Urena hasn't pitched since last Friday. It would be nice to win a couple games by a wide margin and keep the bullpen fresh for the Phillies. Who would get a save opportunity tonight, should it present? Probably Green, but I'd go with Rodriguez.

Yordan Alvarez, a 28yr old career .298/.390/.583 hitter prior to '25, is batting .210/.306/.340 this season. It's still early-ish.

The Athletics called up '21 4th rounder Denzel Clarke last week. It's always cool to hear a local kid talk about playing at the Dome. His uncle, Kevin Smellie, was on the '91 Argos championship team.

I can't stand Fisher, but I'm excited to see the A's. Soderstrom, Kurtz, Rooker, Langeliers, Wilson...Hoglund!

Looks like more high fastballs for Springer. Did he flinch like he had some back pain in that first at back? (Old guy recognizes familiar gesture.)

Nice Home Run shot, for a utility player I mean...

Clement has clearly decided that Judge has enough of a head start in the AL MVP race.

Clement took my IKF comparison personally.

Everyone's getting fat and happy tonight.

One thing you can say for Clase is that he isn't a hacker. He has some discipline in his approach at the plate.

A's really the antidote to no offense.

Really loving the sport of baseball at the moment.

Clase isn't a finished product but you could envision a scenario where he develops into a really good player. The tools are there. Whether the Jays are the organization to get him to reach his ceiling, especially on the power end, is a different story.

Over his last 5 games coming into tonight Clase was hitting 500/625/667 - yeah, just 16 PA but dang if that doesn't get one dreaming. Need a leadoff hitter and obviously he won't hit like that for long, but his season numbers are now up to 286/375/371 (love that FG updates during the game) and those are solid leadoff hitter numbers which is just what the Jays are looking for right now. I wasn't high on him, but maybe, just maybe, he is exactly what this lineup needs.

I feel like we only recently got to the point that Vlad & Bo aren't doing bone-headed things on a weekly basis, so I don't mind being patient with Clase. From a "baseball smarts" perspective, being in Toronto and working with Springer, Varsho, and Straw may be the best thing for his development.

Don't forget clase was great in his brief stint with us last year too.

Now up to a 136wrc+ in 66pa as a Jay.

The only Blue Jays with slugging percentages over .450 are Varsho and Heineman. The lineup most days appears powerless. Is that due to actual lack of power on the club, underperformance or bad luck?

The club has 6 players with expected slugging over .450: VGJ .527, Bichette .510, Springer .510, Varsho .502, Barger .498, Kirk .463. Now expected slugging for the league is .029 higher than actual, but these Blue Jay hitters are as a whole doing much worse than that. If this group had the same difference from league average, the slugging percentages would be: VGJ .498, Bichette .481, Springer .481, Varsho .473, Barger .469 and Kirk .434

In a league with a slugging percentage of .394, this would seem to me to be adequate power. My vote is for bad luck, and I expect that lack of power will not be the issue for this club ultimately.

I had somehow completely forgotten that Clase was a switch hitter and was very confused when he was standing in the RHH batter's box against the LHP Lopez.

In my mind when thinking about the bench, pinch hitters, lineups, etc, I had him assigned as a LHH alone.

This makes it all the more baffling that Clase sat out the Tex series against 3 RH starters while Stefanic played way too much on the roadtrip, positions be damned.

Remember that they faced 3 great starters in Texas. If they don’t think he’s ready to face that level of competition, it makes sense to sit him. I know many think trial by fire is always the way, however confidence is a big factor in MLB success, so I don’t have an issue with them building up his confidence while he gets comfortable.

Yes the Jon trial by fire is the Rays way (to everything) which always seems to work out more than it doesn't. Evan Longoria is the only player I can remember them not "protecting"and that was only after he signed a long term deal.

Will Bo Bichete's Texas HR the turning point to the season?

i tend to agree with you about the power, mike, and it's mostly about Santander and Vladdy, both proven elite power guys who have been nowhere near that this year. The rest of the lineup is probably hitting around their power expectations, (other than Varsho who is way above his usual power but has only played 22gms so far).

some good news is that the jays power that was nonexistent in april (.110iso #29) has been very good in may (.159iso #8). in fact the jays' hitting line in May is quite good overall - #6 in wRC+ and #10 in runs. Still frustrating that our run production always seems to lag our overall hitting line though.

"Trial by fire"

Jays still in bottom third of standings by run differential difference.

Springer is now at -8 DRS in right field and probably shouldn't be anywhere but DH. Ironically, he's arguably a worse fielder than Santander now.

Also, I find it more than a little amusing that Toronto is going to play Gimenez $15+ M in 2026 and then $23+ M for three more years while they gave away Otto Lopez for nothing and he's quite possibly as good of a fielder at 2B.

Heck, Toronto was so convinced he was a bad fielder that they moved him to the outfield at one point. And he's making pre-arb dollars.

I have a hard time relating to the type of fan that is amused by their teams mistakes and failures. Just a bit bizarre.

Early Trade Deadline Wish List (Requiring all teams to fall out of contention with a poor May):

Blue Jays trade for Brandon Lowe and Pete Fairbanks
*Rays have good players ready to come up like Carson Williams

Blue Jays trade for Nolan Arenado and Ryan Helsley
*Arenado has 2 more years to keep acquisition cost down

Blue Jays trade for Jhoan Duran

Ordered by preference.

Why trade assets this year? The team is highly unlikely to make the playoffs (and even if they do the team is no where good enough to last long) and should be leaning into that rebuild they should have started last year...

Also, Jonatan Clase is at +3 DRS in a very short time. He and Otto Lopez could have saved the Jays $20-30M a year...

As someone who watched a lot of Otto in Vancouver, his turning into an elite defender at 2B surprises the heck out of me. Now, the Jays obviously weren't that high on him in general because they used him as a utility man for the most part so it would have been hard for him to show his defensive skills at any one position. He played a lot of LF and 3B (in addition to 2B) in Vancouver. I am not surprised that he has been able to hit (at least sufficiently well to make his package of skills work) - he always looked promising in that respect. I do think that the Jays made an assessment, based in part on his size, that he was unlikely to make it and never really leaned into him playing one position.

always loved me some otto.

This team is not going to rebuild even if they change the front office (14 year deal for Vlad, which seems like it was handled by Rogers, points to that). As long as they are not trading Nimmala or Yesavage at the deadline, then going for it, if nothing else, might clear the self inflicted logjam in AA/AAA. As we saw last deadline, the price for rentals is not going to be that high, and the Jays can trade practically anyone currently in AA/AAA without regrets. Obviously if they are out of the race by the deadline then they should be selling, but Shapiro or Atkins being the ones to handle that seems like a really bad idea. The team is likely better off buying because that’s usually one of the front office’s strengths. Selling has not been kind to them, dating back to 2017-19 (aside from Teo).

