Because… why not?
Apologies for a late Game Threat this evening, but I’ve been busy rooting around Active Surplus for a power adapter and then putting a dead bird in the backyard out to the DL in the sky [read: the bushes in the alley]. Symbolic much?
What a day, what a day. Not a whole lot of good news for the dreamers among you, as the Jays’ playoff visions took a hit with the riding off into the sunset of the ghost of Vlad Guerrero, presumably on the same white horse he was going to ride into town and save the season on, and the probably derailment of Brandon Morrow’s season, things aren’t looking so good for 2012 at the moment. Hey, but at least it might mean things are going to get real interesting at the trade deadline, huh?
Er… that is to say, there’s always tomorrow, amiright?
Actuallyyyyyyyy, with Strasburg on the hill and the Oranje needing to beat Germany, I’ve got half a mind to just stay in bed. Fuck.
Scuttlebutt
Mike Wilner tweets that the Jays will withhold any announcement on Brandon Morrow until after tonight’s game. Fingers crossed.
Shi Davidi puts it all into perspective at Sportsnet.
And lastly, for your between-inning viewing pleasure, it’s today’s episode of Getting Blanked…
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
B. Lawrie 3B
C. Rasmus CF
J. Bautista RF
E. Encarnacion 1B
K. Johnson 2B
Y. Escobar SS
D. Cooper DH
R. Davis LF
J. Mathis C
H. Alvarez RHP
Washington Nationals
S. Lombardozzi LF
B. Harper RF
R. Zimmerman 3B
A. LaRoche 1B
M. Morse DH
I. Desmond SS
D. Espinosa 2B
R. Ankiel CF
J. Solano C
C. Wang RHP
Image via Scott Cunningham/Getty.
Odds’s Alvarez get’s shelled tonight?
Magic 8 ball reads… yes.
Me think’s we’ll be .500 come tonight.
Aren’t you the glass is half full guy? I’m confused.
Theres two James’ I guess… I’m probably the optimistic one you’re thinking of.
You said that in the other thread too!
at least you’re consistent.
THAT’S AMAZING! PLEASE, MORE PREDICTIONS!
Will Kyle Drabek get shelled tomorrow.
Magic 8 Ball reads Certainly.
Ah I love reading these after the fact. He did quite well enough for a freakin second-year pitcher. But I’m sure you’ll come back and admit you were wrong.
Alvarez vs. Wang.
Fielders better bring their gloves tonight.
Now that the draft and the signings are winding up, it’s time to see where EDH and Johnson are with regards to extensions. I think you would want to get these done or not done so that you can be ready to sell. I really don’t think the team wants to have the dilemma to offer 12 million in arb or let them walk.
Johnson being extended is not a big priority in my opinion.
Money always being an object with this team, Id rather spend it somewhere else. We can always bring up Hech next year and have some form of excellent defensive between he and escobar (regardless of whoever ends up at second and short)
Johnson is sucking dick. No point in extending him. Trade his ass at the deadline.
Tabby, you are the fucking worst.
SUCK MY BIG FAT 12″ DICK!!
LAWLrie strikes again.
into an out?
cant go with Lawrie on that one…it was a dumb move
That out call on Lawrie is the kind of call Lawrie and Bautists are going to get a lot of.
unfortunately I agree
..but he was out.
maybe I need glasses then
That call would be made against anyone who was stupid enough to leap into the air instead of keeping contact with the base.
For as good an athlete lawrie supposedly is, he has a certain SPAZ quality that occassionally manifests
Truthfully, I’m surprised he didn’t include a pirouette.
Stupid? Learn a little bit about physics.
He had absolutely no need to pop up like he did. It was a poorly considered choice on his part.
+1
he did the same sort of leap on that nice foul ball catch he made against chris davis when the OriLoLes were here… he slid to catch the ball and then purposely leapt upward and even though there was no real obvious downside to him doing it, i was thinking to myself “wtf is lawrie doing?.. you made a nice catch, you dont need to dance for us too”
Today has been a really depressing day. Morrow injured, Guerrero gone, and it’s too damn hot.
A win would be nice. I don’t know if I should expect one or not. I don’t really know what to expect anymore.
50-50 shot I’d say.
If they can’t put up a half dozen against Wang best give up
Nope, they can’t.
Wang: 3 strikes, 7 balls.
Why are we swinging at anything?
Has Jays management said anything about how long they plan to keep Lawrie in the lead off spot? It seems to be working well, but it’s difficult to imagine that being the long-term spot for him.
lawrie is definitely a hot dog who has always got his way.im sure his IQ is lower than a 100. he was tagged out and screamed like a banshee.just shut up lawrie, you’re making me gag
Remember folks, this Jays ballclub cannot fall below .500. For some mysterious reason, these Jays are incapable of falling below .500, despite hovering at or around .500 for just about the entire season.
