The Canada to Philly Pipeline??

 

Here is a shortlist of players that the Philadelphia Phillies have discussed with the Toronto Blue Jays. Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho, Jeff Hoffman, Shane Bieber, George Springer. Any of those guys would definitely be the jolt that Philly needs to finish the season. I'm not sure how many will end up being dealt, and how many of our guys will be affected [is this where Painter goes? Is this where Rincones goes?], but it's certainly promising.

Let's be clear, the Jays are responsible for one of the most important pickups in Philadelphia Phillies history, the Roy Halladay trade of 2010, where two inconsequential Phils prospects [and also Travis d'Arnaud] were sent to Toronto and the Phils got a legend who looked good in red. Other than that, the Phils and Jays have never really been on opposing sides of the aisle around this point. And yet here, the Phillies need help, the Jays aren't competing, so here we are.

So let's talk about why Daulton Varsho would be a great fit for the Phillies. Let's start with the obvious. Daulton Varsho, if he lands in Philly, would conclude a very special MLB story. Gary Varsho played for the Phillies in 1995, alongside Darren Daulton, stopped playing after the season, then nine months later his son was born, and he would be given the name Daulton after Gary's former teammate. And now there's a possibility that Daulton Varsho could be playing in Philadelphia, where his story essentially began thirty years ago. 

Plus, Varsho's just a handy guy to have around. Terrific center fielder, great power bat, great clutch hitter, very multi-faceted, thrives in October. Last year in the playoffs he was very helpful, and had 3 homers and 10 RBIs in 18 games. I think he'd do well in Philly. I also think Gausman or Springer or Bieber would probably also do well in Philly but Varsho especially. Jeff Hoffman in Philly though....hmm, I don't even know what that would look like...

If the Jays drop the hammer, they still have enough left to work with going forward. Brandon Valenzuela might be a stronger bet than Alejandro Kirk behind the plate, Trey Yesavage and Dylan Cease can certainly line a great rotation, Okamoto will still be around for a bit, and the team's still centered around Vlad for the foreseeable future. They are still fundamentally a good team, and have enough to still compete for a bit. The lightning that made them a threat last year could not strike twice, and the team could not hold up for long enough to really go for it. So here we are. 

If the Jays deal people to Philly, I hope they continue their strong work and deliver something great. I'd even be alright with Springer in Phils colors. It'd be weird rooting FOR Springer for once, after all this time rooting against him, but I'm open to the idea. 

Coming Tonight: How weird is it that after he got mad at Willson Contreras his season only improved?

Trey Magnifique

 

First of all. The question on everyone's minds. HOW HAS DYLAN CEASE NEVER MADE AN ALL-STAR GAME BEFORE THIS?? He was good enough in 2022. He was good enough in 2024. He's hit 200 strikeouts in every season since the pandemic! I understand this has been a terrific season from him thus far but we didn't need to wait til now to get him to the ASG. At the same time, the Jays paid a bit too much for him, but so far he's been worth every penny. Phenomenal. Yes, he missed a few starts, but the quality wasn't sacrificed. Look at how far he went yesterday against the Giants. Incredible.

Okay. Onto our regularly scheduled Jays post. The Blue Jays massive really turned out at the ballot box earlier this month....I assume because Canadians are used to elections actually accomplishing something. People like Kazuma Okamoto, George Springer, Alejandro Kirk, Daulton Varsho, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Andres Gimenez and Jesus Sanchez made the final 2 for voting, which begs the question...what did they have against Nathan Lukes? Ernie Clement was the one the rest of the country agreed with, as he won the top voting share and waltzed to the first team. He deserves it. I also think Okamoto maaaaybe deserved it the way he's been playing recently. But no, everybody else missed out. A little 'serves them right', but generally the reserves pick more from the also-rans than this. And remember, John Schneider is MANAGING THIS TEAM. He could have done what Joe Torre did in like 2002 and elect everybody to the team anyway, but he decided, no, a lot of them don't really deserve it, let's just get the best guys. And yeah, that works too. 

It points to the fact that this Jays team may not be as great as the fans want it to be. The 2025 team, as fun as it was, was extremely flukey, similar to the 2015-2016 runs. It hinged on finding momentum at the exact right time and not letting go. The Jays this year haven't really found much momentum at all, because they don't have the team to hang onto it. Vladdie's not at 100% this year, the team has a .686 OPS cumulatively, there's an injury-plagued gaping hole in left that Jonatan Clase is now trying to fill, and only one guy has over 10 homers or 40 RBIs...that being the newcomer Okamoto. This isn't a particularly well-hitting team, which is such a shame after last year, the land of the .300 hitters and all. Aside from Clement and Okamoto, what's really going on here at all? Even Lukes and Varsho are slumping. 

Which is making this a waste of a similarly well-pitched year, after 2025. Cease and Gausman are very strong at the front, and Trey Yesavage is settling into a pretty breezy full season campaign, with a 3.13 ERA, 68 Ks and a 1.077 WHIP. Yesavage was very quickly-lauded in Toronto last year, and for a reason; he's young, he's likable, he's not flashy, and he gets the job done. His work in the postseason may have been the best pitching stats from a Toronto pitcher in over 30 years. I hope the Jays can reap the benefits of Yesavage for a while. I do, alternatively, worry about Shane Bieber, as he's looked pretty cooked in 3 starts back. I'd hate to think he was down for the count, especially after how good HE was last postseason. Without Berrios or Bowden Francis, the back half's failings are even more noticeable. But at least Louis Varland also exists, that helps.

I don't know what place there even is for the Jays this year, or what role they can fill. They could truly catch fire in the next month or so, but I don't know if that's enough in a sure-to-be contentious AL wild card picture. 

Coming Tonight: Hurt for a while, cold for a while...back to hitting dingers like he never left. 

From the Insides Out

 

Well clearly you can see the problem with this Jays team. Bo gone, Tony Taters hurt, Kirk out for a month and a half, Vladdie and Springer slumping, Barger hurt, Gimenez and Sanchez cold. All the depth this team had last year and now they're throwing out Yohendrick Piñango and hoping for the best. Egad.

I think the Yanks series kinda said it all, and the Cubs series said a little more. Lightning isn't striking twice with this team, and I know how because it's June, The Month Where the Jays Get Inexplicably Hot, and they're still mid. The Yankees took 2 from the Jays, then the Cubs massacred them on Gausman's watch, to the point where even the highlight of the week, a sweep of the Red Sox, looked inadequate. Like yeah, you can sweep the Sox, anyone could do that, but you go up against a higher profile bad team like the Cubs and get rocked. Where's all the common men? Why are they playing so commonly?

Vlad Jr.'s clearly fallen off, he's only hitting .279 after a rough June and only has 4 homers and 31 RBIs this season. It's just a down year, and he does have those from time to time, but it's happening at such a rough time for this team. Without a solid leader, they need more from the secondary guys like Ernie Clement and Nathan Lukes, and that doesn't work as well. Only one guy on this team has over 10 homers [Kazuma Okamoto], and nobody has an OPS over .800, though Brandon Valenzuela is scraping up against it. It's just not a terribly interesting lineup, which is a shame because...look at what we just had! We just had 'even the bench can kick your ass'. We just had a swiss army knife of guys you've never heard of that hit .300. Now they're just guys you've never heard of AND WILL NEVER HEAR AGAIN.