I too liked Otto. We may be in for greater regret - he's been below-average at the plate, but is running a low babip - his xwOBA is currently .356

I just can't personally get too upset over the "ones that got away" types like Otto Lopez that fell off the backend of the 26-man & 40-man rosters when crunches came.

Those spots are limited, particularly in the offseason when there's no 60-day IL.

Inevitably some of the guys that get cut are going to succeed elsewhere.

If you look at the list of all the players Toronto DFAed or non-tendered since the close of last season, there's probably two dozen guys who nobody regrets and one can barely recall that they were a Jay.

It's really just a numbers game, but sometimes you are going to be wrong. It's simply impossible to keep everyone and you're going to be wrong sometimes no matter what you do.

This allows me to beat my bugaboo drum again that if one is so bothered (in general, not specific to you Marc) by losing valuable assets off the backend of the 40-man, one should also be advocating every winter to leave all but the most elite prospects exposed to the Rule 5 draft to conserve 40--man spots for 3 years and not start burning minor league options so early.

You lose & waste so many more Otto Lopez, Hagen Danner, Leo Jimenez types to early Rule 5 protection rostering down the road than you actually will to the actual draft.

That's why I was thrilled the Jays added no new Rule 5 protectees this winter in a very rare move.

I'm sure no one here can name the last Rule 5 guy the Jays lost for good without looking it up (I know who it is but always forget the name). It wasn't Brad Emaus.

I just can't personally get too upset over the "ones that got away" types like Otto Lopez that fell off the backend of the 26-man & 40-man rosters when crunches came."

Completely agree. Lopez had a 68 WRC+ in AAA as a 24 YO in 346 PAs before the Jays released him. Schneider was same age and had 145 WRC. Jimenez was just as bad but two years younger with more upside. You want the Jays to hold on to every prospect who sucks in case they figure it out a couple years later? There are a lot of marginal major leaguers and sometimes one of those guys figures something out and becomes a legitimate major leaguer. Jays have benefited plenty from this too (Clement, Lukes, etc...). There's a lot of "Jays should have held on to the guy who became good and released the guy who didn't" hindsight with this stuff.

It's easy for bad teams to discover that these guys can actually play a little bit. Teams that aspire to contend don't have that luxury.

Jimenez has never been bad other than a 70 AB stretch in AAA in 2023 (and he was really really good otherwise in 2023). Jimenez isn't like the Schneider's or Lopez's of the prospect universe. He may not be a Top 50 prospect type but he's a legit prospect.

The bigger issue when it comes to Gimenez is that in many ways it highlights a failure of the FO, who have essentially drafted an insane amount of middle infielders during their tenure, to feel they haven't had any good enough to man 2B full time. Gimenez is an elite defender, and the move makes complete sense if it has more to do with succession planning. But it's hard for me to imagine between Jimenez, Wagner, Clement, Kasevich, etc that you couldn't cobble together a feasible 2B platoon and put that money elsewhere.

A full rebuild wouldn't fly but you can do a soft rebuild around Vladdy and try.to be somewhat competitive during it... but the key is actually being able to acquire and identify talent.

Toronto is very much in danger of becoming like the Angels - a team that spends money but never actually fields a good team, in part because it can't develop its own talent. Teams just don't part with young players in trades like they used to and most players get resigned before they hit free agency (which is too expensive to fully rely on amyway).

While the results haven't been there yet, I think the Jays have made a lot of strides and investments that hopefully will pay off long-term with development. Who knows how quickly we see results though; and the Jays do tend to trade a lot of top prospects. On paper, the recent drafts have been well received. Their IFA results have been another story.

Santander finally to IL and Roden up.

Better late than never??? Santander hurt his shoulder 22 days ago and has sat out 7 games (including two as a 9th inning PH). He's gone 5-for-41 with 19 strikeouts during that stretch. Just a terrible, terrible decision for the team to have figured this out earlier....

Yeah - there may be some things that have happened to which we are not privy that justify the roster management but, from the outside, that just looks like horrendous roster management. Just like with Gimenez's injury there may be a silver lining to all of this though. Springer is getting close to unplayable defensively so getting him into the DH spot with Roden and Clase getting additional playing time may be a net win. Stranger things have happened then to stumble upon a go forward OF of Varsho, Clase, Roden and Straw.

Jimenez has never been bad other than a 70 AB stretch in AAA in 2023 (and he was really really good otherwise in 2023). Jimenez isn't like the Schneider's or Lopez's of the prospect universe. 

I included Leo Jimenez in my "don't add anyone to the 40-man for Rule 5 protection other than Top 100 prospects" rant along with Lopez & Danner because he's an example IIRC who was added early, burned lots options in the minors before he was ready, has barely played in the majors and is currently burning through an EXTRA 4th option year without having taken a MLB PA.

Finally! He looked so lost the last game. Was he the only starter to go hitless in an 18-hit onslaught?  Why, yes , he was. Ok, 2BB,  but IMHO that was due to bad pitching.. 

"Toronto is very much in danger of becoming like the Angels - a team that spends money but never actually fields a good team, in part because it can't develop its own talent."

I thought it was because the owner runs the team and the players they sign to massive deals are either injured or past their prime combined with letting the best player since Babe Ruth walk for nothing.

Santander finally to IL and Roden up.

I realize that Roden's prospect pedigree & AAA hot streak probably means that he is deserving of another call-up.

And that Andres Gimenez is starting rehab and probably not that far away.

Man is it ever frustrating that their roster construction at present and for the last month has been 6 OFs (including not enough PAs for Lukes & Clase) and a strategically hobbled middle infield including a day-to-day Bichette unable to take a full day off, a cold Clement until last night and a plucky-but-useless Michael Stefanic. And I suppose Myles Straw as an emergency, PH defensive replacement late game 2B.

I know there's not a whole lot of worthy & healthy AAA IFs right now (or maybe easy 40-man cuts), but the roster construction madness continues.

They are also calling up Roden when the As have 2 of 3 LHP SP scheduled for the weekend and guys like Lukes & Clase that aren't playing everyday.

Defensive stats are subject to some variation and randomness as well - I'd expect Springer to be below-average in right but not borderline unplayable, as this year's stats suggest.

everyone was all gaga about the great Baltimore rebuild and now they suck really badly. and they're not even young.

"rebuilds" are mostly something bad front offices say to convince fans to stick around when the team sucks.

and any "rebuild" premised on selling 25/26 yr old players is an obvious con.

Straw starting in LF with Clase on the bench. Not fun.

Starters have rounded into form a bit.

* Bassitt: 11gms, 87era-, 79fip-, 79xfip-, 3.6war/32
* Gausman: 11gms, 95era-, 82fip-, 86xfip-, 3.2war/32

I think these two have moved into the "good to very good" category on the year now.

* Berrios: 12gms, 99era-, 109fip-, 101fip-, 2.3war/32

Moved into the solid "average" realm.

