Given the remaining schedule, I'm hoping the Red Sox can sweep the Yankees and give the Jays an opportunity for some breathing room.

the orioles swept the padres, took 2/3 from the dodgers, and swept the pirates and paul skenes. they're tied for the best record in baseball over the last 10 with the Phillies and...this can't be correct...the white sox?!

2/3 would be nice here. Balance the schedule please, mlb.

Trevor Rogers has excellent numbers this year. Seems like there is a not-insignificant number of LH starting pitchers who figure it out around age-27.

Just thinking about the gold glove this year and if Clement has a shot at the utility one. For the AL there are 12 guys worth 10+ on defense (BR) and Clement is one of them at 10.4 which I'd think helps his cause - most at 3B (5), some at 2B (3) but 0 at 1B and 1 at SS. Kirk is #2, Witt Jr #1 (SS), Dingler (C Tigers) is 3rd, Wells (NY C) 4th, then comes Mauricio Dubón who is Clement's biggest battle for the utility GG (has played 10+ innings at 1B/2B/3B/SS/LF/CF/RF just missing C/P). It'll be interesting to see. Looking at the top 10 there are tons of catchers so FG might need to look at adjusting their catcher ratings.

Going by DRS Straw is at 16 in 507 inn, while Rafaela in Boston is at 18 in 1033 inn, Varsho is next in CF at 10 in 436 innings. Sheesh. Clement has a case at 3B #1 in DRS there for the AL with 12 in 584 innings (plus tonight). Maikel Garcia of KC is next at 10, then it goes to 8 and lower. Didn't think he had a shot at the GG for 3B but he has played enough I guess. Giménez is tied for 1st at 2B with 9 despite his injury time (with David Hamilton of Boston who played under 400 innings) and leads in OAA at 10. At 1B Vlad is 3rd in DRS in the AL, but his negative OAA will kill any shot I suspect. At C You have Heineman at 10 in 2nd for DRS, while Kirk is #1 for framing runs so both have cases.

That's it for guys with a shot. Due to the shuffling around the field I suspect none will get it, with Kirk, Gimenez, and Clement getting nominated (top 3).

Ump off to a less than ideal start.

The argument for not giving Schneider more ABs escapes me.

The leadoff walk issued by Borucki T6 was unacceptable in a very important 1-1 game, but fortunately Fisher and France bailed him out.

Now Fisher walks the first batter and here comes HR-Varland.

Varland did a superb job of ending the threat:

-induced a ground ball to the pitcher
-fielded the ball cleanly and made a good throw to second to initiate the DP
-struck out the next batter on a nasty 94 changeup diving low and away from the LHP

A+

here comes HR-Varland.

I don't understand. Human Resources Varland? Doesn't make sense.

it would be cool if the IF switch was more of Falefa auditioning for the 2B job not Gimenez auditioning for the SS job.

Skubal out of the game with tightness in his side and headed for an MRI? That is awful news for the Tigers.

I think I speak for all of us when I say i'm enjoying the egalitarian bullpen management tonight.

France is very solid defensively at first base. He was an underrated addition at the trade deadline.

Not sure why people are rooting for the Jays to lose. Are there things I’d manage different than Schneider? Sure but the Jays are first in the AL and third overall in baseball. Not really a lot to be upset about.

Every win is huge now. Jays magic number to clinch first round bye is 10.

…and 23 games over .500 for the first time this season.

If I only read Marc’s comments I’d figure the jays were 62-85

I’d figure the jays were 62-85

Fun fact. The Blue Jays have had a 62-85 record exactly once in their history. The date was 19 September 1980.

And it has been worse, of course. But why go there!

I think i'd enjoy seeing Boston squeezed out of the playoffs by SEA and TEX.

Very nice game, again.

It felt like Baltimore gave up and pulled Rogers, but it seems he had a toe issue.

Tough night for Detroit. Baez fouled a ball off his face.

I know there are always things to complain about, but it really is fun to see a team this good, and to have part of it actually be strength in depth. Like Bo is really good and hurts to miss him, but even with him out it feels like everyone (or maybe everyone but the defensive specialist in the 9 spot) in the batting order is a threat to come through and pretty much all of them have in various games.

here comes HR-Varland.

I don't understand. Human Resources Varland? Doesn't make sense.

It’s really hard to make sense when your entire raison d'être is to proclaim that the home team stinks…. but the home team just won’t stop winning.

