Through the Baseball: Sanchez, Hutchison and Orange Bird Whinging



The Blue Jays swept the Orioles in wonderful (and slightly tense) fashion after they threw behind Jose Bautista on Tuesday.

And it turns out, the team makes this sound when they don't get their own way.  Next time Buck Showalter says anything, I'm just going to say, "Tiny tantrum" in a Southern accent like that mom in the video.

After the sweep was completed last night, it became very convenient for the Orioles to release the information that they considered forfeiting the game on Tuesday because the turf was so "bad". There were rumours going around that MLB is monitoring the situation surrounding the turf, which most say isn't bad, just different. But my question is, didn't MLB monitor and approve the changes to the turf in the Rogers Centre when they were completed? If they didn't, why the hell not?

The situation with the turf is annoying because it makes me feel defensive of something I don't even like. I don't want the team to play on turf. I want real grass.

I also suspect the Orioles would've had no issues with the turf had they swept the Jays in the Rogers Centre. I also suspect they threw behind Bautista on Tuesday because they had made a lot of errors and it was a lopsided score and they just felt petulant.

And maybe all of it is just more posturing from Buck Showalter:


In other hilarious whinging, remember the totally bizarre/hilarious incident where Alejandro De Aza tried to steal third base with Chris Davis up on Wednesday, in a game that was really close? Remember when De Aza was hilariously thrown out? Apparently, it's Josh Donaldson who was wrong. 

“He blocked it. I’m not saying it was bad, but he shouldn’t block like that, because he can hurt somebody,” De Aza said. “Somebody can get hurt like that. Thank God I didn’t jam anything, but something bad could happen there.”

“I wish I had it back,” De Aza said. “I thought I had the bag. If he didn’t block me the way he blocked me, I would have gotten there, but unfortunately, I didn’t. From my standpoint, I think it hurts because we had one of the big guys hitting, so anything could happen there.”

So you're saying that if Donaldson hadn't prevented you from stealing the bag, you would've stolen the bag. How about not stealing the bag when Davis is up? How about not running on Russell Martin?

Apparently, this is the kind of team where no one accepts responsibility and everything is the fault of the other teams' players and the other team's stadium. And maybe the position of the moon.

Aaron Sanchez got his first big league win on Wednesday. He only gave up two hits, but he also walked seven. It was very vintage AJ Burnett, with the un-hitable stuff combined with the on/off relationship with the strike zone. Of course there are worse thing to become than AJ Burnett (the current version) but I hope Sanchez becomes something that reflects his potential much sooner.

The issue, I think, might be the lack of repeatable mechanics. That helps a pitcher stay in the strike zone consistently with the added benefit of helping to prevent injuries. Sanchez is a bit all over the place and his inconsistency stems from it. He's got a lot of  "stuff". He could still be good.

Drew Hutchison pitched like a demon last night. He was aggressive, pounded the strike zone and pitched the way I want the rest of them to pitch more often. He was just confident.

Hutchison made subtle adjustments to his hips between starts and the results were evident immediately.

“It has to do with his hips, his direction,” Pete Walker said Thursday afternoon. “With him, it’s always been a little bit of an issue. He has to lead with his hip to the direction of the plate, and it makes a big difference. I thought we had a real good bullpen session and he felt really good about it.”

“It was just a real slight adjustment,” Hutchison said. “It got me over the ball, and when I get through the baseball, good things happen.”

Good things also happen when this guy plays for the Toronto Blue Jays.