This means we win either today or tomorrow. Which sounds more likely to you?
The good news is Wang does not look good at all.
He looks like an ace on that fucking mound. Dominating presence. What are you talking about?
I actually think we have a good shot coming out of this with a W.
Wang pitching is almost unwatchable.
Thank God you took your meds! I was worried about you. Cheers.
Yeah. That’s a different James. I should think of a less common handle I guess.
LOL. This is the fucking Blue Jays we’re talking about here.
I’m so sick and tired of lawries antics
You keep thinking he’ll learn, he won’t do that again.
But then he just finds some other fucking thing, to make him look foolish.
To make himself look foolish… is what I meant.
can you imagine seeing this dick in a world series game? i dont think i could watch this punk in a meaningful game. he needs a life coach badly. and his parents are probably real proud because he made the bigs and was raised by strangers.something wrong with that boy
A real pitcher’s duel, what?
Can we put Delgado into our lineup tonight?
he would do fine. why? because he wouldnt swing at 2-0 pitches out of the zone
Delgado is closer to 500 than Vlad.
I seem to remember Delgado trying to make a comeback in the minors….he didn’t complain.
Fuckin Harper… kid’s good.
What are the odds Alvarez stikes out even three hitters.
Um, yeah…that was a big shot
nice changeup there henderson.
85 mph on the innner half..belt high. any fucking tard would do that to that pitch.
How is it possible for a non-psychopath to like Bryce Harper?
Ok he’s got lots of F*cking talent. but shit I could’ve hit the gap with that pitch.
No, no you wouldn’t have. haha
I wonder what his wife and kids will be like. Probably bad.
Physically attractive, I suppose. But not good people.
?
I know its going to be a tough chore scoring two runs off Wang, but hell, even he can have a mediocre game once in a while. I realize he is in contention for the Cy young award and all, but he might leave a couple over the plate for our boys to hit.
Ahaha.
It is official Jays are not going to the post season now, Morrow to be DL’d, and the existing wholes. I will now lower my expectations and be gratful to achieve a .500 season
With poor taste in books and TV.
I feel like a bad person.
Seriously, you dont think I could do better than Davis?
Wang with back to back strikeouts.
That’s not surprising. Jays can only hit Livan Hernandez.
Livan Hernandez isn’t walking out that bullpen door, people.
Well guess we’re fucked then.
Tabs:
“Is that a rookie initiation thing or welcome to the big leagues thing?”
Umm..Ok……wtf are you talking about. It’s exactly the same fucking thing.
“Hello and welcome to Two Old Guys Gush Over Bryce Harper. I’m Ashby, he’s Tabler.
Tonight’s Jays game has been pre-empted due to lack of interest.”
It’s really fucking annoying actually.
look at the difference. harper hits a home run, goes back to the dugout calmly, acts like a total pro. if lawrie did it, then it’s screaming, throwing helmets, pounding high fives, face scowls, total little league bullshit.
lawrie reminds me of the hockey goon who takes a 5 minute major on a cheap shot in a tie game. the guy will never learn.
Too bad Lawrie can’t hit home runs.
harper has had his moments, why do you think he was plonked?
harper is what 19 and it’s his first year and he’s learning. lawrie is 22 and second year and doesn’t seem to be learning. he never accepts accountability and makes excuses for his mistakes like he did nothing wrong.
He was plonked, for:
a)being young and
b)being really, really, really good at baseball
That’s about it, and Hamels basically admitted as much.
I think Lawrie’s going to be a star too, and someday fairly soon, but Harper’s younger and from what we see in public, appears to have miles more compusure and maturity than Lawrie.
there’s been a lot more said about harper than that, players dont like his cockiness and arrogance. I wont argue that he isn’t a better player than lawrie, I just dont think he is necessarily more likeable
While that’s true, the same sort of things almost invariably get said in every sport about every generational talent to come along: Lebron, Sid, etc.
Maybe it’s true, but show me a prodigiously talented teenage man-child putting up all-star level production in any sport – or any discipline in life, for that matter – and I’m sure they’ve all got a better-than-healthy streak of cockiness in them. Hell, I was pretty thoroughly unlikeable at 19, and I’m not really, really good at anything.
Difference in my eyes is that, while a lot of people are never going to like him, Harper is 19 and already handling things like a pro.
Lawrie’s 22 and treats a close call like he just found out the umpire killed his dog. I like watching him play, but he’s a fucking psychopath.