Friday September 12: A Toronto win, losses for Detroit and Boston.

Magic numbers for the Jays to finish ahead of the other top AL teams:

DET 13
NYY 12
BOS 10
HOU 10

15 games remaining for Toronto and New York, 14 for the others.

Jays need to go 10-5 to get back to 500 all time by season end - now 4 games under

Currently 3846-3850

10-5 or even 9-6 would give the Jays their best record since 1993.

Don’t look now, but the Jays have the best record against teams playing above .500 this season in all of baseball

Jays need to go 10-5 to get back to 500 all time by season end

As I'm sure everyone knows, the Jays have been below .500 for almost all of their history. The early expansion years put the franchise in an enormous hole. They bottomed out on 4 September 1981 - the franchise record was 331-557, a whopping 226 games below.

It was a long slow climb from there. It took almost exactly twelve years to get above water. Finally, on 18 September 1993, a win over Detroit got them to (1341-1340), and the following April they hit their highest mark ever to this day, 13 games over at 1364-1351. But a dreadful June losing streak dropped them back around .500, and they finished the year just two games up (1406-1404).

That was where they were when Gillick's long and glorious run ended. The team quickly slipped below .500 for keeps in May 1995, and they've been under water ever since. They were minus 34 in the Ash years, and minus 11 in the Ricciardi years. They got 6 games back during the Anthopoulos tenure, and so far they've recovered 33 games for Atkins.

Long story short - the franchise has only ever been above .500 from 18 September 1993 to 20 May 1995. They.ve been below all the days before and since (as well as a few during that period as well.)

Still funny that our $60-70m in offseason adds has given us this:

Gimenez 1.0war
Scherzer 0.4war
Hoffman -0.3war
Santander -0.9war

Total 0.2war

and we're in first place.

Though I guess I could/should include Straw's 1.9war in there given he was a non-insignificant money add too.

Could have been worse…the big offseason additions could have been Burnes and Sasaki!

Just in case you needed another reason to hate the Yankees - they can lose 90 games every year for the next 147 years and still be above .500. It would take until 2172 for them to fall below .500. They could lose every game they played for the next seventeen years and still be above .500.

Still, watching them go 0-162 from now until 2042 would make life worth living, I think.

"Don’t look now, but the Jays have the best record against teams playing above .500 this season in all of baseball"

pretty significant imho.


also their record against the very top teams is very good.

vMIL .608: 1-2
vPHI .595: 2-4
vTOR .578: ---
vCHC .571: 2-1
vDET .568: 4-3

vTOP-5: 9-10, .474

vLAD .558: 2-1
vNYY .558: 8-5
vBOS .547: 7-3
vSDP .541: 3-0
vSEA .541: 4-2
vHOU .541: 2-4

v5-11: 26-15, .634

vTop-11: 35-25, .583

(made it top-11 instead of top-10 because of the 3-way tie there)


and for all the talk about strength of schedule, BOS is the only team left on our sked that's above .500.....and even they're only .500 in their last 32gms too.

We lost 2 of 3 vs Dodgers, no?

Curious how Scherzer will use his change with runners on. Both Jays and Yankees knew he was tipping it before the game had even started.

The good news about the mostly underperforming 2025 off season pickups (Santander, Gimenez, Hoffman) is that it’s been either due to injury or a hopefully unsustainable home run rate in the case of Hoffman. It’s reasonable to expect improvement next season if healthy. Regardless, the FO has usually used trades/signings to compensate for lack of internal development. Having the opposite happen and it leading to the type of season we are seeing this season has been an incredible development.

Just one of the game's 30 franchises has never been below .500 all time; three of the 30 have never been on the good side of .500.

Anyone care to guess?

I'd guess the Yankees as most obvious for never losing but maybe they were terrible in 1905 or something. Maybe someone like Red Sox or Giants who were great in the first decades of baseball and never bad enough to fall behind the .500 mark. Never been. 500? Rockies? Marlins? Expos/Nats? Feel more confident about first two than last guess but might not be any of them.

None of the three you named are Winners Forever (it is an old franchise, though.) Quite a few of the post 1960 expansion teams won their very first game, or two of their first three - and that's the only time they've been above .500 (Marlins, Expos/Nationals, Angels, Senators/Rangers.)

