No One Said It Would Be Painless (Series Preview: Oakland Athletics (4-3) vs. Toronto Blue Jays (4-3))
Teoscar Hernández and Danny Jansen placed on the 10-Day IL. Tayler Saucedo optioned. Tyler Heineman, Gosuke Katoh, and Anthony Kay called up. Josh Palacios DFA'd.
There’s nothing quite like the feeling of existential dread when you look at your batting order and realize “oh man, Raimel Tapia really is hitting fifth, isn’t he?”
To be fair to Tapia, who did in fact pull off a line drive single over 100 miles per hour in Thursday night’s game, it really was One of Those Series for the Jays. The first game saw George Springer power almost all of the Jays’ Danny Jansen-less offense as Alek Manoah and some excellent infield defence shut the Yankees down en route to a 3-0 win. Game two saw nearly the same score happen in reverse, as the Yankees shut out the Blue Jays on the backs of Mario Bro looking-ass Nestor Cortés, while Yusei Kikuchi and the bullpen kept it close, but not close enough for a scuffling Jays offense.
Wednesday night saw Vladimir Guerrero Jr. flex his awesome, bountiful might, crushing two homers and a double off of Gerrit Cole before capping the night off with a third, hat trick-winning dinger off Jonathan Loáisiga despite getting his hand accidentally spiked by Aaron Hicks prior to said third dong. It was a landmark performance in Vladdy’s career that belied kind of a nightmare of a ball game, as Teoscar Hernández went down with an oblique injury on a swing and the Jays had trouble putting together non-Vlad-assisted runs with. Nonetheless, Guerrero’s offensive surge was enough as the Jays took game three 6-4.
Vladdy would strike out four times in game four. Because baseball is fucking stupid.
Kevin Gausman carved up all Yankees save for, of all goddamn people, light-hitting shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and backup catcher José Treviño, who pushed two runs in while the Jays struggled to get runners across, going scoreless despite getting runners in scoring position multiple times. This was most frustratingly encapsulated in the ninth, when Aroldis Chapman walked the bases loaded only for Michael goddamn fucking King to wander in, strike out Springer, and get Bo Bichette to line into a double play. It was without a doubt the most “first half of 2021 game” the Toronto Blue Jays have yet to play in this young 2022 season, and I hope for the sake of my poor little heart that this doesn’t become a pattern for as long as it did last year.
Injuries, erratic performance, and incoming annoying internet debates about whether or not this team is “boom or bust” (answer: It’s been seven games, touch some grass) aside, the Jays got an acceptable result out of their first series in the Bronx, splitting a tough series with a tough team. Now they return to Toronto to take on an awful Oakland A’s team that is nonetheless somehow riding high off a series win against the dreaded Tampa Bay Rays. The Jays will hope to combine the relative pitching stability of the New York games with the offensive explosion of the Opening Series despite the losses of Teo and Jansen, which we’ll get into in a sec.
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TRANSACTION NEWS
Well, the Jays’ near-flawless injury luck was bound to run out at some point.
Prior to game one, the Jays got some discouraging news, as catcher and inaugural Best Bird winner Danny Jansen was placed on the 10-day IL with an oblique strain, and is expected to be out for around four weeks. The Jays are once again hoarding catchers on their 40-man roster, with veteran perpetual third-string catcher Tyler Heineman replaced him on the active roster, with outfielder Josh Palacios being designated for assignment to make room for him, later being claimed by the Washington Nationals. At the same time, lefty reliever Tayler Saucedo, who got knocked around pretty harshly by the Texas Rangers, was sent down, replaced by fellow lefty Anthony Kay, who made a couple fine appearances.
Not ideal to have the team’s hottest hitter (small sample size) cut down at at any point, but this is especially rough for Jansen, who was in the midst of hopefully proving that his breakout in the last month of 2021 was more real than mirage. Alejandro Kirk stands to take on the bulk of catching responsibilities, with Heineman serving as the main backup and defensive catcher, with Zack Collins… Also there, I guess. Something tells me the Jays don’t trade Reese McGuire for Collins if they foresaw this happening!
30-year-old Heineman was an eighth round draft pick by the Houston Astros way back in 2012. A switch-hitter with solid defence behind the plate, Heineman moved pretty quickly through Houston’s system before hitting a bit of an offensive wall in the upper levels of the minors. He would bounce from system to system for a bit before making his debut in 2019 with the Miami Marlins, getting his first hit via a pinch-hit double off some bum named Jacob deGrom, later getting his first dinger off some fucking loser named Zack Wheeler.
Heineman played a bit with the 2020 San Francisco Giants, but didn’t make any MLB roster in 2021, splitting time with Philadelphia and St. Louis’ Triple-A teams. He signed a minor league deal with the Jays prior to the 2022 season, and thanks to this untimely injury to Danny Jansen, will get his fair share of run until either Jansen comes back or Gabriel Moreno gets warmed up and has nothing left to prove in Triple-A, whichever comes first.
Josh Palacios was a guy that the Jays liked, and I doubt they’re thrilled about losing him to the Nats in such a fringey way, but he also found himself blocked for a potential fourth outfielder role by Tapia, Bradley Zimmer, and soon potentially Dexter Fowler. Given the state of that Nationals squad, he’ll get more of a shot there than he would with the Jays.
Related question, are obliques even necessary? Should we be looking into oblique removal surgery for every Blue Jay? Asking for a friend.
Clearly, there was a black magic ritual at some point to sacrifice Jansen and Hernández’s obliques in exchange for Springer’s oblique health. Kill me!