Aside from the fact that a) he’s a savant, and b) most of the things you mentioned have been media overreactions and inventions. Like the “kiss”.
shut up. they are two different people. get a life.
Hey guys…think I can come out from behind the bushes now.. I didnt REALLY go on a plane back to Vegas…??
Call me up dammit!
Adam Lind is the only hope for this ball club.
This lineup remind me of Chinese Tapei little league.
Morrow to 15 day DL, roster move coming tomorrow probably calling Gomes up as a DL call up so par for the course I guess
Anyone think Gomes actually flew to Vegas, if so… killer travel.
Guys, why such little patience with me? I’ve hit a bunch of homers this year!
What? I wasn’t put on the team to hit homers?
HEY MURPH…YOU BEEN LYING TO ME BRO!
That’s how you run first to third, scrub.
10 bucks says Bautista chokes and gets angry.
10 bucks says Edwin chokes and gets angry.
You were right.
Go go double steal!
Wang looks terrible, can’t let him off
Dude, these are the fucking Jays we’re talking about. Wang might as well be Cy Young himself.
By my calculations, the Jays best lineup vs right handers would feature Encarnacion in RF, Lind at DH, and Cooper at first.
This would allow for five left handed bats in the lineup, and four of the five with 25+ HR power.
I agree. Yet somehow Farrell would think it would be a great idea, to pencil Lind against lefties.
Will the jays make Alvarez start Sunday and go to the four man until a five man rotation is needed?
How many red bulls does Harper drink before the game… less then Lawrie.
For those asking why Lawrie jumped after the steal… red bull give’s you wings
Wang strikes out the side.
Bailed the fuck out by the ump
Fucking pitch was 6 inches outside.
You can thank Jose Bautista and Brett Lawrie.
Wang give’s the Ump way to much time to focus in, yet still get’s the call wrong.
It’s all over tank nation time!
Any chance AA trades for a innings eater?
Should have fucking brought in EJax or Bedard. Fuck… if they are going to bring Laffey up, you might as well have signed Moyer.
Your on to something. How’s this trade look Laffey and some balls for father time?
That would have been prudent but during the winter they looked reasonably deep and it seems he went the safe route with the pen and spent the money there instead of going with Beck, Carreno or one of Jenkins and McGuire.
Still Jackson would have been an upgrade over everyone but Morrow and Romero
He’s an upgrade over Romero. Romero fucking sucks dick this year. He’s terrible.
What was the point of spending money on Cordero? He’s absolute garbage and I can’t see a fucking “contender” having any interest in him at the trade deadline. We had Carreno, Beck and Crawford available for the pen.
You are preaching to the choir here as I’ve been arguing the same point since he and Frasor were signed. Just have to believe that AA certainly thought he had depth at SP even if it wasn’t necessarily quality.
Obviously, that will have to be something he addresses at some point this summer or winter going into next year. Unfortunately, when you’re running things so tightly there’s no margin for error and now we got plenty of it through injuries or failures to produce.
I wonder if AA will switch strtegies for 2013 & use internal options in the bullpen & use the savings to invest in a veteran pitcher or big bat??
In theory a veteran bullpen should help a kiddie corps starting pitching staff
Wow, I suddenly feel like a Red Bull. I wonder why.
what’s going on in that picture? It looks like they’re dancing to Cotton Eyed Joe
I got a job at a suicide prevention line. can’t wait for my first call
Johnny? Johnny!! JOHNNY!!!
I love it.
This is depressing.
It wasn’t funny yesterday wither.
As the official “It’s all over”, Id like to point out that that’s the game! Between that and having to listen to Tabby, I’m outta here!!
However, I’ll listen on the radio and I will stay no matter what, no matter how bad it gets today!
“either”
thank god I didn’t buy tickets or else I’d've left after the 1st inning!
Alvarez, a rare combination of sinkers, groundouts, and dingers
This is just fucking depressing.
The pitching hasn’t been the greatest but the bats have been absolute shit this year. Doesn’t matter how great your pitching is if you can’t score a fucking run.
Agree totally. Everyday I hope Murphy gets the axe. I wanted him gone last year.
Here’s the difference between a winning club and the Toronto Blue Jays. On May 15th, after the Angel’s offense got to a sluggish start, they shit-canned hitting coach MIckey Thatcher. Only a MONTH AND A FUCKING HALF. How many more years are we going to have to put up with this fucking dismal offense before we try a new hitting coach?
Give Chad Mottola a fucking try already. This is ridiculous.
Yes that was the key, you have some good points but that’s a little silly.