There is also one franchise that did make it to .500 once the games began, but never got above it. That would be the Rockies.

It's one old franchise that's a Winner Forever, and one old franchise and two post-1961 franchises that have been Losers Forever.

Scherzer needs to hide his grips. He holds his glove up too high.

ump's not helping but this ain't the first time Max has struggled.

The Rays are certainly losers and started very poorly.

Man Gimenez at the plate is not fun to watch.

Three weeks into their history, Tampa Bay was 10-6, still the high water mark in franchise history. They then lost at least 90 games ten years in a row, and haven't quite climbed out of that hole.

Risk Max for one more inning?

The Winner Forever is an NL team. The Losers are one from the NL, two from the AL.

That's quite the quick hook for Suagno, no?

The long-term loser is probably the Orioles. Doubt they have been good enough to overcome 50+ years of St. Louis Browns badness. A lot of 54-100 seasons.

I think maybe the Mets. A 40-120 start will do that, and then there's six more sub .500 seasons to dig a pretty big hole.

That's two! Indeed, the Mets began that first year 0-9, and didn't get much better. The Orioles (who were in Milwaukee that first year) lost their first five games, went 48-89, and then became the St. Louis Browns, with a losing record in 40 of their 52 years in Missouri.

One more Loser. And the Winner.

Do we see some pinch hitters in the bottom half

That Schneider DP was a killer. It’s been a real problem for this team. I get that it’s a consequence of putting the ball in play a lot and also getting guys on base, but that doesn’t make it any less frustrating in the moment

Why france instead of kirk if kirk has to come in anyway

Instead of Kirk-France we get France-Gimenez.

How long do they gice Gimenez before they finally adjust their perception and usage of him i wonder.

Schneider masterclass: Taking out Lauer for no good reason and hitting Fance for Heineman instead of Gimenez (and having Kirk hit for Heineman)...

The Washington Senators that became the Twins were pretty bad.

And straw is the guy you pinch hit vs a lefty not Falefa.

IKF for Barger? I'm going to need someone to explain that one to me.

(they think Falefa is a good hitter. Gimenez too.)

The reason France was hitting for Heineman - one out, runner on first, down by two - is partially because Kirk is a GDP machine, and also because if Kirk does get a hit, he's the tying run but you can't run for him.

Cardinals strike me as a likely long-term winner.

Pinch hit for everyone except for....Gimenez, the worst hitter on the team, for 2 pivotal at bats.

That’s why he didn’t pinch hit for Gimenez

Phew. A foot to the left.

This team don't die.

Amazing. Doesn't matter what we do we just keep winning.

And man Cano has gone from super elite to pumpkin really quickly. Relievers are annoying as hell.

“Schneider masterclass”

Indeed it was! Manager of the year!

Un- freakin'-believable! It's hard to believe that this is the same team we grumbled and complained about the last two years for being hard to watch and for their continued lack of ability to drive in runners on base. This year they've made late inning comebacks an art form.

Schneider is a middle of the pack manager at best. I've accepted that and expected nothing more and his decisions no longer irk me.

The magical season continues. So great.

Any update on how Bo’s knee is feeling?

holy hell

From a likeability perspective, the 1985 team is my favourite. But man, this team is sure putting that to the test! 🤯

Has anybody mentioned the Phillies for worst. They were ALWAYS bad until Schmidt except for a few lucky seasons

Pinch hit for everyone except for....Gimenez, the worst hitter on the team, for 2 pivotal at bats."

Thanks to Ugly for this. Without it, Gimenez doesn't get a hit. It's the" why do they keep playing Clement against RHP" thing. It you keep complaining, it will happen.

I must leave.

The other Loser Forever are the Seattle Mariners. They lost their first two games, 90 more that first season, and had a losing record in each of their first fourteen seasons. It will take a little longer to come back from that.

And the Winners Forever? The Cubs, of course.

Big comeback win today with the Yankees winning as well. Maintains the 3 (really 4) game lead with another game shaved off the schedule.

Good chance for Toronto to extend its AL East lead with Bieber (vs undecided) tomorrow and Crochet vs Warren in the Bos-NYY game.

Great game - never say die!

Anyone else wonder if somebody shoulda told Buck that Sugano pitched a bit in Japan?
/s

"Thanks to Ugly for this. Without it, Gimenez doesn't get a hit."

Di nada, Glevin!

