Wow, are those hats ugly...

Carrera's biggest improvement this year is not with his bat, but with his batting eye. He is drawing walks like he never has before (at least in the majors; he did do some walking at various stops in the minors).

It will be interesting to see what exactly happens when Bautista comes back. Smoak may find himself losing even more at-bats, now to Carrera as well.

I mean Sanchez is kind of in the Cy race with the allstar break coming up.

It's funny - way back when the Jays had Sanchez, Syndergaard and Nicolino, I expressed a slight preference for keeping Sanchez over Syndergaard. That preference looked wrong for a long time, but I'm no longer convinced that Syndergaard will be the better pitcher going forward. They both look that good.

yep you kept the faith in Sanchez. i never thought he'd command like this. commanding a 98mph fastball that moves like he does is crazy enough. but then he's commanding that ridiculous curve up and down too. sure hope this isn't a blip.

I'm now completely in favour of him staying the rotation for the rest of the season - innings limit be damned! Of course it concerns me that he'll throw ~200 innings this season, but he's a 24 y/o, big strong athlete with a great delivery, and it's his 7th season pitching professionally. His future is now and he's on top of his game and 2016 is a "go for it" year with JB and EE hitting FA.

Yeah, Sanchez and Happ are in the Cy Race,  but for behind Sale.

Wow, are those hats ugly...

I liked what Cleveland did for Canada Day. A Canadian flag arm patch. That's really all that's necessary. The stars hats were bad, the maple leaf hats today misplaced as were the Blue Jays' Canadian flag patches for Independence Day in my view.

A Canada flag arm patch on Canada Day and a US flag patch on Independence Day is all that's needed.

Well, when he throws  2 or 3 hits over 8 innings, he saves the whole bullpen, so there's no need for him to throw the 8th every other day.

Maybe somebody's collecting those hats.

I wouldn't be caught wearing those.

Another strong game for Barney. Gibbons is trying hard to find innings for everyone and to rest the regulars.
Zaun doesn't like it, but it seems it's all Gibby needs to do.

Sanchez is amazing right now. Legit ace the way he's pitching. The innings keep climbing though. They'll need to be creative to keep the total down.

It would be nice if the Jays head to the ASB 9 or 10 games over .500 for once. They always seem to be +/- .500 around this time.

Daniel Norris’s injury woes continue. Tonite, a right oblique strain takes him out in the 3rd inning, same injury that already kept him out for 1 month earlier this season. Maybe it was the ugly hat he had to wear.

However, this gives Regina’s Dustin Molleken his major league debut. He allows an inherited run of Norris’s that inning. He goes 2 full innings, then he allows 2 hits in the 5th and is removed. Final line is a bit spotty, 2IP 3H 1BB 2K 1ER.

Dustin is 31 years old, originally drafted in 2003. He has pitched in Japan, won a Pan Am gold for Canada in 2011, and has been in the Pittsburgh, Colorado, Milwaukee and Cleveland organizations, before signing a minor league contract with Detroit this winter. Now that’s perseverance. Unfortunately, he too had to wear that cap.

The innings keep climbing though. They'll need to be creative to keep the total down.

One small blessing, though I doubt he thinks so, is that he is scheduled to pitch Sunday and thus may not pitch in the ASG.

This is certainly the time for a winning streak.They play two present WC contenders. Exactly half of the AL are within 2.5 games of each other for WC positions.

The innings keep climbing but he doesn't go over 100 pitches.

The AL East race and the WC race are tightening up.

It would be good if the Jays could find one more quality starting pitcher for the stretch run and playoffs. If Estrada's injury issues continue and Sanchez gets bounced from the rotation, things could get tough for the Jays at a critical time.

The innings keep climbing but he doesn't go over 100 pitches.

Keeping pitchers healthy -- pitchers of all ages, including the currently DL'd Kershaw and Greinke -- seems to be an area of the game where precious little progress has been made. Any decisions pertaining to Sanchez are going to be someone's best bet, not the byproduct of hard science. There is lots of room for opinion without the opposing side being able to bring much evidence to argue a contrary position.

I won't presume to suggest what the best solution might be. It sure feels as though dramatically increasing a young pitcher's workload runs the risk of coming with a price (insofar as we have seen this many times before), but who knows where the line between safe and unsafe is?

I will say that while it seems good that Sanchez's pitch counts are usually under 100 (100 being an arbitrary threshold based on evolution giving us 10 fingers and thus a base-10 society), I don't think that a season of 32 96-pitch starts makes him necessarily immune to injury. It's not like "under 100" represents a safe zone, though it does presumably correlate to relatively few high-pitch innings, which many argue are especially stressful.

Whatever the brass decides about Sanchez, there will be controversy.

One small blessing, though I doubt he thinks so, is that he is scheduled to pitch Sunday and thus may not pitch in the ASG.

And I believe that he can still be honoured by being named to the all-star team, and then immediately replaced because of his lack of availability.

I don't think pitching 1 inning in the all-star game would make any difference.

A little while back, I had commented that Donaldson had seemed to revert to his Oakland levels, i.e., merely excellent and not MVP-caliber. Obviously that has all changed and he is showing everyone that his 2016 was not an outlier season.

Interestingly, like Carerra, his offensive improvement is basically walks (his AVG and SLG being virtually the same as last year).

Not sure what to make of this string of Blue Jays -- Bautista, Encarnacion, Donaldson -- who have decided that traditional aging curves don't apply to them, that their peaks are a few years later than normal. Is there something in the water? Can I have some?