Again the pitching in total has been the problem. Toronto would need to score runs at a Rangers rate with this staff. Yet you guys never call for the pitching coaches head.
We’re tied for 3rd in RGP and 5.6% ahead of last years pace. Definitely the hitting coaches fault and not the shitty fucking pen that’s last in the league.
Yeah, Bruce Walton hasn’t been doing that well… but honestly, what can you expect when they are rushing our minor league pitchers through the system?
the difference is the jays are 3rd in runs scored in AL. hard to believe, always boggles my mind.
Yeah but they’re below average in the slash stats. The runs/game number is buoyed by unsustainable RISP numbers early. If they keep “hitting” like this they won’t stay 3rd, or anywhere near.
That’s because the blow-outs against the Mets and Braves have skewed those numbers.
I’m not taking sides on this, but Thatcher was the Angel’s hitting coach for almost 13 years, not a month & a half. Just saying.
1.5 months of shitty production from their offense… I should have been more clear.
Our offence has been bad. What would this offence look like without EE in april and may and without Rasmus and Bats in may/June.
If the Redsox were healthy, we’d be in last place for sure.
Wang’s fucking K/9 is 3.65 coming into this game. Guaranteed a full point increase by the end of the night.
I’ve never seen a groundball pitcher give up so many dingers.
Wilner says something’s up with him and Perez is warming. Maybe another pitching injury! Yay!
There is something up with him…its called HES NOT FUCKING READY
Make him your leadoff guy… worked once before.
No shit~
Trade everyone who’s worth this team suck shit
There is nobody KJ cannot strike out against.
I remember when KJ and EE were carrying this fucking team when Joey Bats was struggling. KJ hurt his hamstring and has not been the same since. Is he playing through this fucking injury? Or does he just suck ball sack?
I told you guys it was important for guys to know their roles. Finally it seems that John Farrell has got the boys following the plan.
-Kelly’s job is to strikeout on change-ups….
-Escos job: groundouts to the right
JPA: passed balls and a low obp…his specialties are being honed well
Guess the book is out on Alvarez now lots of homers for sinkerballer.
Alvarez needed more seasoning… everyone knows this. He needed to work on a fucking strike-out pitch. Instead he’s rushed. Heaven forbid we spend money on a fucking free agent starter and don’t run the risk of destroying the development of our future assets (HELLO SNIDER!)
Well Alvarez is injured so there goes our season
Alvarez has been exposed, he’s the harder throwing Livan Hernandez.
Inings eater at best… AL BEAST, BABY!
Wang is pitching like crap, and he’s a Mathis AB from 4 shut out innings.
ANOTHER STRIKE OUT! FUCK YEAH!
What the fuck is Strasberg going to do against this lineup?
27 K
well, it would help if every Rally didnt begin with two out and none on
Strasburg is about to pitch a 27 straight strike-out game tomorrow.
Yeah pretty much.
Didn’t see that… great mind.
I wonder if JP were the GM of the nats..would he have passed on Strasberg and Harper because they were not college seniors?
what the fuck is the babip for the nats this series? every slop they put in play finds a hole
I really hope Farrell is done after this season and we can get Dave Martinez.
This kid’s got nothing on my MLB: The Show character.
Wang can’t hit the strike zone worth shit tonight.. Some patient at bats here and the jays will be back in this thing
I cannot believe Wang is throwing a shutout the way he’s pitching.
Finally.
A Bautista home run?! With a man on base?! With 1st base open?!
What is this, I don’t even.
I love how small the (a) is on LaRoche jersey.
I seen one of them big goose birds in the parking lot. can I shoot it?
Them’s good eatin’.
Hey I can feel a comeback!
fuck escobar needs to be benched for that. the guy never runs out a ground ball
i wish they would trade him
He has shit the bed pretty hard this year.
Just two bad pitches for Alvarez. For a guy that’s only 22 he’s still doing pretty decent overall especially in this league.
Make that 3 bad pitches.
Comic timing FTW!
oooo thats turbo man!
jays were 6th in runs last year so we can’t say it’s unsustainable
they scored those runs with a much higher batting average.
Yes, but a few things:
-6th out of 14 teams is still a fair amount worse than 3rd
-The Jays runs scored last year was actually just barely more than the AL average. They were well behind the teams in front of them, especially BOS and NYY in this division
-last year they were a little under average in obp, and a bit more in slg I think, and it added up to basically an average offense. This years team is ranking a bit worse in both stats. The underlying stats suggest this years offense is probably a bit worse than last years, certainly no better.