I somehow turned a routine geounder DP ball into a clutch hit. The Magick is strong this year.

Trey Yesavage is coming up Monday according to all the Jays reporters.

The next Q is who is going down? Unless there is an injury it has to be Borucki, right?

Bassitt to the IL? He was dealing with something during his last start...

More importantly, who comes off the 40-man with Orelvis already dumped for Manoah? Tate?

If there isn't an injury then it would have to be Borucki being dropped. They could start using Lauer as the 2nd lefty since they've barely used him as is, presumably holding off in case they needed length out of the pen or a spot start, so transitioning him into a more specialized role out makes sense with Yesavage there as the bulk reliever/spot starter.

I assume Tate will come off the 40 man. He's on a one-year deal and won't be used in the majors again this year. Tate is not eligible for free agency yet, but I can't see the Jays wanting to pay him more than the $1.4 million they are paying him now to stick around. Even if you prefer him to Lucas, Lucas is cheaper.

I assume he'll be a reliever and replace Borucki and they'll push Lauer into the second lefty role and have Yesavage so slightly longer outings. (Unless Bassitt is actually hurt.) And he'll end up on the postseason roster, as many of us have predicted, unless it goes very poorly.

Borucki makes most sense to me. Just a replaceable second (or third) lefty reliever. Jays also have Fluharty and others (Mantiply) in Buffalo if they need, who are just as good.

I’m guessing they send Fisher down. That’s what they did last time they were in a very similar situation. The team values a second LH over RH reliever performance.

Options: Little, Fisher, and Varland.

Free Agents post '25: Borucki, Dominguez

So logically those are the 5 most likely - but Dominguez they just got, Borucki has been effective vs LH, Fisher has been damn good, Little also so none of them make sense to move off the roster right now. That leaves Varland - options available, has been struggling but 2 good games in a row. Would suck, but every option sucks here. I figured they'd wait until the post-season for Yesavage just to avoid this issue (you can demote anyone from the roster without using options). So given the role Yesavage will be in Varland makes the most sense. Nance, Lauer both are out of options and if demoted could be lost. So I'm going Varland #1 option to be sent down, Borucki sent down with promise of being called back up if needed for playoffs #2 (to keep him from becoming a free agent immediately, would be surprised if anyone grabbed him as it is too late to add to a playoff roster now, and they'd be responsible for the rest of his contract this year and teams can be stupid cheap). Tate being dumped from the 40 man makes sense if it isn't Borucki (who'd be removed automatically).

I don't think they touch Varland. Schneider has said the stuff is undeniable and he just needs to get comfortable after moving out of St-Paul.

Boston in a 3 way tie for the last wild card spot, with the Rangers 2 gms back.

I'll cheer for the yanks tomorrow just to spite the red sox, even if it hurts us.

I'll claim a little of the anti-jinx credit for "(or maybe everyone but the defensive specialist in the 9 spot)" in my post on how the Jays always seem in it with everyone on the depth chart coming through before todays game where everyone came through again.

Like everyone else, IKF for Barger seemed weird, but hey, keep the magic going when it all works out in the end.

And we complain about the fast hook at times this season but less than 65 pitches and pitching well seems an oddly fast hook for Baltimore (unless the leg was bugging him from the Vlad liner in the 1st).

Technically Boston, Houston and Seattle are tied for the last two wild card spots with one of Houston and Seattle being the West division leader so all 3 teams are in playoff positions. Texas has been hot lately despite having a number of injuries.

I'd rather see Boston take the game today over the Yankees so that, at worst, the Jays still have a 3 game lead but a 4 game lead would be nice heading to Tampa.

I’m with you, Island boy. Increasing that buffer between the Jays and Yanks would be my strong preference today. Tigers losing would be a welcome bonus.

Home field advantage is a huge deal for this team

Saturday September 13: A repeat of Friday with a Toronto win, losses for Detroit and Boston.

Magic numbers for the Jays to finish ahead of the other top AL teams:

DET 11
NYY 11
HOU 9
BOS 8

14 games remaining for Toronto and New York, 13 for the others.

Gotta cheer for Boston today.

Luckily Crochet is going for them.

Jays are in a good position because of how few games there are left to play. Like if the Jays go 8-6, Yankees would have to go 12-2 to pass them. Obviously, not taking anything for granted but Jays are in driver seat here.