* Francis; 11gms, 129era-, 150fip-, 110xfip-

Probably in the "bad to very bad" category right now, but that's a step up from the "unplayable" he was at a couple weeks back.

but then of course there's no actual 5th starter at the moment, though both Lauer and Schultz have helped in pseudo-starter innings.

It’s as if the khakis don’t even realize that Straw can’t hit LHP either.

Alternatively, the khakis realize it, but John doesn't care.

And by alternatively, I mean, that's exactly what has happened. Because it's been confirmed numerous times by now that Schneider sets the lineup.

The Jays have a tendency to overly placate veteran players. Maybe that's the norm around baseball, but I notice it with the Jays still I follow them more closely. Straw playing over Clase because he's been in the league longer is probably as far as it goes. That's how Montoyo managed as well (ex. the Jays trading Panik so that Charlie couldn't play him anymore).

Toronto looks nothing like the Angels. Boston, maybe.
The Angels for a long while had the 2 best players in baseball, so the problem was never development.
Compare the deadline transactions of the Angels when Othani should have been traded as a rental and what the Jays did last year.
It's day and night.

Meanwhile the Dodgers have 3 internally developed position players out of 13. Smith, Rushing and Pages.

I think with others getting healthy (and Clase and Roden pushing for spots) this might kinda be last chance motel for straw before they send him down.

Easton Lucas is in TO, probably as cover for tomorrow if they use too many pitchers tonight.

this might kinda be last chance motel for straw before they send him down.

You'd think, but Straw does give you one thing the others do not: he is a reliably good centerfielder which is worth quite a bit for a backup. Lukes and Clase can cover...maybe.(I was also going to say Straw gives you pun headline value, but Clase can probably cover that one).

I'd love to see Clase be sent down specifically to get more playing time in CF. He has a lot more value to the club if he can improve his defense there, and with Berroa gone, all he'd really be doing is taking time away from Loperfido.

yeah Straw is the best defensively for sure. but Varsho is a fulltime elite defensive CF and if all of Clase, Lukes, Roden, Springer can cover him in a pinch then defensive value in CF is minimal i think.

unfortunately i wonder if the jays brass actually see his value as being a right handed bat, even though he can't hit.

I understand Straw as 5th OF. He doesn't need to play regularly and is great defensively and fast/great baserunner so he makes a lot of sense as that 5th guy to pinch run/defensive replacement. Lukes, Clase and Roden should both be playing almost every day.

I like that Clement has become a lefty masher because it makes his playing time clearer. Barger and Gimenez both LH.

I think with others getting healthy (and Clase and Roden pushing for spots) this might kinda be last chance motel for straw before they send him down

Pretty sure the demotion window for Straw has sailed. That was why a lot of people predicted after the trade that they'd keep Straw down in the minors in No Man's Land for 2 years like Rusney Castillo to avoid the luxury tax hit and to stop him from accumulating service time.

I was surprised that Straw made the team and was put back on the 40-man coming out of camp even with Varsho on the shelf for a month.

Straw came into 2025 with 4.125 years service time as per BBRef. He started the year 47 days shy of 5 years by my count (1 yr = 172 days).

We are certainly passed 47 days of service time this season. At 5 years, Straw can refuse any optional assignment even with options left. He also gets to keep his whole prorated 11 mil salary over the next two years if DFAed because he has the right to declare FA with full pay from being outrighted previously by Cleveland.

TL; DR - Straw is on the 26-man roster now until the end of 2026 unless hurt, traded or released with pay.

With 2 more walks tonight, Kirk has a .430 OBP in his last 25 games. I really think they should consider getting Kirk ahead of Vladdy in the lineup.

Clement becoming a lefty masher is a great development for the Jays. With the starting 2B and 3B both being LHB's, it's a natural roster fit.

Judge can hear the footsteps behind him.

Lefty masher? Psshaw

I really think they should consider getting Kirk ahead of Vladdy in the lineup.

Harkening back to the JPR / Frank Thomas "clogging the bases" days, I'd prefer Kirk stay 4-5-6.

It's so painful playing station-to-station baseball on a team struggling to score, needing two hits to score Kirk from 2nd, not being able to score on sac flies, having runners behind Kirk have to hold up on XBHs, etc.

"We are certainly passed 47 days of service time this season. At 5 years, Straw can refuse any optional assignment even with options left. He also gets to keep his whole prorated 11 mil salary over the next two years if DFAed because he has the right to declare FA with full pay from being outrighted previously by Cleveland."

It'd be laugh out loud hilarious if they let his sunk cost salary block them from playing the many better and younger options.

It'd be laugh out loud hilarious if they let his sunk cost salary block them from playing the many better and younger options.

Sure looks like they opted for a month of poor man's (?rich man's? foolish man's?) Daulton Varsho-lite CF defense in April at the expense of tying a millstone to your bench as your 4th (or 5th) OF for the next two years.

Tonight notwithstanding.

I get the concern about Kirk’s base running. But for a team that has to play long sequence offense, you need to clump your high OBP hitters.

Bassitt is getting hit hard tonight.

Of all the player projections the one i was starting to lose faith in was Alejandro Kirk's. But now all of a sudden here he sits with a 110wrc+, just a few ticks off his 116 projection, with the only thing lagging right now being his power.....which would have looked a bit better without that highlight reel robbery tonight of his HR to dead center.

Clement is feeling the love some posters have been sending his way.

His wRC+ is now up to 98, with very good defense to boot. He has about the same WAR as Vladdy this year. He’s been a valuable player for the team.

Not to take anything from the Jays but the A's don't look like a good baseball team. I don't know how they won so many games early in the season.

Barger really might be turning into something.

Barger is having himself a game in the field.

Everything about Kirk’s minor league numbers and his first couple of MLB seasons support the notion that he can be a league average to above league average hitter (which, with his defense, makes him a very valuable player). What has come and gone (even in the minors) is the power. A modest boost in power and he’s the Jays best position player and on a very sweet contract extension.

Why wouldn’t they use Green or Fisher tonight and leave one of their LHP fresh for tomorrow?

Radio guys suggest it might be because tomorrow could be a bullpen day.

So the whole time the real problem with this team was not playing the As enough.

Updated wRC+

* 1. LF Lukes 130
* 2. 1B Guerrero 137
* 3. DH Springer 133
* 4. 3B Barger 122
* 5. SS Bichette 115
* 6. C Kirk 108
* 7. RF Straw 102
* 8. CF Varsho 99
* 9. 2B Clement 99

* B. UT Santander 67
* B. OF Clase 109
* B. IF Gimenez 67
* B. C Heineman 173

I think the craziest / saddest thing about the Athletics is that they probably have the most talented reliever in baseball - a guy that throws in the low-to-mid 100s and strikes out nearly 2 batters an INNING!!! - and yet he rarely has a meaningful role. This month, Mason Miller has had three separate stints of 6 days rest and one of 4 days rest. He was great in April, though his command has suffered in May. I expect he'll draw massive interest at the trade deadline.

