General Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2025)

[max silver]

1 hour ago, Jimcanuck said:

Shatkins should have taken my advice and signed Bellinger instead

I'm not so sure about that. If you examine Bellinger's 152/102 wRC+ home/away split it's clear that this season is largely a product of playing half of his games at Yankee Stadium. 

[mphenhef]

2 hours ago, Masterbather said:

I don't buy this stuff about "messing up" a prospect by putting him in a pressure situation. 

What if he thrives? I believe the cream always rises. The ones who fail were always going to fail.

I don't think you dismiss the possibility just "because".

Especially when you don't have a lot of great options.

I'm a firm believer that mindset and confidence plays a huge role in success in sports.  I've seen it with kids I coach and you can definitely see it at all levels.  We've seen how hard this fanbase can be on closers who aren't perfect.  I don't think that would be the best way to introduce a guy who has struggled his first time out at nearly every level.  Now, I would say bring him up and if he dominates be quick to give him more leverage.

[Orgfiller]

Fun video recap on Gausman's outstanding outing by former longtime pitcher Adam Ottavino:

I've found watching Ottavino breakdown pitchers to be pretty interesting. He knows a lot beyond the usual former player cliches, he talks about both old and new school approaches to pitching, understands tunneling, effective velo, what makes good movement on a pitch or not, but explains it in a very digestible manner for someone who's not an expert on it. Honestly could make a good future pitching coach or pitching coordinator, which I'm sure is somewhat of a goal in having this channel and reviewing this kind of film for public consumption to put himself out there.

As a fun little extra, he also did a breakdown for Bieber's first start back from injury in Miami: https://youtu.be/YRrkummds_0?si=Tii9quQ6NnaH4lWy

[sliderguy35]

i kinda think they have to bring yesavage up out of the pen because of just how insanely gd WEIRD he is (which is a compliment when you're talking about pitchers)

prospectsavant has him at 72(!) degree arm angle & statcast says that his release height is almost 7.2 feet above the ground. i tried looking for a pitcher in the last 5 years who threw more than half their pitches with an arm angle over 70 degrees and a release height over 7 feet and the ONLY player that came up was2025 scott kingery, a position player for the angels who was pumping cheese in the high 30s/low 40s (& funnily enough struck out nick kurtz lmfao) earlier this year

my long term comp for yesavage is gen-z mat latos if he can cut the walk rate by a few points, but it's clear that he doesn't really have anything left to prove in the minors. at this point in the season (especially out of the pen) weird is GOOD and the jays should use that to their advantage

 

[Laika]

7 minutes ago, sliderguy35 said:

i kinda think they have to bring yesavage up out of the pen because of just how insanely gd WEIRD he is (which is a compliment when you're talking about pitchers)

prospectsavant has him at 72(!) degree arm angle & statcast says that his release height is almost 7.2 feet above the ground. i tried looking for a pitcher in the last 5 years who threw more than half their pitches with an arm angle over 70 degrees and a release height over 7 feet and the ONLY player that came up was2025 scott kingery, a position player for the angels who was pumping cheese in the high 30s/low 40s (& funnily enough struck out nick kurtz lmfao) earlier this year

my long term comp for yesavage is gen-z mat latos if he can cut the walk rate by a few points, but it's clear that he doesn't really have anything left to prove in the minors. at this point in the season (especially out of the pen) weird is GOOD and the jays should use that to their advantage

 

I wonder if the idea is to basically hide him from the league until the playoffs 

[Vancouverite]

i'm game to give Yasavage a few innings in the majors. Kid deserves it and some players are simply made to be in the bright lights. Yasavage seems like that kind of guy.

[Vancouverite]

Manoah too, the Jays have to find a way to get him some MLB innings this year. Not saying he needs to be on the playoff roster but, getting him some innings at the majors would be huge for his recovery for next year.

We only have Gausman and Berries locked in for next year. We could really use Yasavage and Manoah to take the next step and be rotation options for us next year.

