Friday bantering

If Grichuk and Brito had communicated more clearly...if Charlie Montoyo has opted for a pinch hitter...if 98Miles Giles hadn’t imploded...lots of ifs.

We really should have won being 5-0 up and having the bases loaded at one point, but it was not to be.

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Up next we face the Tampa Bay Devil Rays...who i loathe for some irrational reason. Maybe its ugly uniforms, maybe its their ugly stadium, maybe its the fact that they always seem to beat us at inopportune times. I will be watching this series with bated breath (and copious amounts of 16yr Longmorn single malt).

Jays v Rays the next few days

Today’s game see Ryne Stanek (0-0, 1.50 ERA) vs. Trent Thornton (0-0, 1.69 ERA).

Stanek is one of the Rays’ “openers.” (yuck) He will pitch 1-2 strong innings, and likely rack up some Ks (10.5 K per 9 IP). LHP Ryan Yarbrough (1-1, 6.14 ERA) probably throws a few innings as well. After that who knows?

Saturday sees Blake Snell (2-1, 2.84 ERA) vs. Clay Buchholz (2019 debut)

Snell, the 2018 AL Cy Young winner, was roughed up by Houston in his 2019 debut, but is 2-0, 0.69 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 24 Ks in his two April starts. Buchholz was 7-2, 2.01 ERA, 1.04 WHIP for Arizona in 2018, but his season began late and was interrupted by injuries. I wonder if the forecast calls for sunscreen?

Sunday sees Charlie Morton (2-0, 2.25 ERA) vs. Marcus Stroman (0-2, 2.41 ERA)

Morton began his MLB career in 2008, but was a National Leaguer until he joined Houston before the 2017 season. Now with the Rays as a free agent, the Blue Jays will see more of him. Since moving to the American League, Morton has a 31-10 record after going 46-71 as an NL pitcher.

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Vlad watch!

And while the Buffalo Bisons rallied from seven runs down, they still went lost 9-8 in the 10th. They are now 2-5 having lost four in a row.

Anthony Alford crushed a three-run homer but more importantly Vlad Guerrero Jr. doubled, hit a three run homer and drove in 4. He also got a walk and a stolen base.

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Meanwhile at AA, the Fisher Cats cranked out a season-high 14 hits but still lost 10-5 to the Hartford Yard Goats 10-5.

Kevin Smith, Nash Knight and Forrest Wall each logged three hits, the first time a ‘Cat has done so this season. Smith finished a triple shy of the cycle.

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MLB bits

Here are Forbes baseball team values for 2019: the Yankees lead league at $4.6 billion. The Jays come in at paltry $1.5 billion #cheapRogers

Atlanta and Ozzie Albies have agreed on a contract extension; $35m over 7 years. And no, that is not a typo.

Jeff Passan ain’t happy (its worth reading the rest of his tweets on this subject)

And Dan Szymborski at Fangraphs agrees. He explains why the contract is a stinker.

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Talking of Atlanta, Ronald Acuna Jr launched a 462ft homer today. And i do mean launched. In fact, im convinced i didn’t go that far on holiday as a child...

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Plays of the Day

Apparently this is our old gimpy legged friend Melky Cabrera running and catching in the same play. I however, believe its an imposter in a balaclava.

And when i saw this, just for a moment, i thought Melky had been traded to the Giants:

Anyway, have a great weekend everybody! I’ll be back with more bantering on Monday.