Sean Nolin takes the hill for the Jays tonight, making his Major League debut and hoping to fare a little better than Kevin Gausman, who made his far-more-heralded debut for the Orioles in last night’s Jays win. It’s… uh… yeah, another win would be nice.
The Jays are easily one of the most GIFable teams, whether on the field or off. If you frequent our blogs, Scott Lewis usually does a Friday GIF post from around the league, but this post will focus only on the Jays. So here we go:
Judging by the picture of a mountain of donuts he posted on Instagram this afternoon, Kevin Gausman is ready. Or, at least, as ready as he’ll ever be to jump into the fray against Melky Cabrera, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion.
Gausman, you may not be aware, is a superstitious sort, including when it comes to his in-game dining, telling reporters last year, “I eat four doughnuts in between innings.” He has apparently since given up the practice, on the advice of nutritionists, but obviously that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t come prepared, just in case.
With only a small slate of games on the schedule throughout the Majors tonight, and nothing with nearly the appeal of a potential duel between the O’s top prospect (sorry, Bundy) and Brandon Morrow, the eyes of the baseball world will all be on the rugged carpet at the Rogers Centre. Let’s hope for an unfriendly welcome.
Leading off, as always (or usual), it’s today’s edition of the Getting Blanked Podcast– which for the duration of the season will be coming at you daily! We’re not double posting this year, but I’ll be sure to include the link in the first Daily Duce or Game Threat that follows the post going up over at Getting Blanked. Otherwise, you can find the podcast at Getting Blanked on iTunes, get it via the RSS feed we have setup, or like Getting Blanked on Facebook in order to get each day’s podcast straight into your news feed (if we bother to post it). While you’re at it, go ahead and like DJF on Facebook, too.
Sad news for the Jays and their extended family, as word from the Dominican Republic came today that legendary scout Epy Guerrero passed away at the age of 71. Shi Davidi has a put together a piece on it at Sportsnet, and while the man who was so instrumental in bringing so many terrific young Dominican players to the Jays certainly deserves a remembrance in full over here, it goes to show, I think, just how unsung scouts are that I don’t know enough about him, beyond the vaunted reputation and the names of the many excellent players he was the first to take notice of, to say a whole lot. Our condolences and sympathies go out to his family and friends.
Guerrero visited the Jays facility in Dunedin back in March, prompting an excellent profile from Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, which serves as a fitting tribute, I think.
Shi Davidi tweets that John Gibbons has confirmed that Sean Nolin will start tomorrow for the Jays. Chad Jenkins will go on Sunday, he says, taking Ramon Ortiz’s spot. A corresponding roster move will come following tonight’s game, which you have to assume is the D’ing FA of Ortiz.
In the Toronto Star, Brendan Kennedy talks to scouts, comparing young third basemen Brett Lawrie and Orioles phenom Manny Machado. “They’re both terrific players, any club would die to have them,” a rival scout told him. “Emotionally, it looks like they’re wired differently and right now that seems to be helping Machado more than Lawrie.” Uh… you think?
Now a little something to kill time on a Thursday afternoon: it’s the DJF podcast!
And today it’s just Drew and me, with no one filling in for the hopelessly disinterested Wally Pip, as we talk about the Jose Bautista’s fantastic game, Brett Lawrie’s struggles, J.P. Arencibia (again), Sean Nolin, and a bit about my moment on last night’s broadcast (GIF after the jump!).
Sounds like we’ll get the rare treat of back-to-back big league debuts for a couple of impressive young pitchers– one, albeit, far more heralded than the other– at the Rogers Centre this week, as it appears that Kevin Gausman’s debut tonight for the Orioles will be followed tomorrow by Sean Nolin’s first taste of the big leagues for the Jays.
As early as last night word was getting out that Nolin had been scratched from his start today for New Hampshire. In fact, Nolin himself admitted he’d been bumped to Friday:
@bigfourinsider friday
— Sean Nolin (@Sean_Nolin) May 23, 2013
Friday was to be Marcus Stroman’s next start for the Fisher Cats, but he was pushed back as well.
There has been lots of Jays stuff coming out of MLB’s Fan Cave so far this season, thanks in no small part, I’m sure, to Jays fan April Whitzman (aka @Alleycat17), who is one of the select group imprisoned taking part in it this season. Case in point? This gem of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion dropping bombs on the driving range at Manhattan’s Chelsea Piers.
Check it out after the jump…