This has been a tough schedule. 1-5 record against Tampa excepted.

The Blue Jays are getting right back in the thick of the WC race. Good to see.

Checking the later boxscores, I see that the forgotten man in the Soto trade, Trent Grisham is hitting .259/.354/.538 (wRC+ 152) this year with a very modest BABIP. How did the Yankees pull that off? He’s a career 100 wRC+ hitter. Is this a torpedo bat thing? Or a coaching-related improvement? He is only 28, so it’s not unheard of for a player to take a step forward at that age (EE and JB did this with the Blue Jays).

It's a torpedo bat, contract year and, most importantly, hitting in front of Judge thing.

And the yanks cheat.

The emergence of position players like Barger, Lukes, Clase and Roden (and some minor-league players like Schreck, who might be able to contribute in the majors later this season) is making me more optimistic about the team’s chances of making the postseason.

Plus the bullpen is shaping up with unheralded players like Little, Fluharty and Fisher looking promising in the early going.

The farm system also seems to have more tradeable assets this summer to help augment the major-league team.

The team can earn a WC spot by being good, not great, over the rest of the season. That seems doable.

The Jays player development this season has looked pretty good, but their MLB transactions have disappointed (Gimenez, Santander, and Scherzer specifically). Usually for this FO it’s the MLB transactions compensating for the lack of player development, so I guess this is a better scenario to some degree, especially if Gimenez and Santander improve.

I’m still hoping Scherzer can return to action and contribute 80 or so decent innings at the back of the rotation this season.

It's wild that we're at the point where starting pitchers can't even take the ball every 5 days and give you under 100 pitches. Today is Gausman's day to pitch, but in his 11 starts this season he's pitched on "regular" rest only twice.

In those 2 starts - 16ip 1er 0bb 16k.

Clement is now up to .388/.446/.714 vs. LHP in 57pa this season, and .224/.254/.241 vs. RHP.

For a bigger sample size, Clement in his career has a 94 wRC+ against LHP and 79 wRC+ against RHP.

So a significant L/R split, but not as pronounced as has been the case this year. It would make sense to strategize his usage accordingly (that use, try to use him primarily against LHP, but some PA against RHP is not the end of the world).

Straw is .325/.357/.400 vs LHP but actually .410/.452/.513 against starting LHP. 
He 's good defensively, runs the bases well and can bunt effectively.

The A's have a decent lineup but their pitching isn't good.
Severino has been their best starter with an ERA under 4.00 but he's 1 and 4.
Springs is 5-4 and Sears is 4-5. Sears has an ERA over 5 but in his 4 wins he's allowed 3, 0, 2, and 1 runs.
In his 3 last starts he's allowed 4, 6 and 9 runs.

It's wild that we're at the point where starting pitchers can't even take the ball every 5 days and give you under 100 pitches.

The "Third Time Through the Order Penalty" orthodoxy has really been the death of the 200 innings/year workhorse SP & the CG.

Easton Lucas up from AAA. Jose Urena DFA.

Barger hitting 3rd. Springer 4th at DH. Varsho 5th, Clement 6th.

Ali Sanchez starting at C hitting 9th.

Clase getting a start in LF in the 8 spot, Lukes in RF hitting 7th.

A little disappointed to see Urena go.

He didn't pitch particularly well but I wasn't a fan of how they used him given they are rolling without a 5th starter.

I would've preferred they either stretched him out more to either start as an opener or as a bulk guy more in the Lauer mold.

Given the complete void in starting depth at the majors or the minors, I would've like the Jays to stockpile was many SP depth options as possible.

If they didn't want him to start, I still would've liked them to stretch out Urena more as the true mop-up guy.

They were sort of caught in between with Urena. Occasionally using him as a 2-inning opener but not trusting him. Going long stretches without using him at all because of playing tight games with low offense. Not actually letting him close out games in blowouts and only pitching him for 2 innings at a time.

For example against the Athletics Thurs with the shutout blowout, they pitched Mason Fluharty in the 7th to "get him some work" and only let Urena close out the 8th & 9th.

But then they use Fluharty again last night Friday, so he's unavailable today when Urena likely could've pitched 3 garbage innings Thurs.

There's also the question of how much salary the Jays owe Urena now for the rest of the year. I've seen sites suggest Urena was making over the minimum when he was cut by the Mets after his lone appearance, something like 1.75 mil or so.

The Jays signed him & Turnbull at a desperate time when they needed depth options and signed them both to MLB contracts.

In these cases, players are generally owed only the prorated MLB minimum by the second team. But I wonder if somehow the Jays offered Urena anything over & above what the Mets owed him to entice him to sign quickly (if that's even legal).

Barger sure doesn't get cheated on his HR's, does he? It's amazing to add another guy with power and what all the good that does for the lineup. If Santander can come back and be who he has been last few years, this lineup could be good.

And Barger has looked great at 3B. Very valuable position player for the Jays if he can keep this up.

I hope the Jays know what they are doing with this extra rest for starters, even with an off day coming up on Monday. Could cost them a game today with the way Fisher looked, combined with Lucas up next.

I like the concept of the pitcher getting an out every once in a while.

Varsho will be on the bench for the next 10 days, but come in as a defensive replacement, then go onDL for 3 months. :/

Let’s hope Varsho doesn’t miss a lot of time. Tough break for him and the team. At least they have Straw to fill in as a natural center fielder. Clase might be able to play some CF as well.

Wonder who the AAA callup will be to take Varsho's spot.

There doesn't seem to be many healthy or deserving candidates, particularly infielders.

Maybe they try to grab someone off the waiver wire.

Please let this finally be the end of the 6th outfielder roster experiment.

I think Gimenez for Varsho makes a lot of sense. Jays have enough OF anyway.

Yariel is looking like a solid replacement for Yimi. Nice to see him really succeed

Injuries are always tough but I think there have been real positives that have come out of both the Gimenez (getting Clement and Barger into the lineup every day) and Santander (getting Springer out of the OF) injuries. Varsho is tougher but there’s a non zero chance that it’s a further offensive upgrade if Roden takes most of Varsho’s ABs. Time will tell.

Gimenez has only had 6 ABs down in Dunedin so far.

I hope they don't rush him back, considering how awful he was offensively before getting hurt & how well Barger & Clement are playing currently.

Maybe it's time to give a low value org guy at AAA a chance for a few days of MLB pay. Though it would require a 40-man spot (with Stefanic being the obvious DFA, but that negates the whole point of calling up another infielder temporarily).

Leo Jimenez is already on the 40-man, but like Gimenez, he's just returning from injury as well.

The other guy on the 40-man who would make some sense is Orelvis Martinez.

He's having a good-not-great May after an awful April.

He's probably the easiest to call up. Though he doesn't really have a position, so would mostly be on the bench or taking PAs from Clement at 2nd.