Not sure what to make of this string of Blue Jays -- Bautista, Encarnacion, Donaldson -- who have decided that traditional aging curves don't apply to them, that their peaks are a few years later than normal. Is there something in the water? Can I have some?

I'm not sure either, but I do have a theory.  All of them spent their baseball youth (through age 25 or later) at defensive positions which were very challenging for them.  I don't think that it is an accident that all three of them took a big step forward with the bat once moved to positions which were more suitable.  So, if you wanted to compare (say) Albert Pujols with Edwin Encarnacion.  Both were great hitting prospects (Pujols was somewhat better but not as much as you might think), and both were poor fielding third basemen.  The Cardinals wisely moved Pujols off the position relatively quickly to left field and then first base full-time by age 23.  The Reds stuck Encarnacion at third base until he was 26.  He came to Toronto, where the third base effort continued for too long, and then they moved him to first base/DH where he ought to have been many years prior.  This allowed him to focus on hitting, and he has flourished. 

I remember having the same thought about Billy Hamilton.  You've got this very fast player who is trying to learn to play shortstop and to hit.  For years before the Reds finally moved him to centerfield, I wondered why they couldn't see that this ought to be done.  I think that teams get seduced by upside..."what if we had a great hitting shortstop who ran like the wind?" and forget about the odds that a player will develop substantially both with the bat and the glove are not high. 

Keeping pitchers healthy -- pitchers of all ages, including the currently DL'd Kershaw and Greinke -- seems to be an area of the game where precious little progress has been made.

I wonder whether it is even possible to make progress. Throwing a baseball overhand is an unnatural act. Throwing a baseball overhand at 95 mph is even more unnatural.

I read somewhere (I forget the source) that pitching is an act of deliberate self-injury, followed by a healing period, followed by another self-injury. I don't know if there is anything the Jays can do to preserve Sanchez's arm, other than the obvious things such as monitoring when he is tired or asking him whether he is hurt.

strasburg getting shutdown during a contending season and still getting injured has soured me forever on innings limits.

the only case in recent memory that convinced me of anything was when the cubs shredded the arms of Kerry Wood at al by letting them throw 120 pitches a game. So i do believe in pitch limits.

I remember Morrow and Drabek having a 30+ pitch inning quite often.
Also a very good point about EE and Pujols taking off after their to move to 1B.

I wonder what kind of career Cliff Johnson would have had if the Astros had traded him to an American League team early in his career and that team gave him the everyday DH job (as happened to David Ortiz later on).  I don't think that he was quite as good a hitter as David Ortiz, but I'll venture a guess that he would have had a pretty fine and long career as an everyday player. 

Cliff spent his formative years as a catcher.  That did not go well.

When Russ Martin was signed I thought that he would be a big help with our young pitchers adjusting to the Majors.
That cannot be proved. But Sanchez is v good. Not Stroman yet. Also Hutch last year not that good.

AJ Burnett, Estrada and Happ were probably also helped.

"Not sure what to make of this string of Blue Jays -- Bautista, Encarnacion, Donaldson -- who have decided that traditional aging curves don't apply to them, that their peaks are a few years later than normal. Is there something in the water? Can I have some?"

All i can think of is not that they have a weird aging curve, but that not having the right coaching stole a whole bunch of their early prime away from them.

not that it's the coaches' fault - just that these guys didn't stumble upon the approach that worked for them until late.

The late development was likely a combination of different factors. IIRC, Bautista's swing was tweaked by Murphy/Cito, and Encarnacion's by Luis Mercedes. So coaching, timing, playing time, position changes, etc.

Apparently Bautista's success began after a simple tip from Vernon Wells in July to start his swing a little earlier.  He started hitting home runs in bunches in September.

Making progress as a hitter usually requires continuous study.  You can see it in all of Bautista, Encarnacion and Donaldson.  It is very hard to devote the single-minded attention to hitting that progress requires when the player is struggling to learn to play a position well.  Here's an example where the struggle wasn't quite as hard.  Tim Wallach was a first baseman who was converted to third base.  He struggled there for a couple of years through age 25 (don't let the statistics on BBRef fool you into believing he was average- he wasn't), but became much better defensively in his mid 20s.   He had his best offensive years at age 32 and 36.  In that case, the struggles were not as severe as Encarnacion's and Wallach's career was probably well-served by the transition to third base. 

Can anyone recall a club with as many exciting young players in the lineup and in the high minors as the Cubs have now?  It's easy to forget that Kyle Schwarber is out for the year, Jorge Soler is likely still a fine young player and Ian Happ is a great prospect and Billy McKinney is pretty good himself. 

It's strange also how the Castro/Warren trade has worked out badly for both clubs so far. 

funny I was thinking the cubs were actually being secretly carried by their older players. They've only got one guy younger than 26 that's excelling, really.

Can anyone recall a club with as many exciting young players in the lineup and in the high minors as the Cubs have now?

Yes, I can think of one offhand.

:-)

Re the Cubs youngsters, don't forget that Addison (22) and Baez (23) are key contributors (helping make Castro jettison-worthy) and Contreras (24) is perhaps going to be this year's Schwarber.

All 9 Cubs starters were 26 or younger yesterday. That hadn't happened in MLB in over 50 years.

Totally unrelated to this thread, a bWAR look at the young shortstops in baseball.