It's making nice seasons from Dylan Cease and Trey Yesavage seem pedestrian. And let's not forget, the Blue Jays have a guy who's working on one of the best relief seasons in baseball, and that's 2025 trade deadline acquisition Louis Varland. Varland's having a terrific year, with an 0.86 ERA, 57 strikeouts, 15 saves and only 4 earned runs in 42 innings. It is dominance that Louie has shown since the beginning of his 2025 season with Minnesota, and he has only locked in further and further. This guy is one of the factors keeping the Jays on the side of good, along with some other bullpen compatriots [Tyler Rogers, Spencer Miles, Braydon Fisher]. But if the team doesn't hit, that can only do so much.

I still think the Jays have a shot, and they've shown slightly more consistency than Baltimore. If they can get Guerrero to start hitting again they have a chance, especially with Kirk back. I just see the flaws and the replacement level guys and I understand why they're not doing what they did last year. But hey, a lot can change in 3 months.

Coming Tonight: Well, he hasn't hit as many triples as last year so far, but he's still really dangerous at the plate. 

Painfully Common Men

 

The Blue Jays could have used this Orioles series this weekend as a way of reestablishing leverage and keeping a foothold on some of the goings-on in the AL East. Instead, they dropped 2 games, including a walkoff, and the story is instead how the Orioles are quietly gaining momentum. Nice going.

The odd thing is, the loss of Dylan Cease, at least for a little while, didn't seem to heavily affect this team's leverage. Even without Cease, they still have Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage and Patrick Corbin moving the needle. They could have had Eric Lauer in a time like this, with two open rotation spots being given to bullpen days, but apparently the Dodgers needed him more. Gausman, ultimately, has regained the ace mantle, and has been once again on target, with a 3.13 ERA and 66 Ks, plus a 1.087 WHIP. Gausman is continuing his strong work from 2025, and has remained one of the most consistent starting weapons of the decade. Since 2021, Gausman has made all his starts, struck out over 160 batters, won at least 10 games, and finished with an ERA lower than 3.85. Remember when every pitcher could do that for six seasons? Now Gausman, who we all thought was cooked after a rough 2019 in Atlanta, is one of a few who can. And I'm very happy for him.

Also once again going for the attendance award is bafflingly inconsistent starter Patrick Corbin, whose unpredictability made him a pariah after his Nats contract ended. In actuality, Corbin hasn't really been hurt since his 2014 surgery, and has made all his starts every year since then. Now...the material isn't always STELLAR...and from 2021 to 2023 Corbin led the league in losses, but his time in Arlington represented a surprising step forward, even if his second half was inferior to his first. Now in Toronto, Corbin being seventh in line to start led to a relatively early rotation promotion [thanks to the Scherzer injury], and since then he's been shockingly reliable. He's got a 3.65 ERA and 36 Ks, even if his WHIP is up at 1.358. All Corbin really needs to do is fulfill the Chris Bassitt role and eat innings, and he's certainly doing that. And meanwhile, behind them, Trey Yesavage is having a very strong full year of work, with a 2.19 ERA in 7 starts,

Beyond that core three, and Louie Varland who's been absolutely untouchable in a prime relief role, the Jays don't have a ton to report recently. They've remained relatively steady, and are only 2 games under .500, but the x-factor of 2025 is basically gone. The 'uncommon men' group isn't doing nearly as much as last year, with Barger hurt, Straw struggling, Schneider demoted and Clement, despite the contact parade, a few steps down from last year overall. There's just less overall depth, and with Jesus Sanchez down with a freak 'catch-playing' injury, the indestructibility is also questionable. Vlad and Varsho are doing everything they can but the full squad effort isn't where it was last year.

But, again, it is still relatively early, and the Jays haven't committed enough faults to be dangerously out of the way. So it could all come back. After all, these Jays teams have a tendency to get hot in June, and look what starts tomorrow..

Coming Tomorrow- He was practically untouchable in May. Can he do what no Phils pitcher has done in years and carry a Cy Young case all the way through?

Japanese Corner Infielders Hitting Homers

 

I have no idea what data the Blue Jays' GM saw that drew him towards Kazuma Okamoto and away from Munetaka Murakami, but regardless they seem to have found a good piece. It's wild to me. What the hell sets one apart from the other. They both hit home runs, one's just a bit more forthcoming about it than the other. It's like picking the Japanese Matt Chapman over the Japanese Adam Dunn, like...either way you're getting runs scored. 

Kazuma Okamoto has given the Blue Jays a solid everyday third base option who's strong at the corner and can hit for power. He's already hit 10 homers and 27 RBIs, even if he's only hitting .239. Because this team is resuming their ragtag hitting mentality, someone like Okamoto can fit right in with this team, who also has room for defense-friendly contact guys like Jimenez and Straw, hitting machines like Vladdie and Ernie Clement, and powerful secret weapons like Daulton Varsho. I do like that the Blue Jays can still find ways to evolve, even after perfecting a working model last year. I honestly don't feel Bo Bichette's absence. Ernie Clement can play second, Gimenez can play short, it all works out. I think the lack of George Springer's better numbers is a bit more concerning, but he is, to be fair, 36. 

I think the lack of the full-team unity thing that was present last fall has made things a little tougher for the Jays so far, they're in fourth and under .500 at the moment. Guerrero, Clement and Varsho are having good-but-not-great seasons. Not having Kirk, Barger or Lukes pares back the depth a tad. Crucially, the rotation needed to prove it was more than just its postseason three, and that's...not been verified. Berrios is out, Scherzer's out, Bieber's out. That alone is pretty striking. Cease, Gausman and Yesavage do make up a pretty sturdy top of the rotation, and Cease in particular has been lights-out so far, but beyond that? Patrick Corbin has been picking up more slack than he honestly should be. He's been fine, a 3.93 ERA in 7 starts, but we really shouldn't be here. The Cody Ponce experiment didn't seem to work, nor did the Lauer experiment. I'm not even sure who their fifth option is right now. If I had half a mind I'd give Ricky Tiedemann a shot but I imagine they're making sure he won't burst into flames the second he throws a pitch [much like Cody Ponce did]. 

It's clearly not the ferocious, unstoppable force that the 2025 Jays were, but I still won't count them out. There's enough people on this team that can surprise you, Okamoto being chief among them, and despite a messier start there's always room for yet another big June where they can jump right ahead. We'll just have to see how this year's iteration compares to previous ones.

Coming Tonight: He's not a very good catcher, but he was so good at hitting that he got the primary catcher traded last year, and the other option demoted this year. So he's gotta be doing something right.

Bigger, Badder and More Canadian

 

It's the kind of prophecy that feels like it's out of a movie, but imagine being in Montreal in 2003, around when it became clear that Vladimir Guerrero was leading the Expos in free agency. Cause it would feel like all the hope was going away with the loss of one guy. Imagine if you had the knowledge to go 'don't worry...there will be another Vladimir Guerrero in 15 years, and he'll be just as good as the previous one, and what's more...he'll get to spend even more of his career in Canada. Cause that's where he was born'.