Let’s hope for good Crochet today. Last time out he had a great start (game score v.2 of 85). The start before that he was bad (16).

You know the Yankees scouts will have pored over hours of videotape looking for indicia of tipping and other scouting info.

You know the Yankees scouts will have pored over hours of videotape looking for indicia of tipping and other scouting info.

Longo at FG mentioned there are teams using AI for these purposes.

The WC races are getting close in both leagues. Lots of meaningful games in MLB at the moment.

The Blue Jays are grinding out wins, which is great to see, but they could really use Bo back. Hopefully he gets healthy in the next week or two.

I'm hopeful for Bo and Santander returning before season's end. John Schneider has spoken about bat speed and exit velocity when discussing Santander's return, both of which don't seem to be present so far in his rehab based on a very quick read through of a sportsnet article. Maybe other have seen the games and can report.

People tend to focus on his home run total, but even in Santander's career year last year, he only had a 128 wRC+. If he's not fully healthy, I don't see him contributing a lot more to the team than, say, Davis Schneider. Davis might already be a comparable or better overall player than Santander.

Also, remember that Santander is effectively starting his season over after a months-long layoff. Even if he's mostly healthy, if he needs a few weeks of MLB play to tune up, that might be too long. The team needs him to be able to hit the ground running or close to it.

Laurila with a "Magpie quiz" today:

Seven active franchises count 1901 as their first MLB season. In alphabetical order by current team name, they are the Athletics, the Guardians, the Orioles, the Red Sox, the Tigers, the Twins, and the White Sox. Of them, the Red Sox have recorded the most wins. Which of the franchises has the fewest wins since 1901?

The next Q is who is going down? Unless there is an injury it has to be Borucki, right?

I definitely think it will be an injury, though maybe a phantom one; Yesavage is not eligible for the playoff roster unless he's replacing "an injured player who has met the minimum activation time". That means a playoff-eligible pitcher must go on the IL today or tomorrow to meet the minimum time for the Sept. 30th wildcard series. Borucki going on the IL would be the ideal situation...

I suppose it could be Bassitt IL stint based upon how he left his last start. A Lauer/Yesavage tandem start might be an interesting way to get Lauer some work and get Yesavage’s feet wet.

People tend to focus on his home run total, but even in Santander's career year last year, he only had a 128 wRC+."

Except his career high wasn't much higher than normal so it wasn't some outlier and his last three years were 128, 118,and 121. He had a higher WRC+ than Teoscar, Tatis, Arozarena, etc... During this period. If he's recovered, he's very obviously an improvement on what Jays currently have.

Yesavage starts tomorrow in Tampa.

Yeah agreed Glevin. Greenfrog is also doing apples to oranges comparison between Santander and Schneider. One played regular every day and hit clean up on one of the best offensive teams while the other insisted strictly as a platoon option with favourable match ups that suit his "bat path." It reminds me of when you were comparing Ben Rice and Vlad. These players are all comparable in some regards but when it's suggested they are of equal value based on one criteria like WRC+ or salary it doesn't work.

"Insisted," should be "uncorrected" to "was used"

The earlier quiz played right into the wheelhouse of Magpie's earlier quiz. Found one much better.

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig homered in the same game 75 times. Only one pair of teammates had more. Who were they?

dalimon, before getting all worked up, take a moment to re-read my post. There are a lot of qualifiers in it about health and rust and “might be,” etc.

I knew someone would likely go ballistic about what I wrote, even with those qualifiers. People think about what Santander was like when he was healthy and in the flow of his regular season last year and immediately hit the “outrage” button. People love home runs. It’s why people were still musing about a possible Joey Gallo comeback last year.

Even before the season, when Santander was healthy, Keith Law wrote

“Santander is coming off a career year where he set personal bests in homers, walks, and wRC+, although he also had the lowest BABIP and batting average of his career as well. It’s real power, and he’s swinging for the seats, attacking the ball with intent and a lot of lift in his finish to try to get the ball in the air, which produces a bunch of longballs and also a lot of pop-ups. He’s a below-average defender in an outfield corner and likely to decline further now that he’s in his 30s”

and

“He was one of the last big bats standing in free agency, but he fits the type of player who ages poorly into their 30s: it’s more power than hit, no speed, and poor defense already at a corner. He could have a huge 2025 season, and maybe that will justify the commitment if it helps the Jays contend for the playoffs, but the outlook for five years — assuming he doesn’t opt out, and I assume he won’t — is grim.”

