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2018 Toronto Blue Jays General Season Thread

S-w-e-e-p!

For the first time since July 2017 the Blue Jays finally swept a series, and this time it was the Kansas City Royals with a resounding 15-5 debacle last night.

Curtis Granderson's Grand Slammer, plus Teoscar Hernandez who came up short of hitting for the cycle, were more than a  handful for the Royalsto deal with.

Hernandez with his two singles, a triple, and a two-run homer has been on a tear of late.  Certainly making a case for himself to stay with the big club.  He sports a .421 BA which includes one homerun, three doubles, a triple plus six RBIs.  In the games in which Hernandez has played so far, the Blue Jays have scored 39 runs.

The Jays have now won 12 of their first 17 games, not seen since 2009 and the sixth time they've done so in franchise history.

Now it's onward to Yankee Stadium and a date with the Yankees.  Looking very much forward.

Game story:
https://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/2018/04/18/granderson-hernandez-lead-offence-as-hot-hitting-jays-sweep-royals.html
 
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Starting Pitchers:
Thursday April 19  7pm
Aaron Sanchez RH (Blie Jays)  1-1  3.66  ERA  vs  CC Sabathia LH (Yankees)  0-0  4.00 ERA

Friday April 20  7pm
Marco Estrada RH (Blue Jays)  1-1  4.24  ERA  vs  Sonny Gray RH (Yankees)  1-1  6.92 ERA

Saturday April 21   1pm
Marcus Stroman RH (Blue Jays)  0-1  7.98 ERA  vs  Jordan Montgomery LH (Yankees)  1-0  4.70 ERA

Sunday April 22  1pm
Jaime Garcia LH (Blue Jays)  2-0  3.86 ERA  vs Luis Severino RH (Yankees)  3-1 2.63 ERA

All games on SN1 & SN590 radio.


Source:  MLB.com,  theStar.com,  FOXSports


The Blue Jays (12-5) and firmly in second place in the A.L.East play a four-game series against the New York Yankees (8-8) at Yankee Stadium.

While many believed the Bronx Bombers would be running away atop their division, the truth is that the "stacked" Yankees are more like the stuck Yankees, in third place disappointingly, and their superstar GianCarlo Stanton is anything but.  Stanton has been hitting a paltry .197 at the plate, difficult to believe, and there will be a batting order shift coming soon in a bid to shore things up, as they say.

Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays have been a pleasant surprise on the heels of the Boston Red Sox, just 3 GB and with an opportunity to hedge up with this series against New York.  (The Yankees are 6.5 GBL Boston but not too far off of the Jays.  Another reason for Toronto to remain hot here).

The Yankees & the Blue Jays split their opening game series in Toronto.  Since then however, the Blue Jays have been winning two out of threes in many a series in which they've played so far, the latest being a Royals sweep of K.C.

Josh Donaldson will not join the Jays for this trip.  Donaldson may go off the 10-day DL but will not be activated.  DH Kendrys Morales, who sat out with a hamstring strain, will rejoin the roster.

LET'S GO BLUE JAYS!
 
The Blue Jays sports  the second-best bullpenERA in the Major leagues.  Only the Arizona Diamondbacks are better.  This factors in as a big part of their success this year coupled with success at the plate.

Besides mainstays Osuna, Loup, Tepera, veterans such as Tyler Clippard,  Sueng Hwan Oh and Canadian John Axford, are some of the new additions to the team.

[tweet]986966535536238592[/tweet]
 
Jays lose 4-3 in a close one at Yankee Stadium.

New York's Aaron judge's homerun against Blue Jay reliever Tyler Clippard gave the Yankees a 4-2 lead in the seventh inning.  Though Toronto tried rallying back, it fell short of the mark.

Jays' starter Aaron Sanchez played six innings having allowed three runs.  At that point in the game, Yankees were leading by one -- 3-2-- until the Judge homerun on reliever Clippard. Natch.