It sounds ridiculous, but somehow Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has guaranteed, even just 8 seasons into his career, that even as legendary as his father was in all his years in the league...he will be the most Canadian Vladimir Guerrero to ever play. Canada by way of the DR. It just gets more Arthurian the more you think about it. Born in Montreal, plays in Toronto, gets 'em to their first World Series since before he was born, and signs a contract ensuring he'll stay in Canada for years to come. All that remains is for him to play well, and that's what he's been doing.

Through 8 seasons, Vlad Jr. has 185 home runs [15 away from 200, and that's certainly doable], 603 RBIs, 1107 hits, a career .290 average and 26.8 WAR. By 27, that's a strong resume, even without adding the 5 straight all-star appearances and the 8 homers in one postseason. The expectations were huge for Guerrero, and he's definitely risen to them. I think in 2023 there was a moment where we all kinda rethought things for a second, as he was only hitting .260 and not getting 30 homers, but then he replied with 2 straight top-tier seasons and that postseason campaign. Right now he's hitting .337 with 12 RBIs and 30 hits, proving that the emphasis doesn't have to be on power all the time. Guerrero's just turned into a truly tremendous hitter, and an excellent centerpiece player who, even without Bo Bichette, can still command a lineup. 

The Jays themselves, meanwhile, are under .500 and doing their best to bounce back. The full team effort from 2025 seems to have subsided slightly, as the lineup's a bit more piecemeal. Losing Kirk and Springer hurts, and not even a surprise bench turn from Eloy Jimenez and the latent production of Kazuma Omamoto have patched things tremendously. It's just a comparatively less exciting lineup, and that returns the Jays to being a slightly above average team in a division where you need to be overwhelmingly great to survive. The Rays and Orioles are head of the Jays in the division in a year where the Jays felt like a shoo-in for at least 2nd. The pitching is only marginally better, as the 'break in case of emergency' starters, Eric Lauer and Patrick Corbin, are already several starts into the season, Scherzer's looking really cooked and Jeff Hoffman forgot how to save games.

Of course this team can turn things around, as they've done it before. But it just seems like even more of an uphill battle than last year. In 2025, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. felt like one of many prime, pivotal hitters, and now it feels like more is on his shoulders again. Hopefully the rest begin to step up soon.

Coming Tomorrow- He was elite, he got hurt, he struggled...and now he appears to be back.  

Cease on Earth

 

So let's ignore for a moment...that the Blue Jays got the snot beaten out of them yesterday by the Colorado Rockies, and let's ignore that it happened because Cody Ponce immediately got hurt in his return to US pitching and handed it to a bullpen that completely collapsed given the opportunity to leg out the rest of the game, and let's also ignore that the Rockies went 0-3 against the Marlins and took it out on the Jays in a very similar manner to the 2024 Astros after getting swept by the Yankees, and while we're at it let's also blind ourselves to the fact that the starting pitcher that kept this team down was Tomoyuki Sugano, who 2025 Jays batters had a .291 average against with 16 hits and 2 homers in 3 games. 

Let's...ignore all that. The Jays began the 2026 season against the Oakland Athletics, a team that was actually expected to improve this year, and who are currently the only 0-4 team remaining. The Jays were able to diminish the output of Nick Kurtz, Brent Rooker, Jacob Wilson and Lawrence Butler. Regardless of how the A's are able to even out, that still takes a fair amount of skill.

I am still of the belief that the scrappy play that got the Jays to a World Series last year is only gonna work that once. Both Addison Barger and Nathan Lukes are still hitless, Alejandro Kirk's sole hit so far has been a homer, and even with Andres Gimenez hitting up a storm, the absence of Bo Bichette still casts a large shadow on this team. I think they're just gonna have to alter their approach a bit this year, and actually shift to a more traditional lineup rather than the army of fill-ins that led them to compete. The additions of both Jesus Sanchez and Kazuma Okamoto lead me to believe that while contact is still possible, it may just need to be a bit more balanced now, and a bit less unpolished. Okamoto can hit home runs and help out with contact, and Sanchez's OPS is telling me he's branched out as well. We'll just see how sustainable it is.

Currently unquestionable though is the degree of excellence in that rotation. Gausman and Cease both had terrific opening starts, with Gausman proving he can still be dominant even in his mid-30s, and Cease proving the K rate isn't the only takeaway, regardless of how things go the third time through the lineup. I do think Cease and the Jays are ideal for each other, and he's better off someplace like Toronto than weighing out San Diego. While I do think the team will really appreciate it when Yesavage and Bieber come back, Eric Lauer is still a perfectly fine starting option, Max Scherzer came back for a reason, and I'm guessing either Ricky Tiedemann or Jake Bloss will fill in sufficiently in Ponce's stead. 

Right now, even with the Rockies loss in their rearview, the Jays look like the team to beat in the AL East. Yes, I'm aware that the Yankees also had a nice start. I'm just waiting to see how long it takes for their offense to come back after last night. 

Coming Tomorrow- Speaking of the Rockies, a trusty infield bat for the team that made them start 0-3.

Reproducing the Unexpected

 

There's a colleague of mine who's had a whirlwind 6 months. His baseball team is the Blue Jays, and he got to see them make a World Series this year. And his football team is the Seahawks, and he got to watch them defy the odds and win a Super Bowl. That's a lot of good stuff in a small period of time, especially after the Jays' last WS appearance was over 30 years ago and the Seahawks' last Super Bowl appearance was over 10 years ago. A decade of nothing and then everything at once sure is a nice change of pace.

I think that one of those two teams has built enough to engineer playoff pushes and potential championship campaigns for the next few years. Unfortunately it's not the Blue Jays. 

The Blue Jays' 2025 season, as triumphant as it was, happened because of so many other factors. The momentum the Jays found was sustained even as the Yankees, Mariners and Tigers failed to expand on their strong regular seasons. The approach the Jays entered the season with was altered, and once the team fully favored the contact platooning and bare-bones battery, nobody could really outclobber that. Any power perk the team thought they'd get by signing Anthony Santander was less important than the contact perks of giving Ernie Clement, Myles Straw, Addison Barger, Nathan Lukes and Davis Schneider more playing time. Lukes accomplished more at DH than Tony Taters did, which was a reality the Jays were not really thinking of last February. 

The 2025 Jays worked because nobody was quite prepared for them, and nobody could handle a full-season momentum like they could. But with every runaway surprise team comes the possibility of diminishing returns. There's two ways this team goes forward. Either it's the pie in the sky way, where this IS sustainable, Trey Yesavage is exactly who they think he is, nobody gets injured and everything falls in line exactly how it did in 2025...or the cynical view, where the lack of Bo Bichette, the overpaying for Dylan Cease and thereby losing out on Kyle Tucker, the steepening competition in the AL East and the inevitable atrophy of the deliberate recreation of success keep the team from making much of a dent in the overall picture of 2026. Both are possible. One more than the other.

