What we learned about the new-look Blue Jays during their first series of 2023

The Toronto Blue Jays opened the season against a strong St. Louis Cardinals squad, featuring two of the top players in the National League, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, while also having one of the most potent lineups in the league throughout the starting nine and a strong pitching corps that should be one of the top teams in the league.

After three games, the Jays walked away with the series loss, winning the first game on Thursday 10-9 before dropping Saturday and Sunday’s contest to the Cardinals, losing 4-1 and 9-4 respectively.
Opening Day was a back-and-forth contest between both squads, with the lead changed hands multiple times before the Jays rallied in the ninth to take the lead with closer Jordan Romano shutting down the Cardinals in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win. The Saturday affair saw the Blue Jays bats struggle against an inconsistent start from Jack Flaherty while Chris Bassitt struggled in his Jays debut yesterday, allowing nine runs while Toronto could only counter with four runs of their own.
Starting Pitching
Alek Manoah got the nod for Opening Day and struggled through 3 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits, two home runs and five earned runs while striking out three batters. The right-hander was wild with his command and left a few balls over the plate that got hit hard, although t …

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Author: Tyson Shushkewich / Blue Jays Nation

Leafs fall 5-3 to Hurricanes on Saturday night: Game highlights

The Leafs controlled the play for most of the game against the Hurricanes on Saturday night but Pyotr Kochetkov made 41 saves and  Carolina took home the W 5-3. Below are the highlights from the game.
Toronto got into penalty trouble early and the Hurricanes capitalized on the 5-on-3 to open the scoring. Brent Burns beat Matt Murray glove side to put Carolina on top…

Burn baby Burns! Canes convert on the 5 on 3 power play to open the scoring. 🌪️ pic.twitter.com/M49j9wBBuQ
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 25, 2023

Jordan Stall doubled the Canes lead halfway through the first period. The puck came to him in the slot off a broken play and he swatted it top shelf…

Good things (goals) happen when you forecheck pic.twitter.com/KR6Zy68oKu
— x – Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 25, 2023

Near the end of the period Jake McCabe created a scoring chance off a neutral zone draw. Sam Lafferty tried to put the rebound home but Pyotr Kochetkov shut the door…

McCabe breaks through off the draw
Lafferty nearly scored on the rebound pic.twitter.com/9PAXPqvm6A
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 25, 2023

Less than five minutes into the second Calle Jarnkrok got the Leafs on the board. He sniped a wrist shot from the top of the circle to get Toronto within one…

SWEDE SNIPE 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/uBp1T92fKI
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 26, 2023

Midway through the middle frame Auston Matthews nearly tied it up with a scoring chance off the offensive zone draw. Kochetkov kept the Canes in front…

Matthews is denied again pic.twitter.com/MOuMPUOu3M
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) March 26, 2023

Matthews found the back of the net 12:41 into the second. He pounced on the puck at the top of the circle and ripped a wrist shot past Kochetkov to make it 2-2…

PAPI POTS IT 🏡 pic.twitter.com/sOjPPXkrjJ
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) March 26, 2023

Just over eight minutes into the third period Stefan Noesen gave the Canes the lead again. Jesperi Kotkaniemi threw the puck on net and Noesen picked it up. He attempted a wrap-around then forced the puck into the net. 3-2 Canes…

UNREAL EFFORT pic.twitter.com/S1jlYOONR2
— x – Carolina Hurricanes (@Canes) March 26, 2023

With less the …

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Author: Scott Ony / The Leafs Nation

Orelvis Martinez hits another home run, Chris Bassitt fans five, and more as the Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-6

Another win against the trash birds of the American League East, means we get to use the magical header.

The Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-6 on Saturday afternoon, in what was a rather positive game with plenty of players who could have earned the player of the game. Let’s jump right in.
Blue Jays Nation’s player of the game: George Springer
George Springer hit his second home run of spring training with two runners on, giving the Jays a 6-4 lead. While they weren’t the winning runs, it shifted the game heavily in the Toronto Blue Jays’ favour, bringing their win probability to 83.1%.
Today was the first game where each of the Blue Jays’ projected outfielders were on the field, with George taking his presumed right field position. He looked good out there, and if he can stay healthy this season, watch out.

Springer Dinger!!!
George Springer (@GeorgeSpringer) with his second home run of the spring.
99.6 mph off the bat.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/jp3miC6gfw
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 11, 2023

Things worth mentioning:
Chris Bassitt had a solid game if you look past the three earned runs. He struck out five and had a game-high nine swings and misses. What’s more, is that his average fastball velocity sat at 91.2 mph on Saturday afternoon, up from his 89.8 mph average in the past two starts. Look for the velocity to continue to increase.

