Blue Jays sent 2B Lenyn Sosa outright to Buffalo

Arden Zwelling
@ArdenZwelling
Jameson Taillon (forearm) and Spencer Arrighetti (foot) are both throwing from flat ground at Tropicana Field on Tuesday

Taillon's resuming his throwing program after hitting the IL a week ago

Arrighetti threw 50 pitches over 3.2 IP in a triple-A rehab outing on Sunday


Arden Zwelling
@ArdenZwelling
·
6m
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (concussion) is going through a light on-field workout at Tropicana Field this afternoon (activation drills, jogging, etc.)

He wouldn't be doing that if his symptoms hadn't improved in recent days

Since May 18th:

Bichette - .301/.344/.456 2.2 fWAR
Okamoto - .224/.289/.416 0.8 fWAR

I've struggled for most of the year to see Okamoto as a likely full time player next year. Perhaps a role as a semi regular DH with a couple of days a week spelling Vladdy at 1st and someone else at 3B. Of course, depending on his health, Santander may require a DH role too.

Oh wow Bo has a 130wrc+ since june 3. 273pa.

Arrighetti said he was pain free in his last start in Buffalo. He used a different cleat and insole. His next start is TBD but could be with the Jays.

Fundamentally not surprising Bo is hitting again. He's too good to fall off a cliff (probably). The same reason you'd expect Vlad to hit better too.

I'm still not so sure Bo should opt out. He's being paid so much and may not do better even with the better lately hitting. Plus you never know if we might have lockout or lockout fears slow down the off season.

Playing in Tampa is always fun and easy and nothing ever goes wrong. Can't wait!

The interesting thing is we're playing the annoying brand of baseball that tampa always beats us with.

Arden Zwelling
@ArdenZwelling
·
15s
Trey Yesavage resumed throwing from flat ground on Tuesday at the Blue Jays player development complex in Dunedin, Fla.

Yesavage had meniscus surgery on his left knee a week ago. He'll continue working to put himself in position to return to games late this season.

"The interesting thing is we're playing the annoying brand of baseball that tampa always beats us with."

Precisely what I've been thinking. The Rays have destroyed the Jays but have they haven't seen the Bateman-led Jays.

Given the Blue Jays putrid results from the IFA market those reported agreements don't excite me, especially when teams like Padres,Brewers,Astros,cardinals amongst others seem to get results. I think the Jays need a new team for the IFA market.

Do the Jays under Schneider ever give RHB’s from their system a chance to be anything other than platoon players? No reason to platoon McAdoo as he’s hit well since coming back up and is the one player on the team who might actually hit a home run at this point.

I would love to see Bateman steal a base tonight.

I think bringing back Bo if he becomes a free agent or through trade would be something I think the Jays should actually consider in the offseason and shift Ernie back to 3rd where he is clearly better defensively.

I'm super confused. The Jays are allowed to score a run in the first inning? They are allowed to score multiple runs in an inning? Pretty sure rules were passed by MLB against that sort of thing.

I would really rather see Sean Keys getting some
At bats instead of Smith.

Kirk just playing great right now. I have a lot of faith in Soriano too.

Home runs are good. More of that.

yummy clutch double play

Its Bizarro World! It's the other team hitting into DPs with the bases loaded.

If the Jays can get Soriano a bit more into the strike zone a bit more consistently it feels like there's untapped upside there.

Just the triple left for Kirk to get the cycle! Shouldn't be a problem:)

the mighty jays bats just gave Nick Martinez his worst start of the year. nice.

Soriano has gotten a lot of calls in his favour due to Kirk’s framing.

the rays trying to rays us.

Kaz! My motivational skills remain intact.

The horrendous timing on the challenges continue. You just can’t waste your last challenge on an 0-0 count in an 5-run game. All on the coaching staff. Hopefully that won’t hurt them later.

The thing that impresses me with Soriano is the defense.
Icing on the cake.

the 6th time we've scored 10 runs this year.

only twice have we scored more than 10.

I think I heard chants of "USA" and "Yankees suck".