Eyes are going to be on Ernie Clement to have a bigger season this year. There's no Bo, I'm guessing this'll be a down Springer year, and the team needs Clement to step up and continue his multi-tool contact work. It's just not clear if Clement is going to be that guy or not. He'll be 30 this year, he's still an ace defender, but he's never been the full package at the plate. Last year he had 151 hits, a career high, in addition to highs in the runs and doubles categories. He'll likely be starting at second due to Kazuma Omamoto taking third, meaning Andres Gimenez will be moving to short. It might not click immediately for any of them. Either Clement steps up and takes a larger stake in this team, or he continues on as a 'good piece' without much further use. That's gonna be the big takeaway from this coming season, whether the carousel of 'good pieces' that got the team so far into the playoffs have staying power beyond the 2025 season. I'd love for Addison Barger to cement himself, but will he? Same with Lukes. 

The rotation, at the very least, is less of a worry because there's already so many contingency plans. It's gonna be Cease-Gausman-Yesavage-Berrios-Ponce, Bieber will come back eventually, Scherzer will surface when he's ready and Lauer is the longman who can take starts if need be. That's a very good plan. There's also enough guys in their prime that there's not an extreme atrophy worry [though Gausman coooould take a step back]. If anything, the pitching will keep them competitive. But if what worked in 2025 stalls in 2026, they might need to crumple and toss again at some point.

With the talent they have on that roster, and the potential they've showed in the playoffs, the Blue Jays are still a formidable team. Clearly. They kept Vlad Jr. for a reason. I'm just not sure if the AL East is theirs right now, let alone the AL title. But we'll see I suppose.

Uncustomed Heroes of 2025: Blue Jays

 

No one expected the Blue Jays to compete this year. Even less people expected them to finish the season at 1st in the AL East. And even less people expected them to make the World Series. But the Jays built an insanely efficient baseball team, with a lineup of really sturdy contact hitters, a rotation that even withstood an injury to Jose Berrios, a bullpen of young role-players, and the leadership of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., finally making his mark on Toronto. Yes, the run ended tragically in seven games of a ferocious World Series, but the Jays managed to not only fulfill the promise of a youth movement that had been building since 2019, but ensure that the infrastructure is in place to maintain this team's value going forward. The odds are that Bo Bichette might be playing somewhere else this year, unless Ross Atkins pulled whatever he pulled with Vlad and Cease, but enough people are sticking around that this team will definitely still compete.

Jeff Hoffman kept the closing position for the whole year in Toronto, despite a 4.37 ERA. It wasn't all terrible, Hoffman had 33 saves, 84 Ks and 9 wins, but the dominance Hoffman showed in a middle relief role in Philly seemed to dissipate. And despite some strong October work, the blown save to end all blown saves landed on Hoffman's shoulders, giving up a game-tying home run to Miguel Rojas of all people, and letting the game go to extras. Even if Hoffman rebounds next year, which is possible, that's gonna haunt him for a while.

2026 Prediction: A much better season. Not closing. The Jays want a proven clover, they asked about Raisel Iglesias after all. Hoffman is a set-up man, so given the opportunity to be one, he'll be much better.

Going into 2025, despite failing to sign Roki Sasaki, Willy Adames, Max Fried, Blake Snell, Juan Soto, or any of the truly high-tier free agents, the Blue Jays did land one big piece, that being Anthony Santander, the Orioles slugger who, in his age 29 season, had a 44-homer, 102 RBI year, the best of his career. Any alarm bells sounding yet? No. Thank you, Ross Atkins. Anyway, they give Tony Taters the money, and he hits SIX TATERS in his first year in Toronto. He'd just hit 44, because of injuries and a horrifying .175 average in the games he was healthy for, he only took 6 out. If he never recovers, the Jays fans are gonna look at this as grounds for running Atkins out of town on a rail. Out of EVERYBODY, they picked the one free agent with a palpable ceiling. He couldn't even do too much in the postseason. 3 hits, 2 RBIs in 5 games. 

2026 Prediction: He hits 25 homers. Will it be enough to satiate the fans? Not too sure.

After getting cut by the Guardians, y'know, the KINGS of high-defense/contact leaning little guys, Myles Straw got a job as a depth outfielder with the Jays. Then Daulton Varsho, the starting centerfielder, gets hurt and Straw becomes the everyday guy out there, reignites his career. Even though the defense is the star, Straw still hits .262, which isn't terrible. Varsho eventually comes back, gets hot, and Straw stays on as a defensive sub and depth piece. In the playoffs he was more notable for diving catches than any real plate work, but he's a big reason why the Jays made it as long as they did.

2026 Prediction: Similar role, perhaps more starts in right or left. Between him and Varsho, they've got it made out there.

Speaking of former Astros OF guys they didn't have any room for, Joey Loperfido came to Toronto last year in the deal that brought Yusei Kikuchi to LA...by way of Houston. Of the two pieces of that deal, I figured Jake Bloss would factor more into this season, but Loperfido took advantage of a midseason push and had a great second half, hitting .333 with 4 homers and 14 RBIs in 41 games. His appearances died down in September, and he didn't do much in October, but he was a great burst of energy down the stretch.

2026 Prediction: So all of the main outfield players are still in the picture next season. Santander, Varsho, Lukes, Schneider, Straw. They're all sticking around. Loperfido is the odd man out, and he still hasn't found a strong foothold in Toronto, at least not a long term one. Odds are he gets dealt this offseason. Wherever he's going, I think he makes it work there.

Ty France, after something of a comeback as 1st baseman for the Twins, wound up as a surprise trade deadline addition by the Jays, needing a power bench guy. France obliged, hitting .277 in 37 games, with 8 RBIs and 1 homer. 

2026 Prediction: Starter for a low-end non-competitor, a training wheels piece. Colorado could bite? Pittsburgh?

Also poached from Minnesota was middle relief wizard Louie Varland, who was working on a truly excellent season before the trade. After a 2 ERA with the Twins, Varland posted a 4.94 ERA with the Jays, with 2 more earned runs than in Minnesota. In the playoffs, he had a 3.94 ERA with 17 Ks and 7 earned runs, showing dominance more often than not. 

2026 Prediction: I say he settles in with Toronto, maybe gets to close.

After spending the first half of the 2024 season in Toronto and getting traded to Pittsburgh, looking to compete [?????], Isiah Kiner-Falefa found himself dealt right back to Toronto a year later, in time for a much more meaningful playoff push. IKF isn't the guy New York thought they'd be getting in 2022, but he's become a pretty handy guy to have around. IKF was mostly a fill-in for Bo Bichette, and acted as such in early rungs of the playoffs, before being shifted to a defensive sub, on account of a lack of hitting. As good as he was in the field, I fear IKF will forever be haunted by his choice of sliding strategy in a move that could have won the game in the bottom of the ninth. 

2026 Prediction: Whoever picks him up cuts him before the end of the year.

Coming Tomorrow- Unsurprisingly a ton of Atlanta Braves.