• Seager (22) 3.5
• Lindor (23) 3.3
• Boegarts (23) 3.0
• Correa (21) 2.5
• Diaz (25) 2.3
• Russell (22) 2.0
• Villar (25) 1.9
• Story (23) 1.8
• Semien (25) 1.8
• Anderson (23) 1.3

This collection contains some guys are not as young (25) and some with reasons for concern (Diaz's pre-2016 track record, Anderson's 33:1 K:BB ratio, etc.)

FYI: Tulowitzki is 31 with a 1.7 WAR, basically tied with his replacement though costing approximately $20M more.

You are drafting a team from scratch. Which one do you choose? Correa is the youngest. Seager is 5 months older and Lindor 10 months older. Tough call.

From that list I go Lindor. He's the one with the best glove, and his bat is starting to convince the skeptics.

But that list is missing the best one - 23yr old Manny Machado.

Lindor is actually 22, not 23, so even better than my list suggests.

I was going to include Machado but I think he'll be a 3B, not a SS.

maybe, but imo he's a better SS glove than a bunch of guys on that list.

Contreras' hot start just adds to their embarassment of riches.  and of course, they have arguably the best management team in the game as well ... the youth / athleticism on the team lets them play Maddon-ball - Bryant has played 6 different positions, Baez 5.  Russel and Almora are elite young defenders, Edward Jr. looks like a flamethrower in the pen.  they could trade an elite talent like Rizzo and not miss a beat with Vogelbach ready to step in.

And while their pitching is not nearly as young, they are one of two starting rotations to utilize the same 5 guys all year.  Just ridiculous. 

 

I'm not saying Machado can't play SS, just that Hardy will be around for a couple of years and get in the way.

What would Earl Weaver have done? (he asks knowingly)

I believe these numbers are correct:

Division Win%

1.ALE .513
2.NLW .502
3.ALC .502
4.ALW .500
5.NLC .492
6.NLE .490

Division Run Diff Per Game

1.ALE +0.162
2.ALW +0.048
3.NLC +0.034
4.NLW +0.024
5.ALC -0.085
6.NLE -0.183

Red Sox

* First 38gms: 24-14, .632, +59rundiff
* Last 44gms: 21-23, .477, -1rundiff

Blue Jays

* First 42gms: 19-23, .452, -5rundiff
* Last 43gms: 27-16, .628, +62rundiff

I tried to find good comps for Carlos Correa, so I ran a Play Index- shortstops who have at least 700 PAs and 30 homers through age 21.  I got a class of two- Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Correa.  Correa is a good bet to be a hitting beast in his mid 20s and play some kind of useful defence, although probably not at shortstop.  He has a decent chance to be a better hitter than Machado, and that is saying something.   Seager isn't too far behind Correa.

I am not as sure as others about Machado's future.  He has had ligament repairs on both knees at a very young age, and has noticeably lost range (from outstanding to quite good).  Obviously he can hit, but it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up as a first baseman sooner than you might expect.  Maybe something like Joe Mauer. 

Apparently Bautista's success began after a simple tip from Vernon Wells in July to start his swing a little earlier.

What I remembered was Gaston & Murphy worked on his swing and approach, including a lot of effort to get him to swing earlier. He thought he was doing that, but got nowhere until Wells told him to try swinging "ridiculously" early. "If you look like a fool, it's only one day".

His first at bat trying that approach (he said he thought he swung before the pitcher had released the ball), he drove it off the outfield wall. Homerun later that day. Joey Bats was born.

SI article from 2011: http://www.si.com/vault/2011/06/27/106081977/do-you-believe-in-jose-bautista

Baez, Bryant, and Russell each park a HR in the same inning down 5-0 to bring them right back into the game. What a core.

With Wade Davis now on the DL, it is more important than ever to make Royals' starters throw strikes.  Chris Young has had a lot of issues with the strike zone this year... 

Happy 33rd birthday to Marco Estrada.  Sometimes your body lets you know you're in the middle of the road.

In 5 June starts across 21.1 innings, Chris Young walked 16 batters and gave up 9 HRs. They let him off the hook in the ALCS. With the Dome open tonight, I hope they lay a beating on this guy. Park one Thole.

My apologies for the completely off-topic post but I am wondering if those Bauxites that are fortunate enough to frequent the Rogers Centre can recommend anything of interest at the park one should experience on a visit - beyond the game of course. My son and I are flying in to town for the first three games of the Tigers series this weekend and we have not been to the Rogers Centre since the infamous A-Rod game. Is there anything new that is noteworthy? My thanks in advance for any input/suggestions.

I don't usually do anything at the RC but watch the game.

There are a ton of interesting things happening in TO this weekend. I am a big fan of the Fringe Theater festival. It is 12 bucks for a show and they run from all kinds of comedy- sketch, improv etc.- to drama and dance.

Hodgie take in at least an inning or two in the flight deck in centerfield. Standing room only but imo best atmosphere in the park.

oh and avail yourself of the nice new selection of legit solid beers they sell.

Saturdays are kids days. If you get there early there are kids activities at the south end of the RC. Plus kids can run the bases after the game, I believe. I don't have young kids and I tend not to go on Saturdays but I think my comments are correct.

Friday night tends to be a more social crowd, often an after work get together, whereas the weekends are more for families.

Also bring the sunscreen if your seats are in the sun.

"Apparently Bautista's success began after a simple tip from Vernon Wells in July to start his swing a little earlier. He started hitting home runs in bunches in September."