Is it just me?

I think I heard chants of "USA" and "Yankees suck".

Is it just me?

That Josh Smith home run after I complained about McAdoo not starting was strangely predictable.

Another inning or two from Waldron would be outstanding.

Indeed, he better be able to “save” this game.

Feels a lot like a position player pitching.

Kirk is tipping Waldron’s knuckler.

WTF is Miles doing coming into this game?

So few games like this this year. Jut a pretty easy win. In Tampa of all places!

Nice to be on the other end of a lobsided game.

Rollin'

Rollin'

CLE loses. DET loses.

TOR in a wildcard spot pending the rangers game.

That's lopsided, my dear near-namesake

The usual Nigel, managing scared. And it will be defended, as always. The theory is that if you go to Little/Sewald you end up using one of Miles/Rogers/Varland anyway.

It’s great to hear that Vladdy is feeling better. Hopefully this week off will be the perfect antidote.

Great win.

And yes, Schneider manages the bullpen not like he wants to win but like he doesn’t want to lose (or managing scared, as mentioned). It is what it is. He’s been this way since he was hired and isn’t changing. Just be glad it wasn’t Rogers or Varland used.

Schneider just said they're all taking their shirts off in the dugout if Kirk hits a triple.

ugly, Guardians beat the Giants 8-1.

From Chris Black on Twitter

"Through first 17 days of August, the Jays already have a +15 Fielding Run Value for the month, the 4th highest for *any* month by *any* team this season.

In other words, the Jays are on pace to have the best defensive month by any team since this stat was first tracked (2018)"

You can definitely tell defense has been a lot better but is like to see why. Varsho only guy who left and he was really good defensively even if not elite anymore. Is it Okamoto at 1B more? Is it guys who were struggling defensively playing better (like Clement?). Maybe a combination of all of the above? Either way, it's nice to see that crispness on defense again. (also, Jays are running more.)

Using Mikes tonight guarantees he’s not available for one of the next two games. I’m sorry but that makes zero sense to me.

Anyway - great win. Cramming a season’s worth of 2 out hitting with RISP into one game is kind of fun.

Hypo my bad i meant baltimore.

But the rangers just won anyways. Half game out.

There’s been a noticeable uptick in Clement and Gimenez’s defense, and getting Okamoto to first half the time definitely helps too.

August fangraphs defense

Kirk 2.8
Gimenez 2.6
Bateman 1.2
Smith 1.0
Valenzuela 0.9
Lukes 0.7
Straw 0.3
Okamoto -0.1
Clement -0.2
Schneider -0.2
McAdoo -0.3
Guerrero -0.5
Sanchez -1.1
Springer -1.2

Springer doesn't really count because that's just the DH penalty.

Biggest factors seem to be Bateman legit elite so far (big swing and miss by the scouting grades if it continues) and Smith even more impressive given how little playing time he's had.

Defense can slump too. Agreed that the middle infield has taken a noticeable uptick. Getting Okamoto off third helps. Getting Kirk back as the number one C helps. Being committed to getting any of Sanchez, Springer, Pinango (any of the DH’s masquerading as OFs) out of the game as early as possible also helps. It’s a bit of everything.

I have this feeling that the longer they play this fundamentally sound baseball the more likely it is that the bats get untracked, with less pressure on them.

The Brewers just crushed the Mariners 22-0

The last eight runs came off of Luis Rivas in the 8th including one that scored when Rodruigez, thinking he'd just caught the third out, through the ball into the bullpen.

Brutal night.

Since July 29 the best record in the AL is 13-6

Which belongs to both the Rays and Jays

Shockingly they Jays are 7th in the AL in runs scored and (less shockingly) only the Yankees have allowed fewer runs.

Jays have now gone 25 games without losing 2 in a row. Prior to this stretch, 9 games was the longest Jays had gone.

On the season, it is interesting to see the splits between offense between the AL and NL.

