Late Spring of Our Discontent: Blue Jays Flail vs. AL Rivals
This is an absolutely horrifying stretch of baseball. The Blue Jays have now failed to step up against various AL East rivals. I will discuss some thoughts, in order of no importance, that have occurred to me while we experience this hell.
The Yankees and their fans defending Aaron Jude from the “peek”, it’s fine, but it completely distracts from German getting ejected for having a foreign substance on his hands, for the second time.
First time:
Second time:
German’s statement about not fighting his suspension was hilarious with his “I have no choice but to just accept my fate” like it wasn't the second time he did something and it wasn't the second time he got caught.
The bitchery back and forth between the Yankees and Blue Jays, with the line policing and the name calling and the bad blood between them seems to be almost entirely between the coaches. No one is getting plunked. Next, I suspect it’ll be a slap-fest between middle-aged men while the players look on.
I made the argument that the Blue Jays should stop pitching to Aaron Judge in the Rogers Centre. One guy won that series. One guy beat the Blue Jays. I mean, putting Judge on to face Rizzo might be a risk, but Rizzo isn’t killing them like Judge is.
Also, don’t do things like throw sliders up to Judge, especially when you are a relief pitcher who mostly throws fastballs/cutters, and your slider was touched up by a hitter who wasn’t Aaron Judge. Put that pitch in your back pocket, Swanson. Never again.
The Baltimore Orioles rolled into town and the mess continued.
When the Yankee series ended the way it did it left everyone tense, and everyone was trying to do everything. Questionable baserunning, no hitting, men left on base in numbers equivalent to a small city. The starting pitching was pretty great, as it was during the Yankees series, but it can’t hold everything up.
I think Vlad Jr., with his lack of offense, is still injured. Guerrero out of the lineup going out really shows the weakness. They have great pieces, but there is no margin for error.
I have no idea why John Schneider put Jordan Romano in with inherited runners to give up a three-run bomb to tie the game late in Saturday’s game. I'm sure this is not a hard and fast rule but as a general principle, I assume that closers aren't necessarily the best with inherited runners because most of the job is getting the final three outs with empty bases. I’m sure it isn’t unreasonable to ask Romano to get out his mop, but it’s not been his forte in the past. My question is if Yimi Garcia is available for the 9th, why not put him in to get the out in the 8th and let Romano start fresh in the 9th?
It’s all woulda, shoulda, coulda, at this point, especially how Garcia gave up a bunch of runs to the Orioles in extras on Sunday. It’s also a moot point if the hitting was at all where it should be. But it does make me question Schneider’s bullpen usage.
It was a stretch like this last season that got Montoyo fired. Schneider is far more the golden boy for this front office than Montoyo ever was, but if it gets much worse, there may be questions.
Someone has to answer for failure, and it won’t be the people in charge that constructed the roster.