Abbreviated Series Preview: Tampa Bay Rays (47-34) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (41-38)
Why “abbreviated” series preview? A few reasons, beyond the Mariners series not going the Jays’ way (if I took a series off every time the Jays had a bad series, this would not be my first time doing this). First: I’m getting the second COVID vaccine Friday morning, so I’m not sure what condition I’ll be in to write a full post. Second: I’ve been in a foul mood regarding baseball ever since Wednesday night’s YouTube broadcast, which was supposedly targeted at my demographic of young, YouTube-addicted, analytically-inclined baseball fans. Instead, it exposed me to four fucking hours of obnoxious talking heads yelling over each other about shit that had nothing to do with anything going on in the actual fucking baseball game.
It was the most mentally exhausting broadcast I’ve ever had the misfortune of sitting through, making me rethink my loves of baseball, analytics, and watching things for free. Buck and especially Pat may be dinosaurs sometimes, but I’ll give them this: They’ve never actively made the experience of watching a baseball game worse. If anything, saying shit like “Pete Walker is great at finishing off big league pitchers” is an active improvement.
Anyways, the Jays face the Tampa Bay Rays outside of Florida for the first time this season. Before we touch on that, humour me as I plead for engagement. If you like what JAYSLAM is doing, please consider sharing this post with a pal who may be interested! Or an enemy! I’m happy with either.
Likewise, if you’ve been enjoying Jayslam, want to see more of it, or want to support its continued existence, consider getting a paid subscription! Paid ones get you access to exclusive posts such as the podcast portions my pre-season predictions (which are not looking so good), as well as to the comments section.
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: Marcus Semien (5) 15 plate appearances, .538/.600/1.077, 14 total bases, 7 Weighted Runs Created, 0.40 WPA, 0.45 WPA/LI
Honourable Mentions: Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Bo Bichette
Pitcher: Anthony Kay (1) 4 innings, 15 batters faced, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 5 strikeouts, 1 walk, 1.41 FIP, 0.25 WPA, 0.23 WPA/LI
Honourable Mentions: Robbie Ray, Jacob Barnes
BEST BIRD STANDINGS
Hitters:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.- 9
Marcus Semien- 5
Bo Bichette- 4
Joe Panik- 2 (now on the Miami Marlins)
Randal Grichuk- 2
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.- 1
Cavan Biggio- 1
Teoscar Hernández- 1
George Springer- 1
Pitchers:
Robbie Ray- 6
Hyun Jin Ryu- 5
Steven Matz- 4
Alek Manoah- 3
Ross Stripling- 3
Julian Merryweather- 2 (60-day IL)
Anthony Kay- 1
Anthony Castro- 1 (sent down to Triple-A)
Ryan Borucki- 1 (10-day IL)
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday, July 2 (7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST): Ryan Yarbrough vs. Alek Manoah
Yarbrough:
Manoah:
Saturday, July 3 (3 p.m. EST/1 p.m. MST): Shane McClanahan vs. Ross Stripling
McClanahan:
Stripling:
Sunday, July 4 (1 p.m. EST/11 a.m. MST): Rich Hill vs. Robbie Ray
Hill:
Ray:
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 48-33
Run differential: +75 (397 Runs, 322 Runs Allowed)
Season Series vs. Blue Jays: 4-2
Record since the last series vs. Blue Jays: 18-15
Last 10 games: 4-6
Best Players Thus Far:
Mike Zunino, Catcher, .210/.296/.563, 133 wRC+
Tyler Glasnow (10-day IL), Starting Pitcher, 2.66 ERA/2.70 xFIP, 36.2 K%, 7.9 BB%
Joey Wendle, Infielder, .276/.351/.457, 120 wRC+
J.P. Feyereisen, Relief Pitcher, 2.00 ERA/4.59 xFIP, 24.6 K%, 14.8 BB%
Brandon Lowe, Second Base, .205/.315/.426, 107 wRC+
Key Under-Performers:
Pete Fairbanks, Relief Pitcher, 4.91 ERA/4.57 xFIP, 24.5 K%, 13.7 BB%
Kevin Kiermaier, Center Field, .229/.383/.309, 67 wRC+
Wander Franco, Shortstop, .194/.306/.323, 83 wRC+