[thatoneguy]

Skubal left the game grabbing his left side for the Tigers. That would be a massive blow to them if he is out for any extended period of time.

[Brownie19]

11 hours ago, Terminator said:

Anyone remember the legend of K-Rod?

23 years ago the Angels called up the 20 year old reliever in mid September. He threw 5 scoreless innings before the postseason started.

He then threw 18.2 innings in the playoffs (4th most on the team despite being a reliever) while piling up 28 strikeouts and allowing just 10 hits and 4 ER.

3 out of their 4 starting pitchers had FIPs over 5.50 that postseason but he and Lackey teamed up to give them a chance to win it all and they did.

Get Yeasavage up here and let's see what he's got!

 

Like it was yesterday man!  He was must watch TV. 

I agree that we should bring Trey up and see if he can work himself into a legit role.  It's worth a try.  We may need a shot in the arm like that could provide.   

[Brownie19]

5 hours ago, Vancouverite said:

Manoah too, the Jays have to find a way to get him some MLB innings this year. Not saying he needs to be on the playoff roster but, getting him some innings at the majors would be huge for his recovery for next year.

We only have Gausman and Berries locked in for next year. We could really use Yasavage and Manoah to take the next step and be rotation options for us next year.

I don't think it's mandatory to get Manoah ML inning this year.  They can figure out next spring if he can win a rotation spot.  He needs to earn innings at the ML level this year and I doubt that happens unfortunately.

[max silver]

2 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

I don't think it's mandatory to get Manoah ML inning this year.  They can figure out next spring if he can win a rotation spot.  He needs to earn innings at the ML level this year and I doubt that happens unfortunately.

Manoah is sitting at about 90-91 MPH with the heater his last few starts so I don't think he remotely warrants a look in the majors this season.

[Masterbather]

1 hour ago, max silver said:

Manoah is sitting at about 90-91 MPH with the heater his last few starts so I don't think he remotely warrants a look in the majors this season.

I suppose if everything is locked up for the final few games of the season you could see Manoah called on to make a start just to burn some innings.

From that standpoint I think there is a very good chance we see Manoah.

[Grant77]

Projecting pitching matchups for the next series;

Berrios vs. Bullpen day

Gausman vs. Seymour

Bassitt vs. Baz

Scherzer vs. Rasmussen

Then projecting out way too far:

Bieber vs. Bergert

Berrios vs. Cameron

Gausman vs. Bowlan

(Seth Lugo threw a bullpen session yesterday and is expected back at some point)

Bassitt vs. Tolle

Scherzer vs. Giolito

Bieber vs. Bello

(Looks likely that we miss Crochet unless they make a major change to his schedule)

If the season still matters at this point, we could miss both Rasmussen and Houser in the final series, should they stay on turn.

[Jimcanuck]

22 hours ago, Spanky__99 said:

connorp sighting?

 

No, thankfully

[Vancouverite]

13 hours ago, Brownie19 said:

I don't think it's mandatory to get Manoah ML inning this year.  They can figure out next spring if he can win a rotation spot.  He needs to earn innings at the ML level this year and I doubt that happens unfortunately.

You're right its not mandatory but minor league season ends earlier than majors so would be beneficial for jays to get him pitching all the way to end of September to build back up.

1 or 2 more stars or an extra 5-10 IP this year can make a huge difference for next year

 

I hope jays clinch division soon so they can use the last week of the season to give guys rest and give some innings/AB to guys like Manoah

[Spanky__99]

54 minutes ago, Vancouverite said:

You're right its not mandatory but minor league season ends earlier than majors so would be beneficial for jays to get him pitching all the way to end of September to build back up.

1 or 2 more stars or an extra 5-10 IP this year can make a huge difference for next year

 

I hope jays clinch division soon so they can use the last week of the season to give guys rest and give some innings/AB to guys like Manoah

He'll likely be pitching in the AFL or Winter Leagues this offseason. Something really bad would have to happen if we see Manoah at the MLB level this season. 

