Tuesday thoughts

Kia ora, te whānau! After a while away i can finally get back to bantering.

After a year long work project costing a few hundred thousand dollars, i’ve got my life back and can enjoy hanging out with you all.

Sadly due to my lack of free time, ive only really been able to watch the highlights of the Jays wins in the last 6 weeks...so unsurprisingly, ive hardly watched any baseball.

On the plus side we did sweep the OrioLOLes™, whose record now sits at a paltry 28-72. i know its wrong to laugh at other people’s misfortune but its Baltimore...

ps I wonder what Buck is going to do now?

Unfortunately the goodwill that was generated by the Orioles sweep was fired into the sun and burnt up by last night’s miserable 8-3 loss to the Twins. We tried a bullpen game experiment but as we are not the crappy Rays, of course it failed.

If you missed it, good for you. If you want to read about just how miserable it was, then read Tom’s recap.

Ben Nicholson-Smith over at Sportsnet says that the Jays loss to the Twins underscores Toronto’s need for pitching. Can i just stop you there Ben.....and point out that the world is round, the Pope is Catholic and bears poop in the woods.

Fortunately help may be just around the corner in the form of half leprechaun/half pitcher Danny Barnes who is beginning his rehab assignment. In the same article there are injury updates on Estrada and Pillar and Osuna’s move to AAA.

On a more positive note, our least our loss was not as bad as the Rangers who got hosed 15-3 by the A’s. Serves them right for stealing the lovely Chris Rowley away from us.

Winners of 24 of their last 31 games, the red-hot A’s are just 2 1/2 games of the Mariners for the second American League Wild Card spot. Once the Jays season is officially over, im going to be rooting for them as I like an underdog. And their uniforms. And Matt Chapman.

In amongst the chaos of our season, a few bright spots have emerged, one of them being Lourdes Gurriel Jr. Not only does he have salon quality hair, but he can play a bit (when Diaz doesn't try and run him over). He has a chance to be really good.

Speaking of those with a chance to be good, down at AA, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 12th homer of the season. Over the scoreboard. So there. New Hampshire lost 9-3 to Reading but claimed the moral victory because of this.

Meanwhile during my time away from baseball, the man with the most punchable face in baseball, Manny Machado got traded for the Dodgers for a couple of months until he becomes a free agent. At least we wont have to see him for a while - until he joins the Yankees next season probably.

The other trade of note involved those cheeky upstart little A’s. They distracted the Mets with a nice handwritten card with some $1 notes and a balloon, while they snuck Jeurys Familia out the back. Daylight robbery at its finest.

And in something that must surely be filed in the ‘top drawer’. Jose Iglesias makes a play that is smoother than a baby otter’s fur.