RA Whiffleball
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Everything posted by RA Whiffleball
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So if we don't agree with your waffle, we should leave? Now that's a mature take. -
Ok, we didn't lose Wednesday's game because of him. Sorry, I must have been watching a different game. I'll pay more attention next time.
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What I wrote is fact. If our BP doesn't give up HRs in those situations, we win the series, and Yamamoto becomes a footnote. I don't know why our fans go mental when you dare say anything critical of the BP. It cost us the WS, and it is costing us games this season. It needs to be improved.
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It's funny, you make my point with every reply. Are you referring to the same Tommy Nance who got shelled Wednesday, or is it the Tommy Nance who came into the Colorado game with the lead and proceeded to walk the leadoff man on 4 pitches?
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I mean the BP that gave up the tying and winning runs via the HR in games 3 and 7. Their BP gave up 1 HR in a blowout game 1, and did not give up a HR in 22 innings in games 3 and 7, where if they give up even one HR over that span, the Jays win the series. The truth hurts.
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I'm sorry, but this so much apologetic waffle. This club has the resources to build a better BP AND develop players. We are not a small-market club with poor owners, but you wouldn't know that listening to some of our apologist fans. It's been 11 years this front office has been here, and our minor league system is still middle of the road at best. Yet every series we play, I see the opposition roll out guys from their BP who throw 97-102, while we roll out guys who throw sliders, sweepers, and curve balls, with a 92-94 mph fastball. Once again, I will repeat that our BP cost us the WS. These are the facts, and they are indisputable. I will let the apologists waffle on about Babip, and other such nonsense.
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Wow, it is amazing how easily you get triggered over this. Amusing even. Look, when you are paying the GM the kind of money Rogers is, and you have the resources this club has, and you are massively hiking season ticket prices for a club that hasn't stood for much besides the national anthem in the past 32 years, yes I expect the BP to be better and I don't want to see s*** like Tommy Nance and Brendan Little appearing when the game is on the line. If you sit there and say this BP as it is constituted is fine, I want some of whatever you're smoking.
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You are easily triggered when someone dares be critical of Atkins. I like the job he has done overall, but based on 11 years of experience, he has had a blind spot when it comes to the BP and that is undeniable. If we had a better BP, we go 6-3 on the road trip instead of 4-5. Hoffman, Little, Nance (twice) have already cost us 4 games this season. These are the little details that add up over 162 games. You can spew all the fancy stats you want, and claim that all the opposition hits are lucky bloops (and I guess all the walks were unlucky as well), but everyone in the ballpark knew as soon as Nance showed his face, the game was effectively over.
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If Atkins knew how to build a BP, we would have won the WS, and we wouldn't have missed the postseason in 2021.. He is not a moron btw, but he does have a tin ear when it comes to the BP.
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I woud hardly classify my post as a rant. The BP has not been fine overall. Our closer has fallen apart, we are using a AAA pitcher in high-leverage situations, and Brendan Little was sent down to AAA after he predictably flamed out. The BP as it is constituted, will sink us this season, just like in 2021.
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He's a 5th starter at best. There was a reason he was dropped from the rotation when Bieber arrived, and if we hadn't had the injuries to the other starters, he wouldn't even be anywhere near the rotation. Right now, he is being out-pitched by a guy we picked up off the scrap heap. He had a nice purple patch last season, but as they say, form is temporary, and class is permanent.
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I said earlier that we didn`t address the BP issues in the off-season, and these are the consequences. There are people in the front office being paid a shitload of money to figure these things out, people who never cease to remind us that they have decades of experience in these matters.
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Not hindsight - I know that these pitchers will fail. Ed Rogers is paying Shapiro/Atkins/Schenider a shitload of money to figure that out. I said earlier we didn`t address the BP issues in the off-season and now the chickens are coming home to roost.
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Nice speech, but if you keep rolling out the Tommy Nances and the Jeff Hoffmans of the world, you will lose ball games.
