Sunday Bantering: Bits of Jays Stuff

Happy Sunday. It seems like a great day to finish out a sweep.

Yesterday’s plate umpire Charlie Ramos had a bad day (or maybe it was a good day for him, I guess I should go through his Umpire Scorecards to see, but that’s a project for another day). His called strike accuracy was just 81%. It seems an umpire should do better than that. He got calls wrong both ways, but, by Umpire Scorecard, the Mets benefitted by .42 runs.

The Scorecard:

The ‘viral illness’ going through the Jays’ clubhouse has been worse than we’ve been told. Mitch Bannon, at Sports Illustrated FanNation:

Categorized as a viral illness, the sickness hits each player or coach differently. Some show symptoms of only congestion and sore throat while others are limited to body aches. But, in its worst form, the illness saps players of their energy, eliminates appetite, and induces nausea for 48 to 72 hours.

George Springer lost 15 pounds with it. Kiermaier ‘five or six pounds’. They have been doing the plenty of liquids thing, and some players have needed an IV.

For Kiermaier and Belt, the fatigue and weakness lingered for a few days, even after “recovery” from the illness. Belt bounced back quicker than some of his teammates, missing just two games, but even he’s not back to 100% yet, the veteran said Saturday in New York.

Jon Heyman writes that Buck Showalter ‘dropped the ball’ by pitching to Vladimir Guerrero in the ninth, with Cavan Biggio on deck.

“Robby got ahead of him. I thought he could expand the zone,” Showalter said in explanation later. “I trusted Robby there. He hit a ground ball where [third baseman Brett Baty] couldn’t catch it.

“I considered [walking Guerrero], obviously,” Showalter added. “It didn’t work out so it’s something that’s going to be critiqued. I have a lot of confidence in [Robertson] that he could stay out of the zone. He got a groundball where he couldn’t catch it.”

I’m not a big fan of intentional walks, but I’d likely have gone for that one, but I’m just happy with how things worked out.

Today’s lineup (game time is to be 1:40 Eastern (but I’m guessing Al Leiter will still be talking, and we won’t see baseball until later in the afternoon) (yes, I’m still bitter that we paid Leiter through all those seasons that he had blisters, and then, when they are finally cured, he signs with the Marlins). I think we ought to try scoring more than 3 runs today.