I suspect Gimenez will be the call up, give Varsho tomorrow off to see if he can recover and if not then he goes on the IL and Gimenez should be OK to come back, sharing 2B with Clement.

Hoffman doing that super annoying thing by walking someone up by 3. Inexcusable.

No confidence in Hoffman.

The Jays don't really know how to use openers.
The A's are lefty heavy at the top, so it makes no sense to open with a right handed pitcher.

Yariel is fighting his control quite a bit, just like Little and Hoffman.
I guess it's the trade-off in having a pen that misses a lot of bats.

A walk in a 3-run lead is tolerable. Hoffman gets a cheap save here.
It took 3 tries to get the final out.
I wasn't crazy about them playing Langeliers to pull but Hoffman threw a pitch down the middle and Clement was in the perfect spot.
If that pitch had been on the outside corner, it's possibly a game-tying hit.

It sounds like they will send Lucas down and activate Swanson and run with an extra reliever for 5 days.
Fingers crossed that Swanson is effective.

They should call up Schneider to face the lefty tomorrow. No sense in playing even one game shorthanded.

My fear with Swanson is he will be put right back into a high leverage role immediately, and they almost set it up that way with Little and Rodriguez being unavailable tomorrow. Hopefully they ease him in.

By the end of the season I think we will all see Barger as our best position player.

Barger unplayable and a waste of a roster spot to most posters last year, not much improved beginning of this year and now everybody is excited about him and his future as a core piece. The vagaries of modern sports fans.

It's great to see Barger coming into his own in recent weeks. It's not uncommon for young players to struggle for a while in the majors before hitting their stride. Let's hope this happens with Roden as well.

I still think the leg kick in Barger's load has to be toned down. He's strong enough not to have to wind up like that to get the bat quickly through the zone. I think it shows more against higher velocity, a la Vladdy. His strike zone management has definitely gotten better though, and that's why you've seen his production rise as he hammers mistakes and stops swinging at borderline strikes and off-speed pitches in the dirt. And the defense at third has surprised me a bit as well, the accuracy of his arm has been impressive to go along with obvious strength.

Davis Schneider was pulled after his first AB. Pinango was also pulled after one AB - looks like Schneider to MLB and Pinango up to AAA. Vancouver is already done playing but could be Hornung up to AA.

Well, last year Barger was a negative on defense and offense (FanGraphs), had a 70 wRC+, 291 xwOBA. This year a positive on offense and defense, a 125 wRC+, 379 xwOBA. Basically he went from an unplayable level to all-star level over the winter and first month in AAA. 225 PA last year, 124 so far this year. What is funny is in AAA last year he had a 131 wRC+, but just a 96 this year in AAA. Go figure. Projection systems had him between a 94 and 111 wRC+ hitter, none had him higher than a 1.6 for fWAR (over 300 PA) vs the 1.1 he has been so far in 128 PA.

Kids can develop very quickly sometimes, they just need that first ML kick in the tush or two to get going and see what they are doing wrong - in AAA those problems rarely get exposed but in the majors any flaw is found fast. Clase is a weaker example - 87 wRC+ last year, 107 so far this year. Roden I'm very curious to see after his 52 wRC+ start to the year, then in AAA for 83 PA 179 wRC+, now hopefully gets a shot to play regularly.

With Varsho likely out for a couple of weeks (hopefully as short as possible) I'd look at moving Springer to CF/DH, use Straw/Lukes in CF when Springer DH's, and put Clase/Roden in LF/RF and see what you have. Straw's early hot streak has ended, now down to a 97 wRC+. On April 18th Straw had a 355/412/516 line, since just 258/281/306 (about what most expected). With his high end defense/speed that is a good 4th/5th OF. Lukes meanwhile has a 128 wRC+ after a 132 last year, so over 243 lifetime PA is at 122. Pretty solid and deserves to keep getting shots. so a L/R mix in CF with Springer normally DH'ing makes sense, with Lukes getting the bulk of time in CF.

2B/3B is more confusing. The kid, Barger, has shown he deserves a chance. Maybe sit him vs most LH so you can play Gimenez and Clement, but generally you want him out there everyday. Clement has shown he deserves to play but Gimenez is getting $20 mil for his history of 'wow' defense (Clement has it too) and potential on offense (he did have a 141 wRC+ in '22 which with his defense is an MVP level). I'd be doing a mix/match with Gimenez/Clement at 2B for now, trying to get other guys days off by using Clement at their positions (Vlad/Bo) while they DH or have a full day off. I'd also look at using Clement in the OF now and then just to keep him in the lineup. Stefanic will get very few PA now, probably mostly used in extras as a pinch runner for a catcher or Vlad.

Wouldn't be shocked if the Jays see trade offers of a starter for Clement soon. Clement is only reaching arbitration this winter, not a free agent until post 2028. That mixed with his gold glove defense and decent hitting makes him a very valuable commodity. Not bad for a guy release by Oakland in spring 2023 and signed here 2 days later.

I definitely can't understand what goes on in Schneider's head but you have to figure Barger has earned regular playing time especially with Varsho's power out of the lineup.

I'd be shocked if Varsho was only gone 2 weeks.

I also can't see Springer seeing much time in CF going forward given how bad he's been in RF but, again, who knows?

Main reason I see Springer in CF is when he was playing there for the first 26 games of the year he was hitting 329/412/521, but after in RF/DH mostly he hit 189/333/379. Might not be anything, but often players feel more comfortable doing certain things. If playing in CF makes him that much more productive then you live with the weak defense. If it is a pure coincidence then DH him and put Clase/Roden at the corners with Lukes/Straw in CF until Varsho returns. In a video game you'd do that, but this isn't a video game. Real people often respond differently when given different jobs. In CF he has -1 Fielding Runs (FG) vs a -5 in RF. Lukes is a 0 in CF, 0 in RF, -1 in LF. Straw +3 CF, +1 LF, 0 RF. Varsho +4 in CF.

So yeah, Straw is easily the best non-Varsho choice for defense, but for offense it is Lukes right now, Springer 2nd with both being 'meh' for defense in CF (league average basically). So use those 2 and bring in Straw late for defense IMO.

Schneider coming up is no shocker to me. He can cover LF/2B as a RH bat - thus can platoon with Roden in a corner until Varsho returns. Allows them to dump Stefanic (41 wRC+, 69 lifetime) to create space for Gimenez, as he wouldn't play at all once Gimenez returns.

So for now I suspect it is... LF: Roden/Schneider, CF: Straw/Lukes, RF/DH: Springer, Clase getting mixed in as much as possible (mostly in LF - when Roden in RF or DH). FYI: Clase has a 132 wRC+ vs RHP, 21 vs LHP.

Just looking for when the Jays next get a super-soft spot like this. They go to Colorado August 4-6, go to the A's on July 11-13 (just before the All-Star Break). Hard to believe the Rockies are 9-49, didn't think the loss record of 121 would be in danger this fast.

