IBTrini

I read somewhere that Rasmus was hitless in his 10 previous at-bats against Peralta so it was a ballsy decision on his part. Against another pitcher who he had good numbers against I am sure he would not have chosen that particle strategy. Anyway, if the play was not successful he would have been raked over the coals for making it and strangely he is being raked for a different outcome. Seems like nothing he could have done would have the approval of the fans unless it was a HR. Now that would have gotten at least 90% support but remember, he has not been successful against Peralta so that would hardly been the result. Luckily it worked out positively for a Jays win and right now, I am taking all the wins they can produce.

The Rays play with some nice intensity - Seems as if their mentality is to win all games. Mistakes and booting the ball around happens to teams at time but it does not seem to happen too often with them. I just love their fighting spirit.

I was going to give this identical response but didn't want to needle him needlessly. I wouldn't go so far with Rasmus' contribution after all, his effort in yesterday win was critical. What I don't understand is the playing into the hands of the shift. He is capable of hitting to the other side and even bunting so why not take what they are giving you. That bunt caught them off-guard, he got on base, was able to steal a base to be in scoring position for the next hitter.

If you are referring to Rasmus' lackadaisical play then I agree it was a dumb play. I have seen this in the past with Gose I believe however in Gose's case he is still learning that you always assume the player is going to tag and to get it to the infield as quickly as possible. Rasmus has been around long enough not to have brain-farts like that. Also, I may have missed the comment where someone insinuated that Bautista's play was dumb. It was not, however, it does not take away from the fact he has been misreading the trajectory on a few balls lately - different kettle of fish.

Totally irrelevant answer to a discussion on the quality of Bautista's D so I am going to assume you are trying to be a smart-ass.

Wow, using the old "have you actually played the game of baseball" line to come across as all-knowing. Yes, I have played in the OF so I do know about battling with having the ball hit in the air and in the sun's path. By the way, how come no one else is having the same issue Bautista is dealing with? Are other OFers using special glasses or is Bautista the only one having balls hit precisely in the sun's path? Maybe I should ask if you have been watching all the games lately cuz we sure have not been seeing the same things. Anyway, the day is going to well to be caught up in with differing opinions - you have yours and I have mine.

If today's attempt was isolated then I could agree with you. However, if your premise is true, lately it seems as if he has had a few balls smoked that was also in the sun.

lol. cuz... cuz.. he is the scapegoat?

Lately Bautista has not even been looking average out there. Seems as if he is getting bad reads on the trajectory of balls.

102...

Let's see what the offence will bring tonight.

7 pitches to get thru the 1st - good

"I just think, from an overall perspective of all these teams getting better, we know it's going to be a tough time for us," closer Casey Janssen said. "One that isn't impossible, but we're going to have to do everything right. "Obviously, we value our prospects, we value our players, I'm sure the other teams do as well. Maybe they just value the player or the opportunity to get into the playoffs more. It takes something to get something, and congratulations to those teams that got those guys." "We've heard [about] '92, '93, and I think we're tired of hearing it," Janssen said of the club's World Series runs. "We want to put our stamp on Toronto and across baseball. For me, in my eight years here, I've never been this close, never had such an opportunity to make it into the playoffs, and I think that's where this excitement level for this Trade Deadline was. "It's finally our time, [we're] finally beating down the door, and we wanted to come on the scene as strong as we can. Like I said, it didn't happen, we just have to regroup and go about our business again." ****************************** "All I'm going to say is that it gets to a point for everybody's situation and everybody's job where trying and excuses are not good enough," slugger Jose Bautista said. "For everybody's sake I hope we all play great from now until the end of the season. I'm one of those guys that really wants to win, and I've been playing for a long time and never experienced it. It's a little bit of a disappointment for me, but as a player I've got to look past it and just focus on what we've got tonight." http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article/mlb/blue-jays-disappointed-at-lack-of-deadline-moves?ymd=20140731&content_id=87328076&vkey=news_mlb Some more quotes here but I am not sure about the accuracy: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/08/01/jose-bautista-casey-janssen-frustrated-and-disappointed-by-blue-jays-lack-of-trade-deadline-activity/

Happ is not getting good D behind him at all tonight. He needs to get out of this quickly and have the Jays do something with the bats for a change.

Sounds reasonable to me. I will just sit back and take everything in though.

You snooze, you lose. If he really wants to make the thread he needs to be on time. He is doing this more as a service to the members so we cannot expect him to do it every day so if he is busy or cannot be on time then its open sesame to the creation of the thread. I don't think he would be offended if someone else did it especially if he has other things on his plate.

It would be nice if the GDT had a regular start time - like 15 mins before game time so people could settle in with some conversations before the game. If 10 mins before game time no GDT is started then it's whoever want to start it. Just a suggestion.

Makes sense. ty.

Does suicide squeeze count?

I know Francisco's performance has been hard to watch and there is really no room for waiting him out but remember how badly Encarnacion was at 3B. Maybe with this hitting coach and some more playing time he might be able to turn it around. The problem however is getting him more playing time next season. I really don't know but he does have a lot of power to hit the long ball.

He's not 100% fully recovered. A few more HRs and his wing will be back strong as ever.

That was a nice result for him. His confidence will keep building with outings like this. Good for him and good for the Jays. Nice D there too.

If it gives him confidence to keep going 2-4 then I say let him do it more often. He may need to do something else to improve his range though. A rattail?

They tend to underestimate the Jays who recently came back from a 5 run deficit against Price. This time around the Jays have both Lind and Encarnacion in the lineup which makes it look even nicer. Well, it still a 1-run game now so it's on Jenkins' shoulders.

Stroman had already thrown 37 pitches and the batters were seeing his stuff well and hitting him hard. Gibbons realizes that the Jays cannot afford to get onto an even bigger hole so it was a good call in my mind. Not sure why Cabrera did not throw to home cuz it looked like he might have been able to get the runner. Anyway, let's see the Jays settle down and chip away at that lead.