The 2016 Toronto Blue Jays Thread

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Skaloper

You can't score 5+ runs every game. If you have a lead your bullpen should be able to hold it even if its 2 runs. They are a bit overworked but no one else has been able to step up and show they can close out games. It will be interesting to see if they replace Grilli as the Set-Up man.

Agreed, however they only scored two runs yesterday.

Jays had chances but made mistakes (i.e. Bautista).

Yes the bullpen gave up the runs, however this should not have been a 2-0 game.

[JayP]

Originally Posted by cross16

Zach Britton is also having a season for the ages so i'm not sure that is the best point of reference to compare. Osuna has also thrown basically 6 full innings more than Britton and is the 2nd most used closer in baseball behind Familia.

I don't disagree he needs to bear down but I do think Gibbons needs to do a better job of managing the work load on him.

He's also only 26th in innings pitched for relievers. Lots of closers are in that 65-70 innings pitched range so it's not like he's head and shoulders above the crowd. He's pretty right where most closers who've been healthy all year end up.

I can understand the argument that Grilli is wearing down - he's 39. But Osuna is 21 and pitching as much as any other high leverage reliever. If he can't handle that kind of workload then he's not an elite reliever.

I don't like Gibbons bullpen management as much as anyone else, but him over-using Osuna simply isn't an issue. He definitely mismanages his usage so that he ends up pitching in low leverage situations too often, but his overall workload is fine.

[howard_the_duck]

It's been really confusing how Gibby has used the bullpen over the last little stretch here, and that's normally his strength as a manager.

Pitching Osuna on Tuesday with a 5-1 lead was as confusing a move as he's made. It's hard to argue it didn't contribute to that blown save last night. I get that he's lacking options in that bullpen but his over reliance on Grilli/Osuna/Benoit down the stretch is putting the team in a very difficult position.

[howard_the_duck]

Originally Posted by JayP

He's also only 26th in innings pitched for relievers. Lots of closers are in that 65-70 innings pitched range so it's not like he's head and shoulders above the crowd. He's pretty right where most closers who've been healthy all year end up.

I can understand the argument that Grilli is wearing down - he's 39. But Osuna is 21 and pitching as much as any other high leverage reliever. If he can't handle that kind of workload then he's not an elite reliever.

I don't like Gibbons bullpen management as much as anyone else, but him over-using Osuna simply isn't an issue. He definitely mismanages his usage so that he ends up pitching in low leverage situations too often, but his overall workload is fine.

Read an article on bluejaysnation today that stated Osuna's usage at age 21 is the highest in the PitchFX era.

Not entirely surprising given how successful he's been at a young age, but still serves as a reminder that Gibby is leaning on him AWFULLY hard.

[ClubFlames]

Minor leaguer 1B Jesus Montero suspended 50 games for substance abuse.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

I never even clued in that there is a slight possibility that tonight is the last home game for both EE and Jose. Kinda sad, if it works out that way.

[rubecube]

So what's the tiebreaking procedure if the Tigers, Ms, Jays, and Os all finish with the same record?

EDIT: NM, found the answer.

EDIT #2: Actually, it'd still be pandemonium.

Three teams tie for two Wild Card spots
This is where it gets confusing, but it's looking possible in the National League, so let's use those three teams as an example.

If the Cardinals, Mets and Giants finish with the same record they would receive an A, B or C designation. Think of this almost like a draft, and the team that holds the tiebreaker over the other two gets the "first pick" and can choose the scenario it likes best.

The Cards and Mets both have the season-series edge over the Giants, and the Cards and Mets split their series set, so first choice would go to the club with the better intradivision record, which is the Cardinals as of now, but that could change before the end of the season.

For example, let's assume that the Cardinals (first pick) and Mets (second pick) both choose the designations that give them two chances to make the Postseason, leaving the Giants with only one chance. The Cardinals and Mets would play in St. Louis on Monday, Oct. 3.

