jaysblue

I did actually. Weird stuff like this happens all the time in baseball, more this season especially than before. As well, 82% of the money wagered and 85% of tickets were backing Atlanta yesterday in Vegas and sports books. A bit fishy, not going to lie. That said, a Jays win is a Jays win, and I'll gladly take it.

I volunteer 🤚

AA has had his fair share of questionable trades and signings too, both in Toronto and Atlanta. Sean Murphy looks like he might be washed now, and trading William Contreras in that deal is looking like a huge mistake. Signing Kim to a one-year, $20M contract has been awful. Mike Yastrzemski signed a two-year, $23M deal with Atlanta this past offseason, and while he’s been alright, that’s still a lot of money for a platoon/4th outfielder. The Profar suspension obviously hurt too, but there’s not much you can really do about that. For the most part, the Braves’ bats have been healthy and productive this season. Olson, Baldwin (before landing on the IL), Albies, and Harris have all been great. Even Dubon has provided value. Acuna is back now after missing some time, though Austin Riley has still been disappointing so far. As for the pitching, Atlanta’s rotation was pretty much depleted, arguably even worse than Toronto’s, but they’ve managed to hold up. Sale has been elite, Strider is healthy again, and guys like Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder have stepped up. The back end of the bullpen has also been lights out with Lee, Suarez, and Iglesias.

The Jays actually look pretty solid when it comes to their corner outfield options. They’ve all been effective in different ways, especially Sanchez, who has shown some pop against RHP, and Pinango stepping up after being called up from the minors. I’ll admit, I was one of Nathan Lukes’ biggest critics, but he’s taken his game to another level since coming back from the IL. He’s proved me wrong. Whether that lasts long term is another story, but right now, his bat absolutely deserves to be in the lineup every day against RHP. I still prefer Sanchez long term, but it’s nice to have both options at the moment, especially with Barger out. Once Barger comes back, though, the issue becomes having too many left-handed bats. The Jays could really use a right-handed platoon bat to pair with one of Sanchez or Lukes. They’re definitely missing Springer’s bat at the top of the lineup, but he may need to sit more often in favour of Lukes or Sanchez starting. And they badly need Vladdy to start hitting like Postseason/WBC Vladdy again. The man needs an 8–10 HR month, haha.

Even on the broadcast, they said the Jays defense has been more "middle of the pack" which shows it hasn't been as sharp as it was last season. Even with the eye test from watching games, this isn't the same team defensively from last season.

Oka-Bomb!

Hoffman needs Christopher Lloyd and his crew coming down to games when he pitches:

Jays should be well rested with yesterday's off day. Hopefully the Jays can take Game 1 of the series!

Steve Phillips was on OverDrive and floated the idea that the Jays might DFA Hoffman, which I thought was wild. I really don’t see it coming down to that. Hoffman was starting to right the ship before that implosion on Saturday, and even if the Jays did move on, some team would definitely roll the dice on him. I like Hoffman, and I still think that if he figures things out and is used properly, he could be a real weapon out of the pen. You can’t ignore those strikeout rates. To me, it feels like a combination of bad luck and something psychological. He just doesn’t look comfortable in the ninth-inning role and honestly, he hasn’t really looked comfortable there dating back to last season. I’d probably feel more confident with Hoffman pitching in a one-run game in the seventh than protecting a four-run lead in the ninth, lol. He did tease us a bit with those two saves on May 21 and 23 when Varland was unavailable. But like Masterbather said, they probably need to employ a different strategy for the time being when it comes to the ninth - maybe using another arm like Fisher, who picked up the save the other day, whenever Varland has already been used or isn’t available. The problem with Hoffman is that when he implodes, he really implodes, and it gets ugly fast. It’s not usually just one or two earned runs - it’s more like four or five earned runs, two or three walks, and maybe a hit-by-pitch thrown in for good measure, haha.

The Pirates activated Mlodzinski from the restricted list Monday, Jason Mackey of MLB.com reports. Mlodzinski's stay on the restricted list lasted 24 hours after he expressed frustration following his removal from the Pirates' rotation with the activation of Jared Jones from the injured list this past weekend. Mlodzinski is now putting his feelings aside and said Monday that he's willing to do whatever he can to help the team, as he's now going to come out of the Pittsburgh bullpen. Wouldn't be a bad trade target if the Jays are looking for a SP.

Maybe it’s just me, but this season feels like it’s been full of weird scores, blown leads, and random comebacks.

Hoffman can still be an effective reliever if he’s used properly. We saw him turn things around in May when he was primarily pitching in the 7th and 8th innings before yesterday’s hiccup. That said, he shouldn’t be closing games anymore unless Varland is unavailable. I know Hoffman picked up saves on May 21 and May 23, but that was because Varland wasn’t available. At this point, I’d even trust Fisher ahead of Hoffman if you need someone to close out a game.

You just gotta hope they aren't burnt out by August/September or in the Postseason. Varland and Hoffman both former starters, so they're used to the innings. Rogers has a rubber arm and is good to pitch in 80-90 games. Fluharty will appear in a lot of games because he's a southpaw, but he won't have the same amount of innings as Varland/Hoffman and Rogers.

Ha-Seong Kim has now sat three games in a row, and honestly, it’s hard to argue with the decision. Through 12 games, he’s hitting .095/.191/.095 with a .287 OPS, 0 HR, 2 RBI, and 13 strikeouts. For a player AA and the Braves committed $20M to be their shortstop, that’s been a massive swing-and-miss so far. One of Anthopoulos’ worst signings in recent memory.

Hoffman is killing my fantasy teams FFS!

Need to keep Hoffman in a 7th/8th inning role, period.

Meh they should be fine for Sunday if Yesavage gives them 6 or so innings. Fisher opens for an inning and Miles likely gets them into the 6th inning. Not worried about tomorrow at all if guys like Varland, Hoffman and Rogers are used today.

Late inning pen arms will be available today which is nice! Fisher has been rock solid and glad to see him being trusted more in higher leverage spots. He pretty much can do anything which is awesome! Let's get above .500 today and go for the 4-game sweep tomorrow!

Rogers hasn't been good as of late, so hopefully the Jays bats could put up some crooked numbers against him.

This could be the turning point of the season right here coming up. 4 game series vs. the Orioles. Take 3 of 4 and the Jays are back to .500 would be huge! Lets go!

Dodgers going to have to score 10-15 runs each game so Lauer can get his W's haha.

Miss the Frank Catalanotto and Reed Johnson platoon the Jays had for those 4 years. Looks like Randal Grichuk is going to have a hot trading market this summer.

Otto and Xavier both off to fantastic starts this season. Likely NL All-Stars this summer.

Hoffman actually has been pitching very well as of late. Great to see the Jays having two possible closing options in Varland and Hoffman.

If Josh Towers was pitching, he would throw his 88mph heater in the ribcage of the next Marlins' batter at the plate.