Ladies and gentlemen, it’s a nooner! Um… Pacific time. And that lunging Californian you see above is the Jays new (temporary) closer, Casey Janssen. Though, apparently not everybody is thrilled with the selection…
Closers aren’t named Casey. They’re called things like Knuckles or Thunder Guts or The Bearded Cock and Balls. ‘Casey.’ Sheesh.
— Ryan Oakley (@thegrumpyowl) May 9, 2012
I have my doubts as well, but they’re mostly of the old school “gut feeling” kind, so they’re pretty much laughable. Janssen has had his trouble with the long ball this year, posting a ludicrous 25% HR/FB rate and countering last year’s ludicrous-the-other-way 4% rate, but he hardly walks guys, and continues to strike guys out at levels I would have never thought possible– and even though his swinging strike rates were only up less than one percent in 2010 and ’11 over his career norms.
I dunno… it can’t possibly get worse, amiright?
Oh yeah, and Brandon Morrow looks to continue his utter ridiculousness again today. Has he turned a corner? We won’t likely know any more by the end of this game than we already do, but I bet we’ll still talk a shit-tonne about it! (Probably even on tomorrow’s DJF podcast– that’s right, Mondays and Thursdays now!)
Scuttlebutt
Big League Stew chronicles the story of Brett Lawrie crowdsourcing the best tanning spot in downtown Toronto on Twitter, being told “outside” by Brandon Morrow, and then explaining to today’s starter: “just Wat I need Brandon to sit outside for 3 hours when I can get done in 12 min high power stand up for the boys #TimeManagement”. Amazeballs.
The National Post talks to country singer– and one-time Negro League player who got a couple of looks from Major League clubs (!!?!)– Charley Pride.
Lastly, the Toronto Star tells the crazy tale of a collection of Ernest Hemmingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald letters that, among other things, were stolen from a Queen W. shop in 1993– along with a ball signed by the World Series winning Jays, which apparently didn’t qualify as “the good stuff.”
TV: Sportsnet
And now the lineups, by way of the live box score at theScore.com. And for those of you who’ll be out and about, be sure to follow all the action on your phone with Score Mobile…
Toronto Blue Jays
K. Johnson 2B
Y. Escobar SS
J. Bautista RF
E. Encarnacion DH
E. Thames LF
B. Lawrie 3B
C. Rasmus CF
A. Lind 1B
J. Arencibia C
B. Morrow RHP
Oakland A’s
J. Weeks 2B
C. Pennington SS
J. Reddick CF
J. Gomes LF
S. Smith RF
K. Ka’aihue DH
B. Inge 3B
D. Barton 1B
A. Recker C
T. Ross RHP
Image via Brad White/Getty.
So after all the changes, what happens if the Blue Jays only score one run and Janssen blows the save?
I’ll blame you.
Me too.
We’ll be no worse off?
If the Jays only score one run against Tyson Ross, then they should just pack it in for the year.
Guys guys guys guys…come on. COME ON.
Janssen’s a solid choice until Santos returns. Dropping Lind In the batting order is way past due. And why doesn’t sportsnet mercifully have Ashby do the tv broadcast’s?
He’s on the air now.
I was so happy when I heard Ashby’s voice on the broadcast yesterday.
… Then Buck called Escobar Bautista for a while and I was less happy…. but you know… still happier than if Tabler had been there.
I’ll have you know that you are talking about the one and only Pat ‘Mr. Clutch’ – ‘Tabby Cat’ Tabler. He is a fuckin Blue Jays Legend!
Jays will probably make Ross look like Cy Young, except in the third inning.
Shit who is going to be the goat now?
Farrell’s still high on many people’s ‘usual suspects’ list, I imagine.
Kelly Johnson, throwing the team on his back for another day.
I heard they dropped Lind to 8th as punishment for that incident that happened that is not allowed to be discussed on DJF. You know the potentially libelous incident that caused censorship issues here.
Or did that not really happen? im so confused.
hilarious
Hi Mcclimax how are you?
done school now? no summer courses? im on campus right now wasting the last half hour of the day.
Feel free to fuck off.
What are you getting so worked up about Stoeten, we cant have a little fun around here anymore?
Lighten up dude.
You don’t get the benefit of the doubt on jokes, on account of your being a fucking moron when commenting on the posts to Getting Blanked videos and podcasts. If you were joking, great.
I didnt realise you were so sensitive in regards to your getting blanked stuff. Its not like i continually posted my opinions on it, I posted about it twice, had my say and moved on.
You think I am a fucking moron because of my comments about getting blanked?, That seems a bit harsh for me. My advice is to not get so worked up and come across as someone lacking social skills, this is after all, the internet. Take everything with a grain of salt. If it will help, sorry i said i didnt like the getting blanked stuff. I like your DJF blog, hope i can continue enjoying it.