The winner of that game would become the host team in the actual Wild Card Game; the loser would travel to San Francisco for a game on Oct. 4.

The winner of the game in San Francisco would earn the second Wild Card spot, and would be the road team against the winner of Monday's game in the NL Wild Card Game on Wednesday, Oct. 5.

However, it is possible that the Mets would decide that they prefer to play one home game with a rested pitching staff for a spot in the Wild Card Game. In that case, the Giants would travel to St. Louis for the tiebreaker game on Oct. 3, with the Mets waiting to host the loser on Oct. 4. However, in this scenario the Mets would be forfeiting any chance of hosting the actual NL Wild Card Game, making it less likely.
Three teams tie for one Wild Card

In a three-team tie, the three teams would choose their A, B and C designations, with Club C traveling to face the winner of the game between Clubs A and B to determine who advances to the Wild Card Game.

As an example, here's how it would play out in the American League if we get a three-team tie among the Orioles, Tigers and Mariners for the second Wild Card spot.

The Mariners have combined for a 9-5 record against the other two teams, while the Tigers and Orioles are 6-8. Therefore, the Mariners would have "first pick." The Orioles had the superior head-to-head record against the Tigers (5-2), so they would have "second pick."

In this scenario, the Mariners face a choice: Would we rather have to win two home games on consecutive days (Oct. 3-4) to clinch a Wild Card spot (Club A designation), or win one road game on Oct. 4 (Club C designation)?

There has yet to be a three-way tie since the second Wild Card team was added in 2012, so there is no precedent for which designation a team would pick.

[Jiggy_12]

We've seen Stroman in gigantic pressure games before, and he's handled them well.

Got a scoreless first inning yet allowed two hits, but I'll take it.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by 868904

I really don't like that argument. Pitching a lot of high leverage innings doesn't seem to bother Zach Britton.

Both guys just need to bear down.

Actually in Grilli's case, he's probably just old but that's what you get when you rely on 39 year old relievers.

Grilli's start with the Jays was pretty lucky to be blunt. He put them in some bad situations that the defense really bailed him out of it. I can think of 2-3 times where Tulo pulled a double play out of his ass. He has absolutely no command of this pitches. You can't have a guy that walks people as your 8th inning shut down guy.

He didn't just come from Atlanta and turn his season around instantly. The defense in front of him helped him out bigtime. He all got pumped with his grunts and yelling when he'd get out of an inning, and I think it blinded us to the fact that he was always one pitch from a meltdown. That pitch is going the other way now out of our favour.

[JayP]

This team is allergic to big hits. Get a couple guys on and it's all strikeouts and soft grounders. Make the other team make a play at least

[868904]

For all the talk about the bullpen lately, I still have more confidence in them to get the job done, then I do with the hitters.

At least the bullpen has performed well at certain points of the season. The hitters have been like this all year long.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by 868904

For all the talk about the bullpen lately, I still have more confidence in them to get the job done, then I do with the hitters.

At least the bullpen has performed well at certain points of the season. The hitters have been like this all year long.

I've never had any confidence in Grilli. Benoit on the other hand, that guy was a beast.

Hopefully we can use Liriano in the playoffs.

[Cuz]

For me the loss yesterday is on Gibby's mismanagement of the bullpen from previous games.

[TheAlpineOracle]

Originally Posted by Cuz

For me the loss yesterday is on Gibby's mismanagement of the bullpen from previous games.

I think Gibby is a bad manager, but I don't think you can blame him for yesterday. Sure it was a 5-1 game against Baltimore, but that is a big game and you need to make sure you win it. I don't think he had any choice but to bring in Osuna with Benoit on the shelf.

[Machiavelli]

"You're not always gonna hit home runs"

--- note to the Jays

[Karl]

Please win this one Jays...

[Karl]

Sigh...can't ####ing score. Cripes.

[Inferno]

Ugh, another fielding mistake.

[Karl]

Damn it!

[Machiavelli]

When you're struggling to score, you can't make mistakes like that...