The top AL offensive team (in terms of runs scored) is the White Sox with 602 runs scored. There are *7* NL teams that have scored at least 602 runs, the Nationals at 670. The worst NL team is the Reds with 509 runs, but there are 3 AL teams with fewer runs (one of which is the Jays with just 502).

Overall the AL teams have scored 8,192 runs, or 546.1 runs per team. The NL teams have score 8,487 runs or 565.8 runs per team. Basically the typical NL team scores about one run a week more than the typical AL team this year.

Rockies play the Dodgers tonight and are huge underdogs. However, at ESPN at least, there is one team slightly more of an underdog than the Rockies. That's the Jays.

Even all the way back to March vs Oakland and Colorado, I thought I noticed then that two players (Varsho and Clement) had lost a step in the field. I thought playing Clement at second more than as a fill in was asking a lot, and sure enough, he's been shaky. Okamoto has his moments at third, but is below average, and the numbers bear that out.

You wonder if the old "can Vlad still play third" discussion will come up again. He played third in the minors, and those were the years he was the most complete hitter (with obviously, a ton of power). It may be worth it again.

And Varsho, I sound like a broken record, but since his trade, the Jays are a much better team. He was completely lost at the plate and killed so many rallies in the first half. I have no access to opposing teams scouting reports, but he must have been the easiest hitter on the Jays to prep for as well.

Varsho being in centre there prevented Straw's defense (and now Bateman's) from really helping the team in the outfield.
And as we can see, it makes a difference.

Until August 1st, Jays went 49/12 in SB attempts which is 0.44 SB a game. Since August 1st, they've gone 13/2 which is 0.76 SB a game. So running more, fielding much better.

Clement is a bit better but surprised he still is negative WAR defensively for August. I think getting a starting 2Bman is important for next year. Okamoto can play some 3B, 1B, DH and Clement can start against lefties at SS and play some around the infield against righties. Luckily, 2B is one of the stronger free agent positions. Chisholm, Arraez, Torres, and Lowe would all be upgrades. Add one of those guys, Seiya Suzuki, and another starter (I'm partial to Gausman as we wouldn't need him to be front-line guy and there is a lot of mututal love) and that would be a good team. Anyway, there will be plenty of time in off-season to discuss this which hopefully won't happen until November!

Jays were 6-4 in Varsho's last 10gms (3-1 right before the trade), and he had a 109wrc+ in that stretch.

Varsho was the Jays season leader in both WPA and Clutch at the time of his trade.

Let them have their narrative, uglyone. This is Brett Bateman's team, and none of it could have happened without him.

i'm gonna try to straddle the varsho defense / bateman fanboy divide!

bateman's been great. with his seemingly realistic elite defense, the trade deadline takes seem just plain wrong.

I have a hard time seeing the Jays use Clement at short vs. Lefties, Glevin.
Clement’s range factor this year is in the 14th percentile. Gimènez is 99th. That’s a pretty critical factor for an important defensive position on a team that prioritizes run prevention.

I don’t think Clement’s range has ever been that great. That’s why 3rd has always seemed his best position. I’ve been one of his biggest supporters but his role/value going forward is a legitimate question given he will no longer be cheap. But it’s a question for the offseason.

From my eyes it seems that Clement's errors and fumbles come when he is moving to make the play. So that is probably why third would be better for him.

Clement Last 2yrs

3B: 691.2inn, +14drs, +7oaa, +5frv
2B: 1225.1inn, +5drs, +1oaa, +2frv
SS: 344.0inn, +1drs, +1oaa, +0frv

Per 1350inn:

3B: +27drs, +14oaa, +10frv
2B: +6drs, +1oaa, +2frv
SS: +4drs, +4oaa, +0frv


He's a quality middle infielder. Elite at 3B.

Disclaimer: nothing I'm about to write is intended to be a commentary on the likelihood of any of these outcomes. There's just something here I want to note.

Let us assume for the purpose of this exercise that the threshold to win the 3rd wildcard is 83 wins.

