Terminator

I just got back to my hotel after attending the game. Not even really sure what to say but I think it would be therapeutic to at least share something. 1. Atkins traded for Bass at the deadline and the Mariners traded for Luis Castillo. Gabriel Moreno didn't log any playing time during the series while Jansen and Kirk, two talented Catchers in their prime, both played well. 2. Schneider rode Mayza like he was Munoz or something. Puzzling decision to turn Santana around like that. At this point in his career he's basically a platoon bat that should only face lefties. It put them right back in the game. 3. A lot of this was just dumb luck by the Mariners as their bloop hits fell but I feel like the Jays OFers could have caught some of them and they didn't. Both Tapia and Springer had a shot on some flyballs and they both failed. JBJ rode pine up until the point the game was tied at which point we needed his bat. He should have went into the game for Merrifield. If he does we probably win. Another odd choice by Schneider. 4. I'm blaming Schneider a lot and it's mostly the fault of the relievers (even Romano who let Adam Frazier and his .311 SLG line a double off him) but he did make some bad decisions and his post game comments were infuriating. He looks more no-nonsense than Montoyo but it's barely the case. He's another laid back player's manager. I think we should pay for a veteran manager with playoff experience. We have a talented core but we keep pissing away our chances. 5. I'm not really sure what the team sees in Tapia. He logged a ton of playing time this year and continued to do so in the playoffs. As much as they play him it seems like offering him arb is a possibility but I really hope they don't. He's a jack of no trades who does everything below average which makes him a terrible bench player.

Not sure. They usually like to stick us with the early games but are they really going to make Seattle fans watch this game at 9 am their time? I think we might get early evening.

I will also be making my home playoff debut. Hoping to sit close enough to the Jays dugout so I can give Schneider some tips.

Glad Judge is having a s*** end to his year. I hope he stays at 61 too.

Pujols up to a wRC+ of 150 on the year. He hasn't done that since his age 30 season in 2010.

Hopefully Berrios throws a good game tomorrow and we win and get it all wrapped up and can rest everyone we need to heading into the playoffs. I don't think there is any way the Mariners win 4 games in 3 days, even if they are playing the Tigers (who have won 9 out of 10 games). The Mariners would probably have to tax their high leverage relievers to get that done and they might be in the same boat as us on Game 162 in wanting to set up their rotation and bullpen.

^Someone check my math.

Today's games were huge for home field advantage. Here are the scenarios for the final series of the season. Jays go 3-0 or 2-1 and we clinch home field no matter what the Mariners do. Jays go 1-2, Mariners have to go 4-0. Jays go 0-3, Mariners have to go 3-1. If the Mariners go 2-2 or worse, we clinch no matter what. Good job Jays and good job A's.

Kirk is a 23 year old 4 WAR stud. He'll be fine through the duration of his control which ends before he even turns 30. If anyone is going to fall off completely it's the oft injured soon to be FA or the prospect who has power concerns. Kirk is the safest of the 3, not the riskiest.

Whit Merrifield is slashing .270/.317/.450 for the Jays. Max Castillo's ERA is 5.95 on the year, 7.90 since the trade. What an absolute steal of a trade. Pretty sure this is what got Dayton Moore fired.

Yeah great point. Jays on the whole have a better playoff roster than regular season roster seeing as the rotation is top heavy with two aces and a solid mid rotation starter. Berrios is fine for the final starter but with a deep bullpen we can afford to pull anyone who is struggling pretty quickly.

They barely even have any guys hitting above a .700 OPS. I think they have 3 total.

Their lineup is terrible. You'd have to think Manoah and Gausman would dominate and the series would be over.

So trade the young controllable guy who just put up 4 WAR in favor of the no pop rookie and the oft-injured soon to be FA? Got it.

A's up 4-0, if this holds the Jays definitely get home field with a series win against the O's. Likely get in going 1-2 as well.

I'm telling ya he's on roids. It's his last year so he thinks he can probably beat the final few tests he gets down the final stretch of his career. On top of it, what are they going to do? Suspend a legend from his remaining half season? Not a chance.

Mods

Will the Mariners be tinkering with their rotation to try and set it up for the postseason too? Seems like they might and on top of it they have a double header against the Tigers which is going to force them to use someone not normally in their rotation. Are they going to want to use all their good relievers too or will they want to rest some of them? That double header could come up big for us. Also, the Tigers have won 7 of 8. This is going to be really close but if the Jays go 3-1 they should be fine. 2-2 even gives them a decent chance. That Orioles series with Berrios, White and Koch is scary though. The Orioles hate us so they are going to try and spoil home field for us for sure.

So if the Jays end up hosting the wild card games what time are the games going to start? I would assume the early games, is there any indication at what time those will be?

Yeah she's not bad. Pretty vanilla like most of them are but she puts up with all the shenanigans well, is likable enough and is miles better than Arash Madani.

This is a huge series. Manoah stands in line for Game 162 if we need him. But if we can wrap up homefield advantage prior we can save him for Game 1 of the WC series. s***, we may just want to save him no matter what. So the next series against the O's we go Berrios, White and ???. Important to play well tonight.

Well the homers themselves are down across the board with the new ball but yeah we aren't as good as last year even with that in mind. We were 1st last year and are 9th this year. Even so we are 3rd in OPS and 6th in runs.

The Jays offense is really underrated this year, particularly among Jays fans themselves. I think for a couple of reasons. One, no one on the team is really having a standout year other than perhaps our Catching duo. Second, and probably more importantly, offense is down in a big way this year but fan expectations for hitters are not. Take note: -2021 runs = 4.53 per game -2022 runs = 4.3 per game -2021 average OPS = .728 -2022 average OPS = .707 A great example is Bo Bichette. Last year his slash line was .298/.343/.484, good for a wRC+ of 122. This year his slash line is down across the board with a .285/.329/.470 line but even so his wRC+ is 127, higher than last year.

Bring up Pearson and piggyback him to Mitch White's next start. Why not.

This one is gonna be good.