To be fair, it started with Cito and Murphy re-inventing Jose's swing to pull the ball. Pirates had him hitting it up the middle. But yeah, he couldn't quite get his timing down until Vernon's tip.

No Jays starters on the all-star team. In previous years the Jays and Rogers promoted all-star voting heavily. I don't recall seeing much promotion this year.

I hope they lay a beating on this guy

Ask and ye shall receive. I was going to suggest that he might be a good candidate to be given his release, but he's owed $7.2M after this season. That's a lot of scratch for KC to eat.

Cliff [Johnson] spent his formative years as a catcher. That did not go well.

No kidding. Not to mention he spent the first half of his career trying to hit in the Astrodome and Yankee Stadium. He actually hit quite well for the Astros, but the Dome took a big bite out of his numbers. And of course the man was not exactly born to be a catcher. Can't imagine how he ever ended up there in the first place. Anyway, the first team to make him a regular DH was Oakland in 1981, when he was already 33. He had 400 ABs exactly once in 15 seasons, with the 1983 Jays.

Whatever the brass decides about Sanchez, there will be controversy.

Also, no kidding. People have lots and lots of theories, but nobody knows anything. In Chris Sale's age 23 season, he went 17-8, 3.05 in 192 IP. Sale had never pitched more than 71 innings in a season before.

Young is getting lit up like the old Madame La Rue pinball machine. Maybe he'll get named as a reserve for the homerun derby.

Is it 6-0 yet?

Damn, Thole only got one shot at Young. He did drive that 3-1 pitch to the wall though, just missed it.

Ideally Dickey would be out of the game very soon.  The bullpen has had a nice rest over the last couple of days, and is 8 deep. 

.200 is the Mendoza line .... is Thole gunning for naming rights on .100?  I can't remember a worse offensive player on this team, and I remember Garth Iorg.

Iorg had a pretty good year in 1985. He hit .313/.358/.469 (122 wRC+) in 312 PA. He was worth 1.9 fWAR that year.

Looks as though it could be another Donaldson/Trout MVP race this year.

We're in 2nd place. Might be 1.5 back of 1st tonight.


Funny Story: A team that finished in last place in each of the last 2yrs moved all the way up to 3rd for the first half of this season and thus just had 7 guys named to the all star game as a result.

I've followed the Jays since 1983, and I can't remember a worse offensive performance than J.P. Arencibia's 2013, at least for a starter.

I don't really get those unlimited voting schemes.

I don't really get those unlimited voting schemes.

Hint: It's about advertising, not democracy.

The Sanchez issue would make a good "You Be The Manager/Pitching Coach" question, but a broader one than just Sanchez- "What would be your plan for the pitching staff for the remainder of the season?".

My answer:

1.  There is no need for seasonal inning limits on any of the starters, but I do wish to make sure that Sanchez and the others have enough left in the tank to give you 5 starts in the playoffs- ergo
2.  Mix in Hutchison for starts here and there so that the starters each end up making 30 or 31 starts for the season, assuming good health.
3.  Keep Sanchez to a pitch limit per start- he's thrown a maximum of 106 pitches in a start so far and I'd make that the max and try to keep it right around 100 pitches...(which should be easier because)
4.  The bullpen is in much better shape now- Cecil looks very good, Grilli is a good addition, Loup looks loupable (and the club has Schultz and Barnes ready in Buffalo)...the club also has a lighter schedule after the All-Star break with 3 days off in July after the break and no more than 10 games in a row in August until the rosters expand...the bullpen can be used a little more after the break safely
5.  Keep giving Chavez the occasional 3 or 4 inning outing...he's your 7th starter, if necessary.

A team that finished in last place in each of the last 2yrs moved all the way up to 3rd for the first half of this season and thus just had 7 guys named to the all star game as a result.

The Red Sox only have 6 so far -- Pedroia isn't in yet. Since this is funny to you, which of the 6 do you feel got in undeservedly? Ortiz? No. Bogaerts? No. Bradley Jr.? No, but shouldn't be starting. Wright? No. Betts? No. Kimbrel? Maybe -- but the players voted him in.

Honestly, I do not care about the All Star Game.  Truly, sincerely. 

Now that that's out of the way, I find it unbelievable that Aaron Sanchez was not named to the team over someone like Brad Brach.

I'd say even if we say that all that matters is the performance in the first half of this year, then all of betts, wright, kimbrel, and pedroia are very questionable selections, and not the kind that usually get in from a perennial non playoff team.

and yes, I find it very funny that a team that has been last place for years, and won't be in a playoff spot at the break, has 7 allstars.

At least the Cubs are awesome this year, like the royals last year, which made the borderline selections more understandable.

If Hutchison and Estrada (pushed back) are both starting this week, then I wouldn't start Sanchez at all until after the ASB. Perfect opportunity to skip his start and give him extended rest.

In the random batter vs. pitcher dept., Junior Lake has faced Ian Kennedy 6 times, hit a homer, two doubles, walked and laid down a sacrifice bunt (whatever for?). His slash line is a cool .750/.800/2.000.  I know that some smart-ass will be hissing "sss" but I'll bet that he's in the lineup today...

Jays now have the best fangraphs odds in the division in every playoff possibility.

If Hutchison and Estrada (pushed back) are both starting this week, then I wouldn't start Sanchez at all until after the ASB. Perfect opportunity to skip his start and give him extended rest.