For 1901 teams, I'm going to guess Guardians. Teammates homering, McGwire and Canseco..

Also, people keep bringing up Ben Rice as some sort of "gotcha" moment, but he's actually having a good season at bargain basement cost. His 124 wRC+ this year is about the same as Santander's last year. He had a 149 wRC+ in August, so he clearly hasn't fizzled out, as the gotcha people were hoping would happen.

Only one pair of teammates had more.

Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews would be my guess. (I think I probably gave away the fewest WIns since 1901 yesterday!)

that 9th inning is still pretty amazing to me. it really did have most everything.....everything except actual solid hits that is.


Varsho 1st pitch intentional bunt single.

Loperfido and Gimenez both get seeing eye grounders just past infielders gloves for their first hits in ages.

Springer gets on with catcher interference.

Kirk cashes the winning run with a routine fly.

the only legit contact in the inning was Schneider's lead off fly out to the warning track, and Ernie's solid single....against a RHP no less.

The Rice thing isn't really a gotcha thing, greenfrog, it's more just pointing out that it doesn't make a ton of sense to compare prospect callups to expensive free agents, even if they play like them.

And if the Yankees get praise for cheapo Rice-type performances, then that should mean the jays FO is actually in line for even more praise....

Rice (26) 487pa, 124wrc+, 2.3war
Dominguez (22) 420pa, 102wrc+, 0.5war

Barger (25) 453pa, 112wrc+, 2.3war
Schneider (26) 194pa, 130wrc+, 1.2war
Loperfido (26) 94pa, 151wrc+, 0.7war

Oh wow so they're actually bringing up Yesavage to START. That's fantastic.

Firstly because it's bold, and shows they're not letting some wish washy excuse like "innings/pitch limits" get in the way of trying to win.

Secondly because he actually has been good enough in AAA to think he might be a legit upgrade in the rotation. He might not be, of course, but it's worth a try - and especially cool that they're using him as the guy to give the other starters extra rest in this long stretch with no off days.


The downside is that Yesavage has been hammered in his first outings in both AA and AAA, and it would suck to see him get hammered in TB to start his MLB career. Given the rest of his performances, you'd think those first start jitters would be more of a mental thing at least.

Santander's rehab line so far:

13pa, 4bb, 2k, 2h, 1db, 1hr, 30.8bb%, 15.4k%, .167babip, .222avg, .444iso, 192wrc+

doing that apparently without any bat speed is...impressive.


I think it's helpful to look at how the projections translate his hitting history into a guess at how he would look for us this year:


1. RF Springer 123wrc+
2. SS Bichette 122
3. 1B Guerrero 147
4. DH Santander 111
5. C Alejandro 116
6. 3B Barger 106
7. LF Schneider 107
8. CF Varsho 104
9. 2B Clement 95

B. UT France 103
B. OF Lukes 104
B. OF Straw 78
B. IF Gimenez 94
B. IF Falefa 79
B. C Heineman 90


I have no special love for the guy, but if he's healthy, he's a guy we want in the lineup I think. Especially since currently we're so strong in the AVG/OBP department but could use some improvement in the power department.

#SpringerOfGeorge

if he's healthy, he's a guy we want in the lineup I think

I would agree with that statement. I guess I’m wondering how healthy he actually is, given that recently he wasn’t able to swing effectively from the right side, and that he has said he’s going to consider his options in the off-season, presumably meaning possible shoulder surgery. If he’s healthy enough to play at last year’s level — 128 wRC+ with below-average corner OF defense — fine, but what if he’s 80% healthy? I think it’s reasonable to debate how well he fits on the roster at that level of health.

UO, I know you’re not a gotcha-type commenter, but one or two others are, sometimes hammering away at some long-ago prediction that didn’t work out in an effort to discredit another poster.

Cracka, I don't think that's quite right re: postseason eligibility that someone has to go on the IL today or tomorrow. Yesavage can replace anyone on the 40-man roster who is injured. So, I am pretty sure he could replace someone like Ryan Burr or Angel Bastardo who is on the 60-Day IL.

Last year, Jackson Jobe was postseaosn eligible despite not being called up until about ten days before the end of the season and replaced a reliever on the 60-day IL for Detroit.

Love the team winning big today and piling the pressure on the Yankees to win tonight against Crochet.

