General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2025)

[Terminator]

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-jays-keep-churning-out-relievers/

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I have a feeling Fisher will continue to excel. He’s a riddle to opposing hitters, a strange jingle whistled just out of tune that they can’t wrap their heads around. The slider-first approach, the curveball off of it – they’re weird. That weirdness is a huge asset for him, and now that he’s no longer walking nearly a batter an inning, that huge asset is paying dividends.

Really good in-depth article on Braydon Fisher. Time to move him up the pecking order and move Chad Green down (or preferably off the team altogether).

I cannot believe we got this guy for Craig Biggio's son lmao.

[AMS528]

6 hours ago, Grant77 said:

Will Robertson called up. No corresponding move yet, but maybe Lukes to the IL? That, or Rodent to AAA.

Good for him. He's been playing in the system for a long long time and he's having a great season. With the OF depth it was possible for him to get lost in the shuffle so glad he's getting a call up even if it's very brief. 

[G-Snarls]

12 minutes ago, Laika said:

Pretty sure they are #1 or tied for #1 in the last 30 games / days too 

F'n awesome :)

[glory]

1 hour ago, Terminator said:

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-jays-keep-churning-out-relievers/

Really good in-depth article on Braydon Fisher. Time to move him up the pecking order and move Chad Green down (or preferably off the team altogether).

I cannot believe we got this guy for Craig Biggio's son lmao.

It's going to be interesting what the Jays do with the relievers once Garcia and Sandlin come back. Green is awful (last good season with any meaningful sample size was 2021), and Swanson hasn't been good since 2023. Fisher has options but is clearly better than both of them. I don't think $3M (Swanson's salary) is enough of a deterrent for a DFA, but they might wait until he blows a game before doing it. Green is going to be harder to work around with his salary, but sunk cost is sunk cost. Fisher needs to stay on. 

[Laika]

14 minutes ago, glory said:

It's going to be interesting what the Jays do with the relievers once Garcia and Sandlin come back. Green is awful (last good season with any meaningful sample size was 2021), and Swanson hasn't been good since 2023. Fisher has options but is clearly better than both of them. I don't think $3M (Swanson's salary) is enough of a deterrent for a DFA, but they might wait until he blows a game before doing it. Green is going to be harder to work around with his salary, but sunk cost is sunk cost. Fisher needs to stay on. 

100% I would be cutting Swanson and Green if this occurs. Here are the projected ERAs in the pen, rest of season:

1. Hoffman 3.23
2. Little 3.41
3. Yimi 3.55
4. Burr 3.75
5. Sandlin 3.91
6. Flu 3.91
7. Y Rod 4.02
8. Macko 4.14
9. Fisher 4.18
10. Swanson 4.20
11. Tate 4.20
12. Schultz 4.29
13. Green 4.30

Using Green in leverage is managerial and organizational incompetence at this point. 

[Brownie19]

I have to agree.  I used to LOVE watching Chad Green pitch (even if it was for the Yanks).  He was unreal for a stretch and I was hopeful he could replicate it with the Jays - but he can't.  He needs to go.

[BB17]

3 hours ago, glory said:

It's going to be interesting what the Jays do with the relievers once Garcia and Sandlin come back. Green is awful (last good season with any meaningful sample size was 2021), and Swanson hasn't been good since 2023. Fisher has options but is clearly better than both of them. I don't think $3M (Swanson's salary) is enough of a deterrent for a DFA, but they might wait until he blows a game before doing it. Green is going to be harder to work around with his salary, but sunk cost is sunk cost. Fisher needs to stay on. 

Green at least could probably give you 2 innings in a mop up game so I'd probably keep him over Swanson but both don't deserve to be on the team if everyone is healthy. Both shouldn't be pitching in leverage that's for sure.

[BatFlip]

3 hours ago, glory said:

It's going to be interesting what the Jays do with the relievers once Garcia and Sandlin come back. Green is awful (last good season with any meaningful sample size was 2021), and Swanson hasn't been good since 2023. Fisher has options but is clearly better than both of them. I don't think $3M (Swanson's salary) is enough of a deterrent for a DFA, but they might wait until he blows a game before doing it. Green is going to be harder to work around with his salary, but sunk cost is sunk cost. Fisher needs to stay on. 

