John_Havok

I dont think any FO knows truly how to identify quality arms. Every year there's some guy that X team let go and Y team picked up and now he's good.

There's no such thing as an easy fix. The manager is the easiest scapegoat though i'll give you that.

"shoulder fatigue" is a serious injury.

#1.... wilko is never right. Or serious. #2.... there is no #2. See #1

1 for 6 with an RBI and 3 strikeouts. Hit the road!

Marner doesn't have Tkachuk's inner demon fire, but he probably has far more skill. Lets also remember that guys like Tkachuck thrive in the playoffs since the refs put away the whistle unless you actually decapitate someone, and even then they only call it if the bleeding head bounces off the ice and affects the play.

Flames had him, but thanks to Sutter they couldn't keep him. Too bad he kept running great players out of town with his ******** 1940's coaching style. Hell, Tkachuk is the exact kind of player Sutter should love.

Maybe, but then the people who had those seats.... they'd have to renew elsewhere. I get it, it's business, but as a person holding those seasons tickets for 40 years to have them jump in price by 10 times... doesnt seem right.

Bichette, Varsho, Merrifled, Jansen, Biggio and Springer all bust it pretty consistently. Overall lack of hustle is not this team's issue. Firing a manager after 1 playoff game woul dbe the height of stupidity. Swear to the flying f***ing spaghetti monster if some fans ran teams they'd fire their managers and coaches every week and wonder why things aren't any different.

It's 100% catering to the elite. No sane person would expect a middle income family to drop 140K on seasons tickets for the Jays "premium experience" or not.

The disrespect to Ernie Clement here is alarming

Damn, just when Biggio is getting hot.... his last 15 PAs have been actually useful.

Keep in mind that facility has been up and running for... 2 seasons. Might take a few years to get the pipeline rolling at 100%. Data, camera, spin rates etc... all of that is great to have, but its just as important to have the right people around to dissect the data and be able to communicate it effectively. Those types are probably few and far between As for conditioning, you can lead a fatty to salad, you can't make him eat it. Take it from a current (albeit shrinking) fatty, any sort of want for improvement to conditioning has to come from within. People can point it out to you until theyre blue in the face, but it will not work unless the person wants to do it.

Varsho vs lefties is about as sure an out as there is most nights.

Sometimes flaws just happen because humans are humans. Every player on the team knows they are scuffling right now and as a result are trying to go the extra mile and play harder to make something happen. Unfortunately, that sometimes results in plays like Kiermaier today trying to cut off a double that turns into a triple. Or, forcing a throw that shouldnt be forced. Or, deciding to swing at that first pitch with 2 outs in the 9th even when its not a hittable pitch. Trying to steal 2nd and oversliding the base. Any number of we've seen in the past week to 2 weeks that is monumentally frustrating to watch as a fan... But I'd rather see those kind of hustle/aggressive mistakes than seeing guys who just drift through the game. It's far easier to channel that energy into something positive than it is to push a rock up a hill. It's also impossible to completely rid it from people, because they are people. Long story short, fire the mental conditioning coach.

I love it when the fault of players underachieveing gets placed on intangibles like lack of leadership, especially when not a single person making those comments has the first f***ing clue what goes in the clubhouse.

Technically, they're already tied for 3rd.

Hard to say without looking at splits, which dont really allow for much context. but...career #'s incoming Vlad Jr with 2 outs and RISP: 247 PA, triple slash of .298/.389/.479 - 10 HR, 30 walks JD with 2 outs and RISP: 546 PA, triple slash of .249/.379/.417 - 15 HR, 91 walks Bautista with 2 outs and RISP: 742 PA, triple slash of .213/.402/.420 - 26 HR, 169 walks. Bautisita definitely wins the patience category there.

Just something funny i found... On November 20, 1884 — The National League agrees to allow overhand pitching, but rules that pitchers must keep both feet on the ground throughout their pitching motion in order to reduce the velocity of their pitches. They still must throw the ball at the height requested by the batter. In addition, teams are now required to supply a separate bench for each club at their park to limit inter-team fraternization. That's right folks, the pitcher had to throw the pitch where the hitter wanted it, and could only throw overhand if both feet remained on the ground during his motion, to limit velocity. My god baseball games would never end if this was still in place today.