Second Wind for a Second Win

 

My initial takeaway from last night's game is that nobody wanted that World Series to end. Everybody wanted the win, and everybody wanted to do whatever necessary to make it happen. Every pitcher gave everything they had left, from the starters, Scherzer and Ohtani, to every past starter who made a relief appearance, like Glasnow, Bassitt, Bieber, Snell, Yesavage and especially Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who stamped his ticket to an MVP by being as good last night as he was Friday night [somehow]. Nobody wanted this to be easy.

But then you think of the outcome, and the way we got there, and you're handed a different idea entirely: everybody wanted the World Series again because everybody, bar the few that made it a game, was absolutely exhausted. The Jays put up a graphic midway through of Max Scherzer and Bo Bichette, the two that made this a 3-1 Jays lead for most of the game, and both of them had substantial missed time in between the regular season and part of the postseason. Scherzer had the bye and didn't make the ALDS roster. Bo was out for a couple months and didn't get here til the World Series. Both had big moments last night, Bo with his 3-run bomb and Max with his dominant start. A lot of other Blue Jays did not rise to the occasion, and Vlad, Kirk and Barger were given moments to win it and couldn't. Even on the Dodgers' side, the big pieces, like Ohtani, Freeman, Muncy and Betts, didn't factor into this as much.

Cause they were all absolutely fried from seven months of this shit. And it had finally gotten to them. Remember back in the day, when hitters didn't swing on every pitch and pitchers didn't throw hard on every pitch, when the postseason only lasted like a week and a half? This shit is not sustainable anymore.

But because this season now lasts that long, the guys who were cold have enough time to get hot again and be the heroes in the last moments of the season. That explains Andres Gimenez, who was listless for a while, having a hero moment. That explains Yamamoto, whose Cy Young case fell off expediently as the season went on, becoming unstoppable in October. And that explains Miguel Rojas, who hadn't hit a home run in over a month, and had barely gotten any hits in the postseason, being the man to hit the game-tying home run off of Jeff Hoffman in the ninth, as the Jays were two outs away from hoisting the trophy themselves. Rojas had the game of his life last night, and for a career workhorse who always keeps his head down and does his job, and is a favorite to manage after his career, Rojas being the hero is a very cool thing. It's not a flash in the pan guy, it's not the obvious choice. It's a reliable, hardworking guy who needed recognition. 

There were so many incredible moments in that game. Pages making the catch in center field after subbing in. Vlad turning a double play. That insane moment where it looked like Will Smith could have blown the game by lifting his cleat off the plate for a millisecond. Then Smith getting to be the hero. And then the Kirk GDP that ended the game. I was exhausted in the seventh inning but I needed to know how this ended, and even if I'd have preferred a Jays win, I cannot stay too mad at that outcome. The Dodgers won by never giving up and continuing to pound a team that was inches from taking it themselves.

Now...there's a lot about this that I'm very concerned about. Like the fact that we only got this game because of a very dubious dead ball moment in Game 6 that could have tied the game. And the fact that this is the exact outcome that Rob Manfred wants, because it strengthens the case in favor of a salary cap, which will no doubt lead to an avoidable standstill, the likes of which we already have enough of at the moment. And the fact that I literally wrote a post when the Dodgers got Roki Sasaki, saying 'there's no need to play the season at all, as they just bought a ring', and literally no one else could stop them despite obvious flaws. The Dodgers' bullpen could have lost them this Series, and they gamed the system so that they barely had to use it at all. 

The way to stopping the Dodgers is not stopping the Dodgers. The way to stopping the Dodgers is encouraging the other 29 owners to do exactly what the Dodgers have been doing to win. This season proved that that's how you win World Series, you outspend the competition and reward players. Nobody else wants to do that. Especially guys like John Fisher and Bob Nutting and the Pohlads and...and I could go on. These people have no desire to actually spend money on their baseball teams, and Manfred has no incentive to make them, because of the amount of leverage he has over the players' association because of this Dodgers win. And hey, people watched! They watched cause a lot of them wanted the other outcome, but they sure watched. The only thing that may not be in Manfred's corner heading into a potential lockout  in a year or so, is that, uh...somebody that famously enjoys rewarding billionaires may not be too keen on a California team being that good at winning right now. 

It is absolutely true that this outcome can be both a very good, and exciting one, and also a disastrous one for the future of the game. I'm mostly saying this because I genuinely don't know what's going to happen next year, and there's a lot of doomerism out there where people are convinced there isn't gonna be a 2026 season, let alone a 2027 one. Maybe I'll be able to enjoy this more in hindsight then.

Anyway. Congratulations to the Dodgers, and Dodgers fans. A lot needs to be fixed for me to enjoy this more, but I definitely enjoyed this World Series. Now to the waiting. Hopefully it's not that long.

World Series Game 5: Say Goodbye to Hollywood

 

This isn't even the first World Series this decade to have a heroic game from a guy from Southern New Jersey with an iconic mustache. Cause we already had Zac Gallen a few years ago, he's from Somerdale, which is two towns over from me. I go to Somerdale to get my tomato plants at the beginning of the season, there's a nice place there. And now we've got Davis Schneider, who's from Berlin [not that Berlin, that's Max Kepler I think], which is like 3 towns from me, and went to Eastern Regional H.S., which isn't far from me at all. In fact, Schneider apparently did a clinic for a family friend's kid when he was in high school. This kid's currently a D3 college athlete, and Schneider, being local and all, helped out and gave some pointers during the offseason. Apparently he's a great dude from a great family. 

And tonight he hit a leadoff home run in the World Series against Blake Snell, followed swiftly by another homer by his teammate, Vladimir Guerrero. Far from Eastern, right? Far from...okay I was gonna name some defunct Voorhees area landmarks and then it dawned on me that Schneider won't remember any of them cause he's four years younger than me. No use digging up the spirit of Echo Pizza, or the old diner across the street from Office Depot [which is now an Urgent Care, and the Office Depot is now a pickle ball court]. He probably doesn't even remember back far enough to when the Ritz Plaza had two record stores instead of just the one. Damn, I am getting old, even as one of the youngest bloggers still blogging. 

But yes, Schneider got to be a hero tonight against a tough Dodgers team, which is a testament to the Jays' mentality of, being, to quote Ernie Clement paraphrasing Herb Brooks, 'a team of uncommon men'. And that's the perfect way of putting this Jays team, they are UNCOMMON. It would be common if the team that slugged the most, or had the most stars, or paid the most money, triumphed. That's a common ending. But what would be uncommon is if the team that had the most players specifically made for this moment, and the most performers at the absolute best time to strike, ended up winning. If a championship could be won by guys like Davis Schneider and Trey Yesavage and Addison Barger and Ernie Clement and, yes, Vlad and Bo and Bieber and Scherzer. Sometimes the best man for the job isn't the best player in baseball. Sometimes it's better to be useful and timely than it is to be 'the best'. And this is a very efficient, and timely, Jays team. 

And tonight, Trey Yesavage was once again right on time, having a terrific start, going 7 strong with 12 Ks, including a golden sombrero for Tuesday's hero Freddie Freeman, and only allowing 1 run on a solo shot from Enrique Hernandez. Naturally. Yesavage is showing all of the ace qualities of someone 10 years his senior, and he's doing it right now, before any rookie cards of his can be released. It'd be incredible if he has an entire career of performances like this, but it'd be just as incredible if everything lined up for him to be this good for a short enough stretch to net the Blue Jays a ring. 