Swanson and Green have to go - they're both washed. 

As you said, Green's salary is a sunk cost and they need to just eat the mistake of exercising their team option and ride these fresh young arms into the playoffs.  

[John_Havok]

7 hours ago, G-Snarls said:

Two hottest teams in baseball over the last 10 games;:

NY Mets 

Toronto Blue Jays 

World Series match up. Book it

[G-Snarls]

4 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

World Series match up. Book it

Yes please :)

[june.june]

I have been and many others were hoping but Better fcg late than never, a long time coming this offseason for Atkins relieving Guillermo Martinez of his hitting coach duties and replaced him by this new guy David Popkins.

Watching pure garbage Martinez in the dugout and his punchable no reaction face after a GIDP or team not scoring with RISP for the fcg longest time. Unreal.

 

hopefully we have a way better person and so far so good. 

[hanton]

Barger changed his stance, he went from a neutral/closed stand to an open stance, 15° to 50°.  That's significant.

Popkins tinkering.

[Terminator]

 

[Terminator]

[harvey16]

When did Lukes suffer a concussion?

[John_Havok]

2 minutes ago, harvey16 said:

When did Lukes suffer a concussion?

Against Minnesota in the 6-3 loss he collided with Clement at 2b

[Spanky__99]

58 minutes ago, John_Havok said:

Against Minnesota in the 6-3 loss he collided with Clement at 2b

It was an unfortunate play, Lukes took a clean shoulder to the chin though, I wasn't surprised he was put on protical. They both were reaching for the loose ball, no one to blame. He should be back soon, seems like a tough guy... 😜 

[G-Snarls]

Fingers crossed for moor good news about Sherzer

He and Lauer could really help stabilize everything

[Spanky__99]

BA updated their top 500 listing... and Barger debuted on the list @231, kid's awoken the masses, what a beast. Hah!

Some dude post this...

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Pivoted the data for fun

Looks like SEA (+534), TOR (+468) and ATH (+433) "gained" the most value from the last update.

COL (-352) and LAA (-352) on the other side :(

Orelvis was our biggest loser, dropped 110 spots, yikes.

 

[Spanky__99]

Keegan Matheson on Jays Beat...

 

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Thursday, June 12

ST. LOUIS -- Early Wednesday morning, Alan Roden raced wide-eyed around a corner outside the Blue Jays’ clubhouse and nearly crashed into Davis Schneider. 

“Is he here?!” They two looked like 6-year-olds about to meet their favorite player.

Inside was Will Robertson, the newest member of the Blue Jays. One after another, his new teammates came over to hug Robertson, but this didn’t look like your typical Major League debut. Robertson isn’t the Blue Jays’ No. 1 prospect. He’s 27 now, a veteran of nearly 500 Minor Leagues games across six seasons, beloved by everyone he’s crossed paths with along the way. 

“No one deserves this more,” Roden said, sitting at his locker with a bigger smile than the day he made his own MLB debut.

Moments like these are special. Robertson grew up just two hours from St. Louis as a Cardinals fan, even attending those World Series in 2006 and 2011. When he called his wife Tuesday night, she was worried he’d gotten hurt in his Triple-A game. When he called his parents, they were already en-route to Buffalo to spend the week with him when their son told them to turn around. As Robertson sat in the dugout Wednesday, he just kept smiling, shaking his head, calling all of this “the icing on the cake.”

“There were plenty of times where I thought this wasn’t in the cards for me,” Robertson said, “but I’ve had a really good support system and good teammates, like Davis Schneider and Alan Roden, who have helped me along and given me that support, that confidence to keep going. Now, we’re here. This is surreal.”

Robertson has earned this, though. He’s hit .288 with 12 home runs and a .991 OPS, enough to force the Blue Jays’ hand when Nathan Lukes hit the 7-day concussion IL on Wednesday. He’s crushing righties, too, so Robertson is here to help the Blue Jays’ win, not just ride the bench. 

