The Blue Jays are unlucky to be out of the playoffs and looking toward next season after Saturday's loss to the Mariners. Unfortunately, much of it was bad luck they made themselves.
Hi Stoet, thanks for all your efforts to bring some thoughtful discourse to the insanity of sports fandom. Keep it up and have a great offseason. I will be reading and listening from a barren old rock in the Atlantic. cheers!
Thanks for a great season of insight and analysis. The only way through for me yesterday was to book flights to Tampa for spring training. Onwards we go, and hopefully Schneider, Atkins, and the players learned something from this for 2023.
Yeah just brutal. A mix of bad luck and poor play/decisions that allows the bad luck to manifest. Why not have your defense specialist OF out there when you're in by 7! The Tapia decision didn't seem based on "what will most likely win the game" which isn't good.
Glad you mentioned the outfield shift. That first double in the eighth was, in a better world, a routine fly to left. I wonder if the shifts come from the dugout or, ultimately, from the front office.
Thank you for your great content and podcasts (also thank you Nick) all year. Still the best Jays content out there - and there's a lot of good Jays coverage out there! Keep it coming. There's a sort of perverse pleasure in suffering like this and seeing where we go from here!
I don't know what to make of this game/series. If Manoah hadn't given up a run in the first inning, would the outcome have changed in Game 1? If we had won yesterday and lost a close Game 3 would there be as much angst? Probably, but of a different sort. I think the bottom line is that ultimately we were/are a flawed team this year. Good enough to get 92 wins, but unlikely to get past the teams who are better than us (and are not the Boston Red Sox).
The other bottom line is that Schneider f**d up by taking out Gausman. Simple as that.
But one little thing that no-one is talking about (except me on every chat I can find) is the simple groundball that Espinal booted in the first. That ended up extending the inning and adding about a dozen pitches for Gausman. Who knows what would have happened if that out was made?
I think the part about the Mayza decision that baffled me most at the time was the implication it carried for Game 3. Because, when you’re up 8 to goddamn 1 you need to be managing for Game 3. Mayza is one of your most important pen arms, and Schneider was effectively burning him there with a 7 run lead. ( It was only after the fact that I looked up Santana’s splits and saw that they were effectively doing the Mariners a favour by turning him around.) We we’re in the driver’s seat. Trust your $100 million co-ace to get the #7 hitter out. Let him eat another inning and set us up to go into Game 3 with a fully rested pen. We didn’t have our backs against the wall. We were up seven runs… so frustrating — in the moment, and in hindsight. Looking forward to the next podcast. Let us know when it’ll be happening. Thanks for all your work this season.
Hi Stoet, thanks for all your efforts to bring some thoughtful discourse to the insanity of sports fandom. Keep it up and have a great offseason. I will be reading and listening from a barren old rock in the Atlantic. cheers!
Thanks for a great season of insight and analysis. The only way through for me yesterday was to book flights to Tampa for spring training. Onwards we go, and hopefully Schneider, Atkins, and the players learned something from this for 2023.
Yeah just brutal. A mix of bad luck and poor play/decisions that allows the bad luck to manifest. Why not have your defense specialist OF out there when you're in by 7! The Tapia decision didn't seem based on "what will most likely win the game" which isn't good.
Glad you mentioned the outfield shift. That first double in the eighth was, in a better world, a routine fly to left. I wonder if the shifts come from the dugout or, ultimately, from the front office.
Thank you for your great content and podcasts (also thank you Nick) all year. Still the best Jays content out there - and there's a lot of good Jays coverage out there! Keep it coming. There's a sort of perverse pleasure in suffering like this and seeing where we go from here!
I don't know what to make of this game/series. If Manoah hadn't given up a run in the first inning, would the outcome have changed in Game 1? If we had won yesterday and lost a close Game 3 would there be as much angst? Probably, but of a different sort. I think the bottom line is that ultimately we were/are a flawed team this year. Good enough to get 92 wins, but unlikely to get past the teams who are better than us (and are not the Boston Red Sox).
The other bottom line is that Schneider f**d up by taking out Gausman. Simple as that.
But one little thing that no-one is talking about (except me on every chat I can find) is the simple groundball that Espinal booted in the first. That ended up extending the inning and adding about a dozen pitches for Gausman. Who knows what would have happened if that out was made?
Thanks, Andrew for the commentary.
This is the first story I've read since last evening, and how you articulated the events was spot on.
The entire season you brought insights and a narrative that was always refreshing.
Great work this season and looking forward to your upcoming stories in the months ahead.
I think the part about the Mayza decision that baffled me most at the time was the implication it carried for Game 3. Because, when you’re up 8 to goddamn 1 you need to be managing for Game 3. Mayza is one of your most important pen arms, and Schneider was effectively burning him there with a 7 run lead. ( It was only after the fact that I looked up Santana’s splits and saw that they were effectively doing the Mariners a favour by turning him around.) We we’re in the driver’s seat. Trust your $100 million co-ace to get the #7 hitter out. Let him eat another inning and set us up to go into Game 3 with a fully rested pen. We didn’t have our backs against the wall. We were up seven runs… so frustrating — in the moment, and in hindsight. Looking forward to the next podcast. Let us know when it’ll be happening. Thanks for all your work this season.
Your first statement was right on. This sucks. Thank you for the great articles all season long. Look forward to many more. Until next season.