Opening Day GDT Jays at Orioles 3PM ET

[TheHurl]

any other issues in the thread. I didn't even get to see the game, and the only time I got on the thread was as Gruber was banned.

[Daniel Labude]

any other issues in the thread. I didn't even get to see the game, and the only time I got on the thread was as Gruber was banned.

 

It was actually a pretty good thread for an opening day loss in extras

[burlingtonbandit]

This game proved exactly why Ryan Goins is a waste of a roster spot. Need another OFer.

[Daniel Labude]

Positives seen as the season begins:

 

1. Offense should be able to score runs in a lot of ways, hopefully a lot less days like today

 

2. Estrada looked good and hopefully sets the tone for the SP staff

 

3. Bullpen actually looked decent despite the lack of depth

 

4. Pillar does have a better approach

 

5. Pearce looks better than I expected

 

6. Travis made the opening day lineup

 

7. Gibby coached well today

[Statman]

1)Another one run regular season loss. Over/Under 23? Uggggggggggg!

2)Morales and Pearce are going to have great years.

3)Tulo and Martin are going to be an albatross again this year and going forward. These guys are done offensively.

4)Estrada looked great. Strong rotation, little depth beyond that.

5)While bullpen was great today, I am very cautious about them. They make me really nervous.

6)Gibbons was actually great today.

[intentional wok]

I told my girlfriend months ago that it wouldn't matter if the O's even sweep the Jays this series and I stand by that. Six months late, losers.

 

Tough loss, but whatever. There will be at least 65 more. I really like the look of this club though (even though I only started watching from the 9th on).

 

I am hoping that April and the Blue Jays get along for once.

[wk680]

Lots of good to come from this game. Estrada and the entire BP did well. Lots of walks and good, drawn out plate appearances. Gibbons did about as well as you can expect. Just couldn't put it all together today. If the Jays play the other 161 games like they did the first one, they will win 95 games this year.

 

It was a strange game. The Jays got 11 hits and yet only ONE XBH (Carrera's RBI double). On the flip side the Orioles looked more like the slugging team with 4 doubles and a HR among their 9 hit total. Surprisingly low strike out totals especially for an 11 inning game (Jays 8, O's 5).

[justafan]

0 for 5 Jose!!! He is soooo beyond his prime.

 

I blame this loss squarely on Jose Bautista. If Pearce and Bautista were swapped, we would have won.

[justafan]

Tulo will be fine. Agree about Martin.

 

1)Another one run regular season loss. Over/Under 23? Uggggggggggg!

2)Morales and Pearce are going to have great years.

3)Tulo and Martin are going to be an albatross again this year and going forward. These guys are done offensively.

4)Estrada looked great. Strong rotation, little depth beyond that.

5)While bullpen was great today, I am very cautious about them. They make me really nervous.

6)Gibbons was actually great today.

[Orgfiller]

PILLAR grew to level 5!

 

PILLAR learned PLATE DISCIPLINE!

 

PILLAR wants to learn PLATE DISCIPLINE but PILLAR already knows 4 moves! Should a move be forgotten to make space for PLATE DISCIPLINE?

 

Poof! PILLAR forgot GRIP and learned PLATE DISCIPLINE!

 

This is such a good post.

[glory]

Barney pinch hitting for Zeke pretty much exposed how bad releasing Upton was. May not have made a difference anyway, but Barney should not be pinch hitting.

[ChrisS]

0 for 5 Jose!!! He is soooo beyond his prime.

 

Game wouldn't have even went to extras if it wasn't for Jose.

[ChrisS]

Barney pinch hitting for Zeke pretty much exposed how bad releasing Upton was. May not have made a difference anyway, but Barney should not be pinch hitting.

I have a feeling Goins might be gone soon, possibly replaced by Pompey on the 25 man

[Krylian]

Front office should have done better with the depth pieces, there's no way around that.

 

Isn't this FO supposed to be better at that given how everyone ripped AA for being a poor depth builder.

[Daniel Labude]

Isn't this FO supposed to be better at that given how everyone ripped AA for being a poor depth builder.

 

AA was bad at that because he traded all the minor leaguers/depth

[Daniel Labude]

Game wouldn't have even went to extras if it wasn't for Jose.

 

Are you referring to the 2 AMAZING defensive plays....or the 8 LOB?

[Dick_Pole]

3)Tulo and Martin are going to be an albatross again this year and going forward. These guys are done offensively.

