Bluebird Banter

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports That one really hurt. The Jays battled back from a rare bad start, taking the lead and playing really well, but Jordan Romano had a rare bad outing battling a blister and they weren’t able to hang on. The Jays got men on in each of the six innings that Zack Littell pitched, but were unable to push any across the plate until he left the game. It started with a Vladimir Guerrero jr. single in the first. Davis Schneider was hit in the second and advanced to third on a Kevin Kiermaier line double into the right field corner, but Tyler...

Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports After last night’s game, Brandon Lowe was diagnosed with a fractured patella (ow.) and placed on the IL. Old friend (?) Raimel Tapia was called up to take his spot on the roster. It’s a celebration day for the Rays, as they unveil statues of franchise legends Evan Longoria and Akinori Iwamura and celebrate the news that they’ve secured a new stadium deal to remain in St. Pete. Let’s ruin the party. Jays Lineup: DH George Springer SS Bo Bichette 1B Vladimir Guerrero jr. RF Cavan Biggio 3B Matt Chapman LF Daulton Varsho 2B...

Photo by Julio Aguilar/ Blue Jays 6 Rays 2 Someone forgot to hit post (or more likely forgot to hit post twice, stupid ‘comfirm post’ button) last night. Sorry. For five innings, it looked like another one of those games where the bats just didn’t show up. We had just one walk and one hit. And then came the sixth: George Springer hit a one-out single and stole second (the throw from catcher René Pinto was spiked into the turf and ended up rolling to the shortstop position). Bo Bichette followed with a single that went through first baseman Yandy Diaz, which...

Photo by Kelly Gavin/ Three games in the House of Horrors in St. Petersburg. Wins would be a good thing. The good news is that Vlad is back in the lineup. And John says he could play first tomorrow. And Brandon Belt did some hitting yesterday and will do more today. He could play in the next few days. And Ricky Tiedemann is pitching for the Bisons as I type this. Today's Lineups BLUE JAYS RAYS George Springer - RF Yandy Diaz - 1B Bo Bichette - SS Randy Arozarena - LF Vladimir Guerrero - DH Josh Lowe - CF Cavan Biggio - 1B Harold Ramirez -...

Photo by Elsa/ The Blue Jays start a three-game series with the Rays tonight, playing in that ballpark that God forgot. Pitching: Friday: Bassitt (14-8, 3.78) vs. Glasnow (9-6, 3.53). Saturday: Ryu (3-3, 2.62) vs. Littell (3-6, 4.12). Sunday: Kikuchi (10-6, 3.74) vs.. Bradley (5-7, 5.36). With the Rangers and Mariners playing each other, each win the Jays get will put them further ahead of one of those teams. FanGraphs has the Jays' playoff odds at 76.3% The Jays have announced eight players they are sending to the Arizona Fall League this year. OFFICIAL:...

Photo by Sarah Stier/ Blue Jays 3 Yankees 5 Jose Berrios gave up a 3-run homer in the first inning, which was pretty much the game. Gerrit Cole was terrific. 8 innings, just 2 hits, no walks, with 9 strikeouts. There is a reason he’s paid more money than God. Tim Mayza allowed an inherited runner to score in the sixth and a run of his own in the seventh. Nate Pearson didn’t look great, giving up 2 hits and 2 walks in his 1.2 innings. We got a run in the eighth. Matt Chapman doubled and scored on a wild pitch. And we got a couple of runs in the ninth and could...

Photo by Elsa/ FanGraphs has the Jays' chance of making the Playoffs at 83.9%, which is just a touch below their high point of the season, back at the end of April. Last night, the plate umpiring was.....less than great. Aaron Boone politely pointed that out when Lance Barrett suggested he watch the game on TV instead of from the clubhouse. The fun part was Boone saying, “He (Kirk) is having a hell of a night”. Kirk enjoyed pulling pitches back into the strike zone from anywhere up to a foot and getting the call. Lance seemed to call any pitch that didn’t bounce...