It was said by someone in the Toronto media this past winter (I think Arden Zwelling) that the organization told Barger to do things at the plate last year that he wasn't comfortable with, and this spring Popkins told him to go back to what he was doing in the past. Davis Schneider alluded to the same thing (trying to hit singles rather than do damage last season), but obviously Schneider doesn't have the bat speed and exit velocity that Barger has, so there's probably not much the team can do there. Needless to say, Mattingly (or whoever was in charge of hitting in 2023-24) wasn't helping the hitting development at all.

A lot of talk in this thread about Saturday’s bullpen game giving Gausman an extra day’s rest, but I think the primary motivation for it was to split up Francis and the #5 spot in the rotation. Having them back to back has been rough on the bullpen.

Yarbrough (3.06 ERA) is starting for the Yankees in today’s game against Yamamoto and the Dodgers. LA outscored NY 26-7 in the first two games of the series.

The Monday off day could have been used to break up Francis and the 5th spot. It was about giving the extra day of rest. Hopefully it doesn't cost them today, because the only fully fresh RP are Green and Schultz (and Swanson).

Anyone have an update on the severity of Varsho’s injury? The ongoing silence is a bit concerning.

Varsho went for a scan after yesterdays game. Schneider should give an update before todays game, say in about 1-2 hours.

I second the notion of putting George in CF when he's in the outfield and Straw's on the bench. For three years in Houston, he split time roughly equally between CF and RF, and it's hard to tell where he was better defensively relative to his peers, despite CF being the tougher position.

I was hoping that the Jays would be above/below 2 gms of 500 at the end of May. They managed 2 games above 500. For June I would like to see a good record to help us get to 89-92 wins on the season.

Davis Schneider is in Toronto. Waiting for word on Varsho.

I seem to recall Springer’s knee injury in 2021 happening when he was playing CF. I could be wrong.

With no disrespect to any individual posters, I don’t understand how anyone is seriously okay with Springer starting in CF despite his deadcat bounce offensive resurgence.

Springer has graded out so far this year at career & league worst levels in RF, given sample size caveats and a lot of DHing since Varsho returned.

There isn't a perfect alternative, but Springer is easily the 4th ranked defensive option in CF behind Straw, Lukes & Clase.

It also makes little sense to trade for Myles Straw's 11 mil underwater contract, roster him all spring so that he gains the service time to reject demotion, then not at least make use of his GG tier CF defense when your actual GG CF goes down for likely months.

Lukes can probably play CF in a pinch, but will likely get exposed there if played everyday. Especially with a bottom tier SP staff that really needs the elite defensive help.

The best bet is just to pencil Myles Straw's defense in CF everyday, bat him 9th taking the offensive hit, platoon Lukes/Springer/Clase/Schneider in the corners and DH, PH for Straw when you are down late.

I suppose there's also a scenario where Straw hits poorly enough or Clase breaks out enough that he starts stealing starts up the middle.

But we aren’t anywhere close yet.

We have a 5"11 career .254/.289/.366 hitter at first base today. Interesting that they've chosen to use Clement there over Barger when they want to get Vladdy out of the field for a game.

Straw easily best CF on roster so he should be playing a fair bit with other guys also playing some CF. Not sure who second best CF is. Could really be any of Springer, Clase, Lukes, or even Roden.

Eric Swanson reinstated, Easton Lucas optioned.

Jays confirm Varsho to IL, Schneider up. Still no Varsho prognosis.

pooks137 - guess you haven't noticed, but Straw has dropped big time. He was at 385/429/577 after the game on April 14th. Since has hit like Alfredo Griffin 246/278/290 ... actually Griffin hit better (249/285/319) and he played just because he was a SS (who won a gold glove and made an all-star team due to being there as a guest of Damaso Garcia).

Lukes and Clase the Jays don't like in CF for some reason - their fielding stats aren't bad, but defense is always the toughest to measure. Springer's defensive stats in CF aren't bad, but his RF ones are. It could be he just has more trouble seeing the ball/following the flight path in RF than CF. The main reason I'd put him in CF is due to his seeming to play better when out there - maybe it gives him an emotional boost being there, who knows? But when the alternative vs LHP is Straw hitting like a poor hitting SS, then I say why not give him the shot. Straw is good as a late inning defensive replacement/pinch runner.

So my ideal lineup?

• C: Kirk/whatever backup is available
• IF: Vlad-Gimenez-Bo-Barger with Clement mixed in somehow as often as possible (shift Barger to RF, DH days for Vlad/Bo, days off for Gimenez)
• OF: Clase/Schneider (just called up), Lukes/Springer, and Roden in RF with Straw as a backup late in games.
• DH: Rotation of Vlad and whoever else needs a semi-day off (ideally Vlad/Springer sharing)

You can bench Clase/Roden/Lukes at times depending on matchups and get Clement in at 3B and Barger out to RF. Lots of ways to shuffle this Rubik's cube of a team. But playing Straw as more than a late inning defensive backup seems like a poor use of resources imo as his 77 OPS+ lifetime seems about right to me (he is actually hitting worse than that since mid-April). John Schneider will have lots of headaches making this work, but options are there all over the place.

Btw, I'm assuming Stefanic is sent back down/released once Gimenez returns - expected back early this week.

When the choice is effectively between Straw’s CF glove and Clase’s bat, it’s really not a big deal to roll with Straw.

Santander’s return will change the equation, but until then there will be plenty of playing time for everyone.

Clement had a 133 wRC+ in May, so playing him for a game at first base against a weak opponent doesn’t seem unreasonable.

I also get leaving Barger at third base. He’s been doing great lately. I wouldn’t change a thing there.

Making matters worse was Schneider decided to use Rodriguez and Little during Friday’s relatively easy win rather than saving them for a high leverage spot. That caused them to be used both Friday and Saturday, which obviously leaves them unavailable today. I’ve said before, I have a bad feeling Schneider is going to use Swanson in high leverage roles immediately, and now he may have to do it out of necessity if today’s game is close. Schneider just enjoys using relievers too much.

As far as the OF in Varsho and Santander’s absence, I think I’d prefer Clase in CF because he actually presents some upside in addition to performing well so far. Barger has shown that if you luck into a development success story it can really help shape the next few seasons as well, and Clase is someone who can be a difference maker if his tools click. Not sure I’d want Springer out there just because now that his bat has rebounded, it’s more important to keep him healthy.

Btw, for backups at 1B I checked a few guys and their ML/Minors/college/summer league/winter league stats...

• Lukes: never played in college or minors or majors. Always in OF
• Straw: OF, 422 innings at SS, 56 at 2B between majors/minors
• Clase: always an OF
• Schneider: 73 Innings at 1B, over 900 at each of 2B/3B/LF, 6 innings at SS, 30 in RF, 2 pitching.
• Barger: over 1000 at 3B & SS, 400+ at 2B & RF, 90+ at 1B/LF.
• Roden: Over 1000 in RF & LF, 83 in CF, caught once, 51 G at 1B (college/summer leagues)
• Clement: over 1000 at 3B, about 900 at 2B, 100+ innings at 1B-LF and probably CF (81 G in college), 8 innings in RF, 4 innings pitching.