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Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)
RA Whiffleball replied to Ryu In My House's topic in Toronto Blue Jays Talk
For the players with options, when they are sent down, they can't return for 10 days or 15 days, is that correct? -
That's the point. Why do you think they traded for Bednar? The Yanks have a winner's mentality or baseball heritage to use a Jose Mourinhoism. We used to have that in the glory years of the Labatt ownership. Hopefully, now that Ed Rogers has the keys to the castle, we are heading in that direction. On teams with a winning mentality, in any sport, if someone is not performing, they're gone, replaced, or they go get someone who's better. They don`t double down, they don't make excuses, they don't talk about culture, they act. JS is more worried about hurting someone's feelings than winning ball games. That's now 4 games this year we have lost because he doubled down on a struggling pitcher. Culture doesn't win you ball games, players who perform do.
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Because John Schneider is manager, and that is one of the 10 Commandments of BP Mismanagement:
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This is JS's fatal flaw - he always doubles down on struggling pitchers, and it costs us games. I remember last year the Yankees traded for Bird, and after 2 bad outings, he was DFA'd, no manager defending him, no doubling down, you don't produce, you're gone.
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JS is a very lucky man. He has already cost us 2 games by doubling down on struggling relievers. It would have been a third, if it were not for the heroics of Varland. The ghosts of game 7 are definitely in Hoffman's head.
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He reminds me a little bit of Victoria, BC's Rich Harden, who had a decent career, mostly with the Athletics. He was a high strikeout guy with great stuff, but like Cease, would walk guys and get into a lot of deep counts, which meant most days, he would only go 5-6 innings. He also had injury issues.
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Hands up if you were hiding behind the sofa after the first batter! Good to see Hoffman rebound - whether you like him or not, he is going to have to turn things around, or we are in deep doo-doo. The stars aligned nicely for JS to slot him in against the bottom of their order. I wonder if he would have thrown him in there if the top of their order was due up in the 9th. Cease is something else. If PW can work his magic and make him more efficient, we might have something really special here. Offensively, runs 3, 4, and 5 had Blue Jays 2025 written all over them. More of the same, please!
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Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)
RA Whiffleball replied to Ryu In My House's topic in Toronto Blue Jays Talk
I`m more worried about HRs allowed by the BP. That was the difference in the WS. Everyone was saying their BP was their Achilles Heel, but ultimately it was our BP`s inability to prevent the HR that cost us the series. Their BP only allowed 1 HR in the entire WS, the Barger GS in a blowout game 1. In the critical games 3 and 7, their BP went 22 innings without allowing a HR. If their BP gives up even 1 HR in that span, in either game, the Jays win the series. Conversely, in the 20 innings our BP threw in those 2 games, we gave up 5 HR, 2 of which tied the game late, and 2 of which broke a tie late to win the game. -
Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)
RA Whiffleball replied to Ryu In My House's topic in Toronto Blue Jays Talk
Dominguez out, Rogers in, He is not an add. Don't get me wrong, I like Rogers, but we need more 97-99 mph in our BP or this is going to be a long season. It seems every team we play rolls out these kind of arms in the late innings. We must be the only club that values 92-94 mph arms with lots of spin. -
Blue Jays Discussion Thread (2026)
RA Whiffleball replied to Ryu In My House's topic in Toronto Blue Jays Talk
I was always worried about how Hoffman would recover mentally from Game 7. I look back at Mitch Williams, and he was never the same pitcher after 1993. The physical issues have been well documented by other posters, but every time he has a bad outing, the fanbase will go into meltdown, and John Schneider will face uncomfortable questions from the media. So far he has doubled down, like he always does, but this looks like another Brendan Little scenario. I was hoping the club would have brought in at least one elite late-inning reliever in free agency, especially since they weren't going to re-sign Dominguez and Bichette, and they lost out on Tucker. To me, we have too many relievers who don't throw hard, walk too many, and are vulnerable to the HR. Lack of HR prevention in our BP was the difference in the WS.