As I understand the reasoning from the quotes of Gibbons in the press, Hutchison may start to push back Estrada a day, which is to say I don't understand the reasoning at all. If Estrada should be pushed back, it makes more sense to me to simply skip his start and give him the rest. He'll pitch an inning in San Diego I imagine. Sanchez pitched well last time out and skipping him makes less sense.

"....the club has Schultz and Barnes ready in Buffalo...."

They also have Morales almost ready in Buffalo.  As a specialist against LHB, Morales is probably a better option than Loup.  Certainly he had much better numbers than Loup against LHB in the majors last season.  He has pitched 5 scoreless innings for the Bisons so far, allowing just 2 hits.  He should be available very soon, if not already.

I see Fulmer is scheduled to pitch for the Tigers and would thus miss the Toronto series. Small mercies.

I'd say even if we say that all that matters is the performance in the first half of this year, then all of betts, wright, kimbrel, and pedroia are very questionable selections, and not the kind that usually get in from a perennial non playoff team.

Pedroia is still not in, yet.

Betts has been the best RF in MLB this half-season. That shouldn't count for everything, but it does count for something.

Steven Wright has a 2.42 ERA. (Yes, ERA is not perfect...)

I understand hating on the Red Sox and their hype train, but you're off the mark on this one.

I had always been under the impressions that the ASG was to showcase the players the fans wanted to see, not necessarily the best performing players over an arbitrary (and fluid) time frame. I have also thought there was little purpose in getting worked up over a glorified exhibition game, even if 'it counts' (unless, perhaps, the glorified exhibition is a playoff game).

Quite frankly, I'd love it if all the Jays got a 4 day break while half of Boston's roster had to fly to San Diego and back.

I am not suggesting that first-half performance ought to be determinative, but if you look at the fWAR position player leaders for 2016, four of the top eleven names are Red Sox.  Dustin Pedroia is #17 and is a plausible candidate for a fan vote. 

I certainly can see the argument against Steven Wright, as well as Kimbrel.  For knuckleballers, it is particularly important to look at RA/9 and the effect on catchers.  Wright has allowed 14 unearned runs in 16 starts, so he's allowed just under 3.6 runs per 9 IP. The guy who has caught him the most (Ryan Hanigan) has 17 passed balls in half a season (previous career high for a season 4) and is posting a Thole-like OPS+ of 28.  In my view, Wright has been good but not great.  The five other starters on the team are Estrada, Hamels, Salazar and Sale.  Quintana, Kluber, Tanaka and Sanchez would all be better choices than Wright, in my view. 

Not only is Fulmer pitching today, but Zimmermann and Norris are on the DL, so the Tigers are rolling in to town with Verlander, Pelfrey, Who, and What. Buck Farmer? Matt Boyd? Come on up!

Anibal Sanchez will almost certainly be either "Who" or "What".

Well, Sanchez should be rested after last night :)

yes you can make an argument for all of them.

....betts has a good war despite less than eye popping stats.

....wright has a good era despite the rest of the numbers not being there.

.....kimbrel and pedroia had borderline stats but have allstar reputations.

there's an argument to be made for all of them. but borderline cases don't usually go the way of teams unless the team is awesome.

I'm pretty darn sure no other perennial non-playoff team would get 7 all stars picked, just as I'm sure sanchez and osuna would be in if they wore red socks.

Nothing to get worked up about, but funny nonetheless how much the baseball world wants the red sox to be better than they are.

Who's on the pitching mound? ...Saturday
What?....Sunday
I thought you said Saturday?...who's on the pitching mound
that's what I'm asking you......

I never watch the All-Star Game, so I don't care whether they have two Red Sox, seven Red Sox, or 25 Red Sox on the team. Heck, they can sing "Sweet Caroline" during the seventh-inning stretch for all I care.

The All-Star Game was more meaningful back in the days before the Internet, when the only non-local baseball available to the average viewer was the NBC Game Of The Week (which usually featured the Yankees or the Dodgers versus whoever). The All-Star Game was often the only chance we fans could see J. Remote Superstar. Now, the serious or semi-serious fan can watch any team at any time.

The important bit is that the Jays just passed the Sox in the standings. Hopefully for good.

The Jays bullpen is well rested right now and there's a 4 gamer on deck vs. the righty-heavy Tigers, so I doubt Gibbons is interested in any roster changes to switch lefties, and if you read Lott's piece on Morales it didn't seem like anything is imminent. Barring injury, the Osuna-Grilli/Cecil-Chavez-Storen-Loup-Biagini (Hutchison) bullpen could be the one the team uses through July, as there's plenty of rest and off days coming up.

"I'm pretty darn sure no other perennial non-playoff team would get 7 all stars picked"

UO, the Blue Jays are more of a perennial non playoff team than the Red Sox.

The Sox won the world series 3 world series ago.

Sweet Caroline is their eighth inning song, Dave, not that you should care! Or maybe you should.  Hooked on a Feeling has so much more...um...schmalz.  It's like a trip to Caplansky's without the hit to the blood pressure and cholesterol.

is it possible for anything to have more schmaltz than a neil diamond tune?

It all depends on how you sing it.  UB40 would probably do a pretty good version of Sweet Caroline.

ha. yes they would.

Sweet Caroline is their eighth inning song, Dave, not that you should care! Or maybe you should. Hooked on a Feeling has so much more...um...schmalz.

I have been to enough games this year that I am already so sick of Hooked On A Feeling. Gack. I would rather voluntarily listen to Gregg Zaun than hear it again.