Photo by Ronald C. Modra/ We have a few birthdays today. It is Prince Fielder’s daddy’s, Cecil’s 60th birthday today. Is Prince sending him a card? I’ve read that they aren’t exactly close and have some troubles because of Cecil’s treatment of Prince’s mother. Cecil was a similar player to Prince, both big slugger types. Prince was the better player, but Cecil wasn’t bad himself. The Jays got Cecil in a trade with the Royals for Leon Roberts, but unfortunately for Cecil, he came up about the same time as Fred McGriff, and Fred was the better player. The...

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports The Jays are trying to add to their four-game winning streak (their season high is six games). And the Jays have a new player, Cam Eden is now on the active roster. Ernie Clement, who was hitting the ball very well, in his few games with the team. I’m sorry to see him go, but it seems the team wants a pinch-runner who can steal a base. It will be interesting to see how much action he gets. Not surprisingly, the Red Sox and the A’s (unless there is a late comeback) weren’t helpful today. The Orioles also have lost to the Astros. So a...

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports The Blue Jays made a roster move before today’s game: Ernie Clement was sent to Buffalo. Outfielder Cam Edan takes his space on the Jays roster. Mason McCoy has been DFAed. Edan has played 131 games for the Bisons, hitting .257/.354/.333 with 3 home runs and 53 steals (caught four times), playing mostly CF. I’m imagining he will mostly pinch run. He was #38 on our prospect list this last year (he wasn’t on this year’s list). Matt said: Another 6th round pick a year later in 2019, Eden was selected out of Cal-Berkeley,...

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports Occasionally a post calls for song lyric post titles, just like Hugo used to do. Sometimes, a baseball player says something I can’t relate to. This is one of those cases: #BlueJays starter Yusei Kikuchi thinks he’ll be fine for his next start after he left the game with cramps. The biggest revelation was that he said it may have been caused by only getting 11 (!) hours of sleep last night instead of his usual 13 or 14 hours (!!)— Kaitlyn McGrath (@kaitlyncmcgrath) September 20, 2023 I can’t remember getting 11 hours of sleep...

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports Ken Giles turns 33 today. When the Blue Jays picked up Giles in the Roberto Osuna trade on July 30, 2018, he came with his baggage. We all saw the video of him hitting himself. The Astros had sent him to the minors when he had a poor start to the 2018 season. Of course, Osuna had his issues that forced the Jays into making the trade, so we expected a discounted return. Along with Giles, the Astros sent David Paulino and Hector Perez. Paulino pitched 6.2 innings for the Jays in 2018, and we released him in August 2019. He was in the Phillies...

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports Blue Jays 7 Yankees 1 My two favourite things are Blue Jays wins and Yankees losses. When you combine the two, well, there are few things better. Years ago, I saw a study showing that guys tend to do well on their birthdays and George Springer homers to lead off the game on his birthday. I don’t gamble, but if I did, I would put a couple of dollars down on a guy playing on his birthday (his second at-bat didn't go as well). Of course, he also got thrown out trying to stretch a single into a double in the seventh inning. Of course, the...

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports Our last road trip of the year starts tonight. 3 games in New York and three games in Tampa. And then the Yankees and Rays come to Toronto to finish off the season. A sweep of the Yankees would go a long way toward securing our playoff spot. Even 2 of 3 would be handy. Hopefully, the Rangers keep losing. And I’d be ok with the Mariners also continuing to lose. Today’s lineup with Cavan Biggio hitting in the four spot. Today's Lineups BLUE JAYS YANKEES George Springer - RF DJ LeMahieu - 1B Bo Bichette - SS Aaron...

John E. Sokolowski-USA TODAY Sports Last night, I did something I never thought I’d ever do. I cheered for the Red Sox. Yes, I’ve been showering a lot today. But they did do us a favour, beating the Rangers. Unfortunately, the A’s couldn’t do us the same favour. The Jays are now in the second Wild Card spot, 1 game ahead of the Mariners and Rangers. There isn’t much for Blue Jays news. This little note from Shi Davidi: Brandon Belt (back) is starting a hitting progression today, says Blue Jays manager John Schneider. In a perfect world, he added, Belt...