It's the playoffs. What Vald is doing on second base has no impact on motivation for the pitcher and suggesting otherwise is quite frankly ludicrous. Do you think he is out there like "It's a tight playoff game...oh s***...look at Vlad celebrating out at second base...Screw him, I'm going to pitch better to spite him"?
I can't speak for in the US but someone I know tried to get a restraining order from an ex who was off his rocker and threatening last year and was denied due to no violence having yet occurred. There was lots of evidence of the threats in this case too.
If the Jays won 100, probably 3 or more of those extra wins come against the orioles (they went 3-10 against them) and they end up in front of them and likely the Rays
I believe it is expected that Correa will be active. Has anyone heard anything about Buxton or Lewis? It's hard to imagine they wouldn't have wanted them to get some reps before starting the playoffs if they are ready to go.
There is one very good reason (at least from the front office perspective). Asset management and not starting his clock before they need to. But yeah, ideally they will want him pitching more inning to ensure his arm is still building up year over year.
My first steps:
Fire everyone on the hitting coach side of things and bring in some new people and ideas.
Revamp the advanced scouting department as they just aren't getting it done at the moment.
I let Keirmaier and Whit walk and look for a bigger bat for LF while shifting Varsho to CF.
I inform Manoah that he will not be getting traded and I am willing to let him sit in the minors until he gets his act together or until he is out of options. I also come down with punishment as harsh as allowed by the CBA for him not reporting to AAA.
I've thought Manoah was a douchebag since day one, but at least he was our douchebag if that makes sense. I hope he figures it out, but I also wouldn't be surprised if he is done. This year had to be humbling even for a huge ego.
that was yet another baffling send. It wasn't as bad as some of the others he has done this year where it was obvious a guy would be DOA but the fact it happened with 0 outs is a cardinal baseball sin. It's just the way this season has gone. The players aren't accountable, the coaches aren't accountabl;e
Vlad has some weirdness going on with spin off the bat or something like that. His flyballs routinely go less far than they should based on launch angle and velocity. Chris Black had a twitter thread on it about a month ago I think.
He has blown 4 saves in 22 save situations. there may be some others too in tied games but given he only has 4 losses I very much doubt it is 10 times.
Schneider talked about accountability when he took over, but it seems that was just talk as I'd assume here that Espy just did it or didn't know the count.
Counter point, Maybe the advanced analytics department (who let's be honest is making/fueling many of the call) and advanced scouts are bad. Ever notice how often a pitcher they haven't seen carves them up?
I didn't hear what Buck and Dan had to say, but I wonder if he is sticking with the team to work with Ryu a bit as him and Manoah have had a good relationship and maybe they are hoping Ryu can get through to him.