So now, the Jays have the leverage once more heading back to Toronto. They win, it's over. They just need to get through Yoshinobu Yamamoto, which will not be easy whatsoever, especially with the prospect of Kevin Gausman taking the start for Toronto. This could go to 7 if they can't crack Yamamoto. But if they somehow can...that'll be a really satisfying ending to this series, and this season. 

World Series Game 4: Your Latest Trick

 Game 4 was the one game, of any of them, that the Blue Jays needed to win. If they couldn't win a Shohei Ohtani game there was no point showing up. Shohei as a starter was the one thing the Dodgers have used that has always worked this postseason, and the Jays needed to strike against him if they wanted to stand any chance in the rest of this series.

So getting through this game while handing Ohtani the loss? A very, very good development.

Everything that has worked for this Jays team before worked tonight. The exceptional defense. The strong starting pitching, tonight coming from Shane Bieber and Chris Bassitt. The contact free-for all mentality, which exploded in the 7th. And Vlad Jr., who took one yard early. Let's not forget how crucial Bo Bichette was tonight, even if he's not at 100%. Dude kept the contact machine rolling in the second and paved the way for Barger to make it 6-1. Bo has been exactly what the Jays have needed in this series, a serious boost both offensively and defensively. He was having a terrific season before the injury, and he'd made up for a lackluster 2024. To see Bo become the multifaceted, versatile, multi-dimensional player that his father wasn't has been really satisfying. Like, unlike Dante, Bo scores positive WAR. He's been a major reason why this team has stayed competitive in the last few years, and him sticking around made them a World Series threat.

So now we're tied again. Confirming just how evenly matched this series is. When the Jays win, they win big. When the Dodgers win, they squeak through. I'm still not sure who has the leverage, though with the knowledge that there is a Yoshinobu Yamamoto game up ahead, I have this...sneaking suspicion this thing could go all 7 if the Jays aren't careful. Or even worse...if they don't win Game 5, it could be over after Yoshi. I'm still pulling for Toronto, but they need to move like they did tonight against a formidable starter. Or else, again, it's curtains. 

World Series Game 3: Marathon Man

 

Once again, I gave myself a set out for a playoff game this season. I said 'if they make it go to thirteen, I'm goin' to bed'. And they did, and so I just gave up. I wasn't gonna stay up til like 2 or 3 after all of this. 

That shouldn't take away from how great the game was. This is a very evenly-matched World Series of two great defensive teams that know each other's weaknesses. It just means that sometimes there are 18-inning games. Somebody did the math and said that Brad Paisley has performed the National Anthem at four different instances of the Dodgers going to extras in the World Series. Brad, buddy, you've gotta stop picking up the phone. 

There was a lot to be impressed with in this game, like Alejandro Kirk hitting a 3-run bomb off of Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani having a 2-homer night like it's absolutely nothing, Max Scherzer once again absolutely slaughtering Dodgers hitting, and some of the most impressive defensive plays in some time. For 8 innings, every cutoff man got hit, every infield drill got accomplished, and every close play got done. After some initial sloppiness in regulation that allowed for some runs, it was really cool to see. But when the right defensive subs go in, and when people like Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Myles Straw get plugged in, that's what you're trying to accomplish. Outlasting the other guys no matter what. 

The MVP of this game has been crowned, and somehow it is not Freddie Freeman, who hit the game-winning bomb after everybody got tired. No, it is Will Klein, a guy who bopped around the minors the last couple years, made it to the Dodgers as a roster sub for injuries, then got named to the World Series roster when Alex Vesia had to duck out. Quietly he's been a very underrated bullpen arm for the Dodgers, and was excellent in September appearances. Last night, he went 4 very strong innings, struck out 5 and only allowed 1 hit and 2 walks. It should be noted that Eric Lauer also had a strong 4 inning run, but he didn't get the win. Klein proves that you can be a nobody making scale and still be the hero, even on the Dodgers. And that's pretty incredible.

The Dodgers have the ultimate leg up right now. They're up 1 game, at home, with both rosters absolutely exhausted and both bullpens absolutely depleted. But they have Shohei Ohtani on the mound tonight. 

World Series Game 2: No 'Pen, No Problem

 

This is exactly the way I figured the Dodgers would get their leverage back. Blake Snell had a nice start in Game 1, but they chased him in the 6th, and that's where the trouble began. If they could get a starter to throw 8, like earlier in the playoffs, there'd be more of a chance they could just chip away at the Jays' worse starting pitching.

Well, instead they got a CG out of a starter. So it went better than expected.

Yoshinobu Yamamoto's been in the MLB for two seasons and is acing his second World Series as a starter. This guy was made for MLB action, in a way that may not come immediately to Roki Sasaki because he's younger. Yamamoto was a veteran ace in Japan, then came over here and transferred everything over perfectly. And now, once again, he's unstoppable in the World Series. He rocked a rare complete game in the World Series, struck out 8, and only allowed 4 hits. The only run was scored on a sac fly by Alejandro Kirk. Meanwhile, Kevin Gausman, as the more imperfect starter, gave up more runs, including some solo homers from Will Smith and Max Muncy. The Jays' pen had to strike earlier tonight, and that led to some runs in the eighth. 

This sort of thing is why even with the shellacking the Jays gave the Dodgers in Game 1, you cannot count the Dodgers out. They have Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and they have Shohei Ohtani, and so far neither has shown any mercy in the postseason. I reckon the Jays have better luck against Tyler Glasnow, unless he decides to lock in as well. 

We get a day off from debauchery and head to LA on Monday. I doubt we're gonna get an overwhelming favorite here for a little while.

World Series Game 1: That Would Be The Issue

 

I was watching the Fox broadcast tonight, and somewhere around the sixth inning, Joe and John were talking about how, as evenly matched as this World Series was, there were definite categories where one team was better than the other. Dodgers had the better rotation, Jays had the better defense, Dodgers had the better contact, Jays had the better power, etc etc. And the one area that Joe Davis mentioned might be a contentious point was the bullpen, they said Toronto barely edged out LA with a better 'pen. They acted like it was close. They did mention, 'well the Dodgers really haven't been in position to USE theirs cause all their starters have gone long and they've put in other starters in relief'. 

Anyway, right after that Blake Snell got taken out and the Jays scored 9 runs in the 6th. 

It really is that simple, as we all thought it would be. It can be the Shohei Ohtani show and the story of the Dodgers rotation, and that's all well and good for six or seven innings, but once you have to put in Emmett Sheehan, Jack Dreyer and Anthony Banda, then the head start evaporates. That sixth inning shows you everything you need to know about where the Jays have the edge, cause they can put in Mason Fluharty or Braydon Fisher or Louie Varland and it'll go fine, and the Dodgers...don't have that kind of luck. Tonight, they loaded the bases, walked a runner home, singled two runners home, grand slammed four home and homered two home. In one inning. Anthony Banda is going up against Addison Barger, one of the hardest hitting guys on the team, and what d'you think is gonna happen? It's Anthony Banda against the power part of the power lineup. And yes, the next inning they give up a homer to Ohtani, but...it's 11 to 4. Yay, Ohtani did something, but it's gonna take more than that.

