I was hoping we’d hear news of Jose Ramirez before I need to hit post on this. MLB seems to be taking their time.
I wonder, after the Orioles series, what the odds would have been that the Jays would get 44 hits in the Red Sox series. The Jays hit .370/.449/.639 with 7 home runs, 16 walks and 18 strikeouts. If you want to, the Jays hit .148/.241/.246 in the four games against the Orioles. Baseball is weird.
The Jays are at a 74.9% chance of making the playoffs, up 4% on the weekend.
There are a few little bits of Jays news:
- The Pirates picked up Thomas Hatch off waivers. I remember liking the trade, we got him for David Phelps in mid-2019, and then we got Phelps back in 2021, and he pitched in 65 games with a 3.18 ERA last year. Hatch never gained any traction with the Jays pen. He looked pretty good in 2020. But he’s been up and down between Toronto and Buffalo since. In 27 games, spread over four seasons, he had a 5.40 ERA, with 8.7 strikeouts per nine but 5.0 walks per nine.
- Kevin Kiermaier needed 8 stitches to close the wound caused by the cheese grater in the outfield. He’ll be day-to-day. I guess this means George Springer will be number two in line for center field. Kiermaier and Varsho are the only ones who have played center for us this year. Whit Merrifield could also play center if they are in need.
- Bo Bichette has been throwing the ball, as well as getting a few swings in. The real test will be running and they won’t have him run hard until they are very sure that his knee can handle it.
- Chad Green is getting closer to returning. He pitched 1.2 innings in Buffalo on the 2nd and an inning on the 5th, giving up just 1 baserunner in the two appearances. Generally, the Jays like a reliever to pitch on back-to-back games before bringing them back from the IL so I’d imagine they will be doing that soon.
- Trevor Richards and Jordan Romano are both 0dealing with soreness and will likely not to too much longer than the minimum 15 days.
Davis Schneider had the most amazing first three MLB games we will ever see: 15 PA, 9 hits, 2 home runs, 5 RBI, and 1 walk. That’s a .692/.733/1.154 batting line. And he made all the plays in the field.
This week will be interesting.
The story of Davis Schneider’s glove is great:
UPDATE: this glove belonged to the late John Vukovich, the #Phillies former 3b coach. His son, Vince was John Schneider’s college roommate and teammate at Delaware. Vince saw my post and joked to John, “I’ve been looking for this. Tell Davis I want it back!”
Crazy stuff!!! https://t.co/ayObdYEuTn
— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) August 7, 2023
If you haven’t followed Travis Snider on whatever they call Twitter this week, you really should. He is letting us in on what goes through a prospect’s mind when things aren’t going great:
11 years ago, I was pulled off of the field in my hometown in front of all my family and friends, while warming up before the sixth inning. Confused, I jogged off the field and was handed a cell phone at the bottom of the dugout steps.
On the phone was the @BlueJays GM letting…
— Travis Snider (@Lunchboxhero45) August 1, 2023
Chad Whitson had a terrific day behind the plate yesterday. When the worst call is with a position player on the mound, I’m pretty ok with it. You gotta open up the zone for them.
Angel Hernandez, on the other hand…..
Umpire Angel Hernandez missed 23 calls in the #Yankees #Astros game.
He now has the lowest correct call rate in the league. pic.twitter.com/jmHyBL677w
— Umpire Auditor (@UmpireAuditor) August 7, 2023