Game recap:
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/baseball/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-new-york-yankees-1.4627591
 
I'm loving the roster moves the Jays made today.  The heat is on Grichuk now, and to some extent Devon Travis also.  I'm looking forward to seeing how Gurriel does.  It will also be interesting to see what pans out in right field.  I would be shocked if Hernandez doesn't take Grichuk's job at this point.
 
sickbeast said:
I'm loving the roster moves the Jays made today.  The heat is on Grichuk now, and to some extent Devon Travis also.  I'm looking forward to seeing how Gurriel does.  It will also be interesting to see what pans out in right field.  I would be shocked if Hernandez doesn't take Grichuk's job at this point.
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With so many young outfielders in house I was surprised they went out and got Grichuk.  His days are numbered with Hernandez here and guys like Alford, Smith Jr in the wings.
 
The Jays' Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Had three RBIs along with Teoscar Hernandez to power Toronto to an 8-5 victory over Sonny Gray & the Yankees in Thursday's game.

Definitely an impressive game for the Jays young bats.  Many are looking forward to see what Gurriel brings.  We've seen what Hernandez has brought and it bodes very well for the Jays other skilled prospects that will one day all form the future of this franchise.

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/baseball/article-gurriel-jr-makes-big-mlb-debut-as-blue-jays-beat-yankees/



In Friday's game, Jays starter Marcus Stroman continued with his struggles on the mound.  Aaron Judge ignites a seven run Yankee sixth inning romp enroute to a 9-1 win over the Blue Jays.

*sigh*

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/judge-homers-yankees-use-7-run-6th-beat-blue-jays/
 
Stranding nine baserunners (0 for 9) is not something the Blue Jays were proud of in today's 5-1 loss to the Yankees.

Jays starter Jaime Garcia ran into early control trouble, has had befallen most of the Jays' previous starters in this series. 
Quite the opposite for Yankees' starter Luis Severino.  The only offence the Jays could muster was a solo homer by Teoscar Hernandez.

A much better effort will be required when the Red Sox come to town Tuesday in Toronto. 

Game story:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-cant-find-timely-offence-series-yankees/
 
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Starting Pitchers:
Tuesday April 24  7pm
Rick Porcello RH (Red Sox)  4-0  1.40  ERA  vs  J.A. Happ LH (Blue Jays)  3-1  4.50  ERA

Wednesday April 25  7pm
Edoardo Rodriguez LH (Red Sox) 2-0  3.45  ERA  vs  Aaron Sanchez RH (Blue Jays)  1-2  3.86  ERA

Thursday April 26  7pm
Chris Sale RH (Red Sox)  1-1  1.86 ERA  vs  Marco Estrada RH (Blue Jsys)  2-1  5.32  ERA

All games on SNOne & SN590 radio.


Source:  MLB.com,  theStar.com,  ESPN.com


The Boston Red Sox (17-4) make their way to the Rogers Centre in a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays (13-8).  It is Boston's first trip of the season here.

While the Red Sox have been runaway leaders in their division, they also lead the Major Leagues in runs scored, hitting & OPS.  Their A.L. East rivals the Blue Jays have also done surprisingly well thus far this early season.

The Blue Jays, who are 4.0 GB the Bosox out of first but in second place and 1.0 games ahead of the third place Yankees,  certainly didn't help their cause having come off a four-game series in New York, where they dropped three out of the four games.  The Jays' starting pitchers may very well have had their worst outing yet.  Against Boston's stellar starters, the Jays would do well to match themselves up.

Boston is coming off a no-hitter loss to Oakland in which they lost a rare two games in a row.  That no-hitter hurt as it was the first time in twenty five years that the Bosox had been no-hit.

So the Blue Jays have their work cut out for them.  It'll be interesting to see how the Jays offence stacks up against the Bosox starters.

GO JAYS GO!
 
Curtis Granderson's walk-off homerun in the top of the tenth inning won it for the Blue Jays, 4-3 over the Red Sox.

Jays' starter J.A.Happ pitched solidly well into the seventh before being relieved by Roberto Osuna.  Osuna however got himsrlf  into a bit of a mess in his outing and ended up with a blown save.  First time this has happened this season and the first time anyone has scored off of him. 

Reliever Tyler Clippard got the victory pitching one inning of shutout relief.

Game story:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-j-happ-keeps-piling-strikeouts-win-vs-red-sox/
 
Yet another one-run loss this time 5-4.  Thank you very much, JD Msrtinez.  It was his three-run  homer against Jays' starter Estrada that sunk the Blue Jay ship.

As intense ss this series has been, and with the Toronto offence going vis-a-vis Boston's, honeruns and all, goes to show why the Bosox are currently runsway leaders in their division,  and what separates them from the rest.  Like J.D  Martinez.