This is what it takes for the contenders to get there:

Texas - 21-15 (.583)
Toronto - 21-14 (.600)
Minnesota - 21-14 (.600)
Cleveland - 22-14 (.611)
Baltimore -22-14 (.611)
Detroit - 22-14 (.611)
Seattle - 24-12 (.667)

During their current turnaround, the last 3 weeks starting July 29, the Jays (tied with the Rays) lead the AL at 13-6 (.684) and almost all of those games vs teams currently holding a playoff position. During that same stretch the others are:

Detroit - 10-8
Baltimore - 9-9
Minnesota - 8-11
Texas - 7-12
Cleveland - 6-11
Seattle - 6-12

Now, for the Jays to play .600 the rest of the year, they would probably need to either win 3 more times this week (challenging but not insane) and then play .600 also against the rest of the schedule OR make up for this week down the stretch (i.e. if they only won once more this week then they'd need to go 20-10 the rest of the way. Basically win every series on average.

That's not TOO hard to do, albeit there's always the caveat that you really need more offense to keep this going for another 35 games, but it's not asking for a 15 game win streak or something either.

So here's where I'm going. If the Jays win 21 more games, they will have over the last 54 games of the season - fully 1/3 - gone 34-20, quite possibly the best record in the AL over that span and a pace for 102 wins over a full season.

In short, if they pull it off it is and will be a remarkable run and an indication of, against all odds, a team to be reckoned with.

uo - that's always been my view of Clement's defense and partly why I have felt that Okamoto was an awkward roster fit. A fit that can work if Okamoto can hit enough to make it work (which he hasn't (yet)).

Joshua Baez hit three home runs in his debut. Since then he is 0-17 with seven K's. Baseball is hard.

Just for fun!

Leaside Cowboy's betting statistics:

(note: all bets $2 parlays.)
Feb. 2025 - Aug. 2026:
Tickets Played: 596.5* total, 32.048 per month.
Wins: 153 total, 8.220 per month.
Winnings: $944.6 total, $50.75 per month.
Net Profit / Loss: -$248.4 total, -$13.35 per month.
Batting Average: (wins / tickets played) = .256
Slugging %: (total bases / tickets played) = .530
OPS (BA + SLG) = .786
ROI (winnings / total stake) = .792
Singles (wins up to $5.9): 60
Doubles (wins $6 - $6.6): 54
Triples (wins $6.7 - $6.9): 8
Home Runs (wins $7 +): 31
Total Bases: 316 total, 16.977 per month.
*partial estimate.

Jays are calling up Brendan Cellucci from Buffalo and designating Matt Waldron. It will be a MLB debut for the 28 year old Cellucci.

J P Arencibia

Debut: 4 for 5, double, 2 home runs
Career: replacement level

Mantiply is alive!

Sent to dunedin for a rehab stint.

Just for fun!

For whom?

Clement's defensive troubles occurred mostly at the beginning of the year and almost exclusively were moving lateral toward first base.  He never had any trouble with this movement before, at any position, but he's -6 going that way as a second baseman and level or positive in every other direction this year.  I'm not sure entirely why.  He was +2 as a second baseman going laterally toward first base last year.  He had minor left hip soreness earlier in the year, and that may have had some impact on mobility and quickness in that direction, but that's a pure guess.

Lefties are hitting .192/.277/.329 off Cellucci this year, so he's probably a good arm to have around for the lefty-heavy Rays and Yankees until Tiedemann can be recalled.

Tigers lose. Twins win.

Have to admit if they were going to DFA Waldron I wish they would have kept him in the game until his arm fell off last night.

Linda glad we didn't tempt fate in tampa tbh.

It's a near certainty that Miles will not be available in a high leverage spot in the next 5 days because he was used last night. That's tempting fate.

5 days?

The Twins won today and were buoyed by a pair of scoreless innings from Tommy Nance and Jeff Hoffman. (Not a criticism of either trade.

Gausman left his start last night with a hand injury.

A six pitch first inning:( Ouch

That home run trot was slow. My tv said 34 seconds. The slowest this year is 31 by William Contreras. The tv didn't show when he touched home plate so I estimated.