So a few Swiss army knife players there. I'm guessing when Vlad DH's we'll see Schneider or Clement at 1B but interesting that Barger & Roden have played it too. FYI: Springer has never played anywhere but the OF at any level (ML, Minors, Summer leagues).

Varsho has a grade 1 strain, the least strained. Hopefully it will just be a couple of weeks.

Clase and Loperfido were essentially splitting the CF role in buffalo before Clase was called up. Roden so had 6gms there.

Thanks, Gerry, for the update.

Schneider is among 20+ middling managers in baseball, if not more. I'm not surprised by any of his silly decisions anymore and it won't change unless you bring in a better manager will just seems highly unlikely for Toronto for whatever reason.

Counsell
Cash
Francona
Hinch
Melvin
Lovullo

Not even sure all of those managers qualify as "good" for me.

The Jays called up Roden before Friday's game and then sat him vs. a righty yesterday. With two lefties on deck Fri/Sun, they probably should have just called up Schneider from the start.

*which

This feels like an important game for the Blue Jays to win. The season has been somewhat disappointing so far, but the team may be starting to turn it around. They have a chance for a four-game sweep against a bad team (and a five-game win streak). Time to make hay and push their momentum and record to 31-28, rather than slipping back to a game over .500.

It's kinda funny that Springer talked about playing CF when he's been the DH for the last 3 games.
They really don't have many options at DH.

If they can be atop the wild card race by the end of this month or within 3 games of the division lead then I can see the front office making some major moves to try to propel them up to the division.

Would still love to take on that terrible Trout contract to get him here.

Lots of chasing in the first trip through the order. I hope they get back to the patient approach from the past few days

Well, right now the Jays are 5 1/2 out of the division lead, and 1 game out of the wild card (tied with the Rays in both cases). Pretty good shape all things considered. In a 5 game window you have Seattle, Cleveland, Minnesota, Houston, KC, Tampa, Jays, Rangers, Red Sox, and the Angels fighting for the Wild Cards and the AL West title. A hot week can flip a team from being at the back of the pack to the front, or a bad one from the front to the back.

Well, at least Gausman got that extra day of rest.

Barger has gone from being fun to being fun and maybe awesome too.

Barger has gone from being fun to being fun and maybe awesome too.

I like this fella. He sure hits no-doubters doesn’t he.

Springer, Kirk, Barger and Clement - a murder’s row. I’m sure everyone had that on their bingo card. They’d be crazy to give ABs to Gimenez over Barger or Clement until this heater dies down (which it will).

Ned Flanders so often not getting the call on ball four. This last at bat he had two ball fours. It's hard not to be a conspiracy theorist about this. All I need is a good improbable theory that fits perfectly with my worldview. Any one got something?

I'd give Gimenez abs over Clement right away VS RHP. Clement has nuked LHP but been bad against RHP. Barger should be playing nearly every day. What an emergence and what a difference for the outlook of this team.

Addison Barger has arrived.

I am not following as closely as I'd like to be, but I do appreciate the team when I do tune in. They need a cure for their wild mood swings, but I keep seeing them on the upswing.

Anyone who still thinks John Schneider is a big league manager after that at bat by Clase in the 8th may want to change their opinion.

I just want to know how a guy with speed who is going to bat 9th in your MLB lineup could look so bad at bunting. Do they not have these guys (Loperfido) bunting in Buffalo?

I wish Hoffman wasn't being used here despite getting hot. Schultz is just as good up 4.

Actually don’t mind using Hoffman here with the off day tomorrow. Give him a slow stress inning after the dicey appearance yesterday, he’s warm anyhow.

Not a fan of the bunting at all though. Especially on two strikes. Clase is not a pitcher batting and has plenty of speed to not be a huge DP threat. No no no no.

John got so excited by the great bunt Clase laid down the previous at bat for a basehit.

Schneider's been a bit too bunt happy this season.

Clase not getting the bunt down is irrelevant. The Jays already had the lead and the reliever was on the ropes. Clase coming into the game was a league average hitter. There was zero need to bunt there. Even if he got it down and moved the runners over it would have been a bad decision. You don’t give away outs like that. There are very few instances where a bunt there would make sense (tie game in the bottom of the 9th, for example). Otherwise let the hitters hit.

Up 2 in the bottom of the 8th with first and second, no outs, and your #9 hitter up is a great spot to bunt.

updated look at how the players' wRC+ compares to the pre-season projections:



Player: Projection --> Current --> Difference


Way Over

* Heineman: 77 --> 172 --> +95
* Springer: 109 --> 143 --> +34

Over

* Straw: 74 --> 99 --> +25
* Barger: 107 --> 129 --> +22
* Lukes: 108 --> 129 --> +21
* Clase: 88 --> 102 --> +14

At

* Clement: 100 --> 105 --> +5
* Varsho: 104 --> 108 --> +4
* Bichette: 120 --> 114 --> -6
* Alejandro 118 --> 110 --> -8

Under

* Guerrero: 152 --> 138 --> -14

Way Under

* Schneider: 108 --> 70 --> -38
* Gimenez: 107 --> 67 --> -40
* Santander: 126 --> 66 --> -60
* Roden: 112 --> 52 --> -60
* Wagner: 118 --> 51 --> -67

Gimenez was DHing in his A-ball rehab today... and was pulled after his second AB. Either they wanted him on an early flight home or he got hurt again.

Gimenez got hurt on May 7. Since May 7 Clement has 102 PA and has a wRC+ of 153. Sure, he's been crushing LH's but he's also had a 100 wRC+ in 75 PA against RHP. It's a heater and will end at some point but Gimenez is almost certainly going to be a downgrade against against even RHP.

Burnes left his start today with an apparent arm injury. He has already had a shoulder issue this season. The Blue Jays may have avoided a disastrous free agent contract by missing out on him in the off-season.

Sasaki has been awful this season, so that might be two bullets dodged for the Blue Jays (although Sasaki cost the Dodgers very little).

If Clement was batting clean up or leading off and struggled for one month would people be as hard on him as on Gimenez? No, is it just a money thing then? Gimenez needs more run than his first month when the team collectively sucked and he ended up on the IL.

So we're heading into June now. Just past the 1/3 mark. Not early anymore.

We sit 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5gms back of the three wild cards, so obviously right in the race.


That's nothing to write hom about, of course, but it's not bad.

And it's actually kind of impressive that we're where we are despite getting literally negative value from the $60m salary we spent on our four new significant adds - Santander, Gimenez, Scherzer, Hoffman.

And it's not like the rest of the roster is overachieving on the whole either, so there's a decent hope that those four can still yet turn us into a significantly above average team if they get their acts together.

