The 2014 Toronto Blue Jays Thread

[GhostofPotvin29]

Well it was just one appearance.

Hopefully it is just one start but that was the Santos we saw in 2012 who lost the closer job.

The guy who pitched 5 innings in 2012?  He had 1.4 BB/9 last season in 25 innings.  Maybe he has got it under control maybe not, but hard to really say from that appearance other than his stuff looks really good.

But yeah from that link I posted is probably the best way to put it:

Santos threw just 25 2/3 innings in 2013, but his 4.4% walk rate was the lowest of his career and he struck out more than 30% of the batters he faced. His career walk rate is north of 10% -- it was 11.2% during a 1.5-win (FanGraphs) year in 2011 -- so the control is something that can hold him back at times. But, as he showed in 2011, Santos can still be extremely good even when living a little dangerously.

Living on the edge sort of pitcher.

 

[pmrules]

on a positive note...he did strike out the side!!!

 

[Derk]

Buehrle with 8 2/3 brilliant innings, 11 Ks, leaves the game with a runner at 1st in the bottom of the 9th.

Santos came in and walked Longoria, so Gibby yanked him and Cecil came in for the save! Brilliant 3-0 win, Bautista with two homers. This opening series has already been a success in my eyes, with the Jays winning at least two out of four in the toughest ballpark for them to win in.

Edit: Your FIRST PLACE Toronto Blue Jays!!  8)

 

[hockeyfan1]

Buehrle with 8 2/3 brilliant innings, 11 Ks, leaves the game with a runner at 1st in the bottom of the 9th.

Santos came in and walked Longoria, so Gibby yanked him and Cecil came in for the save! Brilliant 3-0 win, Bautista with two homers. This opening series has already been a success in my eyes, with the Jays winning at least two out of four in the toughest ballpark for them to win in.

Edit: Your FIRST PLACE Toronto Blue Jays!! 8)

Feels good! 

The starting pitchers going the near distance (ffirst Hutchison, now Buehrle) and the bullpen coming in to short relief is the way it should be.  Let's hope the Jays' pitching holds up and gives the team the much-needed support it lacked last season.

So far, very well.

GO JAYS GO!!

 

[Chev-boyar-sky]

On an unrelated note, how bad/unnecessary does the Napoli deal look in hindsight?

I wasn't a fan of it when it went down as he was a pretty solid C option with 1B possibilities (Lind was coming off a pretty pedestrian year).

Nice to see Bautista finding the power stroke and Buehrle throwing a gem (I've always liked him). Keep it up boys!

 

[Corn Flake]

2 wins. That's good. No reaction otherwise from this corner.

PS: I don't trust Santos one bit.

 

[Champ Kind]

On an unrelated note, how bad/unnecessary does the Napoli deal look in hindsight?

I wasn't a fan of it when it went down as he was a pretty solid C option with 1B possibilities (Lind was coming off a pretty pedestrian year).

Nice to see Bautista finding the power stroke and Buehrle throwing a gem (I've always liked him). Keep it up boys!

Eh, you win some lose some I guess.  Encarnacion was a throw-in, Bautista was maybe even less than that.  Napoli was coming off a below-average year where he was looking like Rob Deer - low average, big power, lots of strikeouts.  Hindsight is always 20-20, and though it seems completely ridiculous that AA held onto Juan Rivera rather than Napoli, they needed a closer and wanted Francisco, I guess.

 

[Kin]

On an unrelated note, how bad/unnecessary does the Napoli deal look in hindsight?

Not too bad. Even assuming he'd have been inclined to re-up in Toronto as a UFA last year Napoli put up a 129 OPS+ whereas Lind was at 132 and Encarnacion was 145. So unless the idea is that Napoli would be behind the plate full-time going forward(which is pretty questionable as he's never caught 100 games over a season in his career) then I don't know if he'd be in the line-up on merit.

 

[bustaheims]

On an unrelated note, how bad/unnecessary does the Napoli deal look in hindsight?

Not too bad. Even assuming he'd have been inclined to re-up in Toronto as a UFA last year Napoli put up a 129 OPS+ whereas Lind was at 132 and Encarnacion was 145. So unless the idea is that Napoli would be behind the plate full-time going forward(which is pretty questionable as he's never caught 100 games in his career) then I don't know if he'd be in the line-up on merit.

Yeah. The deal isn't bad because they lost out on Napoli. It looks bad because of who the return for him was and how that worked out - though they did turn Francisco into the compensation pick that allowed them to draft Matt Smoral, so, it could turn out alright in the end.

 

[Kin]

It's also worth mentioning that as bad as JP was last year, he wasn't quite the replacement level trainwreck during the two years Texas had Napoli. By BR's WAR, Napoli outdid JP over those years 7.2 to 3.0. Those 4.2 wins over two seasons isn't anything to scoff at but it's not the difference between what the Jays were and meaningful September baseball either.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

Haven't seen it mentioned, but Roy Halladay is throwing out the first pitch tonight at the Home Opener.

 

[Derk]

McGowan with a poor start - 4 runs in 2 - 2/3 innings. Granted, Tanaka hasn't been great either. 4-3 in the bottom of the 3rd.

 

[hockeyfan1]

Dickey gets the win as Jays shutoutt the Yankees 4-O...
'
?This was a big game for us. We needed to bounce back,? Gibbons said. ?He stepped up.?

More:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/dickey-bounces-back-with-electric-knuckleball/

 

[TML fan]

Hutchison couldn't hold Bengie Molina on 1st...

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

How advanced were the conversations among several Toronto Blue Jays players about deferring money to clear payroll for free-agent right-hander Ervin Santana?

Far more advanced than I previously reported.

The players' association had approved the deferrals in exchange for the players receiving additional money later in their contracts, according to major-league sources.

"Everyone had signed off," one source said of the deferrals. "It was already done."

Everything, that is, but the deal for Santana, who declined a one-year, $14 million offer from the Jays to sign with the Atlanta Braves for the same terms.

The participation of the union indicates just how close the Jays were to getting Santana. The union allows players to defer money only for a comparable benefit and entertains such tradeoffs only when contract negotiations are at an advanced stage.

According to Sportsnet.Ca, the players willing to defer money for Santana were pitchers R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle, right fielder Jose Bautista, first baseman Edwin Encarnacion and shortstop Jose Reyes.

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/ken-rosenthal-toronto-blue-jays-plans-to-pass-hat-to-lure-ervin-santana-were-widespread-already-done-040714

 

[hockeyfan1]

Jays "get creative" in 5-2 victory over the NL's Houston Astros...

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-get-creative-in-win-over-astros/

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

So Travis Snider never put it together.  Kinda surprised by that one.

 

[Derk]

For crying out loud Dickey - it's HOUSTON. 5 runs???? Urgh.

I thought they'da yanked him after the double and walk and not wait for him to give up that home run. Effectively game over.

 

[GhostofPotvin29]

McGowan goes 6.1 scoreless IP vs. Baltimore and leaves with 2-0 lead.  Looking for his first win since June 27, 2008.  Don't know if anyone deserves to get this one more than him.

 

[Derk]

Nice pitching performance tonight to be sure!