in a 'home' ballpark that is not well loved by the players. And if we beat Boston tomorrow we're in first place. Nevertheless, I have questions...when is the next mailbag?