I knew and expected the ticket prices to go up after the renos... but this is a bit much: In an email to Blue Jays season-ticket holders last month updating the next phase of Rogers Centre renovations, a passing mention buried deep down pointed to one significant change for seat-holders close to the action. After running through some of the major changes that will be part of a “completely reimagined lower bowl” starting next season, the message from team president Mark Shapiro dropped the hammer: “This means, however, that your current seats will no longer exist as currently situated,” the email read. The crux of that single line sent shock waves through Jays devotees who have for years enjoyed watching their favourite team from close proximity. Some of them later learned the revamped seating arrangements will cost tens of thousands of dollars more than what they are currently paying. “It’s upsetting. It seems unfair. It completely ignores the loyalty we’ve had for the team over all these years, especially the years when they weren’t in contention,” said Steve Gamester. Since 1977, his family has split season tickets for two seats near home plate, first at Exhibition Stadium and then directly beside the Jays dugout at the Rogers Centre. They have shared the cost with two other families every season since the MLB team debuted in Toronto. The seats originally belonged to three former longtime Star journalists — George Gamester, Gerry Hall and Jack Brehl — who later turned them over to their kids. They are among just a few remaining season-ticket holders from Day 1. There’s no question their seats are good — they’re in the first row behind the In The Action section. The Gamesters were once asked to move to another location during the playoffs to make room for the MLB commissioner. So after hearing about the lower-bowl renovations, Gamester was expecting a price increase. But his family was totally shocked to find out the new price would be nearly 10 times higher. Last fall, when they renewed their seats for the 46th time, the final numbers came in at $15,000 for the pair of tickets, or $7,500 per seat for a total of 81 games. That works out to an average of $92.59 for each seat per game. After following up with their Jays account representative, Gamester said they were told the cost to renew for similar tickets next year would be $68,500 per seat — a total of $137,000 for the pair. That works out to $845.68 per ticket for each game, or $1,691.36 for the pair. He said they were also told the team would need a three-year commitment up front, which hadn’t been required before. “There’s no way we can afford $137,000 for baseball tickets,” said Gamester, who noted an increase of about 20 per cent would have been more reasonable. He feels their only chance to stay will be paying more for worse seats. “To me, it feels like they probably want the original 1977 families to leave,” Gamester said. “It’s kind of like when a landlord renovates an apartment so that they can raise the price, which is very much a Toronto story right now.” Gamester has been a witness to some of the most memorable moments in franchise history. He fondly recalls being at the dome when Joe Carter won the 1993 World Series with his walk-off homer, and for José Bautista’s iconic bat flip in the 2015 American League Division Series. He remembers being at the last game in Exhibition Stadium in 1989, and was there when George Bell charged the mound and tried to karate kick Red Sox pitcher Bruce Kison in 1985. His mother Heather Gamester attended the very first game in 1977. She remembers “suffering through the cold” over the years to watch the team even when the roster was terrible, and said it’s “disgraceful” to price out ordinary and loyal fans. “We paid every single year and the price always kept going up, but not to this extent,” she said, adding the family’s hope of passing the tickets from one generation to the next will probably end now. “It’s becoming an elitist place to go.” The Jays say revamping the entire 100 level of the ballpark, much like the transformation of the outfield in the first phase, is solely aimed at improving the entertainment experience for fans in a stadium that hasn’t seen much improvement since the dome opened in 1989. The team says a major part of the next phase of renovations will be the introduction of three premium clubs that will be connected to the best seats at the ballpark and offer a variety of entertainment and services to fans. Located directly behind home plate, those clubs will offer members a separate entrance to the stadium, have their own sports bars and provide in-seat dining options, among other things. Shapiro has previously said the Rogers Centre is among the ballparks that offer the fewest premium experience options in the league, and less than other entertainment venues in Toronto. Premium tickets at the Rogers Centre