I dunno if Blake Snell just has this luck, that no matter how much he can do in a World Series start, it'll never be enough because even with 100 pitches he still had to come out and the Dodgers' pen had to mop things up. And they did a terrible job. The Barger homer was the icing on the cake, and then the Alejandro Kirk homer was fondant! This was the thing you knew could happen, in a game with a ferocious home crowd, and you still let it happen. The Dodgers may be the Dodgers, but they still have a flawed team this year. They can't just use Ohtani for everything and expect that to get them an easy ring.

The Jays worked a clinic tonight. Trey Yesavage was excellent, even among outstanding pressure. Guerrero and Bichette had crucial contact moments. Barger and Lukes cemented themselves as huge parts of this team. Even IKF and Schneider had nice moments. This was what they needed to do to get the leverage early, and they should be super proud. I dunno if every game is gonna be this easy, or will be as easy as just hitting the known puncture point over and over like tonight. All I know is the Jays made a statement tonight. They're not gonna keel over like the Brewers and Phillies did. They're gonna be a challenge. 

Remember...this was just the game where Addison Barger had the big power moment. Vlad Jr. hasn't really woken up yet. 

I Guess I'll Watch

 

This is not the most fun matchup of the several we were promised. It was looking like it could be Mariners-Brewers, or Tigers-Phillies, or Cubs-Mariners. And ultimately, we have Dodgers-Jays. The two teams that beat my favorite teams, squaring off in a World Series.

If anything...I kinda wanna see how this goes down.

Because there's two real outcomes here. There's the boring outcome, where the season-long fear that the Dodgers could buy a World Series comes to fruition anyway and we're left with a locked-out 2026 because no rich person ever learns their lesson. Or we get the fun outcome, where a team led by a native son trying to prove himself, backed up by a murderer's row of fun role-players and rookies, outdoes the Goliath. That's really where we're at, overspending vs. overbuilding. This Jays team is the culmination of a farm system build that began in 2019, nearly failed, was nearly split up THIS YEAR, and suddenly hunkered down and became truly great. If Guerrero leaves, then Bichette leaves, and this team never gets past the Yanks and Sox. Maybe Schneider gets fired, maybe Springer never has the comeback season, maybe Scherzer doesn't lock in. So much of this season was a chain reaction of events leading directly back to the team listening and re-signing Guerrero. It seemed like an odd move at the time, but deep down they knew that a World Series was still possible.

And that's how the Blue Jays made it to a World Series without Bo Bichette, Jose Berrios or Anthony Santander. They locked in so hard that they outdid even a hot-as-hell Mariners team. Vlad Jr. and George Springer dug deep and got them here. And everything that had struggled before, like Scherzer, the rotation, the outfield defense, even Jeff Hoffman, locked in even further. 

That is a fantastic story. The Jays, in a different draw of cards, could have been out in August. But they made it to a World Series. It's a much better story than 'the Dodgers bought a ton of contracts, then they all got hurt, then they all got healthy and suddenly a team with 9 starters, three hitters that specifically only do well in October, and the best player in baseball history, is in the World Series'. If the Dodgers win, great, they deserve it, it's incredible...but you understand how that's way less interesting, right? 'Well they were the best team, so of course they won'. What kind of story is as simple as that? Where's the conflict? Yes, the middle of the season was still kind of rough, but they only lost 1st place for a couple seconds because the Padres absolutely gave up every time they were in position to overtake first. The Jays, meanwhile, blew past the Yankees for the division, stayed ahead of them in September and embarrassed them in October. THAT is a story.

This is going to be a very cool World Series, one that could have a very fun outcome. The Dodgers winning would cement this organization as Belichick levels of unfair, even if you can call them the next great baseball dynasty. But a Blue Jays win, after all this? Wouldn't that be something? 

Championship Series' Day 5: In Danger of Losing Me

 

I really thought this Dodgers-Brewers series was going to be close. What a fool I was to judge these teams by how they played during the regular season. Because it's clear that doesn't matter anymore.

The Dodgers have gamed the system. They have the single best October team in the game, and it doesn't matter how well they've done during the regular season. They were good in the first six months, won the division, but they had injury issues and obvious flaws. Right now they have an obvious flaw, mainly that in pitching Shohei Ohtani as often as they are, the Dodgers are making it more difficult for Shohei Ohtani, their best hitter, on hitting. I also think the fact that the bullpen has been so inconsistent that the man they are paying to close games is done for the year and the man they WERE paying to start games is so bad at starting that he's better off in the ninth...that's a problem. I don't know if taking one of the best Japanese pitchers of his era, Roki Sasaki, and making him a career closer because he hasn't cracked 6-inning starts in America yet, is a mistake. It's like using Excalibur as a letter-opener. 

And with all of that, and the fact that the defense isn't where it should be...they're still in position to make it to their second World Series in a row. Because nobody could stop them. Not even the two best teams in the NL.

The Dodgers are just excellent at employing people who are best suited for October. And that's why they've been so good, because Enrique Hernandez, Teoscar Hernandez, Tommy Edman, Max Muncy and Blake Snell have gone 'well, it's October so I guess we should start playing well now'. Again, regardless of how things went during the regular season.

That is how you know that the playoffs are too long and too expanded. It used to be 'let's take the best teams in both leagues and see if they can do an extra series, and then one big one against each other'. Now it's become a seventh month to the season with entirely new rules and expectations. Clearly Dave Roberts has figured out how to manage a seventh month because he's one of the only people who realizes that that's what it is now. Every other manager is still acting like the playoffs are what they were, an extra week or so to wrap up the season. And that's why they're all losing. Because they aren't preparing like the Dodgers are. This has become a marathon, and this whole Dodgers team is made up of career sprinters. 

How do you compare that to a very young, very wet-behind-the-ears Brewers team? Of course they're losing! They're playing by the old rules! The Dodgers have a four man rotation plus three extra starters that play relief, their best hitter also is one of their best pitchers, and the contact game has been off the charts because it hasn't needed to shift fully to a power game. 

The Dodgers are gonna make it to another World Series, and probably win. From how they're built now, they won't run out of steam until mid-December at this rate. 

Meanwhile, the series which is on an actual even playing field isn't exactly pleasing me either, because the Mariners have blown their two game lead by watching two great starters, coming off of two great starts, backpedal while the lineup once again fails to show up. The Detroit series was close. This series is also close. The Mariners can't crack the Dodgers' level of consistency because, again, they packed for a three-hour tour. 

I can't say I'm not blown over by Max Scherzer having an ace moment even as his career winds towards a finish. Scherzer's one of the oldest pitchers in the game, he's a lock for Cooperstown, and everything since 2021 has been frosting. He didn't even make the ALDS roster because the Jays didn't think they needed him. They did. He went 5 and 2/3rds, only allowed 2 small runs, K'd 5 and was dominant, as he was tasked to be. The Jays needed an ace moment after Yesavage and Gausman didn't work, and they got one. The offense did the rest, and the usual suspects, like Springer, Guerrero, and the surprisingly-hot Andres Gimenez, made it another blowout. 