Greenfrog I see Alonso has also cooled off considerably after his strong start.

Jays up to 16th in runs per game now. Still lagging their 9th-best wRC+, but much less ugly than it was just a short time ago.

Among qualified hitters, Alonso is currently 11th in MLB with a wRC+ of 157 (tied with Jose Ramirez).

Bregman is just ahead of him (10th overall) in wRC+ at 159, but he's now injured.

Pretty good offensive stats for both of them.

The great thing about Barger’s emergence is that he may well be a better option than Bregman — good offensively and defensively, and cheaper than the former Astro, and no history of trash can banging.

Alonso arguably would have been a better signing than Santander, but let’s see where their numbers are at by season’s end. And Alonso may not have been the best fit on this roster, with Vladdy at 1B (now long-term) and players like Springer sometime rotating through the DH slot.

On April 19th Alonso had a 1.220 OPS, since he has hit 254/341/423 over 164 PA - much more in line with what most expected from him (2024 was 240/329/459 for example). Hot April starts always get everyone excited mainly due to having that month only in the stats. Bregman over his last 14 has hit 220/339/380 - if he did that in his first 14 games everyone would've been going 'what a flop' but since he did it in May after a 1.013 OPS start no one cares. Basically both guys had super-hot starts and now are slowly working towards their career norms as the season moves along. By the end they'll both be near their career numbers I suspect. Very valuable, but not MVP level.

After 7 games we were a bit excited as Gimenez was hitting 308/400/731 but it was just a hot week that happened to come at the start of a season. After he hit 167/239/196 over 113 PA. Ouch. I suspect he isn't _that_ bad, nor as good as week 1, but closer to the 99 OPS+ lifetime that he has or the 87 he has since his 'wow' year of 2022 (141 OPS+). It'll be interesting to see how the Jays juggle things going forward.

Alonso has elite numbers across many Baseball Savant categories this year (xwOBA, xBA, xSLG, avg exit velo, barrel%, hard-hit%, LA sweet spot%, bat speed, BB%). He's middling in a few categories (squared-up%, chase%, whiff%, K%). His fielding and running stats are very poor.

Overall those are strong underlying numbers that suggest a very good DH and occasional first baseman.

Vladdy has elite stats across almost all Baseball Savant categories this year, better than Alonso's. And his fielding and running stats are much better than Alonso's. Those underlying stats suggest Vladdy should end up with very good offensive numbers and maybe decent defensive stats this year.

Spencer Turnbull couldn't get out of the 2nd inning today in Buffalo on 53 pitches, so the bridge to Scherzer's return got a bit bumpier.

It was mentioned on the broadcast today that Turnbull's stuff was down before today's start. The club felt it was more of a mechanical issue that they were working with him on rather than a health issue.

Presumably Turnbull forces their hand to roster him with his 35-day optional assignment in his contract anyhow.

I agree that no one should be judging Gimenez on one month with the Jays. Particularly as his contact quality and BABIP suggest that he was somewhat unlucky. But the reality is that since the beginning of the 2023 season he's had just over 1400 PAs and he hit 86 wRC+. He's been one of the worst hitting regulars in baseball. On the whole and over a length of time I'd agree with Glevin's point that Gimenez is probably a better bet offensively against RHP. But Clement is on a heater. Over 150 wRC+ in his last 100 PAs. For whatever reason, athletes go on heaters. Why would you take that bat out of your lineup before that heater comes to an end? It will come to an end, Clement isn't this good of a hitter. But get Gimenez back in there in a game or two or week or two when Clement and Barger have cooled off.

Yarbrough outduelled Yamamoto in the NYY-LAD game (so far — it’s 5-1 Yankees in the fifth and Yamamoto is gone after 3.2 innings). Two-run home run for Ben Rice, his 12th long ball this year, 149 wRC+.

With Clement & Gimenez I'm thinking the Jays will do a mix/match. Trying to get Clement into most games somewhere on the diamond. He is a GG candidate at 3B/2B/SS and solid at 1B and I'd bet could play the OF if put there. With no regular DH they should find PA for him. Vlad, Kirk, Bo, and Barger are the everyday guys right now with Varsho out and Springer nursing assorted hurts. Gimenez will get a lot of playing time I'm sure, more than Stefanic for sure. Probably see Clement at 2B or 3B vs all LHP, depending if they want to put Schneider in at 2B (for the toughest LHP). Bo & Vlad get the odd day 'off' at DH with Clement going to their positions. The OF seeing a mix of Lukes/Springer/Straw in CF, Springer/Roden in RF, Schneider/Clase in LF, Springer often at DH. Then when Santander comes back the weakest will be sent down of the OF crew, then the next weakest when Varsho comes back (assuming that is the order they return).

It will be interesting to watch that is for sure. Armchair managers get ready - we'll all have LOTS to debate over the next few weeks. Clase, Roden, and Schneider all need hot streaks to hold their jobs. I think Lukes and Straw are fairly safe in their backup roles/sharing an OF position when someone in the OF DH's (Santander mostly, Springer sometimes) after everyone is back and healthy. The Jays hope one of Roden or Clase can emerge as a solid corner OF and grab that job. Roden's 52 wRC+ so far puts him in a hole even with his killer 178 in AAA. Clase at 102 now is giving some hope. Schneider really needs to impress to hold his job imo but his hit and walk helped today (moved his wRC+ from 53 to 70) but he'll need a heck of a lot more to stick. I think management wants Roden to win, the manager loves Clase, with Davis Schneider the long shot. Winner gets LF more or less everyday in 2 weeks, losers get to see downtown Buffalo again.

And this is before getting into the pen - Hoffman closing, Yariel has grabbed the setup slot it seems until Garcia returns, Little has been solid, Fluharty has won me over, Green has been weak but has been solid in the past so he'll hold a mid-level pen job, Swanson will get a shot at his old setup job in time if he can hold the 7th slot. Schultz has looked very good at times, had a couple bad games, I think is a solid long man for now. Fisher I see as a yo-yo this year along with Lauer - both are here, but will they stick for long? We'll see - Schultz could be in this category too. All 3 of those guys along with Green & Swanson are on the bubble (needing to show more or keep doing well) as Garcia, Sandlin, Scherzer, and Manoah work their way back. This pen is 100 times better than last years - last year all of those guys here now would be locks and maybe even seen as stars we were so desperate.

Wow, just checked the Dodger/Yankee game and Yarborough went 6 4 H 1 R/ER 0 BB 5 SO. Hard to believe. That Yankee magic is a thing. 30 starts into his career the $300+ mil pitcher Yamamoto has 157 2/3 IP, 2.74 ERA, but health and endurance are big issues going forward. Seems the Dodgers are great at finding high end talent that breaks easily.

My guess is Barger will play more RF with Clement at 3B once Gimenez gets back, which I think is a mistake. Barger should be playing 3B everyday. Give him reps and let him find a home there. But I don’t think Schneider is going to operate like that.