G-Snarls

Sox play early today too. 1:10 PM ET game vs Atlanta Buchholtz vs Ervin Santana Hate to cheer for Santana, but... Go Braves!

Another good opportunity to put some distance between us and the rest of the division. Red Sox, Yankees and Orioles all playing good teams starting today - Braves, Brewers, Cardinals. If we can win a series against Tampa things could look even better. Go Jays!

We will tell you to calm down. No doubt.

We should have 5 catchers, that way no one feels left out!

http://www.nationalpost.com/m/wp/sports/blog.html?b=sports.nationalpost.com/2014/05/25/toronto-blue-jays-pitcher-j-a-happ-getting-back-on-track-with-help-from-personal-catcher-erik-kratz&pubdate=2014-05-25 TORONTO – Throughout his star-crossed career with the Toronto Blue Jays, J.A. Happ faced doubters at every turn. Maybe that is beginning to change. A career starter when he was traded from Houston to Toronto in 2012, he was promptly shunted to the bullpen. When he got to start, injuries kept stalling his progress. He had a terrible spring training this year, then landed on the disabled list again, and when he returned, the Jays put him back in the bullpen. “He wasn’t happy about that,” manager John Gibbons said. “He put his money where his mouth is. You’ve got to tip your hat to guys that do that.” Fresh in Gibbons’ mind was Happ’s latest start, a gritty seven innings of shutout in the Jays’ 3-1 win over the Oakland A’s. Happ, whose high pitch counts often have sabotaged his starts, retired eight of the final 10 batters he faced and finished at 110 pitches. Happ’s record is 3-1, his ERA 3.34 after five starts. Both Gibbons and Happ said catcher Erik Kratz has been instrumental in the tall left-hander’s success. Kratz has become Happ’s personal catcher. Their game plan is to attack batters aggressively with the fastball. In his first start, Happ’s heater averaged just over 92 miles an hour. Against Oakland, he hit 96 and averaged 93.5, according to BrooksBaseball.net. “I definitely wanted to pitch off the fastball today, and Kratz did a great job behind the plate,” Happ said. “We were on the same page.” Kratz has become Happ’s personal catcher. Their game plan is to attack batters aggressively with the fastball. Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images Early in their partnership, Kratz and Happ sat down for a chat between starts and concluded that Happ needed to show greater trust in his fastball and to “attack” hitters with it. That worked against Oakland. Happ went seven innings for the first time this year. “If he doesn’t go six innings, it’s not a successful start for a pitcher like him,” Kratz said. “He doesn’t need to nitpick. He needs to go after guys, be aggressive and be out there in the seventh. That’s the difference between a good pitcher that does well, and a good pitcher that does well and helps the team. Because [of] him going seven, now look what that does for our bullpen.” Kratz said the success of their pitcher-catcher relationship depends on taking a hard-nosed approach. “It’s not tough to call pitches for him when he’s being aggressive,” Kratz said. “It’s more that we keep that mentality between the two of us.” Early in their partnership, Kratz and Happ sat down for a chat between starts and concluded that Happ needed to show greater trust in his fastball and to “attack” hitters with it. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young Publicly, Happ has never been aggressive in his complaints about the way the Jays have treated him. But often, he has found it hard to hide his grievances, especially during the past two spring trainings when management made it clear his starting assignment was insecure. Someone asked him Sunday whether he is pitching with a chip on his shoulder. On the mound, he said, that doesn’t enter his mind. “I [am] just trying to hit the glove when I go out there,” he said. “I’ve got plenty of time in between starts to have a chip on my shoulder.”

This is my favorite post of the month Thanks for this

LOL no. Good one. Should have mentioned him - he is long forgotten in my mind.

Are we bumping every old prediction thread now?

Yes. Removing Goins, Diaz, Sierra and Rogers has helped matters enormously.

Tollesson mania 2014 almost = Puig mania 2013

Made me laugh, quite loud

Answer: Keep Reyes, Melky and Bautusta healthy Let Edwin just do his thing Find a quality starter from within or via trade market Weed out the bullpen (pretty much done actually) Stay calm

http://cespedesfamilybarbecue.com/2014/01/06/tampa-bay-rays-top-10-shirseys/

Yep You think Dustin Pedroia wouldn't have nabbed that bag if the situation was reversed??? He most defnitely would have. STFU and play better, Red Sox.

Me: http://31.media.tumblr.com/47812399aa1f68ea94b36b04f9d29037/tumblr_mxfvtiMeKu1sj11ofo1_250.jpg

LOL exactly what I was going to say

Hedged my bets today - Went with a low point high prob player (Edwin) and a higher risk/reward one (Kratz) So close Kratz came to hitting one too

Agree totally

LOL Awesome Shots fired!

I do too I just hate how much they've beaten up on us and badly want to turn the tables on them

LOL Glad you agree. Hahahaha

Lost 8-5 10 in a row? They calling for Farrell's head or has he got lots of credit with the fans thanks to last year?

And a SABR supercomputer named after him (edit: I'm hearing it's actually a 486-based IBM laptop running Windows 3.1)