Blue Jays (Bassitt) vs Pirates (Oviedo): 8/20/25, 12:35pm

[Brock Beauchamp]

Still a five game lead...

[Spanky__99]

[Laika]

Must win game!

Boston 3-7 in their last 10. Cooling off. 

Hopefully Boston and New York just beat each other up in their final 7 games. I think NYY has the easier remaining schedule overall, so Boston winning that season series might be for the best. 

Jays now 4.5 up on Houston for the second bye in the AL. 

[Spanky__99]

 

[Laika]

No Vlad, makes sense with the early time. Hopefully he plays in Miami. I guess the next 7 games are soft opponents so it's not the worst time in the world for him to miss a bit? 

[Spanky__99]

3 minutes ago, Laika said:

No Vlad, makes sense with the early time. Hopefully he plays in Miami. I guess the next 7 games are soft opponents so it's not the worst time in the world for him to miss a bit? 

That's how I look at it, better now than ever, sucks as he's been raking.

[glory]

Feels like this is the first time Ernie has sat against a RHP all season despite not being able to hit them. Maybe DS hitting again will let Schneider feel more comfortable to use him against RHP and less Clement, though I suspect this is probably just a day off to get him off his feet and Ernie will be back on a Ripken streak after this. 

[Masterbather]

So Lauer goes to the bullpen for now. 

Spineless, gutless move. Of course they're going to favour the guy who's under contract for another couple of years instead of what's actually best for this team.

[Jays24]

17 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

So Lauer goes to the bullpen for now. 

Spineless, gutless move. Of course they're going to favour the guy who's under contract for another couple of years instead of what's actually best for this team.

Ya its the easy decision personality wise rather than go with what's actually best for the team.

It is good for the team to finally have a long man rather than burn so many arms in games where the starter is pulled early. 

[Terminator]

1 hour ago, Laika said:

No Vlad, makes sense with the early time. Hopefully he plays in Miami. I guess the next 7 games are soft opponents so it's not the worst time in the world for him to miss a bit? 

Day off tomorrow too so hopefully he's back Friday with a strict no splits and no hustling rule in place

[Spanky__99]

19 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

So Lauer goes to the bullpen for now. 

Spineless, gutless move. Of course they're going to favour the guy who's under contract for another couple of years instead of what's actually best for this team.

A link would be suffice, just saying.

 

[Terminator]

 

[G-Snarls]

20 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

So Lauer goes to the bullpen for now. 

Spineless, gutless move. Of course they're going to favour the guy who's under contract for another couple of years instead of what's actually best for this team.

Was kinda hoping they'd set it up with Berrios going twice through the lineup then Lauer for 2-3. Maybe they still will in practice?

[Spanky__99]

 

[max silver]

29 minutes ago, Masterbather said:

So Lauer goes to the bullpen for now. 

Spineless, gutless move. Of course they're going to favour the guy who's under contract for another couple of years instead of what's actually best for this team.

I don't know if I would quite characterize this move as spineless/gutless etc. I'd prefer Lauer to stay in the rotation as I believe he's fully deserving of a full time starter slot but I do believe that this isn't a permanent demotion. With both of Bassitt and Berrios struggling at times having a high quality long man such as Lauer to act as a safety vale can give the team a chance to keep games close vs burning through a ton of leverage arms. The team is still far stronger with Bieber in the rotation to replace Lauer and Lauer as long man than it was prior to the Bieber acquisition, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the team has their struggling rotation members essentially take turns missing the occasional start and acting as long man in the pen.

[glory]

There's absolutely zero chance the Jays move Berrios or Bassitt to the bullpen. One of them will get a phantom IL stint before they move to the pen, IMO. The Jays have an established vetrin rotation, and all of them have a track record. I don't think they are looking at performance, Stuff+, etc. There are other things to consider here. Every org in the league faced with this exact same scenario would have done the same thing. Lauer is just the easiest guy to move around from an ego standpoint. Doesn't mean it's fair, or the right move to make, but I don't see any other team acting differently. The Jays in particular treat vets like royalty. They're not going to mess with that. 

[Terminator]

When rosters expand in September, a 6-man rotation becomes easier with the extra bullpen arm.

Until then, Bieber, Gausman, and Scherzer are the clear top three, and Bassitt isn’t a bullpen fit. That leaves Berríos and Lauer.

Lauer has bullpen experience seems to be a better fit as a longman than Berríos, and he Bassitt now have shorter leashes with Lauer in the pen.

It also gives Lauer useful pen reps ahead of the playoffs, where he could be valuable if a starter falters early.

[Jays24]

0 chance team goes to a 6 man rotation with all the days off in our schedule.  We need to be maximizing our top starters, not giving them 7 days off in between starts.  

[Terminator]

2 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

0 chance team goes to a 6 man rotation with all the days off in our schedule.  We need to be maximizing our top starters, not giving them 7 days off in between starts.  

I could see a 6-man rotation during the stretch in September where we play 13 straight games.

[dancingmachine]

Bassit on the road yikes but he's handled the Pirates in his career 

[Spanky__99]

3 minutes ago, Jays24 said:

0 chance team goes to a 6 man rotation with all the days off in our schedule.  We need to be maximizing our top starters, not giving them 7 days off in between starts.  

No, rest prior to the PS is good for the SP.

[Jays24]

Just now, Terminator said:

I could see a 6-man rotation in September during the stretch where we play 13 straight games.

I'll disagree... team needs to be ramping up starters for the postseason.  The weakest links will either be working out of the bullpen to get ready for their role in the postseason or get ready to be off the postseason roster all together.  

[BB17]

Surprised Kirk is catching a day game after a night game. JS with his lineup decisions can seem a little baffling. He will give guys a "day off" only to not give them a day off and bring them in late in the game with a score out of reach much like Varsho last night.

[Jays24]

1 minute ago, Spanky__99 said:

No, rest prior to the PS is good for the SP.

No, Bieber needs as many starts to build up for the postseason.  Same with Scherzer.  

The guys who need rest are the ones who probably won't be starting much for us in the postseason. 

[dancingmachine]

Springer Dinger 

[VladAboutYou]

What an at-bat George! What a way to start off a game

[Spanky__99]

1 minute ago, Jays24 said:

No, Bieber needs as many starts to build up for the postseason.  Same with Scherzer.  

The guys who need rest are the ones who probably won't be starting much for us in the postseason. 

There's still September and an arm will come up, smarten up.

 

[Spanky__99]

Springer's a boss!

[dancingmachine]

The bitchboy is playing today eh might make things interesting later in the game

[Jays24]

Springer's resurrengence is one of the best stories of the season.  His energy is contagious