Afternoon Bantering

Happily back home, woke up to snow this morning, so couldn't wait to head home.

The MLB Network show “Play Ball” will feature Marco Estrada (discussing how he throws his change up) and Justin Smoak tomorrow. I’ll let them describe the show:

Now in its third season, “Play Ball” features baseball stars discussing their path to the Major Leagues, providing advice to kids trying to get better at the game, and sharing tips in one-on-one demonstrations with MLB Network analysts.

They shared a clip of Marco talking about his changeup with Harold Reynolds. It might be directed at kids, but it is a good demonstration of how to throw it.

With Smoak they are going to talk about the adjustments he’s made at the plate to change from the pre-2017 Smoak to become the guy we’ve seen the last couple of seasons. That would be interesting too.

You can check out dates and times for the show here.

Wilner shares a stat:

And he mentions that the Jays have only blown one save since Ken Giles joined the team.

Jeff Bannister was fired by the Rangers. Buck Showalter is ‘likely’ to be let go. Lose to us in the playoffs and, a couple of years later you are likely to be fired.

Today’s lineup. 5 rookies. Solarte is in there. I wonder if they will give Martin a start before the season ends?