Ugh just was in the middle of a nice post about what a good start that was for Henderson. I am such a jinx. Anyway HR’s are hurting him but overall 7 innings on a night when the pen really needed a break.
You’re right–it was a pretty good performance–but his mistakes cost him big time.
Well, the mistakes the Alvarez made this game are not garden variety. these were not fastballs down the middle. These were sliders and changeups up and middle in. I would argue that the fucker needs some breathing room to hone his secondary pitches. By breathing room I mean, a place where your mistakes
1. dont count towards the big teams wins and losses
2. dont end up in the seats a large percentage of the time.
No question but AA precluded that option by not arranging for additional pitching depth and for the depth he did have to totally shit the bed.
Fucking dude has given up 7 fly balls the entire game..three homers.
two of those homers were on terrible secondary pitches.
Agreed. Sometimes te pitching is the probem. Other times the hitters can’t come through. Some gams Farrell decides to throw away by putting in Coco Cordero.
It seems that the only runs we get are off of home runs.
The Jays should have been able to score 5~ runs this game. This is not Alvarez’s fault.
Lot’s of lost opportunities.
We have five fucking hits. WANG WAS ON THE FUCKING MOUND. WTF?
This one’s on the hitters. Like Ashby and Tabler were saying, Wang’s OBA is 3.18 vs righties and 4.07 vs lefties.
How many times did they ALL swing at pitches out of the zone??
It’s always on the fucking hitters. If the opposing team doesn’t have some sort of shit tosser on the mound, we can’t fucking hit him. Period.
why the fuck does every player get their 1st home run off us?
Some games it just doesnt feel like you are going to win. This is one of those games.
Holy Shit..a DOUBLE for jose.
A DOUBLE..thats like only his 8th of the year.
Homerun or bust. That’s it.
Fuck another warning track shot-what a frustrating game
Not too pretty, Edwin.
Picked off again.
Oliver should net us something nice at the deadline.
Spose it’s too much to ask for a .300 bat or a # 1-3 pitcher
Maybe eventually, but it’ll be a not-quite-prime-time addition, you’d think.
Well thats why he’s got all those scouts you’d think.
You’d hope.
I wonder what we could get for coco at the deadline
A bill.
Nice…
Lord Vader, what about Leia and the Wookiee?
Well, it was a quick 1-2-3 inning for our bats, but Frasor’s on his way in to slow things down.
jays hitters lasted 3:20 in the 8th. thanks for battling.
You know who JP Arencibia is? He’s Rod Barajas. That’s who he is.
That’s actually not a bad comparison. I’d argue that Barajas is a better defensive player but offensively, fairly similar.
In fact, all the jays catchers since Zaun have been the same type of dude. Catchers with no batting eye, good power, and shit OBP..buck, barajas, and JP
Now Bengie Molina, there was a hitter.
That’s pretty much what he was projected to be, as a hitter. Barajas with a bit more homerun power.
d’Arnaud people seem to think will be much better
Seriously? If that is true, that is pathetic. You dont waste first round picks on guys who project out to be rod barajas. in fact, barajas was not even drafted
I don’t know what he was way back when he was drafted, but throughout his minor league career and as he got closer to the big leagues, yeah. He was projected to be low avg, low obp, decent slug, good power, perhaps questionable defense.
JP was projected to be Rod Barajas? Shit. I guess that explains why they tried to get ol’ Rod to come back last year. Why get a potential Rod Barajas when you can get the real thing?
Here’s the deal… most teams don’t expect, nor do they get, too much offensive production out of their catchers. Catcher is a defense-first position… we really should have held onto Molina, picked up Mathis and traded JPA to some retarded GM who would have been drooling over those HRs.
The problem is that we have glaring holes in positions that should be providing some semblance of offensive production — LF, 1B, 3B.
jays attendance is 25600 20th in league
yesterday was 18k. all the euphoria is gone
I don’t think there was any euphoria. Attendance tonight is 22.5k, so a little more than 40 k for these two games, exactly what I expected. Tomorrow with the matinee probably they’ll get 25-30k. Then this weekend against the Phillies should be big crowds. And for the rest of the summer should be fine. Come September if they’re well out of it then it’ll go back down.
By the way that 20th in MLB is up several spots from where it ended last year.
Also, TV numbers have been way up this year.
Lol you think it will take until September for it to go back down?? Dude, it’s mid-June and we could be 5.5 games back of the wild card. With the injury to Morrow, things will fall quickly and if they are 10 games out at the end of the month, I don’t see many folks going down to the ol dome see our boys.
is hockey finished?
no game 13 of the finals is next week
Cute, Yescobar.
hey escobar try focusing on hitting instead of your stupid little tricks