Maybe this team is just really good.

How do you distinguish a poster disagreeing with your comparisons vs a poster trying to discredit you? Is it simply based on one poster responding to your comparison and others ignoring it?

en Nicholson-Smith
@bnicholsonsmith
John Schneider says Don Mattingly has remarked on how much Blue Jays players appear to be enjoying this run. "It's like the sandlot," Mattingly told Schneider. "These guys are just out playing baseball and having fun."



Hazel Mae
@thehazelmae
In a conversation I had with Mattingly prior to the finale vs. Astros, he told me:

"This is the best team I've been around."

Mattingly included, talent, likeability, team chemistry/camaraderie & fun in his assessment. He has really enjoyed being around, and coaching this group.

No question this is a fun team. I suspect having Vlad as the superstar along with Springer is a big reason - the two of them seem to just love playing baseball and if MLB didn't exist they'd both be playing anyways in beer leagues having a blast.

and the red sox put up a 6 spot in the bottom of the first. still going too.

5-0 Red Sox behind Crochet in the first inning.

Interesting they gave Yavesage the choice of shutting down for the season or big league club. Maybe it’s a silly question but I was surprised it was asked and it’s nice that way I think.

6-0 I mean!

ALDS, here we come (fan gets way ahead of himself)

Jazz “we’re the team to beat” Chisholm K’s to end the top of the second. Still 6-0.

6-0 Red Sox in the 3rd. Hopefully the Sox don't blow this one. A 5 game lead counting the tiebreaker with 13 to go would put the Jays in a really good spot.

Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews would be my guess. (I think I probably gave away the fewest WIns since 1901 yesterday!)

Sorry, just got back from the hospital. Yes, Aaron/Mathews homered in the same game 76 times, 1 more than Ruth/Gehrig.

And yes, the O's are the franchise with the fewest wins of the 1901 inception teams.

Aaron/Mathews homered in the same game 76 times, 1 more than Ruth/Gehrig.

Surprised it was that close, actually. Henry and Eddie both cleared 500 HRs (Gehrig didn't) and they were teammates quite a bit longer than Babe and Lou.

The Yankees are battling back a bit. Now 6-2 through 4 innings. They have made Crochet throw 70 pitches.

6-4 Boston heading to the 8th. Important couple of innings for the Blue Jays coming up.

Excellent pitching by Whitlock against Judge (single), Bellinger (K), Stanton (K), Grisham (K) in the 8th inning. He has been great this season. Durable, strong K and BB numbers, and doesn’t allow home runs (2 allowed in 67.2 IP).

Since trade deadline:

1. PHI: 42gms, 28-14 (.667), +58rdiff (+1.38/gm)
2. MIL: 42gms, 27-15 (.643), +78rdiff (+1.86/gm)
3. SEA: 40gms, 24-16 (.600), +29rdiff (+0.73/gm)
4. TOR: 39gms, 23-16 (.590), +63rdiff (+1.62/gm)
5. ARI: 41gms, 24-17 (.585), +35rdiff (+0.85/gm)
6. CLE: 41gms, 24-17 (.585), -2rdiff (-0.05/gm)
7. BOS: 40gms, 23-17 (.575), +36rdiff (+0.90/gm)
8. NYY: 40gms, 23-17 (.575), +30rdiff (+0.75/gm)
9. ATH: 39gms, 22-17 (.564), +47rdiff (+1.21/gm)
10. TEX: 40gms, 22-18 (.550), +28rdiff (+0.70/gm)

Chapman is about 37.5 years old. Tonight he cranked it up to 102 MPH in earning the save. He has the lowest ERA (1.26) and the lowest walk rate (2.20) of his career. Remarkable on-field performance.

So current status - up 4 in AL East (NYY), 5 1/2 (Bos); 2 1/2 over Tigers for league title, 5 1/2 over Seattle for getting a bye from round 1. Team losses are 62 Jays, 65 Tigers, 66 NYY, 68 Seattle/Boston, 69 Astros - critical for judging possibilities.

If Jays go 0-13 from here on out (literal worst case) then here is what others need to do to catch them: Yankees need to go 5-8, Red Sox 7-5, Tigers 4-8, Mariners 7-5, Astros 7-5 - this factors in tie breakers (Jays have it vs all but Astros).

