jaysblue

Close game. Leafs came up huge at the end. Lets see if they can duplicate this type of performance in Game 3 at home.

Leafs definitely feel like they have the momentum like DP just said after the Tavares PP goal and the disallowed goal in that 2 minute span. Get the sense this game goes into OT.

Go Bruins!

April 22 Vladdy - 2 Points Varsho - 2 Points Bichette - 3 Points - Dylan Schneider- 3 Points Springer - 4 Points Turner - 4 Points Jansen - 5 Points Biggio - 5 Points - wilko, JaysBlue Kiner-Falefa - 7 Points The Bench (Any PH): 10 Points

- Who cares if Morton is 40 and Bassitt is 35? Morton posted a 2.7 WAR last season and was no different than Bassitt. Morton could probably pitch until he's 45 if he wants haha. - Chris Sale put up really good numbers last season in his 20 starts. Again, rolling the dice on him as a No. 3/4 starter and hoping for a dead cat bounce ain't a bad thing. Worst case, you have a 2-3 WAR arm who makes 20 starts. - Lopez made 32 and 33 starts back in 2018 and 2019. Sucked afterwards, was moved to the bullpen and turned out to be a solid electric arm out of the pen. No different than the Giants signing Jordan Hicks and experimenting with him as a starter. If it works out great, if not Lopez can be easily transitioned back to a bullpen role. - Yeah Fried missed a lot of time last season, but previous two seasons was a very solid 1A or 2. Let's see if he makes 30+ starts this season.

I think Yariel makes more of an impact as an electric arm out of the pen who can pitch multiple innings if need be near the end of the season. Even in a Postseason matchup such as the ALCS, Yariel doesn't even make a start unless an injury or two to one of the other arms. Let him make a couple of more starts and then move him to the pen. Was unlikely anyways that he was going to make more than 15 starts or pitch above 100 innings as a starter. Hopefully he could provide value out of the pen, especially down the stretch and in the Postseason.

Strider was pretty durable during his first two seasons. Sucks he got injured, but never viewed him as a glass cannon arm. Morton has been really solid and durable even at his age. Can you please tell me how is he any different than Bassitt? Sale has been really solid to start the season and looks healthy. Has gone 7 innings in each of his last two starts. Last season posted a 2.1 WAR and 10.96K/9 in 20 starts with Boston. He looked real good when on the mound. Was one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball and now looks healthy. Not bad to roll the dice on him as your 3rd or 4th starter. Fried has had a slow start, but he should finish with respectable numbers. He's not as flashy as someone like Strider was, but a very solid 1A or No. 2 starter. Lopez has looked great out of the rotation thus far. It's still early and only 3 starts, but can't complain about the results. He used to be a starter previously as well, so it's not like he's been a career reliever as you just stated.

Braves calling up Bryce Elder tonight and heading into this season was their 6th starter after losing out to Lopez in Spring Training for the final spot. Elder is only 24 and was an All-Star last season and finished 12-4 with a 3.81 ERA in his 31 starts. I'll take Elder as depth over someone like a train wreck in Manoah any day of the week.

Lmao you really are something.

I don't think anyone on here has said the very good GM's like AA are perfect. AA has made some mistakes or questionable decisions in Atlanta as well. Nothing wrong in questioning him. Yeah AA miscalculated the value of Contraras and trading him away was a mistake. As for your comment about Atlanta's pitching depth, it's incorrect. Darius Vines was pretty solid in the bigs last season and did pitch well in his first start this season. Solid minor league track record as well and is only 25. I mean he's nothing special but not a bad depth option if you need him for a couple of starts. Braves also have Bryce Elder who is getting called up for tonight and likely now will take Strider's spot in the rotation on a full time basis. Elder is only 24 and was an All-Star last season and finished 12-4 with a 3.81 ERA in his 31 starts. Not bad for your 6th starter and he has proven he could pitch a full season out of the rotation. Other options the Braves have: Huascar Ynoa, Dylan Dodd, AJ Smith-Shawver, and Allan Winans. As well, their top pick in the 2023 draft Hurston Waldrep could be MLB ready in July if he dominates in AAA. So overall in total, I count 7 total viable possible SP options after their top 5 of Strider, Fried, Sale, Morton and Lopez.

Seattle got a break against the Rockies in the bottom of the 9th. Said fan interference with Dylan Moore in left field.

