The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Thread

[TML fan]

Another brilliant strategy by Gibbons and company...NOBODY saw that coming...

 

[L K]

Gibbons is terrible.  Stroman 6.2IP 2 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts 

Stroman gets the first two batters out in the 6th on a flyout and an infield groundout.  Jose Abreu hits a double to Colby Rasmus.  Pitching coach comes to the mound.  Stroman pitches carefully around Adam Dunn and walks him.  Runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out and he's sitting on 96 pitches.  Gibbons pulls him.  McGowan gives up a 3-run homerun on the 1st pitch.

Danny Viciedo hit the home run.  He was 0/2 with a strikeout against Stroman on the day.

 

[TML fan]

Gibbons is terrible.  Stroman 6.2IP 2 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts 

Stroman gets the first two batters out in the 6th on a flyout and an infield groundout.  Jose Abreu hits a double to Colby Rasmus.  Pitching coach comes to the mound.  Stroman pitches carefully around Adam Dunn and walks him.  Runners on 1st and 2nd with 2 out and he's sitting on 96 pitches.  Gibbons pulls him.  McGowan gives up a 3-run homerun on the 1st pitch.

Danny Viciedo hit the home run.  He was 0/2 with a strikeout against Stroman on the day.

Let's all watch Wilner defend the s*** out of that decision.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Danny Viciedo hit the home run.  He was 0/2 with a strikeout against Stroman on the day.

Alexei Ramirez was 0/2 against Dickey and hit the game-winning 2-run HR off of him last night.  Gibbons was criticized for leaving him in too long, now too short.  It seems to me to be the type of thing that is tough for me to criticize the manager too much on because if you look at those two scenarios - he's wrong the first night if he does what you say he should have done today based on the preceding at-bats, but if he leaves Stroman in and a hit comes he'd obviously be criticized for leaving a pitcher in too long for the 2nd straight night.

 

[bustaheims]

In the wise words of Moe Szyslak, about managers:

The only thing I know about strategy is that everything the manager does is crap. Unless it works, in which case he's a button pusher.

 

[L K]

Danny Viciedo hit the home run.  He was 0/2 with a strikeout against Stroman on the day.

Alexei Ramirez was 0/2 against Dickey and hit the game-winning 2-run HR off of him last night.  Gibbons was criticized for leaving him in too long, now too short.  It seems to me to be the type of thing that is tough for me to criticize the manager too much on because if you look at those two scenarios - he's wrong the first night if he does what you say he should have done today based on the preceding at-bats, but if he leaves Stroman in and a hit comes he'd obviously be criticized for leaving a pitcher in too long for the 2nd straight night.

Dickey has also given up 23 runs in the 7th inning (21 innings) over the last two years with the Jays.  Whether it is fatigue, or his knuckle ball becoming more predictably later in games, Dickey struggles late in games.  With Stroman you have a young kid who you need to push to see if he can handle those situations.  I really don't see it as complaining about the same situation because it is two different pitchers heading in different directions in their career. 

 

[TML fan]

I don't care that he pulled Stroman. Personally. I wouldn't have done it, but what bugged me was the decision to pitch around Dunn. You intentionally brought the go ahead run to the plate. That's just stupid.

 

[Andy007]

I don't care that he pulled Stroman. Personally. I wouldn't have done it, but what bugged me was the decision to pitch around Dunn. You intentionally brought the go ahead run to the plate. That's just stupid.

And while Dunn is having a pretty good year (800+ ops), he isn't exactly a feared player at this stage in his career. .237 avg and 12 home runs after last night's game. 

 

[TML fan]

I don't care that he pulled Stroman. Personally. I wouldn't have done it, but what bugged me was the decision to pitch around Dunn. You intentionally brought the go ahead run to the plate. That's just stupid.

And while Dunn is having a pretty good year (800+ ops), he isn't exactly a feared player at this stage in his career. .237 avg and 12 home runs after last night's game.

The worst case scenario of pitching to Dunn was worse than the worst case scenario of pitching around him.

 

[Derk]

Jays lose the last three games to Chicago, who was near the bottom of the AL when the series started. Kind of a disappointing weekend. The starters have been ok this year, but the bullpen seems to be giving up a lot of runs lately. Somehow, they are still in first place, so that is something.

Hopefully they will pull out of this funk. I am still concerned that they will fall out of the playoff hunt.

 

[bustaheims]

The Jays have signed both their 1st round picks to at-slot deals.

 

[Frank E]

The Jays have signed both their 1st round picks to at-slot deals.

What does "at-slot" mean Busta?

 

[bustaheims]

What does "at-slot" mean Busta?

Picks in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft are allocated "slot" amounts that, when added together, make up the team's draft signing allowance. If you sign guys under slot, you can sign some others for more. If you fail to sign a guy, you lose the entire amount. Also, any player drafted after the 10th round can be signed for up to $100K without impacting your signing allowance. You can go up to just under 5% over your total signing allowance without anything more than a financial penalty. Once you exceed 5%, you start sacrificing draft picks.

 

[Frank E]

What does "at-slot" mean Busta?

Picks in the first 10 rounds of the MLB draft are allocated "slot" amounts that, when added together, make up the team's draft signing allowance. If you sign guys under slot, you can sign some others for more. If you fail to sign a guy, you lose the entire amount. You can go up to just under 5% over your total signing allowance without anything more than a financial penalty. Once you exceed 5%, you start sacrificing draft picks.

Got it.  So basically they signed for their maximum penalty-free allowance?

 

[bustaheims]

Got it.  So basically they signed for their maximum penalty-free allowance?

Sort of, yeah. You can go significantly over on individuals as long as you don't hit 5% over in total. They signed deals that maxed out their value without taking away room for the team to use on other deals.

 

[Frank E]

Got it.  So basically they signed for their maximum penalty-free allowance?

Sort of, yeah. You can go significantly over on individuals as long as you don't hit 5% over in total. They signed deals that maxed out their value without taking away room for the team to use on other deals.

Understood.  Thanks.

 

[Derk]

Jays win both games against Milwaukee. Walk off three run homer by Edwin in a 7-4 win. Bautista and Francisco with homers also.

Pretty important win given the upcoming tough road trip through Oakland, the Angels and Tampa and Baltimore hot on their heels.

 

[draeko17]

Whelp!  Losing EE could be season changing with Bautista not being really 100% and Lawrie still away for a while.  Bleh...

 

[L K]

The team struggled to hit in April.  They dominated in May.  They have been abysmal now for June-July.  Losing EE is a devastating blow to the team.  The pitching staff isn't good enough to win with.  AA isn't likely to pull off the kind of move necessary to make this team a winner.  They lost their lead in the AL East.  They currently are sitting outside of a playoff spot.  Things can still change but this team is on the fast-track to another failed season right now.

 

[Andy007]

Their bench and depth is abysmal too. They have an absolutely terrible lineup against LHP, which got shut down again today. It's a shame because, for once, NY, BOS and Tampa are all middling. Such a huge waste of a golden opportunity, particularly if AA doesn't pull off any major moves.