Given a choice between Hooked On A Feeling and Sweet Caroline, I would strongly consider the third alternative of inserting Q-tips deep into my eardrums to puncture them.

It's like a trip to Caplansky's without the hit to the blood pressure and cholesterol.

What!? You're dissing Caplansky's? Them's fightin' words, big guy. Caplansky's has yummy deli food. Next, you'll be hating on Burrito Bandidos, in which case I'll have to cut off communication with you completely.

Not dissing Caplansky's, Dave.  The food is good, but there is a price to pay. As for burritos, they're not really my favourite Mexican food, but I am sure that we could find common ground on that one too. 

Anibal Sanchez will almost certainly be either "Who" or "What".

We should be so lucky. Didn't Matt Boyd beat Toronto this year? I'd much rather face Anibal than a lefty. Actually, except for Clay and James Shields, I might rather face Anibal than anyone.

Not dissing Caplansky's, Dave. The food is good, but there is a price to pay.

Whew. That was close.

As for burritos, they're not really my favourite Mexican food, but I am sure that we could find common ground on that one too.

If you haven't been to Burrito Bandidos (or its sister chain, Burrito Boyz - they were one company until the owners split), you owe it to yourself to try it. I love it, and I know of no human with more whitebread tastes in food than me (I omit all the spicy things in my order). Even Jose Bautista himself recommends Burrito Boyz. You will thank me later!

Matt Boyd?  He did pitch into the 6th inning against the Jays, giving up 5 walks and a homer, against the Blue Jays, but only 1 run.  He's got a career ERA of 7.17 and FIP over 6.  With Donaldson, Encarnacion, Tulo and Martin all hitting now, the Jays should be in shape for Boyd if that's who the Tigers send out as their who or what. 

I had always been under the impressions that the ASG was to showcase the players the fans wanted to see, not necessarily the best performing players

That only applies if Derek Jeter is having an off-year.

It works out well for the Jays that they play in Oakland after the break, thus reducing some air travel for their all-star representatives who are already on the west coast.

"....if you read Lott's piece on Morales it didn't seem like anything is imminent....."

There was nothing imminent on July 1, when Lott wrote that piece, but it's now July 6 and there's been a lot of churn in the bullpen all year, so I think Morales could still be an option in the next week or two.  I was somewhat puzzled by the Lott piece.  It did show that Morales was very slow to recover from a mysterious "fatigue" ailment.  But looking to the future, it didn't provide any evidence against Morales, except that his velocity hasn't yet reached his normal levels.  The actual quotes from Atkins in the article were fairly positive:

“Franklin is progressing, not at the level we had hoped, but he still is making progress,” Atkins said. “We’re encouraged and certainly remain confident because of what he’s done in the past. He’s pitching in games. His velocity is climbing at a steady rate and gives us confidence that at some point he can help this major-league team.”

I find it unbelievable that Aaron Sanchez was not named to the team over someone like Brad Brach.

Really? A 5-1 reliever with an ERA+ of 452 (0.99) and a WHIP of .788? And you can't believe he was named to the all-star team?

Sure, but who the hell is Brad Brach? He's had a fine year, but he's posted only solid numbers (not elite / all-star worthy - I don't consider relievers with ERAs hovering between 2.72 and 3.78, and more importantly WHIPs between 1.17 and 1.77 "elite") throughout his career. MLB should get away from giving all star nominations to average to above average relievers who whatever reason post great half-seasons. Steve Delabar is a great example of that - I'm happy for him personally but it's silly to think about now given how little success he had afterwards. What Sanchez has done is a lot more impressive IMO. In my minds relievers should only get in if they have sustained elite status for over a season. Ie: if Brach posts these numbers this year, and then posts them again in the first half of 2017 I think he'd be a fine all star choice.

That being said, I couldn't care less about the all star game, and would be much happier to see the team rest (though I think the all star game is more of a party than work).

In the random batter vs. pitcher dept., Junior Lake has faced Ian Kennedy 6 times, hit a homer, two doubles, walked and laid down a sacrifice bunt (whatever for?). His slash line is a cool .750/.800/2.000.  I know that some smart-ass will be hissing "sss" but I'll bet that he's in the lineup today...

Sometimes you win.  Junior Lake bats 8th in right-field tonight while Captain Canada Saunders is the DH and Justin Smoak rests.

estrada to DL.

maybe sanchez gets the allstar nod now.

Bo Schultz is recalled.  I don't know why you would need an 8 man pen right now with the All-Star break coming 5 days from now, and the pen well rested. 

Well if we're complaining about that, Mike, let's point out that the Jays could've potentially optioned Hutchison down after Saturday's game for a new body, knowing that if Estrada goes on the DL he can be recalled anyway before the 10 days clear. I know there's special rules surrounding Hutch's options, so perhaps that wasn't possible.

Schultz accepted a demotion instead of going on the MLB DL when it was pretty clear he was pitching through some sort of injury in the 19-inning marathon, so I would guess some sort of arrangement was made with Bo that the Jays would do right by him ASAP. It would be nice if the Jays had a piece in Buffalo that would complement the current team, but as it stands they don't so we'll probably see the 8 man bullpen until a decision has to be made with Goins, and perhaps until the team acquires a left-handed bat of some sort towards the trade deadline.