I'm more middle ground than anything. Did I claim every move made this offseason by Atkins was the wrong decision? I stated many times I had no issue with the Jays bringing back KK or signing IKF as long as it didn't tie them down financially from making other moves when they need to and also had no issue with the Turner signing as well. I probably did mention I preferred a bat with more power like Hoskins or JDM at DH, but I never said Atkins was an idiot for signing Turner at all. Go find those posts! Again thanks for painting me as an Atkins hater on here, which I'm clearly not. Geez you can't even offer criticism or your own opinions about this team or else some posters lose it!

Just pointing out how those moves were both perceived differently on this board. If Atkins trades for players like Soler, Duvall and Rosario at the trade deadline and the Jays win a World Series, they were all shrewd moves and Atkins is a genius. No luck involved whatsoever.

Gotta hope Leafs can pull out a win in Game 2 and come back to Toronto with the series tied.

I'll go with Biggio today.

Agree with everything you said. If the rotation stays healthy and performs as last season, the Jays are still a mid-to-high 80 team. The hope is this front office actually goes out at the trade deadline and addresses the lineup if it still is a problem come June/July. Can't waste another season with how good this pitching staff has been. Rotation depth has evaporated quickly from the beginning of the season like you said, but some posters on here take the blue pill so they won't acknowledge that. Yariel Rodríguez was called up just last week to take the last spot in the rotation, Tiedemann is on the IL now, Manoah looks like a mess still, and White is gone. Bowden Francis and Paolo Espino look like they would be next in line, with maybe someone like Adam Macko in the wings. Hopefully when the roof is open, we start seeing the ball carrying more at the Roger's Centre. Gotta get some bats going, especially at home!

When something bad happened with this team last season, it was always just because of "bad luck' which was being thrown around as an excuse way too easily by some members on this board to give Atkins and the FO a free pass. Yes, there was some "luck" involved obviously with signing KK and Belt last offseason. They were definitely shrewd moves and the Jays got more than what they expected from both of them given their age, injury concerns and prior season. Belt was 35 and coming off an injury plagued season and KK was 33 and had durability concerns. Both players looked like they were past their prime and came with some risk. Jays took a gamble on them both for bounce back seasons and it paid off. Sometimes these types of deals work and sometimes they don't. I've always gave Atkins credit and praise last season for the KK and Belt signings. So I guess all the trade deadline deals AA made in 2021 for Adam Duvall, Jorge Soler and Eddie Rosario were all shrewd trades and AA was a total genius? I remember some posters on here saying AA was just lucky they rode bats like Duvall, Soler and Rosario to a World Series. Obviously "luck" definitely played a role with those moves given they came with some risk. Sometimes trades like that could work and sometimes they don't. So if Atkins was a genius for signing KK and Belt last offseason, we could say AA was a genius for trading for Duvall, Soler and Rosario at the 2021 deadline. But yeah funny each were perceived different on this message board.

Yes there is a certain amount of luck involved if every member of your rotation stays healthy and makes 30+ starts. You can't guarantee that from season-to-season. Didn't I also give Atkins credit for building a fantastic rotation that was able to stay healthy and durable? I never said the Jays only made the Postseason because Atkins was lucky. Again you're putting words into my mouth in order to fit your narrative. Yes a big reason why the team was a borderline WC team last year was due to their starting rotation pitching very well and staying healthy. If they lost Gausman or Berrios for an extended period of time, wouldn't have been good. The pitching - both rotation and bullpen - carried this team on their shoulders and into the Postseason. Wasn't the bats lol.

Wouldn't surprise me at all regarding Kikuchi. Varsho is an easy player to root for. Glad to see him bouncing back after his disastrous 2023 season. Hopefully he makes everyone forget about Moreno and LGJ.

Jays bullpen should be fine even without Green. Pearson this season so far has looked fantastic.

You need to look in the mirror yourself man. Calm down. It's posters like you and Brownie who name call and insult others, insinuating that they're stupid and shouldn't talk baseball on this forum. Never saw posters like you both in over my 20 years on this board.

Happy to see you getting this excited on April 21st! Kikuchi is my sleeper pick for AL Cy Young. Think he gets 200+ K's. Glad to see Varsho swinging a hot bat right now. Looks like he's returned to form and should be good for 25-30 HR's.

You're second and not too far behind him IMO.

Lmao keep drinking the Kool aid. Leafs played fine maybe for 1.5 periods, but after it was all downhill.

You always take the blue pill and live in an illusion. Leafs winning the Stanley Cup in 2024!