Teo was in clear pain after taking a couple of swings Wednesday night, getting removed from the game. Prior to Thursday’s game, he was placed on the 10-day IL, replaced by super-utilityman Gosuke Katoh, back from a one-game sojourn in Buffalo. Hernández may be out for a bit, too.
The urge to do a rain dance in traffic is strong with me right now.
Teo’s spot in the outfield will be occupied by some combination of Cavan Biggio, Tapia, and Bradley Zimmer, with the Jays’ fragile depth suddenly being tested more than we’d like. There’s enough firepower in the rest of the lineup to make up for the loss of Hernández, but it’s a matter of getting things firing on as much cylinders as possible after a pretty bad offensive series. Nothing like three games against Oakland A’s pitching to warm things up on that front!
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (1) 16 plate appearances, .250/.250/.875, 4 Weighted Runs Created, 0.17 Win Probability Added, 0.30 WPA/LI
For as good as George Springer and the fallen Teoscar Hernández played amidst an offensive cold snap, and for as poorly as Vladdy looked at the plate on Thursday, it’s hard to argue with a three-homer game.
Additional shoutout to Springer, who played very well, almost single-handedly winning game one, even as knuckle-draggers in the crowd gave him hell. Because if there’s one team that has completely separated itself from cheating scandals, it’s the New York Yankees.
Honourable Mentions: George Springer, Teoscar Hernández
Pitcher: Alek Manoah (1) 6 innings, 23 batters faced, 1 hit, 0 earned runs, 7 strikeouts, 4 walks, 0 home runs, 0.35 Win Probability Added, 0.28 WPA/LI
At the risk of disrespecting Kevin Gausman, who pitched an excellent game of his own, Alek Manoah gets his first Best Bird of the year, for reasons that mostly boil down to that being the game I actually watched.
Manoah ran into some trouble with walks and had to get bailed out by his defence in the fourth inning, but looked electric otherwise, looking every bit the man we know him to be in six innings of shutout ball. Gausman’s splitter looked lethal, and he completely (Kiner-Falefa and Treviño aside) shut down a Yankees lineup. And not that his matters, but over his two starts, he’s been better than Robbie Ray.
Again, that Does. Not. Matter. But just saying.
Honourable Mentions: Kevin Gausman, Adam Cimber
Best Bird Standings:
Hitters:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.- 1
Danny Jansen- 1
Pitchers:
Alek Manoah- 1
Jordan Romano- 1
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
(Stats are from 2021-22)
Friday, April 14 (7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST):
Daulton Jeffries (2.70 ERA, 3.82 FIP, 13.2 K%, 7.9 BB%, 43.1 Groundball%)
Ross Stripling (4.88 ERA, 5.26 FIP, 21.3 K%, 7.5 BB%, 35.7 Groundball%)
Saturday, April 15 (3 p.m. EST/1 p.m. MST):
Paul Blackburn ( ERA, 4.92 FIP, 17.0 K%, 5.7 BB%, 50.3 Groundball%)
Hyun-Jin Ryu (4.60 ERA, 4.06 FIP, 20.5 K%, 5.4 BB%, 47.3 Groundball%)
Saturday, April 15 (1:30 p.m. EST/11: 30 a.m. MST):
Adam Oller (33.75 ERA, 24.73 FIP, 25 K%, 25 BB%, 33.3 Groundball%)
Alek Manoah (3.06 ERA, 3.74 FIP, 27.8 K%, 9.1 BB%, 39.2 Groundball%)
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 5-2 (42 Runs Scored, 30 Runs Allowed)
Oh boy, where to even fucking start with the Oakland Athletics?
In the midst of obscenely wealthy owner John Fisher crying poor and demanding a publically-funded stadium from the city of Oakland while threatening a move to Las Vegas. Moving the baseball team where Rickey Henderson played should get Fisher serious jail time, but we do not live in a just world. Instead, the A’s have cut payroll, trading away Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea, Matt Olson and, of course, Matt Chapman for prospects, leaving only a core of starting pitcher Frankie Montas, catcher Sean Murphy (who, it turns out, can really throw it back), suspended outfielder Ramón Laureano, and infielders Tony Kemp and Elvis Andrus. On paper, this A’s team rivals the Baltimore Orioles for the worst team in the American League, with a lineup comprised mostly of role players at best on any other team, and a pitching staff that, Montas aside, is mostly comprised of depth starters and fringe relievers.
The Athletics will also be the first team to visit the Blue Jays this season that will be further depleted by a handful of role players’ inability to correctly use their brain functions.
As someone who had the misfortune of seeing Snead’s social media history, this is the least surprising thing I’ve read all morning.
The Jays will also be facing the bottom half of the A’s rotation, being older pitching prospects Daulton Jefferies and Adam Oller, as well as quad-A starter Paul Blackburn. Not that I want to say a mid-April series is a “must-win”, but, uh, the Jays offense should still be licking their chops like a starving, hallucinating cartoon character imagining their companion as an anthropomorphic hamburger.
Best Players (2021-22 Stats):
Frankie Montas, Starting Pitcher, 3.45 ERA, 3.38 FIP, 26.5 K%, 7.0 BB%, 43.1 Groundball%
Sean Murphy, Catcher, .216/.305/.411, 101 wRC+
Tony Kemp, Super Utility, .279/.380/.408, 125 wRC+
Cole Irvin, Starting Pitcher, 4.31 ERA, 4.47 FIP, 16.1 K%, 5.3 BB%, 37.9 Groundball%
Elvis Andrus, Shortstop, .247/.299/.333, 78 wRC+