Here’s Chris Bassitt (@C_Bass419)’s strikeout and whiff thread this afternoon!
The pitches were moving, and he generated 9 whiffs while striking out 5!
Best outing as a Blue Jay so far.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/oxyJb4JE82
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 11, 2023

Orelvis Martinez would have won the player of the game had I not given it to him in their win over the Phillies. The exit velocity on his second home run of spring training was 96.9 mph and it was a great display of power as he went oppo-taco. The kid has in …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Sem Robberse dazzles, Orelvis Martinez has a good day at the plate, and more as the Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 2-0

Last season, the Blue Jays had a 16-3 record against the trash Boston Red Sox. On Friday afternoon, their dominance continued.

Coming into the game, the Red Sox had a perfect 9-0 record, but that was promptly ended with a 2-0 defeat to the beloved Blue Jays.
Blue Jays Nation’s player of the game: Sem Robberse
In only his second appearance of the spring, the 21-year-old Dutchman showed us why he’s one of Toronto’s best pitching prospects.
He struck out Christian Koss, Triston Casas, and Adam Duvall in his first inning of work (with a single to Christian Arroyo). In his second inning of work, he generated two ground balls, walked an MLB batter in Bobby Dalbec, and got Stephen Scott to flyout.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Robberse has the floor of a back-end of the rotation starter. He’s also added muscle this off-season, which has seen his average velocity jump to 93-95 mph. On top of that, he’s a pitcher with great command and nasty stuff. So yeah, keep an eye out for Robberse next season.

Here’s Sem “The Pitching Dutchman” Robberse (@SemRobberse)’s strikeout and whiff edit from this afternoon.
A Double-A start is probable, but it’s not out of the question that we see the 21-year-old pitch in Triple-A in 2023.#BlueJays pic.twitter.com/48URgp5nXC
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) March 10, 2023

Things worth mentioning:
Orelvis Martinez had a good day at the plate. In his first plate appearance, he drew a walk on a 3-2 count (embedded at the end of the article). In his seco …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Recapping Leafs/Hawks + PROSPECT TALK w/ TLN’s Nick Richard: Leafs Morning Take

After all that, the Leafs covered against Chicago on Wednesday night. Still, I think those prices were outrageous. Aside from the Petr Mrazek save prop – which cashed – I didn’t get involved.
At any rate, the Thursday edition of Leafs Morning Take started with a breakdown of Toronto’s 5-2 victory against the Blackhawks. First, I rifled off my quick thoughts on the impressive outing, then Jay Rosehill dropped by for another instalment of 3 Hits With Rosie.
After that, I welcomed in TLN’s Nick Richard for a chat about Toronto’s prospect pipeline. With the trade deadline fast approaching, it was good to get a rundown of what’s happening down on the farm. In the next few weeks and day, you may see a couple of the prospects we talked about going for established talent. That’s just how it works.

Should the #LeafsForever target Patrick Kane?
Leafs Morning Take – Feb. 16
Full Interview: https://t.co/ejniKby3xS@PointsBetCanada | @MontanasBBQ | #Montanasbbq
I polled @TLNdc’s @_NickRichard: pic.twitter.com/4nxF0Vtst4
— Nick Alberga (@thegoldenmuzzy) February 16, 2023

Lastly, full credit to Rosie for hitting on yesterday’s pick (John Tavares OVER 0.5 apples). With that in mind, here’s today’s PointsBet Canada bet of the day.

.@thegoldenmuzzy is hunting a certain shot prop tonight in Calgary 👀
💰💰💰@PointsBetCanada is live in Ontario!
Details -> https://t.co/uvEnShf7GT#ad #pointsbetcanada
Full Show📱: https://t.co/ZtW3O9Yxd3 pic.twitter.com/k7LL7S2XCO
— TheLeafsNation (@TLNdc) February 16, 2023

 
Make sure to join us tomorrow at 11 AM ET for the Friday edition as we tee up this weekend’s back-to-back against Montreal and Chicago.
Don’t forget to subscribe, like, and leave us a review wherever you’re checking us out. …

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Author: Nick Alberga / The Leafs Nation

Niemelä finds twine, help on the way for Minten & Voit, Woll stays hot: Leafs Prospect Roundup

<div>Niemelä finds twine, help on the way for Minten & Voit, Woll stays hot: Leafs Prospect Roundup</div>