In the spirit of DJF have a beer, relax and enjoy the game.
Tyson Ross only has a vague idea of where the strike zone is.
His vague idea is better than Lind’s.
It’s bigger than a bus
this strike zone is fucked up
Can we extend KJ now please?
Why in the world would you think KJ is re-signing with Toronto? He took arbitration to build his stats for free agency so that he’ll be able to go where he wants? Who signs with Toronto?
Why do you still like to impersonate me? I don’t think I am outrageous enough to make fun of.
It’s because you keep whining about it
And now?
I just surprised they only got a one year deal done. It seemed odd that they couldn’t get pay him a bit more this year and at least get a team option for 2013
Well thus because they wanted him to decline arbitration. Alex was noticeably annoyed when he accepted. Guess that worked out for the best so far.
going to be a great offseason when alex says he doesn’t see value in kj or edwin’s asking price and signs another group of retreads
I realize that but once he accepted AA seemed to imply they would try to get a multiyear deal with him
That 2-0 and 3-0 pitch should have been strikes.
Yes, that window seems to be closing fast.
2 game mini-sweep.
You’re one of those “you heard it here first” kinda guys, eh?
Heard it here first.
If by that you mean a negative idiot, then I think you’ve got him pegged.
And you’re just a regular idiot, right? What kind of ass runs a blog to call posters “idiots”?
I only call the idiot posters idiots. You’re welcome to not post here if you don’t like it. Or maybe just stop being an idiot, and I’ll have no reason to say such things.
Heh…. Isn’t that whole point of having your own blog?
Hey Stoeten, Why can’t you remove posters who like to steal other’s names.? The fake oakville69 has a different ip address than mine.
Kudos for reading that right Stoeten.
Small potatoes is a pile on kinda guy. Bet it’s not just the potatoes that are small. Usually when you see a cheerleader for a blogger, you’re dealing with some tiny parts.
And what are you dealing with when you see a guy who values his time so little he trolls a blog about baseball?
Fuck man who pissed in your corn flakes this morning?
Bit fast on the trigger, Stoeten? The team may or may not win but ti’s not like they’ve been playing wonderfully well these last games.
Can’t we move Wilner down in the lineup too? Like maybe make him the guy who gets Jerry/Alan snacks and coffee?
“You can say it’s been frustrating,” Wilner said. “You got an announce team that keeps battling and gave me the mic when Alan did color on TV and I just blew it again. It’s my second crappy announce job in a row. I have to announce better or I’m going to find myself either out of that situation or maybe out of the team. I have to do my job. It doesn’t matter how but I have to do it or I’m not going to have a job at all.”
Wilner’s absolutely terrible. Earlier he relayed how he was on the bus and saw that Berkely is in the SF area. Duh’
DUH, WINNING!
Casey is a batter’s name.
This is not the Morrow you’re looking for
He looks like he’s coming around though. (Hope.)
Allright, put Adam Lind back in the clean-up spot.
Nice Adam.
It’s the third inning. This means the Jays offense goes all juggernaut now.
Or not.
+1
Not quite a juggernaut but did you SEE how high that popup was! Don’t act like you’re not impressed…
Bautista’s was higher!
Oh yeah, Bautista is the popup king. I’m sure he would rather go back to bring the HR king, but it’s good to be king of something anyway!
Anyone else think Inge looks like Simon Pegg a bit?
I think Inge looks like Skeletor
Wilner painful to listen to. Absolutely nothing interesting to say.
consider it a reflection of yourself
I haven’t been listening ,but I imagine it’s due to his lack of experience on the field.He has book knowledge but not real world game playing experience.Probably hard to be his usual pedantic self with Jerry also.
Maybe he’ll grow into it with practice.
I’m getting really tired of Jemile Weeks.
This Weeks guy should play for Tampa. God is he pesky.
I love short shorts, unicorns, and reruns of threes company.
i have nothing to complain about. farrel adjusted the lineup batting order, replaced the closer and revealed jp to be a snivelly whiner pussy who isnt too bright when he says he supports the managers decision and whines . the move was successful to take the lead and then jp says hes a team player as he whines about not sleeping. me thinks jp might have a screw loose. arizona wants him get something good, i am ok with mathis
I may not be gay, but i would go homo for KJ. Guy’s a beast.
He looks like my old teamate Ricky Vaughn, circa 2nd movie, with that clean-cut all american look.
take the may not out….hahaha
That’s just bad grammar.
You mean take the “not” out…fucking idiots around here man.
I wouldn’t mind the jays trade for jemile weeks
Hey stoeten, how do i get this in real time. i have to post something to keep up or back out to start. i dont have a refresh button marked on my laptop. lost in space. cmon jays get a run so i can cheer at least once
Does your F5 work?
thx i will check. couldnt remember which it was and pressed all them before and fucked my computer. motorcycle accident so the brain is a little fried and the percs.