Apparently Chuckie Carr is the celebrity hitting coach for the Jays tonight.

Yes, the prediction is that in the next 5 days vs. two good teams there will be a better spot to use Miles that they will not be able to do so because he came in to last night's game.

For me, decent chance we get walloped a couple times. I'm happy to not mess around with a 5 run lead in the first game of the trip in the helldome.

Five run leads with only 3 outs to get shouldn't be causing anyone that level of fear if they are a serious playoff contender.

“If they are a serious playoff contender“

Have you seen the AL this year?

Sanchez trying to play himself off the team.

Really brutal stuff from Sanchez that cost them the game. He has no business starting anywhere but DH.

At least Scherzer got his K :/ This game is pretty ugly already.

That's house of horror baseball.

I really think this should be the end of the road for Mad Max.

Kirk should be banned from challenging as a hitter. He has some of the worst challenges I have seen.

It's weird because he doesn't chase.

It's very encouraging to see the offense fight right back. Shame that Okamoto's poor decision to throw home on that squeeze bunt might have cost them two runs.

That's a very impressive bounceback inning. This team has changed.

Sewald and Little getting leverage innings?

Attaboy seawall

Down one run in the 6th with a runner on base is MUCH higher leverage than up five runs in the 9th.

Has MacAdoo ever played the OF?

Has MacAdoo ever played the OF?
LF in the past week?

He recently started in LF. Straw can play 2B too.

Ha ha:). I wasn’t clear but I meant in a real prolonged way in the minors? I don’t see that he has but I may have missed it. A RH OF spot is there for the taking.

He's got 37 games of corner OF experience since 2023, 7 in AA, 6 in AAA... 15 in A 9 in A+

Oof that's about as good as a loss gets.

Thank you:)

Pretty much done with Sanchez. Just doesn't hit well enough to justify that atrocious defense. Would much rather have Keys up and getting some abs. One of the rare losses where you don't feel too bad. Tough team, huge mismatch in starter quality. Made a game of it.

Nice to see them battle back but if they had kept up their elite fielding they win the game.

A competent LF and the Jays win this game. Not sure how they can use Sanchez moving forward. He’s a platoon DH. Trying to use him in any other way is bordering on the juice not being worth the squeeze. He’s not a 130 wRC+ player or something like that which would make it easier to deal with the bad defense. They need to make a decision here.

Made a crack about the way Jays are getting IL'd Munguia would be up by the end of August. It's not so funny now.

Mantiply pitched a shutout inning on rehab in Dunedin tonight.

Not sure how much time he'll need.

Apparently Bateman and Smith are fine.

Smith has been great. Maybe give him a shot to stay at 2B.

Stick Springer in LF.

Yeah, you can get away with Sanchez in LF in Fenway with the small field, or if/when we have a high strikeout and/or GB pitcher (say Dylan Cease), but yeah that was some ugly LF defense today.

It just isn't worth it. He's a pretty good hitter against righties but inability to play in the field is a killer and he isn't a good enough hitter to carry him on roster. I get the gamble. There are underlying skills that maybe you think you can bring out and make him a middle of the lineup hitter but it didn't work and it's time to move on.

How does Daz Cameron defense look?

Cameron's first chance to show off his arm was....unimpressive. Not sure how his defense rates, but i'd guess it's competent.

thing is i get the feeling that Cameron must have mashed lefties in the minors (not sure about this tho), and he's here mostly to do that.

There's really only one lefty who isn't starting today, and deservedly so - Sanchez. Bateman and Smith need some rest for their hammies.

Vlad will play a game for Dunedin tonight.

Arrighetti is OK after a bullpen today and could be part of the bullpen game in NY tomorrow.

nice.

apparently Mantiply feels good after his outing and might be up in AAA soon.

thanks mike.

Don't want to make excuses for Jesus, but that helldome is the worst.

but it's kinda funny to look at his career defensive stats....


