Game Threat: Jays (34-36) vs. Rockies (37-35)

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Game Threat on Jun 19, 2013

Toronto Blue Jays v Texas Rangers

Over the last 30 days Mark Buehrle has made five starts for the Toronto Blue Jays, pitching 33 innings in total, with an ERA of 1.91, a FIP of 2.72 and an xFIP of 3.35. He’s kept the ball in the ballpark, and on the ground. He’s struck out three batters for every walk he’s issued. He’s posted a WHIP of just 1.06 and, according to FanGraphs, has been worth nearly a full win– 0.9 WAR.

Of course, he’d been below replacement level to that point, so his mark for the season stands at just 0.6. But still! It’s been a good run, as the club has been winning– 21-12 since being beaten by Boston on May 11th– and we’ve been seeing the kind of pitcher we hoped the Jays would be getting when they made their deal with the Marlins for the former White Sox ace.

Or… actually… we’ve probably been seeing better. And with the good times still a-rollin’, and Buehrle having been nearly two runs better at home than on the road this year– aaand with the Rockies being the Rockies– you kinda just can’t help but be positive about tonight’s endeavor, can you?

Scuttlebutt

Pretty much took care of that with the previous two posts.

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Reyes “Beamed Up” For Bisons’ Star Wars Night

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Buffalo, Jose Reyes on Jun 19, 2013

bisonsstarwars

Ho ho ho. Of course I know “beamed up” isn’t a Star Wars reference, you pedantic twit.

But it’s not untrue that, as I noted in the post below, it seems as though Jose Reyes will be at Coca-Cola Field on Saturday,  passing through the Queen City on a rehab assignment and taking part in the Buffalo Bisons’ delightfully minor league-y Star Wars Night promotion in the process.

“As is customary,” Bisons.com says, Reyes and his Bisons teammates “will wear a special Star Wars jersey during the game. The team will then autograph the jerseys as soon as the game is over for various raffles held during the contest. All proceeds of the auctions benefit the American Heart Association.” They add that “there will be a silent auction for some jerseys, while you’ll be able to win others in a ticketed raffle. Also, stay tuned to Bisons.com for a special online auction for a unique Star Wars Night experience.”

Regarding the clothing, a separate press release explains:

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Injury Scuttlebutt: Reyes, Morrow, Lawrie

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Brandon Morrow, Brett Lawrie, Injuries, Jose Reyes on Jun 19, 2013

Toronto Blue Jays v New York Yankees

A few items coming from the Twitter fingers of the reporters down at Rogers Centre today that just seem too big to leave until tonight’s Game Threat, as we have new word on the progress of three key Jays who’ve been injured throughout the club’s recent run back towards quasi-respectability…

So… that’s some good news– at least, in a relative sense, as far as Morrow goes. And there’s more!

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Assessing Improvements From Esmil (Via Pat Hentgen!) And Aaron Cibia

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Aaron Cibia, Esmil Rogers on Jun 19, 2013

Toronto Blue Jays v Texas Rangers

It’s a game of adjustments, they say, and the Jays seem determined to keep making them with their players when things aren’t working well. And why wouldn’t they? They’ve seen their changes work to dramatic effect in recent years, from Jose Bautista to Edwin Encarnacion, from Adam Lind to Colby Rasmus, we think. And now– perhaps– to Esmil Rogers and J.P. Arencibia, as well.

The former, Esmil Rogers, I tend to believe in.

John Lott of the National Post writes about how the reborn starter has begun throwing a sinker– something I noted in last night’s Game Threat– with great success. Jeff Blair also spoke about the pitcher’s new weapon on this afternoon’s edition of Baseball Central, explaining to Dirk Hayhurst that it came from none other than Pat Hentgen.

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What The Shirt?

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Clothes on Jun 19, 2013

eeparrot2

As Archi Zuber mentioned in today’s The Morning After post, some intrepid businessperson on the internet– specifically, a site called Teespring– has been selling a t-shirt that appears to be a total fucking… um… homage to the little Edwin Taking The Parrot For A Walk GIF that blew up the internet (relatively) late last month, having been conceived and executed, as I noted at the time, by Zubes and fellow DJFer Scott Johnson way back on May 1st.

No, really, I can’t possibly imagine where the idea came from:

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The Morning After – Rockies 3 @ Blue Jays 8

Posted by Archi Zuber under Post-Game Post on Jun 19, 2013

June 18th vs Rockies

Batter pLI WPA
Cabrera – LF 0.34 0.033
Bautista – RF 0.48 -0.031
Encarnacion – 1B 0.44 0.138
Lind – DH 0.34 0.063
DeRosa – 3B 0.27 0.052 Pitcher pLI WPA
Davis – CF 0.34 -0.005 Rogers – SP 0.47 0.200
Arencibia – C 0.23 0.063 Loup – SP 0.20 -0.003
Izturis – SS / 2B 0.18 -0.015 Oliver – RP 0.17 0.013
Bonifacio – 2B / LF 0.20 -0.015 Delabar – RP 0.10 0.007
Total 0.32 0.283 Total 0.38 0.217

Bests / Worsts of the game after the jump! Read the rest of this entry »

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Game Threat: Jays (33-36) vs. Rockies (37-34)

Posted by Andrew Stoeten under Game Threat on Jun 18, 2013

Toronto Blue Jays v Texas Rangers

The Esmil Rogers experiment in the Jays’ starting rotation continues tonight against his former team, the Colorado Rockies. And while, with a 1.26 ERA, 3.48 FIP, and .270 wOBA against in his 14.1 innings as a starter so far, it can’t possibly continue, what this post presupposes is… maybe it can?

After all, Esmil is a new man! Earlier today @James_In_TO tweeted out a link to Rogers’ Brooks Baseball player card, which shows how he has ramped up usage of a sinker that maybe he should have been turning to all along. Rogers’ four-seamer and slider accounted for over 85% of his pitches thrown back in April, but for June the number has been less than 60%, with his sinker usage rising from 3.86% in April to 28.13% this month– which has been, by far, his best month of the season.

Obviously he couldn’t just throw like a reliever if he expected to turn lineups over multiple times after his slide into the rotation, but he was a starter in his previous life back in Colorado, and never had his repertoire looked quite like this. Maybe he’s onto something!

I mean… maybe the league just hasn’t caught up with the explosion of sinker usage from him, but… maybe he’s onto something! Let the good times roll, amiright?

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