[jaysblue]

On 9/12/2025 at 12:50 PM, Terminator said:

Anyone remember the legend of K-Rod?

23 years ago the Angels called up the 20 year old reliever in mid September. He threw 5 scoreless innings before the postseason started.

He then threw 18.2 innings in the playoffs (4th most on the team despite being a reliever) while piling up 28 strikeouts and allowing just 10 hits and 4 ER.

3 out of their 4 starting pitchers had FIPs over 5.50 that postseason but he and Lackey teamed up to give them a chance to win it all and they did.

Get Yeasavage up here and let's see what he's got!

 

K-Rod is a great example.

Was going to suggest Roberto Osuna as a comp earlier but he pretty much was up in the Majors for the entirety of the 2015 season. Aaron Sanchez in 2014 came up and pitched well out of the pen, but they never made the Postseason. 

Other arm I could think of is when the Rays called up David Price in 2008. Got into a couple of games in September and then was heavily leaned on in October. 

[John_Havok]

On 9/10/2025 at 10:14 AM, Spanky__99 said:

 Elias says he had the money, it's a messed up little conundrum, I believe you're on track from what he mentioned, ownership. F*ckk them and their Fanboys!

They offered Burnes a ton of money... he turned them down and then they just... didn't even try to get anyone else with it. Made no sense. What good is having the money if you don't spend it right?

 

[hanton]

getting the call....

[bronson44]

Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement told the Toronto Star in response to MASN analyst Brian Roberts questioning Toronto fans' baseball IQ: "We get 40,000 a night here. I mean, they probably get 5,000 a night, so it makes sense that you’d be a little salty about that.”

[Grant77]

Half of the league's 6 .300 hitters are Blue Jays. Pretty cool.

[jmomcc]

20 hours ago, hanton said:

getting the call....

I think i'm going to take the day off work to watch him! Pretty exciting. 

[jmomcc]

On 9/13/2025 at 11:51 AM, jaysblue said:

K-Rod is a great example.

Was going to suggest Roberto Osuna as a comp earlier but he pretty much was up in the Majors for the entirety of the 2015 season. Aaron Sanchez in 2014 came up and pitched well out of the pen, but they never made the Postseason. 

Other arm I could think of is when the Rays called up David Price in 2008. Got into a couple of games in September and then was heavily leaned on in October. 

I think crochet came up in relief as well 

[Grant77]

43 minutes ago, jmomcc said:

I think i'm going to take the day off work to watch him! Pretty exciting. 

I'm going to watch him at work 😂

[Grant77]

Tampa Bay has juggled their rotation a little bit, inserting Ryan Pepiot in to start game 2.

That means that somehow we don't face Drew Rasmussen or Adrian Houser (their 2 best starters) in a 4 game series. Matchups are as follows:

G1: Yesavage vs Bullpen Day

G2: Berrios vs Pepiot

G3: Gausman vs Seymour

G4: Bassitt vs Baz

[Omar]

[infinitebook]

10 minutes ago, Omar said:

we're getting into salami and cheese territory

[Big_Walleye]

If the Jays finish the final 13 games at 7-6 the Sox will be eliminated from winning the division and the Yankees would have to go 12-1 to win the east.  If the Jays go 8-5 the Yankees need to go 13-0.

[Masterbather]

32 minutes ago, Big_Walleye said:

If the Jays finish the final 13 games at 7-6 the Sox will be eliminated from winning the division and the Yankees would have to go 12-1 to win the east.  If the Jays go 8-5 the Yankees need to go 13-0.

In other words...our magic number is nine 🙂

[Big_Walleye]

12 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

In other words...our magic number is nine 🙂

Yes.  And given the quality of the competition the Yankers will face its possible they go 13-0.  So we better go 9-4.😆