jaysfan2014

Torn thumb ligament for Trout--out 5-8 weeks. Might as well rule Judge the MVP and ROY right now..

A series for the O's that could decide the season right here--Rays are only 0.5 game behind them, and Cleveland's tied. Lose this series and fall out of the race in the coming weeks, and Baltimore might want to start looking at putting Machado on the block, as they aren't going to be able to afford him after 2018 and he seems to be playing like he wants a change of scenery...

Some of those pieces in Lansing should be getting close to being promoted to Dunedin--notably Bichette and Vlad Jr.

And against a White Sox team that has been surprisingly capable offensively.. kinda wish they had called up Moncada for this series though to spite the Red Sox. Maybe next time they see them later this season.

Well, it was the best I can do regarding Aaron Judge--he's already a ROY candidate and pushing Mike Trout for the MVP(3.5 WAR for Trout, 3.0 for Judge)..

Astros are looking forward to sweeping the Twins this week.. as Minnesota's pitching staff continues to have to keep a game tied. 15th inning, 6-6 vs. Tampa..

Twins/Astros coming up tomorrow--did anyone think this was a series vs. 1st place team that was going to happen? Of course, Houston may destroy the Twins.. Minnesota is going to have a worn-down bullpen for the series, as the Twins are in extras vs. Tampa...

Oh well, Cashner was the better pitcher today.. and for once he actually didn't have his bullpen blow it (he's much better than his record shows).. Bring on the Reds and their crappy pitching staff.. they can hit a ton, but their pitching... ugh. Lots of 8-7 games...

Judge just ruled Triggs guilty of throwing a bad pitch--grand slam! 5-2 Yankees..

Speaking of disappointments, try Cleveland! 24-23, 3 games out of first, trailing the O's for a wild card, WORST home record in the AL (only Miami has fewer wins--and the Padres have more wins at home than Cleveland). And talk is Salazar is headed for the bullpen.. In addition, regression has hit this team HARD. Kipnis, Jose Ramirez, others have regressed, Bauer/Tomlin/Salazar have been terrible, Edwin's been not worth the $20M he's getting..

Machado hitting .225 isn't helping--wondering if he wants out of Baltimore. A crappy pitching staff isn't helping.. with only one above average starter (Bundy) and a load of crap.

I can't believe it either. And with the O's upcoming sked with the Yankees and Red Sox, the Jays (and Tampa) could be ahead of Baltimore within a week or two.. the Orioles are a mess. And Jones is hurt now too...

Oh boy, Mr. "Best stuff in the Org." Sam Dyson is up in the pen.. Bannister is trying to pour more gasoline into the fire..

Man, Darvish is so slow...

Orioles lose again. 3-11 now in their last 14 and threatening to reopen the AL wild card race wide open.. Jays are only 3.5 out now after they beat Texas tonight..

Well, long night ahead for the Rangers bullpen--which is absolute sh*t. Austen Bibens-Dirkx coming in..

Injury or breakout? Because I've seen no reports of injury...

Rangers pen is about to gift a sweep to the Red Sox and save Farrell's job for another week.. and 16Ks for Rangers hitters so far. Lineup's a mess without Carlos Gomez..

90 wins for the Sox? Under on that.. they're still waiting for Price, and the rotation is mediocre after Sale and their offense has been hit and miss, usually depending on the other team's bullpen (See Minnesota, Texas games vs. the Red Sox), and the Yankees aren't certain to keep playing at their current pace, especially considering only Pineda and Severino are solid starters--Tanaka and Sabathia stink and Montgomery isn't guaranteed to hold up through the summer.. plus,some of the bats are due for regression, especially Judge, Castro, Gregorius and Holliday--who are all riding inflated BABIP. And I imagine Severino and Montgomery are on innings limits... And the Orioles..will likely not be in contention by the All-Star break.. no decent pitching outside of Bundy and no Britton in the pen means there's a reasonable chance the coming fire sale begins soon, especially considering Britton, Tillman, Machado, etc. are unlikely to resign with the O's after 2017 or 2018, depending on the player, due to Angelos being cheap and/or wasteful with money.. plus a fairly grim future for the O's because of the Yanks and Red Sox, plus they have little in the system to replace many of their free agents.. Cleveland really needs: 1. Edwin to start hitting (.217/.345/.410), worst strikeout rate of his career (28.2%), Indians wasted a lot of money to bring him in, when he's basically the same guy as Napoli at this point in his career--low AVG and high K... they could've kept Napoli for much less money. 2. Starting pitching (Bauer, Salazar and Tomlin have regressed HARD.. all with ERAs over 5, Kluber's hurt and only Carrasco has been any good--not convinced on Clevinger). 3. OF and bench help (AJax, Almonte and Guyer are hurt, Zimmer's not quite MLB ready) Rangers need bullpen helpm Rays need $$$.. and will the Twins keep their record up through the summer with questionable pitching depth?

Pretty much.. while the Jays bullpen puts up zeroes a lot with Barnes/Tepera/Leone/Loup/Smith/Osuna, Rangers still can't their bullpen straightened out.. and this team won 10 in a row? Of course, beating garbage teams like San Diego, Oakland and Detroit help(two of the teams the Jays haven't seen yet).. this is the real Rangers team, bad bullpen and all..

Orioles get swept by an upstart Twins team. Baltimore's lost 10 of their last 13, and their season is headed off the rails.. and with the Astros, Yankees and Red Sox on the docket, Baltimore's lead in the wild card could basically disappear in the next week or two, allowing other teams including the Jays to catch up (we're 5 out if they win vs. Milwaukee, as they are headed towards.) Not shocking either--bullpen really needs Britton back, plus the starting pitching is trash! And Wade Miley is a huge regression candidate--2.59 ERA with a 4.41 FIP and 1.438 WHIP--he's going to fall hard soon. With Tillman being lousy, and the only good arm being Bundy (and he's regressing as well--4.22 ERA in May), along with Machado still not hitting (he's actually worse in May than in April--no rebound like Travis or Bautista). As a result, the O's are rapidly sliding.. how does Duquette and Showalter plan to fix this?

What's really shocking is that the Brew Crew are leading the division by a pair of games, and even though it's still early, they could put some serious distance between them and the Cubs with a 2/3 or a sweep.. What's going on with the Cubs? Like the Red Sox (who are also disappointing), they are showing that the mainstream media is praising Boston and Chicago way too much.. not showing flaws with the Red Sox (lack of SP depth, no reliable 3B, Porcello turning back into a pumpkin) and the Cubs (really missing Fowler, multiple guys not hitting outside of Bryant, mediocre starting pitching).

And this is exactly why Leonel Campos is here tonight--to mop up in case Bolsinger stunk it up. One or both of them will be DFAd after this game (though Bolsinger, if he is hurt, might just end up on the DL).

With Tulo due back this week, Travis may have bus tickets to Buffalo in his future...

Bring up Dwight Smith Jr. if Pearce misses time--he's still tearing up the Bisons.