More realistic is Jays going 6-7 (I think they'll do better) then it is NYY: 11-2, Tigers: 10-2 rest can't catch. So the Jays realistically just need to be around 500 going forward to get the top seed/win division. 7 vs Rays, 3 vs Red Sox, 3 vs KC.

if the Jays go 6-7, Tigers only need 9 wins to pass them.

The Yankees never lose against the Twins.
Even in the playoffs.
And the Twins are really bad right now.

So, it will get interesting very fast.

The Jays need to keep winning.

Did everyone note Kirk ran out an infield hit to the right side of the infield in today's game. That doesn't happen every day!

Jays go 6-7 = final record 93-69
Tigers go 9-3 = final record 94-68

Guess I mis-added there. Price of doing it all in my head instead of double checking. Still, 9-3 over the final 12 isn't easy, but 6-7 is (relatively speaking). Tigers have 6 vs Cleveland, 3 vs Atlanta, and 3 vs Boston - Atlanta is the easiest of that group (who'd have though pre-season that'd be the case). Cleveland 6 1/2 back in the Central will need to win all 6 to have a realistic shot at the division (Jay fans will remember that is possible...bloody 1987 scars never fully heal - 7 straight losses to end the season, 4 vs the Tigers, came after a 7 game winning streak which included 3 straight vs Tigers - it was a wild end to a wild year).

Jazz “we’re the team to beat” Chisholm K’s

Perhaps Jazz meant it the same way as the Colorado Rockies do?

Sunday September 14: Toronto wins, New York and Houston lose.

Magic numbers for the Jays to finish ahead of the other top AL teams:

DET 10
NYY 9
HOU 7
BOS 7

13 games remaining for Toronto and New York, 12 for the others.

Might want to add the new leaders of the West division to your list Jonny. Conveniently, the magic number over Seattle is also 7.

Good call James W.

Magic numbers for the Jays to finish ahead of the other top AL teams:

DET 10
NYY 9
BOS 7
SEA 7
HOU 7

Toronto holds the tiebreaker over all except Houston.

13 games remaining for Toronto and New York, 12 for the others.

Didn't see if there was an answer on this yet.  But the St. Louis Browns were TERRIBLE... 52 years and only George Sisler is of note.  The Senators were also pretty bad but even they had a world series, 3 pennants, and 6 HOFers.  Cecil Travis should be there too. He was unbelievable before the war. 
All that is to say that my guess is the Orioles. 

Houston probably looking behind them rather than ahead at this point as well. It would be hard (though not impossible) to not finish ahead of Houston at this point, I feel like.

Fear the Beard: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/kevin-gausmans-secret-weapon/

Did Eephus see Vasquez throwing the Eephus pitches? I hadn't seen that in some time.

There was a pitcher for the Expos who threw not quite an Eephus pitch, but a really high, slow curve that would just drop into the strike zone, but I can't remember his name.

whiterasta80 - just checked, the O's are 9189-10164 all time, 3414-4465 in St Louis, 48-89 in Milwaukee (their first season), and 5727-5610 in Baltimore. In 1901 they started 0-5 and never came close to 500 that year. 1902 was better, 2-0 to start, 20 games over 500 in the end but not enough to cover the 41 under from 1901. 3 more years sub 500 killed the 500 dream. Tons of bad years locked in that sub 500 record. My some miracle they made the World Series in 1944, but wouldn't be back until 1966 in Baltimore when they won it, they'd be a dominate team for a few years then, virtually always in contention until after 1983 (another WS win). They were decent until the end of the 1900's, the closest they got to a 500 record was at the end of 1999 at 0.47942 (they had a 481 win percentage that year), then went into a loooong slump until 2012 when they finally got over 500 again for 5 years, then 3 of 5 years lost over 100 games to put this club deep in the hole again. The short 2022-2024 stretch was nice for their fans but given the empty park they play in now I suspect the fans didn't fully buy in.

So yeah, the Orioles are the never over 500 team I'd think. Can't see them ever getting there now.

Yep.  There's a reason why they didn't retain the historical name of the franchise while the Dodgers, Giants, and A's did. 
The Braves are an interesting case because they weren't exactly world beaters during their time in Boston. But I guess they were looking to retain the longevity rather than the winning tradition. 

There was a pitcher for the Expos who threw not quite an Eephus pitch.

Pascual Perez might be who you're thinking of.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rLaM-n4dac