The M's are in danger of losing their leverage, and need to win Game 5 to ensure some semblance of superiority heading back to Toronto. Will this finally be the Bryan Woo game? Or will the decision to limit his output haunt Dan Wilson forever?

Championship Series' Day 4: Waking Up

 

You didn't seriously think the Jays were gonna go down without a fight, did you? After scoring 10+ runs against the Yankees in the first two games? Absolutely not.

I think the reaction to the quiet bats in the first two games of the ALCS got to the Jays' head. So of course, Game 3 you have Vlad Jr., Alejandro Kirk, Andres Gimenez, George Springer and Addison Barger all going yard, totaling 8 runs against George Kirby and 14 runs in general. You rile them up, they let loose. This was a cathartic game for everyone worried the Jays would waste their offense on the Yankees series. Absolutely not. This team can still come through and chase the Mariners even if they strike first. This is a game where the Mariners got production from Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Randy Arozarena, and it still felt futile because the rest of the team didn't do a great deal. 

The key to this was also the best starting performance for Toronto of the ALCS so far, courtesy of Shane Bieber, still capable of going through in big games. After the Julio homer he locked in, going 6 innings and only giving up 5 hits while striking out 8. It was the dominance they needed to keep the M's from coming back or making this one interesting. No matter how well Max Scherzer can do tomorrow night [and...honestly the jury's still out], Bieber noticed a needed win and made things interesting in Seattle.

I still think the M's have the right amount of leverage, and could strike back big time in Game 4. I think this'll be the one where they let Bryan Woo at 'em.....right???

Division Series' Day 5: Keeping Me On My Toes

 

I really thought the Mariners were gonna go with a bullpen game and opening for Kirby or something like that, but they had faith in Bryce Miller. Not 2023 Bryce Miller.....current Bryce Miller. So if you wanted to know why their series is 2-2, that's why.

Look, the Tigers are just a good team. You can't keep them down. Just when you think they've quieted down they blow back up again, and like the Jays anybody can be the hero at any time. Torres, Dingler, Jahmai Jones, Greene, McKinstry, most notably Javier Baez, who was responsible for FOUR runs. You forgot how good this guy can be in October because it's been so long. This was both on the Tigers' offense and on the Mariners' bullpen, who turned sour after a relatively strong series. 

Now, Game 5 in Seattle is gonna be tight as hell. Both teams want it. I wanna say Seattle has the leverage but the Tigers might go with Skubal again. It's gonna be wild no matter what happens.

The Brewers are clearly the better team in their matchup. They proved it during the regular season. The trick now is making sure their mistakes don't come back to haunt them. And somehow earlier today, Quinn Priester was the mistake. He's had such a great season, and has been such an integral piece of this team's success this year...but his first October start was not great. The 4 runs the Cubs won on came against Priester. And even if the Brewers end up winning this series, the fact that Priester was the low point here is gonna be a major takeaway going forward.

Still, it was nice for the Cubs to get a win. Happ scored a playoff run, and I'm mostly happy he got to see a team hit October again. Michael Busch is definitely a top-tier postseason performer and I hope he gets more opportunities to share it. PCA was right about the refs. Palencia closing over a full season would be great. I'm not sure how much hope I have that they'll win Game 4, but they've at least proved they can upset this team without getting completely owned.

And speaking of getting completely owned...

I had a feeling this series might go this way, but not that it would be so embarrassing. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. owned the Yankees. The splitters owned the Yankees. The rotation, and even the bullpen in this game, owned the Yankees. And as good as Judge and somehow Ryan McMahon could be, the Blue Jays can get production from EVERYBODY. Ernie Clement, Nathan Lukes, Addison Barger, Myles Straw. Pretty much anybody can be the hero in Toronto, and the Yankees have multiple people who simply couldn't in this game. And thus...the Jays, with a very good team, advance, and the Yanks don't. Can't make it any clearer than that. The Jays were the better team, and they had the momentum.

The Yankees only get further next year if they stop fooling themselves. Deluding themselves into thinking that things that have not worked before will eventually work is not the way to go. Sometimes you have to let somebody go rather than let them let you down again. That could go for Volpe, for Boone, for lots of people. The fanatical approach will get the team nowhere, especially with the AL East looking to be even more competitive next year. 

The Jays have a serious shot at a World Series. If the Tigers win, it's a 75% chance. If the M's win...little closer to 50/50.

This one I actually saw coming. I knew the Phils weren't gonna let THAT be the end of it. They'd come this far, they'd gotten the okay to wear the baby blue throwbacks on the road. They were gonna make it count.

I don't care if those are Kyle Schwarber's last two homers in Philly colors, he made 'em count. He's one of the best power hitters of his era, and he's done so much for us, including this. It happened after a lot of hemming and hawing from fans, but it still happened. Also props to Ranger Suarez [AND AARON NOLA] for holding down the best offense in the NL, and Brandon Marsh, J.T. Realmuto, Trea Turner and Alec Bohm for providing strong run support. This was the effort we'd been waiting all series for, and even if another game like it doesn't happen, we still won this one and earned it.

Tomorrow I think a series ends, and one goes to Game 5. I have my guess of which that is. I'd rather not be proven wrong, but I'd be fine with happy Cubs fans even if my Phils go down as well.

Division Series' Day 2: I Am Tired

 

So it's not looking terribly likely that the Yankees will be showing up at all this ALDS. The offensive rally that they couldn't muster yesterday was reserved to the point in today's game where it was already out of reach. After getting shut down by Kevin Gausman, the Yankees now were shut down by Trey Yesavage, a guy with even less games under his belt than Schlittler and even more outright dominance. The 22-year-old went 5 innings, struck out 11 and allowed no hits. Yes, the bullpen gave up seven runs, but the Yankees had already given up 13 by that point so it wasn't a big loss.

At the very least, I'd like if if the Yankees offense could do at least something in Game 3 in the Bronx. I knew we had our work cut out for us playing the Jays, but the home crowd at least suits us better against these guys. Besides, we've got Rodon on the mound, at least give him something to get excited about.

Now...Skubal I predicted going a while without letting anybody through. Luis Castillo I did not call. I'm grateful for it, as the pure lights-out ability Castillo has does manage to show up every so often, even if he was a bit more spotty this year. Castillo only allowed 1 hit in 4 and 2/3rds innings, and was dominant on a night where Jorge Polanco figured out how to break through Tarik Skubal. Twice.

Last year I was really thinking Polanco to Seattle was a dumb move, but I think it was just 2nd base that cursed him. Once he moved over to DH he got so much better as a power bat. He's been having to play 2nd more often just because...Ben Williamson can only do so much, but he's found his sweet spot again, which is great. And he was undoubtedly the hero in this game, though Julio and Cal did combine doubles to sink the win late. 

Very happy the M's pulled this one out. Gilbert v. Mize in Detroit is gonna be interesting.

The NL ones are tomorrow. Hoping for both of those to be evened. The Phils need to remind people why they got that 1st round bye.