CF

Before: 766.2inn, -5drs/150, -9oaa/150, -5frv/150
This Year: 0inn

RF

Before: 2777.2inn, +5drs/150, +3oaa/150, +2frv/150
This Year: 273.2inn, -25drs/150, -30oaa/150, -30frv/150

LF

Before: 582.2inn, +12drs/150, +2oaa/150, +2frv/150
This Year: 260.1inn, -16drs/150, -5oaa/150, -10frv/150


obviously he could never hack it in CF, but his athletic tools have always been enough to make him a competent to decent corner OF before this year, and this year he's just been an unprecedented disaster.

Wonder if the Jays will look at the Lorenzen DFA as possible bullpen fodder for a bit? He's been league average (ERA+ 98) for his career outside of this year's horrible stint in Colorado.. (ERA+ 69).  

RE: Sanchez
I had high hopes when we traded for Sanchez but his defence is just awful. It’s mind boggling to me that someone who plays baseball everyday can be that bad in the outfield.

Hopefully he turns things around when he gets another opportunity. There’s a useful player in there somewhere.

"Vlad will play a game for Dunedin tonight."

This is ideal. I want Vlad to get confidence and some power back and getting a rehab assignment seems perfect for that.

They could use Lorenzen's bat too.

Sanchez stats remind me a bit of Derek Fisher who was seen by DRS as good/ OAA as fairly neutral prior to his Jays tenure.

"Sanchez stats remind me a bit of Derek Fisher who was seen by DRS as good/ OAA as fairly neutral prior to his Jays tenure."

The difference is that Fisher had less than a full season of games so defensive data can be very off. Sanchez had almost 600 games coming into the season. He clearly got much worse this season.

I really like the Lorenzen idea.

Now Gimenez injured. Jays are dropping like infield flies.

Man the trop is so difficult, dropping pop outs, popping hamstrings, and just a challenging place. Still I'll take up 2-1 and a couple of HR already is a nice change for the 2026 offense.

Valenzuela at 1B isn't quite ideal arrangement, but hopefully it works.

What happened to Gimenez? How bad was it?

Grabbed his right leg reaching first. Looked bad.

I assume someone, somewhere has been keeping track of which umpires get their balls and strikes overturned most often.

The difference is that Fisher had less than a full season of games so defensive data can be very off.

Don't have time to dig into this, but my theory is that SSS defensive stats that show a player as a really bad defender are almost assuredly more accurate than similar SSS stats that show another player as a really good defender.

I'd PH Sanchez for Springer here.

That Springer single was hilarious. The ball barely made it onto the grass and Kirk went first to third

I would never PH Sanchez for Springer.

masterful stuff from the biebs.

442 feet on cameron's dinger. 2nd longest jays hr of the season. 1st was okamoto at 453.

Springer's -1.97 WPA ranks 134th of 140. His -1.80 Clutch ranks 139th of 140. Sanchez is not good, but much better.

Also Sanchez has not misplayed one ball as a DH this year.

"Also Sanchez has not misplayed one ball as a DH this year."

For me, hypobole wins the thread with that one!

Miles 5 days off prediction appears to be incorrect.

Miles pitching in low leverage again.

Springer has looked good since returning from the IL, albeit a bit beat up lately. If he's healthy enough to start over Sanchez, he's the guy I want up at the plate with the bases juiced. They will need his bat down the stretch.

That Jesus is effectively the only bench player remaining with Smith and Bateman hurting makes the decision even easier.

Here comes a "needs work" inning for Varland.

4 run lead = low lev
3 run lead = high lev

are we sure that's how it works.

Everything in Tropicana Field is High Leverage.

We're sure that's not how it works, actually. A 3 run lead isn't particularly high leverage either, and is certainly lower leverage than when you're down a run with a runner on base in the 6th.

From the broadcast: Jays 38 hits this series is the most they have had in any 3 game stretch this season.

Probably the most encouraging series of the year right there.

Jays picked a good time to be the best team in the league over the last 10.

Even in winning a series at the Trop. it inflicted much damage on the team that could show up in New York - Hopefully not.