Try Alt-F4
LOL Lind.
Who was that guy!? Put him in the cleanup spot!!!!
THERE WE GO
for fuck sakes this could have been weeks ago. yes im cheering.thx lind and farrell
Leave him in the 8th spot.
He’s looking really good there, isn’t he?
Tie game = Gone with the Lind.
Adam Lind to the Clean up spot please!
hahah, beat me to that exact post.
HAHAHA! Lind – why are you so frustrating! Out of cleanup and you’re Babe Ruth?
TWO hits?!?!?! In ONE game?!?!?!? I don’t see how that’s even possible.
He’s baaaaaaaaaaaack
Fucking Farrell! Why doesn’t he put Lind in he cleanup spot?!
Screw you, Adam Lind! And good job!
if janssen fails, who would be the closer in santos’s absence
id try perez
They’d have to call up Mike McCoy.
He was stellar last year on the mound.
Should have been left in the cleanup spot. /sarcasm
Maybe next we can move Encarnacion down in the order. In case nobody noticed, he’s going back to being the E5 we all know and don’t love. Hits everything for a month and then nothing for two months.
EE needs some slack, not snark.
Pretty sure it’s been 5 games, not 2 months.
Nice to see the strikeouts coming back for Morrow. Not that I was actually worried they would be absent for long.
now we need to trade snivelly pussy jp to arizona for some goodies. do they have a big hitter or an awesome pitcher or really close A1 prospects ? i dont like his attitude at all. revealing since the donut.
I hear they have a middle infield duo that’s available.
Yeah because I’m sure Arizona is dying to give us Trevor Bauer for JP Arencibia…
I’d love to see Morrow’s ERA get under 2, even if it’s a useless stat.
I’d rather get the Win
I’d like to see him pitch the ninth.
Era is a “useless” stat? On what basis do you claim to know this?
educate yourself
Ahhh home in time to read up on mcclimax’s baseball education lessons.
On the basis that ERA is greatly impacted by many factors which the pitcher has no control over, such as defense.
it’s not useless at all if you use it properly
that was a hynotizer. morrow looks pppretty good.thanks chet for the f5
Wilner tells us that a majority of Ka’ahue’s plate appearances end as a homer, k or walk. Exactly 14 of 67 so far this year end that way. Worst announcer ever.
I have to agree. Listening to Wilner is a disgrace to the broadcasting booth and Tom Cheek’s great name. He consistently repeated himself about the Jays failures last night. Hey Mike, we get your fucking point, the Jays sucked last night! He could learn a lot from Jerry on how it is done. Speak with a tone of confidence and let the game happen. You do not have to spit out useless stats to make yourself sound like you know something, because Mike you have no clue.
Why do I think that you just responded to yourself?
Likely because you’ve done that.
You thought wrong
fuck that was close jose. i thought it was gone
It’s encouraging is what that is.
i am surprised women havent cracked this commentater position yet. they usually talk better than men.now sports shows are full women and they are alot more improved in sport knowledge than 10 yrs ago.
They usually pick ex-ball players…reminds me of Seinfeld.
Susan Weldman does it for the Yankees.
I’m betting you mean Suzyn Waldman.
Hey guys, in case you were wondering, Jays fans dont give a fuck about whether the As move to San Jose so please stop talking about it
Looks like Morrow is going 6innings max.
The top headline on mlb.com is “Votto polishes Cueto’s gem after stellar duel.” Couldn’t help but laugh.
Get him out of here Farrell. Oh what am I saying, it’s not like the bullpen can be trusted to be any better. Man, it sucks not to have any options.
what, I come in late and no one complimenting “Run Scoring Machine Eric Thames”????
Morrow headed for 100 after 5. It’s why I believed it’ll be difficult to win today
haha Thames did everything right except make a good throw……
Can we just tell Thames to always throw it to 3b to cut off the lead runner, he’ll never get it anywhere near the plate
Time to bring CoCo in. Isn’t he a middle inning guy now?
He’s the mop-up guy now. If we give Morrow another few batters we’ll be in the right situation to use a mop-up guy.
That’s right Farrell, Morrow didn’t quite manage to screw the pooch last inning, so let’s throw him out there again, even though he’s at 105 pitches and struggling.
What a fucking idiot. Is there a reason why this team can never have a real manager?
2 K’s and a 1 pitch fly out later…
Yeah what a fucking idiot Farrell is.
was jp even fuckin close? i havent seen him catch a throw from the field yet.what ever happened to putting a body in front of the ball. he even has padding. get rid of him pronto
Brett Magooo looking for that ball
Why can’t we hit Tyson Ross?
Why cant we hit anyone?
Lind first time with the High Socks?? Lawrie doing too, don’t remember if they have before??