You might be right, but I hate the 3 man bench in most situations.  Even if it's just having a pinch-runner around (would it be that hard to find someone who was competent at stealing bases?).  I see that Ceciliani is 7-1 stealing bases this year, and was 5-1 last year and is actually hot with the bat recently. 

You could also carry AJ Jimenez or a different 3rd catcher to open up some flexibility so that you wouldn't have a complete sinkhole in the lineup at least 20% of the time.

Seems like old times... Jose Reyes batted leadoff and played SS for the Mets today.

Yep, 92-93, but then you have the issue of catching the knuckleball.  It does seem to make mere mortals into mush.

On another note, Chuck commented that Carrera's improvement was mainly in the plate discipline department.  That's true, but he has also reduced his already decent K rate and increased his IsoP.  Jeff Sullivan reports that his exit velocity has gone from 18th percentile in the league to 56th.   Subjectively, he is a different hitter to my eye.  He has the ability to bunt and to slap the ball by the third baseman, and equally to turn on the ball inside.  HIs plate control is good.  His BABIP is actually down from last year and, at .339, seems pretty sustainable for a hitter with his success bunting and high ground-ball rate (and speed). 

I was completely and utterly wrong about Carrera, and glad of it. 

You could also carry AJ Jimenez or a different 3rd catcher to open up some flexibility so that you wouldn't have a complete sinkhole in the lineup at least 20% of the time.
 
Jiminez is out of options and could be claimed upon demotion.  Sanchez looked like a nice minor league add when we got him, but he's not hitting at all ... who else do we have?  Lavarnway is hitting well in AA but has a Thole-esque career in the bigs.

Overall, I'm just irked that we don't have someone apprenticing to catch the knuckleball in the minors ...

Was Torontonian Kottaras of last season Bisons able to catch knuckleball ? He is a Giants Triple-A minor leaguer this season.

Will be interesting to see how Stroman performs tonight...i.e. Can he continue the success he had in his last game. With Estrada down and uncertainty around Sanchez' role, we need the old Stro.

welcome back, Marcus.

Yeah, that was an outstanding and efficient outing.

Stroman also made a couple of nice defensive plays to help his own cause. 

Nice start by Stroman. The Jays really have a chance to gain some ground facing a depleted Tigers team at home. Don't let up now.

Two in a row for him. Excellent.

Come on now Hutch.

I'll be curious to see whether the Jays work out an extension for Saunders or Encarnacion over the All-Star break. Is the front office prepared to let all three of Saunders, Encarnacion and Bautista walk at the end of the year? Time will tell.

".....I hate the 3 man bench in most situations.  Even if it's just having a pinch-runner around...."

The Jays do have a pinch-runner around.  On a normal day, Junior Lake is the pinch-runner.  Even with a 3-man bench, Lake is normally on the bench (with the exception of days like today, when Saunders was the DH and an outfielder was needed).  Lake has stolen 9 bases in 69 games for Buffalo this year, and he also has 16 stolen bases in his major-league career (in the equivalent of about a season's worth of plate appearances).  His CS ratio is not the best in the league, but it's slightly better than the break-even rate of 66 per cent.  I haven't personally had a chance to watch him closely this season, but there's every indication that he has adequate speed to be a pinch-runner. 

Darwin Barney is also a decent pinch-runner when he's on the bench.

The biggest problem with the 3-man bench, of course, is Josh Thole.  There's no obvious solution to that problem, however.

not gonna lie - i expected a little more excitement here for sweeping the friggin royals.

The Royals are missing Cain, Davis, Moustakas (and the Blue Jays are, and were, a better ball club even before their injuries), so I'm not ecstatic.  Pleased, yes.  I have been waiting for this club to dominate the league, and have taken some ribbing for it.

The only downside of last night's victory was Junior Lake's "less than impressive" double in 2 plate trips against Kennedy.  His OPS against Kennedy took a big hit.  Tonight's nemesis for Justin Verlander is Justin Smoak.  Maybe it's all in the name.

i expected a little more excitement here for sweeping the friggin royals.

When the Jays became a second half juggernaut last season, the expectation was that they'd win every game, scoring 6 runs a night. This little streak may be a sign that the same confidence (arrogance?) has taken root. Yeah, we beat KC. So what?

I think there should be excitement for sweeping the Royals. Injuries aside, the Royals featured a tough pitcher last night and the Jays won the type of close game that they spent the first two months losing. The Royals are a WC contender, and sweeping them was important. This is exactly the right time to break out a winning streak. This is already our longest streak of the season and the Tigers are another team in WC contention.

With Tiger fans in attendance too, there will be big crowds this weekend.

i expected a little more excitement here for sweeping the friggin royals.

I, for one, am somewhat excited!

The Jays will now finally benefit from having had a tougher schedule early in the year. And it has been tougher: they've played three more games than any of their divisional rivals, and they've played 42 games against AL East opponents (next highest is 35). Now, they get to play games against other divisions, so it's no surprise that they are starting to do better. And they'll actually start getting days off every now and again - after the All-Star break, they are off on the 18th, the 21st, and the 28th.

They're four games ahead of their pace last year - at this time last year, they were 44-43.

ComeDean must be a little excited at least by the jays starting to pass his Mighty AL Central Litmus Test!


I'm most excited by Stroman of course. Sanchez' amazingness has been the single biggest thing that has raised my expectations for this season (and going forward)....but that excitement needs stroman to be stroman to really be justified.