for In the Action, The ScoreBet baseline seats, Ticketmaster Lounge and TD Clubhouse are usually sold out and have long wait lists. For access to premium clubs and other seats in the revamped lower bowl, the team says season-ticket holders — some of whom, like the Gamesters, have been with the team since it played at Exhibition Stadium — will get priority to choose before the rest of the general public. “We know the deep history many of our long-tenured season-ticket members have in their current seats and we are committed to supporting our members through this transition with priority access to hand-select their new seats to make memories for the 2024 season and beyond,” said Jays executive vice-president Anuk Karunaratne in a statement. “All the changes we’ve made so far and to come in 2024 are driven and designed by our fans — in the lower bowl, that will include everything from wider seats each with a cupholder, improved accessibility, and baseball-specific sightlines, in addition to premium hospitality.” The selection process has started with season-ticket subscribers interested in joining the premium clubs, and members will have a chance to select improved but non-premium seats in the lower bowl starting later in the summer. “The entire 100-level seating is being reimagined with new seating, and as a result all season-ticket members will have an opportunity to choose new seats from a variety of different pricing and location options,” the Jays said in a statement to the Star. Still, many longtime fans feel the price is too steep. Sharon, an Oshawa woman who didn’t want to give her last name, said her family has shared the cost of a pair of tickets in Row 21 behind the Jays dugout with three other families for the past 20 years. They paid nearly $12,000 to renew this season. For similar seats after the planned revamp, she said they’ve been told the cost would be around $40,000. She would have been fine moving five or six rows back for the current price, but said that seems unlikely. “The way they are treating us as loyal fans, it’s not fair,” she said before the Jays’ game against the New York Yankees on Wednesday. Nonetheless, some fans are excited to see what the new-look seats will bring. Arron Barberian remembers going to games when the Jays played at Exhibition Stadium, and sitting in Row 2 with elbows on top of the Jays dugout. He estimates he has gone to more than 2,000 games over the years. At the Rogers Centre, he and other people share five seats in Row 9 above the visiting team’s dugout. Barberian hasn’t learned what the final price will be once renovations are complete, but he believes it will be worth it considering what’s happening elsewhere. “When you go to a Yankee Stadium and you sit in the first five rows, the tickets are even more expensive than what Toronto is proposing,” he said, noting many other clubs offer more premium services to high-paying fans — such as valet parking and access to dining rooms with alumni. VIP tickets for a Maple Leafs or Raptors game are relatively more expensive compared to what the Jays are promising with premium seats, he said. (An advertisement last year in the Star said Raptors courtside seats can go for well over $1,000 per ticket.) “If you really want a great luxury experience, that’s not inexpensive,” Barberian said of the Jays tickets. “I’m really actually very excited to see this bit of luxury come to Toronto.” One of the main issues he’s hoping the team takes into account while doing the renovations is accessibility. His son Harry was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. The family has been mindful of including a pair of accessible seats in their package, and he’d love for the revamped premium seating to have accessible areas as well. “I’m really looking forward to an upgrade,” said Barberian, who added the existing food options and other services at the Rogers Centre leave a lot to be desired. “You can look now at the renovations that have happened so far, and there may be no better general admission experience in the league. You have to trust in that.”

Ryu and Green were both throwing bullpens this week. I'm thinking their timelines are mid-to late July or early August returns if no setbacks.

naw, that's a lazy narrative. His slider hadnt been there since the 1st game of the season. His cardio has nothing to do with that.

Vlad brain is just broken when the pressure is on. He assumes the pitcher will throw him something hittable and just decides to swing first pitch every time.

The ultimate test for Vlad.... will he remain patient against a guy with not-so-great command? Or swing at the first borderline pitch and roll over/pop-up? That didn't take long. Swing at the first pitch (well inside) and roll over wins.

Bad cardio doesnt make your slider lose.... everything. But, just as a matter of principle he should want to be in better shape.