Buck was mentioning that they were doing it to break out of the teams funk.
Stoeten’s never been laid. Do you think if he wears high socks it’d help?
that gets a “Like”, not because it is a slam on Stoeten, that is just comedy gold used on any name
Another dumb remark from the fake Oakville69
I hope they’re wearing garter belts too.
now THAT’S comedy gold……..
Wilner explains you don’t want to make the third out at third. Captain Obvious.
Meh, that’s a typical announcer comment.
If it was interspersed with anything interesting it’d be tolerable. As it is, he’s got nothing atall to say so he bores us with the obvious or else false claims.
What’s the deal with Lind and Lawrie wearing the high-socks?
Nice! Good response by the Jays.
That’s some revenge for all the crushed balls that went for unlucky outs.
Just heard Coco discussing his move from the closer role – he handled it perfectly – I have not been good so I don’t get to keep the job – long season, he can still be useful and maybe close some games when he gets any mojo back –
Coco, I aint mad atcha
I’m not really surprised to see Morrow out for the 6th. Going alright so far too.
All’s well that ends well.
And it did.
I’d guess it’s a short leash (1 baserunner and he’ll be done) but JF does love his “6 innings from the starter”
Morrow can go 120 pitches easily, nice temperature, this part of the order not that taxing, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him start 7th vs 9th hitter, the catcher, then try Weeks and Pennington
Agree with the first part but I think he’s done. Perez will get the 7th (and hopefully 8th)
a good lookin woman with a nice voice would be a major improvement over this anytime. get someone to stick the stats to her on a screen and let her go. fuck they take half the pay anyways in canada. baseball would be ……………………… perfect.
What in the world are you talking about?
instead of buck and tabby
Lefty at 96, that is quality
Nice bunt, JP
hey farell keep pissing him off
JP just said ‘fuck you John.’
Woo, JPA-bomb.
Huge insurance run there.
Jays win probability now at 91.6%
“Never tell me the odds!”
Oh, well those are actually pretty good.
I know. I just like quoting movies and tv shows.
And I countered your Star Wars quote with a quote from the Family Guy parody. My bad for leaving out the quotation marks.
Cut Johnson!
You noticed the start of a steep decline too eh?
See that’s all this team needs… someone to ruffle their feathers. And Adam Lind hitting 8th.
Jesus Jose! It’s like he made some kind of deal with the devil to become the best hitter in baseball and didn’t read the fine print which said ‘…for 2 seasons, after which you will become the worst hitter in baseball’
” … except for Adam Lind”
He made hard contact and broke his bat. That’s just bad luck.
.500 west coast road trip in the end.
Can’t bitch about that much.
and it begins . . . .
Buck and Alan seem surprised that a guy who pitches twice a month might be a bit rusty.
cmon guys shut er down
So everyone should keep their eye out for 4 Blue Jays fans at Target Field on Friday night. We’re in the left field bleachers, 4 rows up, wearing Winnipeg Jets jerseys and Jays hats.
I’m sure you’ll see us.
Show us your boobs
Like right now…or…?
I dunno. I just wasn’t sure why I’d bother looking for you in the stands otherwise.
Both my roommates are Tobans… maybe I’m just all JETS-ed out.
You’ll be the ones with paper bags over your heads, I assume.
That’s ludicrous. How would we fit our Jays caps over top Paper bags?
I’d be happy for you, if you weren’t lame enough to wear hockey jerseys to a baseball game.
You might be.
That being said, cut this negativity out, the Jays are suffering because of it.
Sam, flashing your boobs worked out real good–don’t stop.
great pitch Carlos
good job Carlos, now go enjoy yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a51unTtVsiU
You know guys, I’m itchin to send Coco Cordero in there. He’s a good veteran. Good ol Coco. What can go wrong?
EE!
We don’t call him E5 in here anymore, do we? Maybe we do if we’re talking about how far he hits his homeruns in groupings of 100 feet?
He’s still E5,the instant error at third.Never forget.
Good old EE.
Better not blow Coco’s save opportunity.
Just like that, eh, Lind? Just like that.
Those high socks have made Lind rather nimble.
His offensive offense has improved as well.
Hey anyone know what’s going on with Laffey?
Alright, strap in, the Casey Janssen Era has begun
It took long enough to give him a shot.
He’s buried so deep in the depth charts that he’ll never see the light of day on this team with any luck.
Here comes the closer!
he let’s two base runners on for sure
Stifle yourself.
I’ve been conditioned to expect the worse.
Let’s get used to expecting better.
other reasons to like Janssen as closer – good at fielding his position and good at holding runners on -
Fucking awesome Buck for referencing The Eck.
Casey Jannsen. Cy Young candidate.
I believe in Casey Janssen.
okay, Casey Im here standing and clapping at strike 2 -
Very Cool.
That was just swell.