I thought I saw something different 2 starts ago despite his poor line - it seemed to me that game he had changed from being unable to hit his spots at all to just making a handful of mistake pitches (which happened to get crushed). And it looks like that improvememt was a real thing....so for me this change is even more than just about the 2 good starts.

If Stroman stays back on track then the stro-sanchez-osuna trio might start being talked about in the same breath as any of the great young trios in the game - pitchers or hitters.

I'm excited - the blue jays are smashing people again.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/the-blue-jays-are-smashing-people-again/

I'm excited! Longest winning streak of the year, courtesy of sweeping the team I hate more than any other? Stroman appearing to be getting back on track? The offense, without their most feared hitter, hasn't missed a step? Hell yeah, I'm excited!

Without ITS most feared hitter, I mean. Apologies to Dewey.

MLBTradeRumors has some interesting Pitching Notes this morning: old friend Ervin Santana's been lights-out lately, and apparently the Jays are among the teams to have sent scouts to watch the matchup between Santana and Sonny Grey yesterday.

kluber gets estrada'z spot, despite sanchez being miles better.

must be a reputation thing.

you know, the thing that got red sox like Wright a spot.

I was thinking this morning...didn't Sanchez get involved in a KC brawl last season and throw at a KC hitter.

Maybe Yost still has a bad taste in his mouth because of that.

Not having Sanchez make it lets him get some rest over the break, so I'm happy. Kluber's a solid choice given, his peripherals, his track record, and that he hasn't made an All Star team yet. Another pitcher who deserves a nod is the quality pitcher living under Chris Sale's shadow - Jose Quintana. Five straight years of underrated quality baseball and he's halfway through his fourth straight 200IP season. Hopefully he'll get chosen before Sanchez if any further replacements are necessary so that Aaron can keep his week off.

To be fair, Kluber has the highest WAR in the AL (tied with Quintana) and has a track record of being elite. Not exactly a travesty there, plus I'd much rather have Sanchez (and all Jays players, really) get extra rest at this point in the season. I'm sure it's disappointing for Sanchez, but if he's still this good next season, then it will only be a matter of time before he's named.

We were talking about unusual age/performance curves.... this one here is a beaut: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/josh-donaldson-just-keeps-getting-better/

looking at stroman's pitch mix - looks like he agai abandoned the changeup (worst pitch) and doubled up on his sliders (best pitch).

had to be done.

The Jays haven't had 50 wins before the ASB since 1992. They reached 49 wins in 1993 and 2006. Need to split the series against Detroit this weekend to get to 50, but obviously better than that would be preferable.

"I'll be curious to see whether the Jays work out an extension for Saunders or Encarnacion over the All-Star break. "

The money is there for one of them and arguably both if bautista, thole and dickey are all gone. It may come down to term.

I hope they are aggressive eith the FA's they have as coaxing top talent to Toronto seems to have been problematic in the past.

not only are we leading the league in attendance, but tv numbers have doubled.

if i hear about "sustainability"...

The Jays should have lots of money to make additions for 2017 and beyond. Whether Rogers will authorize that spending is another question. But even if the money is there, it's debatable whether paying top dollar for Saunders and Encarnacion in a weak (and therefore highly competitive) free agent market is the way to go. Anthopoulos did this strategically with Martin, a high-value up-the-middle player. Not sure whether it's worth spending $25m or so per year for 4-5 years on Saunders or Encarnacion. And yes, they might get that much (Saunders especially), if they stay healthy in the second half.

My instincts tell me Shapiro will play this conservatively and wait until the off-season, when he will make QOs and see how it all plays out.

Encarnacion indicated that he did not want to negotiate in the middle of the season. I am sure that Shapiro will respect that.

Today's lineup is just about perfect. Carrera hits 1st,Saunders 4th and Smoak 7th. The lefties get the advantage for one batter only and even then the advantage is not large.

Any possibility that the Jays might spend big on a free agent ended when David Price's ERA climbed over 4.00 and stayed there. The Sox are committed to paying 30 million or more a year until 2022 to a pitcher whose ERA is higher than anyone in the Jays' rotation except Stroman (who seems to have figured it out, finally).

I suspect that the Jays will be willing to make offers to Jose, EE, and Saunders, but these offers will take into account their age and injury history, and will be sensible and financially reasonable. (Much like the offers to Happ and Estrada were.) Unfortunately, I suspect that some team or other will offer greater-than-sensible money to one or all of these players, because they haven't studied aging curves, they're competitive and want to win everything including bidding wars, or they're like Boston and have more money than they really should be allowed to play with.

interesting side effect of spreading money around this offseason is now it's hard to figure where a deadline trade could make a substantial impact.

I think the only thing that is for certain is that, barring a serious injury, the Jays will be giving the QO to Bautista, Encarnacion, and Saunders. Whatever happens from there is anyone's guess, but that's the starting point. Neither side has any real incentive to negotiate a deal right now.

I'm interested to see what the market is for Saunders in the off-season. He has injury red flags and now is likely not an OF long-term. I could see a scenario where the QO leads to a reasonable extension (ala Estrada), but it really depends on how other teams view him and whether he's willing to risk turning down the QO.

Dave Till, Price's peripherals are good - his ERA is deceiving.  Plus, he's going to opt out after three years anyway. 

I think we'll see the end of the Smoak era. Saunders could split time at LF and First base. Maybe that makes him an everyday player, but maybe the turf isn't good for his knees. He's got a huge crowd supporting him right now, does that make a difference? No way to know. I basically feel the same way about Bautista.