He and Roden go all the way back to their NCAA days at Creighton. When Roden was a redshirt freshman, Robertson was the junior generating some Draft buzz, the player on the roster that everyone else wanted to imitate. Roden took that a step further after the Blue Jays selected Robertson in the fourth round of the 2019 Draft.

“He said he tried to [model] his swing after mine, which I told him was a big mistake if you go back and watch any of my college swings. They’re far from ideal,” Robertson said. “He’s grown into his own, and it’s been so fun to watch him from Buffalo. Now, it’s going to be really cool to get to watch him from the dugout.”

Coming into the season, Robertson was highly thought of by the Blue Jays’ player development staff, but Toronto was already stacked in the outfield. Robertson kept working, though, because he knew he was in the middle of unlocking something. 

Robertson had gotten away from his natural swing, much like Addison Barger a year ago. Neither of these men are built to slap the ball the other way and make contact, though. They’re built to punish baseballs. They’re built to let it rip. 

Since then, Robertson has worked to let his natural athleticism take over again, something that hitting coach David Popkins has been trying to preach throughout the organization. Not everyone’s body moves in the same ways, so why should everyone be trying to do the same thing? Power is Robertson’s game. Lean into it.

Even for managers who are used to these days, though, there’s something special about a moment like this. John Schneider knows the Minor League life. He knows the feeling of that grind, chasing something that may never come.

“This is really cool. The example I think of is Jon Berti when Gibby was up here in 2018,” Schneider said. “I think it’s really, really nice for a guy to climb the ladder, make adjustments and do things the right way along the way. This is not just on the field, but the person. It feels really good to shake his hand, give him a hug and say congratulations.”

Now, Will Robertson is a big leaguer. It’s all happening in his own backyard, too, surrounded by people who are (almost) as happy as he is that this day has finally come. 

PRAISE FOR POPKINS

When Schneider was making that comparison between Robertson and Barger, it brought him back to hitting coach David Popkins.

The Blue Jays are doing a much better job at developing their hitters in 2025, but as those hitters get closer to contributing at the big league level, Popkins’ influence becomes more prominent, and it’s clearly paying off. 

“Hitting coaches are all a little different, and I think Popkins is very, very in tune with how the body works and moves for each guy from a biomechanical standpoint,” Schneider said. “You don’t want to cookie-cut guys into being one type of hitter. He’s really good at understanding how guys are going to get the most out of their swing and use their body properly.” 

 

[connorp2]

On 6/10/2025 at 11:06 PM, BB17 said:

The same people saying Giminez was terrible and a horrible contract were complaining Kirk was bad offensively after April. I was pretty high on both coming into the season.

Reality is its a long season. Even as much as the Jays are playing really well right now it can evaporate in a hurry. Before the latest winning stretch there was a lot of win 3 games followed by losing 4 etc... The pitching still looks pretty weak to me and feels like the team needs at least 2 starters. 

I’d like to be wrong on Kirk. Like Kirk, I believed in Jansen for a little while but couldn’t stand him at the end. I only recently turned on Kirk when he started slow again. As you said, it’s a long season and I wouldn’t be spiking the football yet. I won’t mind being wrong. Gimenez sucks. Slap hitting 2b, even good defensive ones, get nothing in FA. There’s no need for me to embarrass Laila again with the comps on that. 

[BB17]

21 hours ago, connorp2 said:

I’d like to be wrong on Kirk. Like Kirk, I believed in Jansen for a little while but couldn’t stand him at the end. I only recently turned on Kirk when he started slow again. As you said, it’s a long season and I wouldn’t be spiking the football yet. I won’t mind being wrong. Gimenez sucks. Slap hitting 2b, even good defensive ones, get nothing in FA. There’s no need for me to embarrass Laila again with the comps on that. 

I mean Kirk is signed for 12.5M a year, so even if he was league average with the bat that contract is a steal because of how elite the defense is. Giminez might be overpaid but I still think it was a worthy gamble and the deal turns out fine. If he gets moved to SS there's nothing wrong being a league average bat who has elite D and has 30SB a year.

