George Springer is headed back to the Injured List

I guess it wasn’t about fatigue after all. Shocking!

According to the Blue Jays, the $150 million man will be headed back to the 10-day Injured List with the same right quad injury from before. It’s retroactive to May 3, so Springer will be able to come off the IL in just over a week.
Springer made his Blue Jays debut last Wednesday but appeared to re-aggravate his injury on Saturday. Despite that, Springer managed to smack two dingers in that huge comeback win, but was then removed mid-game on Sunday with what the team called “fatigue.”
Apparently, Monday was a “scheduled day off” for Springer after the team took a flight to the West Coast, but Springer was also kept out of the lineup on Tuesday and Wednesday, making it very, very clear something else was going on. After running an MRI on Wednesday, the team decided to put him back on the IL.
This truly is a weird situation. Why the Blue Jays felt compelled to pretend this was about fatigue is puzzling, given the fact that everyone paying any sort of attention could realize that wasn’t the case. It made the organization come across as disingenuous …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Nate Pearson fans eight and Austin Martin records first professional hit(s) as minor-league baseball returns

It’s been a looooooooong time since there were minor-league box scores to look at.

All of minor-league ball got wiped last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than Triple-A and Double-A and Rookie Ball and this and that there was only the Taxi Squad and the Alternate Training Site.
But, after a 19-month hiatus, the minors are back, and, with that, we have PROSPECT STATS to look at. Here’s the Good Stuff from Tuesday’s MiLB Opening Day…

Nate Pearson started for the Buffalo-Trenton Thunder Bisons against the Worcester Red Sox and had a pretty impressive return to action. Pearson, who missed virtually all of spring training due to a groin injury, is reportedly working with some changes to his pitching mechanics. It seemed to work quite well for him on Tuesday as he tossed three-and-two-thirds innings, allowing one earned run on four hits and one walk while collecting a whopping eight strikeouts.
Buffalo-Trenton’s bullpen was also very Jays-esque in their 6-1 win. After Pearson left, the relievers (Tyler Saucedo, Kirby Snead, Jeremy Beasley, and Bryan Baker) combined to allow just two hits and two walks over five-and-one-third innings.
Forrest Wall went 2-for-4 and Josh Palacios …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

It looks like Reese McGuire will be back with the Blue Jays

After being designed for assignment and clearing waivers, it looks like Reese McGuire will be joining the Blue Jays again.

According to Ben Wagner, given the severity of Alejandro Kirk’s injury (he’s expected to be out for up to six weeks), the Blue Jays are planning to activate McGuire. But since he isn’t at the Alternate Training Site, he has to pass COVID protocols before he can join the team.
We don’t yet know if the plan is for McGuire to be added to the roster to play in tandem with Danny Jansen or if they’re going to put him on the Taxi Squad. If it’s the former, he needs to be added to the 40-man roster again, but if it’s the latter, he doesn’t need to be rostered.
I would imagine the plan is to put him back on the active roster because the Blue Jays likely don’t want a prospect in Riley Adams sitting around on the bench when he could be getting playing time in Triple-A. If that’s the case, somebody will either need to be DFA’d or moved to the 60-day Injured List.
Another thing …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Minor League Rosters: Notes and Observations

So, after an irrationally-edge-of-our-seats-wait (I mean, this literally happens EVERY year) the Blue Jays’ various affiliates dropped their “tentative” Opening Day rosters on Monday and, as you might expect, not a few of us will find it necessary to weigh in. Myself of course included.

The Jays, helpfully, published a nice set of graphics with all the rosters for our perusal and commentary. Let’s start at the top:

It’s also been noted by the beat guys that the early rotation goes Pearson, Allgeyer, Manoah, Zuech, Waguespack. Which, as you can see, Zuech isn’t on the graphic but it was reported days ago that he’ll be assigned to this team. The other thing that jumped out at me was that Joey Murray was initially listed as a member of the bullpen. When questioned about this Manager Casey Candele spoke of the need to stretch him out. He used the terminology of “he will be joining us in a week or two” which implies things we can’t know about but my entirely ill-informed guess is that maybe he was riding the taxi squad (the Jays have been unhelpful about letting us know who made up that group) …

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Author: Tammy Rainey / Blue Jays Nation

More fastballs, more strikes, more success for Robbie Ray

Robbie Ray has had a strong start to the season for the Blue Jays. His first two starts were very Robbie Ray-esque. Ray allowed two runs in 10 innings against the Yankees and Royals, with nine walks versus just six strikeouts. Ray limited the damage as he only allowed one home run in those two starts, even though the Blue Jays lost both of those games; they could have been much worse.