 

I have to disagree with this. I thought Tulo, like most of the rest of the team had some good plate appearances. As far as Martin, he may not provide much value offensively, but is far from an albatross. We can't underestimate the contributions of him and Pete Walker to the pitchers, particularly the starting staff, outperforming their projections. For the Jays to compete this needs to happen again this year and I'd prefer to not rock the boat on what has apparently worked so far.

[Ultimate]

I have to disagree with this. I thought Tulo, like most of the rest of the team had some good plate appearances. As far as Martin, he may not provide much value offensively, but is far from an albatross. We can't underestimate the contributions of him and Pete Walker to the pitchers, particularly the starting staff, outperforming their projections. For the Jays to compete this needs to happen again this year and I'd prefer to not rock the boat on what has apparently worked so far.

 

Martin has put up a mid .700 OPS since he has been a Blue Jay which matches his career mark and is very good for a catcher. He puts up a lot of offensive value. God you make him sound like Jose Molina.

[glory]

Tulo and Martin are probably going to be ~100 wRC+ types over the next few years, and possibly lower than that for Martin if age catches up to him. They still do good things defensively so they'll have value, but time to bump the man (aka Pearce) up in the lineup. He's better than both of those guys at this point (at the plate).

[glory]

Isn't this FO supposed to be better at that given how everyone ripped AA for being a poor depth builder.

 

The bench was not put together properly. Smoak being on the roster and the team insisting on playing him has made it difficult to work around. Upton should still be on the team. Or a real LF should have been added so Zeke could be the back-up.

 

Not very impressed with the roster decisions at the end of spring, but that's probably going to change pretty soon.

[Brownie19]

I PVR'd the game and turned everything off to watch it in peace last night. I haven't read this GDT at all (I suspect it will suggest the sky is falling).

 

Couple of things I took away.

 

1. Steve Pearce blows bubbles as he scores from first on a double. I find that hilarious.

2. Buck Martinez scoffing at the idea that Steve Pearce could move to LF (if they brought Smoak in the play first) was extremely cringe worthy. Buck/Tabby also went on to suggest Jose was one of the best defensive OFers the Blue Jays have ever had.

3. Steve Pearce is should hit above Tulo and Martin (although I do think Tulo's going to have a good offensive season).

4. The bullpen is going to be fine.

5. Jose has made a slight adjustment to his stance.

 

That is all.

[RealAccountant]

Pearce should def be hitting higher

[polar bear]

Game wouldn't have even went to extras if it wasn't for Jose.

 

A top outfielder makes that play standing up.

[Governator]

lol @ the overreactions from losing a 1 run game on April 3rd.

[Sammy225]

lol @ the overreactions from losing a 1 run game on April 3rd.

 

No f***ing seasons over get on board.

[Terminator]

A top outfielder makes that play standing up.

 

The analytics that I've seen say that's a tough play for almost all OFers. Give Jose some credit he played really well defensively yesterday.

[BigCecil]

The analytics that I've seen say that's a tough play for almost all OFers. Give Jose some credit he played really well defensively yesterday.

 

Absolutely. We slag Jose's D so often when he makes an above average play lets give him props. He also made a what looked to be a pretty good throw.

[Laika]

Absolutely. We slag Jose's D so often when he makes an above average play lets give him props. He also made a what looked to be a pretty good throw.

 

Yeah the throw into 2nd base for the PO was pretty strong.

[Dick_Pole]

Having a chance to look back and think about it, I think my favourite part of last night's game was how the hitters handled Britton. Especially in the context of getting raped by Miller during the ALCS.

 

Britton's line:

 

2IP, 3H, 1BB, 1K, 23 pitches 13 strikes 10 balls, 9 batters faced.

 

He got the job done, but this isn't exactly a dominant line. The team laid off the sinker pretty well and forced him to go up in the a strike zone a bit. If this is the approach the hitters will take this year it will be a breath of fresh air. Looking forward to this season.

[BigCecil]

Having a chance to look back and think about it, I think my favourite part of last night's game was how the hitters handled Britton. Especially in the context of getting raped by Miller during the ALCS. Britton's line:

 

2IP, 3H, 1BB, 1K, 23 pitches 13 strikes 10 balls, 9 batters faced.

 

He got the job done, but this isn't exactly a dominant line. The team laid off the sinker pretty well and forced him to go up in the a strike zone a bit. If this is the approach the hitters will take this year it will be a breath of fresh air. Looking forward to this season.

 

They really did. They found a some holes and Jose almost got one through. I think Pearce hit the one pitch that was up. The approach was solid. Anything against him is going to be down but they didn't chase many that were sinking so much that they were unhittable.