Vladdy on the other hand is an albatross contract that looks worse and worse every day. He's one of the very best talents on the planet but when you are dumb as s*** talent can only go so far. If he had half the brains of a guy like Jose Bautista he'd be no doubt HOFer.

[Laika]

Green + Swanson + Francis

-2.0 WAR combined 

projections of Green and Swanson are replacement level or below 

 

we are at or over the line where giving any of them any more MLB innings, other than in a blowout, is incompetent 

Schneider has to use them at certain points if they are on the roster so Ross needs to make some aggressive cuts here. I understand having to stick with Francis until a replacement (Scherzer) is ready but the other two, I see no reason for them to still be here. 

[Brownie19]

23 minutes ago, Laika said:

Green + Swanson + Francis

-2.0 WAR combined 

projections of Green and Swanson are replacement level or below 

 

we are at or over the line where giving any of them any more MLB innings, other than in a blowout, is incompetent 

Schneider has to use them at certain points if they are on the roster so Ross needs to make some aggressive cuts here. I understand having to stick with Francis until a replacement (Scherzer) is ready but the other two, I see no reason for them to still be here. 

Isn't he just trying to hang on for dear life until Sandlin, Burr, Garcia, etc. are back healthy?  It seems obvious those 2 need to go. I don't think they'll hesitate with Swanson - he's the first to go.  They may pause on Green, but unfortunately, it looks like he's cooked.

Any other options in AAA?   I doubt they want to add someone to the 40 right now if Sandlin, Burr, Garcia are close...

Tommy Nance looks to be the guy you'd call up from AAA if you wanted immediate help.

[Laika]

Sandlin has had 4 rehab games so he should be good to go... unless he is not 100% physically 

Yimi had a bullpen session but no rehab games yet

Burr, dunno what he is doing. 

Paxton Schultz is the obvious swap on the 40 man roster and he should be here over Swanson, for sure. I would say over Green as well. 

Yeah Nance is one of the obvious non-40 man choices. His projections are better then Green or Swanson, I think. But if they select Nance, he can't just be demoted later if they want. 

Lazara Estrada and Ryan Jennings are two other non-40 man choices. 

I think the 40 man roster is at 39. 

[Brownie19]

It sounds like reinforcements are coming to me...

[Laika]

Green and Swanson in June

10.1 IP
13 ER
4 HR
7 BB
6 K

[Terminator]

7 minutes ago, Laika said:

Green and Swanson in June

10.1 IP
13 ER
4 HR
7 BB
6 K

Pack your bags boys! 

[glory]

Rostering Swanson has hurt the team beyond his performance. The Jays have (smartly) only used him in very low leverage situations. However, a s***** reliever who can only throw 1 inning and is only used in blowouts is not advantageous at all. The team is much better off with someone like Urena in Swanson's spot since there have been times where the Jays have (in Schneider's mind) had to use good relievers in low leverage spots because they don't have a long man that could give them length. If Swanson was a bad RP who could eat up 2-3 innings to save the pen, then that would have been reasonable, but he's a bad 1 inning RP. Literally no reason to roster him other than perceived loyalty. 

Green is still on the team because of his salary, and unfortunately that might prevent him from being let go until at least the deadline (maybe a bad contract swap or something). I hope they think more reasonably given it's sunk cost and he's actively hurting the team given his place in the pecking order, but it's harder to rationalize dumping a $10.5M contract. Swanson's deal is cheap enough to where it doesn't mean much. 

[Laika]

This rendition of the Toronto Blue Jays has been sewered by relievers more than once:

2020 WC Game 1 - AJ Cole gives up 2 ER in a 3-1 loss
2021 - Brad Hand single handedly makes them miss the playoffs
2022 WC Game 2 - The infamous bullpen collapse. Mayza, Bass, Romano give up 6 ER in 10-9 loss. 
2023 WC Game 2 - "reliever" Yusei Kikuchi gives up 2 runs in 2-0 loss. 

If they miss the playoffs by a game or two this year, people are not going to look back in an understanding way at these innings being given to Green and Swanson