Springer has looked good since returning from the IL


Springer returned from the IL April 29th. Since then his WPA has been 146th of 147 qualified hitters, and dead last in Clutch.

The Rays looked off this series.

I never want to watch playoffs at the Trop.

The Jays offense seems to be finally clicking ironically with the 500 million man on the shelf - What if it craters again when he returns.

Consider a partial list of the players added at the trade deadline last year and this year (at minimal cost):
Bieber, Varland, Valenzuela, McAdoo, Bateman, Smith
The front office also added France, who has an .860 OPS this year for San Diego.
Pretty good decision-making.

Plus of course Soriano (who was not added at minimal cost, but who looks really good).

Yeah this is a series where they not only won but actually looked good doing it.

Up to 27 games since Jays last lost 2 in a row.

I didn’t see the game today but it’s wild how much of the offense is being driven by the Buffalo shuttle. Bieber is working himself into QO territory with a few more days like today.

thing is there's been a lot of very good hitters on buffalo this year. a bunch of guys who haven't got a chance yet.

fwiw while most of the young-ish guys in buffalo don't project all that well as hitters this year, a guy like Cameron already projected as an above average hitter coming into today.

Of course, Davis Schneider still projects as an above average hitter too....so...

Hitting 'extras' this year...

Cameron 11pa 204wrc+
Clase 25pa 154wrc+
Urias 59pa 122wrc+
Smith 33pa 121wrc+
McAdoo 57pa 108wrc+
Valenzuela 231pa 97wrc+
Pinango 180pa 97wrc+
Jimenez 35pa 83wrc+
Bateman 51pa 79wrc+
Sosa 84pa 28wrc+
Keys 37pa 25wrc+


the weirdest of these still being Sosa, who got all those PA despite not hitting at all and not projectint to hit at all.....and whose stint only came to an end because he got injured, not because they wanted it to.

This is a weird time - 2 of 3 and nearly swept the Rays when the Rays are in 1st and Jays are sub 500? Half game behind the Twins for the final WC, tied with Texas (who plays tonight against Washington). The danger run against good teams has seen them lose to Cubs, win 2 of 3 vs Philly, win 3 of 4 vs Boston, 2 of 3 from NYY, and now 2 of 3 from Tampa. Just 3 left in this tough stretch at NYY. So far 9-5 against 5 teams in playoff position. (WC2 or better). Even worst case, a sweep, they'd be 9-8 in this stretch were we felt a 9-8 record was the best to hope for, with luck they could be 11-6 (winning series after series after series).

Reminder: post NYY it is KC-Seattle-Cleveland-KC-A's-Baltimore-Detroit-Texas-Baltimore-Cincinnati to finish the regular season.

Vlad doubled to left center first time up. Walked in his second at bat.

Hope the Jays find a way to keep Daz. Feels like he may have some late bloomer upside and was a former top prospect. I really don’t think Sanchez has a role on this team anymore but I can’t see them just dropping him.

"Jays picked a good time to be the best team in the league over the last 10."

Tied with the Rays and Padres for best team in the majors for the last 3 weeks (14-7 since July 29)


"Springer has looked good since returning from the IL"

His first 35 games off of the IL he was pretty awful (almost certainly still hurting) -.211/.305/.346/.651

Since 6/14 (in 47 games) it's .266/.330/.426/.756

BUT in his last 13 (before today) it's just .171/.250/.200/.450


So...who knows? Probably related to that shoulder thing?

But if we could get the version in between there - 34 games with an .836 OPS - down the stretch that would be helpful.

I was referring to Springer's midseason break, which were actually PL and BL stints. He's hitting .273/.342/.424 in the 2nd half, even with the recent injuries.

If he's healthy enough to start you can't PH for him.

Springer is good when healthy.
If the shoulder is bothering him, it's probably better to give him a chance to heal and get healthy down the stretch.
The shoulder is probably hurting his hitting more than the toe was.

Lukes has just under 900 career PA's. Yesterday's HR was his 20th, but his 1st career HR off a lefty.

Former Jay Jon Berti has announced his retirement.