2020 Blue Jays Season Thread

[SportsJunky]

The Athletic had most of their senior baseball writers predict the winners. Not one writer picked Toronto to get past the Rays.

[Crown Royal]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

The Athletic had most of their senior baseball writers predict the winners. Not one writer picked Toronto to get past the Rays.

Let them underrate us. We were two blown leads opening weekend away from winning the series with Tampa. It's going to be much closer than we get credit for.

Also schedule has been released

Tuesday 3pm MT
Wednesday 2pm MT
Thursday tbd

[SportsJunky]

Tuesday 3pm MT
Watch a ball game and then the Presidential debates. My day is planned out.

[flamingred89]

3pm is as good as start time as we could expect out here. So I'm quite please with that. Allows me to be productive and then have some guilt free beers. Going to be a fun couple of days.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by SportsJunky

The Athletic had most of their senior baseball writers predict the winners. Not one writer picked Toronto to get past the Rays.

I wouldn't pick the Jays either.

The Rays went 40-20. They are a very good team, well balanced, and their pitching is miles ahead of ours from top to bottom, at least on paper. Usually in the post season good pitching trumps good hitting.

Jays have shown to be resilient though, and anything can happen, especially in a best of 3.

[mrkajz44]

Yeah, not sure it's surprising everyone is picking the top seed in the league to win. The trouble with baseball is its very high variance, so pretty much anything can happen in a 3 game series. One bad pitching performance could sink a team.

[jroc]

So I know all 3 games are at the Trop, but will the Jays be the 'home team' and bat at the bottom of the inning for any of the games?

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by jroc

So I know all 3 games are at the Trop, but will the Jays be the 'home team' and bat at the bottom of the inning for any of the games?

No, they're the road team all three games according to Buck yesterday.

[KelVarnsen]

Things that make you go what?

https://twitter.com/user/status/1310684520778211330

Why is Shoemaker going first?

[Scornfire]

I guess game 2 will be an elimination game either way, is that their logic?

[Inferno]

I don't know how true it is but I'm seeing people claiming Ryu asked for an extra day off. I would have went with Walker but I guess if there's a game 3 they maybe feel better having him pitch.

[Roof-Daddy]

I don't see the big deal really.

If by some miracle you beat Glasnow in game 1 without using Ryu you are in a really great spot.

If you lose, then at least you have Ryu going in game 2 vs their 2nd best pitcher instead of head to head against Glasnow.


EDIT: never mind, I just saw the Rays pitching order and it's Snell - Glasnow - Morton

So game 2 will certainly be ace vs ace.

[Jiggy_12]

Heard rumbling of this yesterday so not shocked.

Game 1 and 2 in isolation carry equal weight, so doesn’t really matter which one Ryu goes in.

In a 5 or 7 game series you pitch Ryu in game 1 for sure, to maximize the amount of appearances he can make. But in a 3 game series he’s only pitching once, so no difference between 1 and 2.

[Kasi]

Also a four day break after this first round so it doesn’t affect the next round regardless.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by Scornfire

I guess game 2 will be an elimination game either way, is that their logic?

On the broadcast they said Ryu asked for 1 additional day of rest.

Which is the reason, he is starting game #2.

[Enoch Root]

Yes, Ryu asked for a day.

And the reason they went with Shoemaker (as opposed to Walker) is because it is really Shoemaker/Ray, which gives them a rightie and then a leftie, in an attempt to neutralize some of their left handed bats, as well as to force them (hopefully) to make some switches after the pitching change, and use up their bench.

Then another leftie in game 2

Then Walker if needed in game 3

[Jiggy_12]

Yeah I basically just read something to that effect, but added this.

Ryu as a lefty goes in game 2, so the Rays lineup will be more RH heavy that day. Meaning we can save the LH relievers for games 1 and 3, giving them a day of rest in between.

Small detail but some critical strategy at play.

[Crown Royal]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yes, Ryu asked for a day.

And the reason they went with Shoemaker (as opposed to Walker) is because it is really Shoemaker/Ray, which gives them a rightie and then a leftie, in an attempt to neutralize some of their left handed bats, as well as to force them (hopefully) to make some switches after the pitching change, and use up their bench.

Then another leftie in game 2

Then Walker if needed in game 3

I was going to say exactly this. Shoemaker & Ray will piggyback. Ryu wanted the extra day because there was soreness after his last start.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

I may have to order one of these. My old one from the 90s with weird and cheesy graphics is worn out.

[Parallex]

Yeah, Ol'timey guys will get ornery about the ace starting game two but it makes a ton of sense since it will allow them to use the lefties out of the pen more effectively and there is no difference between game 1 & game 2 in terms of value. Not sure why it's Shoemaker and not Walker... Shoemaker has the better splits vs. Lefties this year (which is a small sample size) so I guess that would be the argument.

Tough draw, Tampa has so few weaknesses... but it's a three game series that's as close to a crapshoot as you can get in baseball so we have the proverbial punchers chance.