In his next two starts the home run was back, Ray allowed three homers accounting for all five of the runs he allowed. But he struck out 14 batters, didn’t walk anyone and pitched deeper into the games, throwing 12.2 innings. You total everything together and Ray has a sparkling 2.78 ERA but with a 4.73 expected ERA, a 4.83 FIP and 4.33 xFIP. Indicating Ray hasn’t pitched as well as his ERA suggests and that regression is coming.
Regression is certainly coming soon for Ray. A 93.5% left on base rate and a .237 batting average on balls in play is not sustainable over a full season. Ray however is doing certain things differently this year, which will help him continue to succeed even as certain things regress.
For Ray everything starts with the …

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Author: Paul Berthelot / Blue Jays Nation

Blue Jays vs Athletics 05/03/21 – Odds and MLB Betting Trends

by OddsShark (@OddsShark) – Sponsored Post
Steven Matz will seek a bounce-back start as the Toronto Blue Jays start a 10-game road trip with a series full of UNDER trends. The Blue Jays are +105 underdogs and the Oakland Athletics are -125 home favorites with an 8.5-run total on the MLB betting odds for Monday at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
From 2014 to 2019, the Blue Jays are 7-12 in away games against Oakland, with an 8-8-3 split on the totals (how the OVER/UNDER works). The teams did not meet in 2020 due to the regionalized short-season schedule Major League Baseball adopted amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Blue Jays vs Athletics | OddsShark Matchup Report
The Blue Jays are 7-11 in their last 18 away games against American League West teams, with the OVER hitting 10 times at online sports betting sites. The Athletics are 8-12 in their last 20 home games against the AL East, though, with the total going UNDER 16 times. The Blue Jays swept their last three-game visit to RingCentral Coliseum in 2019.
The Blue Jays are 14-12 in spite of a lineup that has been a moving target. Outfielder George Springer (undisclosed) was removed during Toronto’s game on Sunday, while ace lefthander Hyun …

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Author: Nation World HQ / Blue Jays Nation

BJN Radio Ep. 9: The brooms come out against the Braves, a minor-league season preview, and more!

Bring out the brooms, boys!

For the first time in 2021, the Blue Jays have swept a series, and it came against an impressive opponent in Alex Anthopolous’ Atlanta Braves. Party like it’s 1992!
We welcomed our good pal BK on this post-series episode and talked about how the lineup is finally firing on all cylinders with George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez back in the mix and whether or not this could be the start of a major run. We also talked about the most recent glut of injuries the team is facing, as Alejandro Kirk, Anthony Castro, and Tommy Milone went on the Injured List, while Springer is dealing with some kind of mysterious “fatigue” issue.
Finally, we looked ahead to the four-game series coming up in Oakland, went up and down Toronto’s minor-league affiliates and talked interesting things to watch from them this season, and then went off on a random discussion about baseball in Vancouver and which time zone is the best for sports.
You can listen to the episode here…

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

Blue Jays call up rookie catcher Riley Adams

The Blue Jays just made a whole bunch of roster moves.

Heading to the Injured List are Alejandro Kirk, Tommy Milone, and Anthony Castro. Coming up in their places are Ross Stripling, who was activated from the 10-day Injured List, and Riley Adams and Anthony Kay, who have been called up from Triple-A.
The most interesting add here, of course, is Adams, the No. 18 prospect in the Blue Jays system. Adams was drafted by the Blue Jays in the third round of the 2017 draft and has largely flown under the radar due the organization having more highly-touted names in the system, like Kirk and Gabe Moreno, plus a couple of young catchers already at the big-league level in Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire.
Adams has put together some nice seasons in the minors and ultimately proved enough that the team added him to the 40-man roster ahead of the Rule 5 draft a few months ago. Most recently, he spent the 2019 season between New Hampshire and Dunedin, slashing an impressive .261/.366/.443 line with 14 homers across 415 plate appearances.
Here’s his profile, via MLB Pipeline…
Adams has a rare physical profile for a catcher at 6-foot-4, 235 pounds, which led many to question his …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

George Springer homers twice, Blue Jays pull off comeback, but Alejandro Kirk and Tommy Milone wind up on the Injured List

That was definitely the most exciting game of the Blue Jays’ season this far. It looks like this team is finally rolling.

The Braves went up 4-0 early on the power of a grand slam off of Tommy Milone but the Blue Jays kept battling back. George Springer homered twice, the team put together a sixth-inning rally, and then Randel Grichuk hit a walk-off single in the 10th inning to complete the comeback. What a blast that was to watch.
Things worth mentioning…

Saturday night felt like the true arrival of George Springer. He had a goose egg in his first game, got on base a few times in his second, but exploded in his third. Springer grounded out in the first inning and appeared to re-aggravate his injury as he hobbled to first base. Despite that, Springer stayed in the game and was key to the comeback effort. He hit a two-run dinger to cut Atlanta’s early lead to 4-2 and then hit the game-tying homer in the seventh inning. Springer is now 3-for-12 with a couple of dingers and three walks as a Blue Jay. Let’s just hope he can stay on the field.

George Springer …

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Author: Cam Lewis / Blue Jays Nation

On Roberto Alomar And The True Sadness

As soon as I saw the Roberto Alomar news on Friday – that he was placed on baseball’s ineligible list and banned from baseball essentially after an outside investigation into accusations of sexual misconduct against him – I knew I needed to write something on the topic. I didn’t want to rush to something though, because it’s a complicated topic, one that is likely more complicated if you are older than I am and actually have an emotional connection to Alomar thanks to his play for the club in their championship years in the early 1990’s. Now, two days later, I am glad I waited, because it has allowed me to see what others have said (Thanks to BlueJaysAggr) and formulate my own words in a different way. Our reactions to these things can have a big impact, unbeknownst to us, and thus it is important to get it right.

One approach was from Rosie Dimanno of the Toronto Star, who chose to shame the victims of sexual misconduct, by listing the awful behavior directed her way from baseball men while she was doing her job, and saying that she did not report those incidents because she is “not …

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Author: Gideon Turk / Blue Jays Nation