The Leafs picked up a convincing road win against Philadelphia in their 41st game of the campaign on Sunday night, marking the official halfway point in the regular season. Most of the prospects we’ve been following here each week are also gearing up for the stretch drive of the season, making it an ideal time to take a look at the bigger picture that is the Leafs’ prospect pipeline.
Later today, we will be kicking off TLN’s 2022-23 Midseason Leafs Prospect Rankings by profiling a few honorable mentions who just missed out on cracking the organization’s top-20 prospects. The rest of the week will feature a countdown of the top-20 so with plenty of prospect coverage on the way, this week’s Leafs Prospect Roundup will be a quick hit edition.
Let’s get to it.
Matt Knies and the Minnesota Golden Gophers split a weekend set against fellow Leafs prospect Veeti Miettinen and the St. Cloud State Huskies. Knies had his usual center back by his side as Logan Cooley returned from the World Juniors, and after being held off the scoreboard in a shutout loss on Saturday, they teamed up to give the Gophers an early lead on Sunday. Knies posted up in front of the net on the powerplay …

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Author: Nick Richard / The Leafs Nation

Donovan Mitchell has lame excuse for Raptors beating Cavs three times

Donovan Mitchell has lame excuse for Raptors beating Cavs three times

While the Toronto Raptors may be a measly 12-18 against every team in the league not named the Cleveland Cavaliers, they are a perfect 3-0 against a squad that can legitimately be considered one of the best in the Eastern Conference. Who could have figured? After breaking out of their shooting slump, the Raptors had […]
Donovan Mitchell has lame excuse for Raptors beating Cavs three times – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Maple Leafs dominate Penguins on Hockey Night: Leafs Rundown

Maple Leafs dominate Penguins on Hockey Night: Leafs Rundown

It feels like games against the Penguins are always slightly cursed, but this one worked out pretty well. The Leafs kept the pressure on the Penguins, earning a 4-1 win.
From that first early goal on, the Leafs were healthily in charge of this game. Here are some thoughts on the game.
Behind The Net
No, not the ancient, now defunct stats website. This is to do with the success Toronto had tonight forcing the Penguins defenders to face the wrong way. Twice they capitalized with a pass behind them that scored on Casey DeSmith. First on goal #2 by Pontus Holmberg, and again on goal #3 by William Nylander:

PONTUS HOLMBERG 🚨
WHAT A SHOT! TOP CORNER! pic.twitter.com/T3x8A8IOAQ
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) November 27, 2022

WILLIAM NYLANDER 🚨
IT’S 3-0! pic.twitter.com/UP2bygPzcb
— Omar (@TicTacTOmar) November 27, 2022

Källgren performance
The Swedish 3rd string goalie has been filling in with the Leafs a lot this season, with injuries to both Matt Murray and Ilya Samsonov. It’s not often that the 3rd stringer has the most starts, 2 months into the season, but with his 9th start for the Maple Leafs tonight, Källgren has that strange honour.
The netminder has only had 2 “quality starts”, plus a third excellent performance in relief against Boston; the remainder have been well below average. This 1-goal-against performance Pittsburgh is definitely a boon to his season stats. He did only face [SHOTS HOW MANY???] in this one, but this is an undeniable success.
No defenders, no problem
With 3 of the Leafs’ apparent top 4 defenders out on injured reserve at the moment, it would be expected that the team would struggle defensively. And certainly, the team’s shooting stats have taken a hit in that regard. In the last 2 games, the Leafs allowed a lot more even strength shot attempts against than normal, ~63 per 60 minutes, versus ~53 per 60 minutes for the previous 20 games. That’s a small sample to be sure …

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Author: Ryan Hobart / The Leafs Nation

3 ways Raptors have benefitted from the Kyle Lowry trade

3 ways Raptors have benefitted from the Kyle Lowry trade

Every Toronto Raptors game against the Miami Heat for the next couple of seasons is going to be an emotional affair, as seeing Kyle Lowry in those vibrant City Edition uniforms is always going to be an unusual sight. Seeing the GROAT with Miami across his chest just looks wrong. Lowry appeared ready to move […]
3 ways Raptors have benefitted from the Kyle Lowry trade – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

3 Draft Day Scottie Barnes takes that were laughably wrong

3 Draft Day Scottie Barnes takes that were laughably wrong

The Toronto Raptors went against the grain in the 2021 NBA Draft, as they selected Florida State forward Scottie Barnes when everyone expected them to take Gonzaga point guard Jalen Suggs. Following the departure of Kyle Lowry, many assumed Toronto would try to draft the best available backcourt player to fill the void. Many had […]
3 Draft Day Scottie Barnes takes that were laughably wrong – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