So the Jays lose two out of three by one run margins.  Takimg the lead against the Red Sox is no guarantee of victory to come.  As Marco Estrada found out soon enough in the fifth.

Game story:
https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-come-close-fall-short-al-east-leading-red-sox/
 
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Starting Pitchers:
Friday April 27  7pm
Mike Minor LH (Rangers) 1-1  3.86  ERA  vs  Marcus Stroman RH (Blue Jays)  0-2  8.55  ERA

Saturday April 28  4pm 
Bartolo Colon RH (Rangers)  0-0  2.59  ERA  vs  Jaime Garcia LH (Blue Jays)  2-1  4.57  ERA

Sunday April 29  1pm
Mike Perez LH (Rangers)  2-2  9.82  ERA  vs  J.A. Happ LH (Blue Jays)  3-1  3.72  ERA

All games on SN (Friday); SNOne (Saturday/Sunday) & SN590 radio.


Source:  MLB.com,  theStar.com


The injury-plagued Texas Rangers (9-17)  come to town in a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays (14-10) at the Rogers Centre.

The last time these two teams met was last month when the Blue Jays took two out of three in Texas,  in their first season opening road trip to Arlingron.

The Rangers, mired in last place in the A.L. West,  have had to battle through the DL  -- fourteen in all - the most in the A.L. this year.

The Blue Jays meantime are coming off a bad week of their own, though not through injuries,  but rather having had  disappointing outings against both the Yankees and the Red Sox.  The Jays lost three out of four in New York , then  to Boston two out of three here at home in a close series.

These series had an effect on the Jays placement in the A.L.East standings as Toronto now sits in third place, (from having been second), 5.0 GBL Boston & 1.0 GB the Yankees

The Jays are hoping to get back to their winning waya starting tonight..

LET'S GO BLUE JAYS!
 
Leave it to the Happ man!

After Friday's Stroman-disaster-laden-loss and Saturday's Garcia-wild-pitch-party, the Blue Jays avoided a Texas series sweep as they and J.A.Happ defeated the Rangers 7-2 Sunday afternoon.

Starter Happ pitched seven innings allowing just two runs, while Kevin Pillar, Solarte & Hernandez each hit solo home runs to prop Toronto to victory.

Devon Travis was optioned to Triple A Buffalo while the Jays called up Pitcher Carlos Ramirez.  Meanwhile, Josh Donaldson & Tulo are with the Jays Dunedin Class A squad as part of their rehab.

Game story:
https://globalnews.ca/news/4175543/blue-jays-rangers-april-29/
 
I'm kind of shocked to see Devon Travis get sent down.  He seemed to be turning a corner.  It seems that the organization values Lourdes Gurriel ahead of him.  We may see Devon Travis traded or used for depth.  It's too bad.  I really like him as a player.  He's an outstanding hitter when he's on.
 
With the way Solarte is playing at 3B and Vladdy Jr. is killing AA pitching, they are making it awfully hard to justify re-signing Donaldson. I know that may sound crazy, but honestly how it feels right now. Take the best offer at the July deadline and move on.
 
Hernandez is impressing with a bit of power also, and actually has improved a lot re patience at the plate since he initially came up.
 
sickbeast said:
I'm kind of shocked to see Devon Travis get sent down.  He seemed to be turning a corner.  It seems that the organization values Lourdes Gurriel ahead of him.  We may see Devon Travis traded or used for depth.  It's too bad.  I really like him as a player.  He's an outstanding hitter when he's on.
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Well sure, he was coming off of a lone great game against Sale, but prior to that he hadn't exactly been making any strides (His OPS was/is well under .500). This is also a guy who, at 27, has only had about a full season's worth of at bats in 3 years and is currently only playing every two out of three games. So this move lets Travis get back into the groove at his own pace and allows them to bring up a reliever to help with the grueling schedule ahead (they have a doubleheader now on their previously scheduled off day).

Anyway, he has options; they can send him down and call him up. It's not like he was DFA'd or anything. And it would be good to see what Gurriel brings at the MLB level.

 
The answer is simple - waivers - but it has to be frustrating to watch Grichuk and Morales stink up the joint and continue to get playing time when having worse seasons than Travis.
 
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