Excuses, Excuses (Toronto Blue Jays (50-43) vs. Boston Red Sox (48-45))
Okay, so here’s the deal:
No excuses on my part. We’re on the No Excuses Sigma Grindset over here. In theory, the All-Star break should have been the perfect opportunity to write those articles on the Charlie Montoyo firing and the draft that I’ve been sitting on.
But. I also started a new full-time job last week that has taken most of the time that I would have had to write those pieces. And I wanted to examine them with at least a semblance of depth, meaning I didn’t want to tie them into a series preview that I hammer out in half an hour.
They’re still coming though, hopefully within the next week. In the meantime, if you like what Jayslam is doing and would like to ensure that I’ll have more time for it in the future, please consider sharing this post with a pal who may be interested! Or an enemy! I’m happy with either.
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TRANSACTIONS
On Saturday, the Jays pulled a surprising (at least to me) move when, to make room for the acquisition of left-handed relief pitcher Foster Griffin from the Kansas City Royals (in exchange for minor league pitcher Jonatan Bernal, whose career I know nothing about, but who I loved as The Punisher), Sergio Romo was designated for assignment. Romo would later elect for free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A. Griffin was optioned to Triple-A and Jeremy Goddamn Beasley was called up to take Romo’s spot on the active roster for some length out of the bullpen, I fucking guess.
It’s not so much that Romo had cemented a permanent spot in the bullpen, especially with further, larger scale moves hopefully on their way. His departure is mainly surprising because he had been mostly fine in Toronto. He appeared in 3.2 innings over six appearances, and while his 4.91 ERA and 6.66 FIP across that time aren’t good, all those earned runs come from one appearance against the Mariners in which he got blown up for two earned runs (as well as a home run and a walk with no strikeouts). You remove that outing and he has an immaculate 0.00 ERA and 2.30 FIP.
Granted, that is over a sample size of literally under four innings. His expected stats and hard hit numbers were both trending positively, which is a little more encouraging, but that isn’t exactly invulnerable to small sample sizes either. Was this move coming at some point or another? Probably. Is it a bit of a surprise that Romo got shitcanned over Beasley, Anthony Banda, or Casey Lawrence? Also probably!
Griffin was a first round pick in the 2014 draft by the Kansas City Royals, working his way up the system to Triple-A, albeit never posting stats that were particularly expensive. He made his debut in 2020, but underwent Tommy John surgery soon after, making his way back to the Royals in 2022, now as a full-time reliever.
Things did not go well for Griffin leading up to the trade, as his 12.96 ERA in 4.1 MLB innings would indicate. He’s had an excellent year in Triple-A though, striking out almost 30 percent of hitters and walking just over five percent en route to a 1.93 ERA. He’ll join a quintet of relief lefties not named Tim Mayza that also includes Banda, Matt Gage, and the injured Anthony Vasquez and Tayler Saucedo.
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: Matt Chapman (3)
Honourable Mentions: Alejandro Kirk, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Pitcher: Alek Manoah (12)
Honourable Mentions: Tim Mayza, José Berríos, Kevin Gausman
All-Star: Alek Manoah (13)
Best Bird Standings:
Hitters:
George Springer- 4
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.- 4
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.- 3
Alejandro Kirk- 3
Bo Bichette- 3
Santiago Espinal- 3
Teoscar Hernández- 2
Matt Chapman- 2
Danny Jansen- 2
Cavan Biggio- 1
Zack Collins - 1
Pitchers:
Alek Manoah- 13
Kevin Gausman- 6
Yusei Kikuchi- 4
Ross Stripling- 3
José Berríos- 3
Jordan Romano- 1
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
Friday, July 22 (7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST)
Kevin Gausman (2.87 ERA, 1.85 FIP, 26.8 K%, 4.6 BB%)
Nathan Eovaldi (4.50 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 23.0 K%, 8.6 BB%)
Saturday, July 23 (4 p.m. EST/2 p.m. MST)
Alek Manoah (2.28 ERA, 3.34 FIP, 22.6 K%, 5.5 BB%)
Kutter Crawford (4.50 ERA, 3.72 FIP, 28.2 K%, 9.6 BB%)
Sunday, July 24 (1:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. MST)
Ross Stripling (3.03 ERA, 3.08 FIP, 20.4 K%, 4.7 BB%)
Nick Pivetta (4.50 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 23.0 K%, 8.6 BB%)
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 48-45
Season Series vs. Blue Jays: 3-7
Record since the last series vs. Blue Jays: 5-12
Last 10 games: 3-7
Best (Healthy) Players in this Series:
Rafael Devers, Third Base, .324/.379/.601, 170 wRC+
Xander Bogaerts, Shortstop, .316/.389/.453, 137 wRC+
Nick Pivetta, Starting Pitcher, 4.50 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 23.0 K%, 8.6 BB%
J.D. Martinez, Designate Hitter, .302/.368/.481, 137 wRC+
John Schreiber, Relief Pitcher, 1.60 ERA, 2.37 FIP, 31.2 K%, 4.8 BB%