2023 Toronto Blue Jays Season Thread

[nieuwy-89]

Nice to finally string together some W’s against bottom feeders. Back in a WC spot!

[Lil Pedro]

Gotta think going 14-9 in their last 23 games gets them in....fingers crossed!

[Whynotnow]

All of this is in the back of the farm guys who’ve come up and injected some life into this club. They’ve held the ship long enough for Bo to get back on the weekend. Maybe Vladdy will get back sometime too.

[Kidder]

My hope is Chapman gets enough time off he comes back like it’s start of the season Chappy.

Varsho should be a defensive specialist from here on out. Belt can PH late in games when he gets back healthy.

Let the kids play.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Kidder

My hope is Chapman gets enough time off he comes back like it’s start of the season Chappy.

Varsho should be a defensive specialist from here on out. Belt can PH late in games when he gets back healthy.

Let the kids play.

Chapman is an elite glove at 3rd, so he's playing every day if he's healthy. The bat is an added bonus. Bo has stabilized his defense this year and is an elite hitter. He's playing every day at short if healthy. Belt is a very good left handed hitter who has tons of veteran experience and has been clutch all year. He can play first and spell Vlad if needed in the field. Merrifield has scuffled at the plate lately, but is a fantastic contact hitter, can steal some bases, and can play multiple positions in the field, mostly 2nd base.

Varsho isn't a great hitter, but when he gets on his base running is exceptional. His fielding is also elite, in both field coverage and his arm. Most of the kids don't play outfield, so he's not in competition with them. Plus, his hitting has improved over the last month or two and is now at least passable.

Biggio has improved his contributions a lot lately too, and is a super utility guy who can run the bases well.

As much as I've enjoyed the kids, the reality is they're largely unknown around the league and will have some success early before the book is out on them. Schneider appears to be adapting to how pitchers are attacking him, but I don't have any information yet on the others because of limited at bats.

In short, the regulars are just fine and will play the bulk of the time down the stretch, but the kids can get in an inning or two here and there depending on the game situations. That's about as much as should be expected once everyone is healthy.

In the meantime, I just hope they keep up their quality play.

[Sylvanfan]

Yeah the young guys have been a nice boost against bad teams here. But Davis is the only one who likely gets into the lineup with others being healthy. Belt's been the most productive hitter since May, and Chapman's glove is top notch.

The pitching will need to get back into form after the Royals series and they might need to keep Gausman, Kikuchi, and Berrios to 5 innings too and use that bullpen a lot more to win enough against better teams. But if Bichette can get healthy and be productive and Kirk hits like he has for the past 5 weeks the offence should be better.

The Rangers are reeling and even Seattle has been hit with a 1-5 fall back to reality here. Still a good chance to get in.

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Sylvanfan

Yeah the young guys have been a nice boost against bad teams here. But Davis is the only one who likely gets into the lineup with others being healthy. Belt's been the most productive hitter since May, and Chapman's glove is top notch.

The pitching will need to get back into form after the Royals series and they might need to keep Gausman, Kikuchi, and Berrios to 5 innings too and use that bullpen a lot more to win enough against better teams. But if Bichette can get healthy and be productive and Kirk hits like he has for the past 5 weeks the offence should be better.

The Rangers are reeling and even Seattle has been hit with a 1-5 fall back to reality here. Still a good chance to get in.

They only have to be ahead of 1 of the 3 competitive AL west teams to get the last wild card spot, which is the one you want anyway.

And Texas plays 6 of their last 9 against Seattle. If one of them dominates the other will be out, but even a split means they can't both go on a huge run at the end of the season.

Edited to add: and the Mariners last 9 are 6 vs Texas and 3 vs Houston...

[ben voyonsdonc]

What this spate of injuries may have allowed the Jays to do is to evaluate their depth heading into next year.

Schneider can replace Merrifield but will likely need to get more experience in the OF.

Horwitz looks like a really good candidate to fill the Brandon Belt role next year. I’ve been impressed with his work as first base and he’s a pretty solid bat to ball guy. He doesn’t have Belt’s power but it might come along.

Clement looks like he has cemented his role as a 26th guy who can actually play pretty regularly.

As a result, management’s job got a little bit easier in the off-season. They’ll have gaps at third base and CF (Varsho could fill in but we’d want to have a guy who can replace Varsho). I’m not completely convinced that Martinez is ready to play full time in the majors so unless they are pretty confident in Barger, I think they’ll get a replacement level guy at third.

[Strange Brew]

The Rangers were hitting something like .320 with RISP by the end of July so we are seeing a regression to the mean. And their bullpen is just horrible. I’m bad at predicting things but I can’t see them staying in this. Have to feel good about the Blue Jays chances.

[flamingred89]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

The Rangers were hitting something like .320 with RISP by the end of July so we are seeing a regression to the mean. And their bullpen is just horrible. I’m bad at predicting things but I can’t see them staying in this. Have to feel good about the Blue Jays chances.

Yep. They really seem like the weekend link. Although all 3 AL West teams have major worts on them right now. Mariners have now lost 5 of 6 and are relying on unsustainable power numbers. Their hot streak was predicated by J-Rod getting an XBH every AB. Astros are decimated by injuries but I think their pedigree will carry them to the division.

[Jason14h]

Originally Posted by ben voyonsdonc

What this spate of injuries may have allowed the Jays to do is to evaluate their depth heading into next year.

Schneider can replace Merrifield but will likely need to get more experience in the OF.

Horwitz looks like a really good candidate to fill the Brandon Belt role next year. I’ve been impressed with his work as first base and he’s a pretty solid bat to ball guy. He doesn’t have Belt’s power but it might come along.

Clement looks like he has cemented his role as a 26th guy who can actually play pretty regularly.

As a result, management’s job got a little bit easier in the off-season. They’ll have gaps at third base and CF (Varsho could fill in but we’d want to have a guy who can replace Varsho). I’m not completely convinced that Martinez is ready to play full time in the majors so unless they are pretty confident in Barger, I think they’ll get a replacement level guy at third.

The Jays total salary for tax threshold this year is $215 million

https://www.spotrac.com/mlb/toronto-blue-jays/payroll/

Next year they currently have 120 million excluding Green and Merrifield pre arbitration

They will be able to spend serious coin if they want

[Dentoman]

Rested bullpen, off day tomorrow ..... perfect day for Schneider to over manage the pitchers resulting in a loss

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by Dentoman

Rested bullpen, off day tomorrow ..... perfect day for Schneider to over manage the pitchers resulting in a loss

"Analytics say we're due for a loss today!"

[Karl]

Utility guys, Clement in particular white hot.

1-0.

[Karl]

Looks like Cavan is FINALLY heating up. At last.

[Karl]

Vladdy gamble throw to 3rd base pays off big.

[Blaster86]

vLaDdY iS bAd At DeFeNcE!!?@@@!!11?@!

[Party Elephant]

Fack, Ryu was absolutely cruising until that HR

[Karl]

Whit is now scuffling at the plate and at the worst possible time.

[flamingred89]

Well this is unfortunate.