Series Preview: Toronto Blue Jays (2-1) vs. New York Yankees (2-1), Brought to You by Bet365
Blue Jays Take Two of Three from Texas Rangers, Zimmer Up, Katoh Down, Best Birds
It was certainly an opening weekend of mixed, albeit mostly positive, emotions, hey?
After an emotional spectacle of an Opening Day ceremony that took full advantage of the Rogers Centre’s new Jumbotron, the festivities gave way to the weekend’s main event: A never-ending cavalcade of cryptocurrency and sports betting ads occasionally punctuated by baseball.
In between a bunch of cavemen trying to convince me that Dogecoin is a significant invention on the same level as the wheel and the withered husk of The Score begging me to get addicted to gambling, the Jays took two out of three from the Texas Rangers. Game one saw José Berríos only record one out while getting the shit kicked out of him by a potent Rangers offense, but saw the Jays be the Jays, coming back from a 7-1 deficit to win 10-8. Game Two saw the Jays get off to an early lead for new starter Kevin Gausman, who only had one bad inning as the Jays held the Rangers off to win 5-3.
The third and final game got off to a fantastic start, with home runs from four different Blue Jays to give the home team a 6-1 lead, as the combo of Hyun-Jin Ryu and Matt Chapman at third base looked to be a match made in heaven. Unfortunately, the good vibes would hit a solid brick wall Wile E. Coyote style in the goofy-ass fourth inning, when a rocket of a line drive getting past Bo Bichette (which no one should blame him for, but fuck) and a line drive off Ryu’s leg swung the momentum squarely in the Rangers’ favour. Neither Ryu nor Julian Merryweather could stem the tide before Texas took a 7-6 lead. Ross Stripling and Tayler Saucedo both scuffled hard and the offence found itself suddenly stymied by umpire Gabe Morales’ sick fascination with Brock Burke’s shitty fucking high-and-off-the-plate bullshit the Rangers’ not-at-all-shitty bullpen s the final score was somehow 12-6.
You can’t be mad about the series win against an improved (though certainly not “good”) Texas Rangers team, but the way the final game played out was certainly deflating. Doesn’t help that I had some combination of a grimacing Gerry Dee and/or Jesse Pinkman begging me to give a shit about the most predatory industry to sink its claws into professional sports since… Well, every other industry in professional sports. That doesn’t do much to help my mood.
My displeasure at being exposed to sports commercials after a three-year hiatus aside though, the Jays can’t afford to mope over what could’ve been, as they’re off to the Bronx for a four game set against a strong Yankees team. Before we get into some familiar territory, 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.
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TRANSACTION NEWS
Prior to Sunday’s game, the Blue Jays announced that Gosuke Katoh would be the one optioned to Triple-A to make room for Bradley Zimmer on the active roster, instead of the likes of Zack Collins or a reliever.
Personally, I would have gone with Collins, who the Jays haven’t seen fit to use in a game yet, and I’m sure Katoh would have liked his first stint in the big leagues to have been longer (though he did see some action as a pinch-runner on Saturday), but it’s safe to say Katoh will likely be back at some point. Tapia got the start in center field on Sunday instead of Zimmer, but my hunch is that the latter will start any game against a right-handed starting pitcher in which the DH spot isn’t occupied by Alejandro Kirk in order to take advantage of Yankee Stadium’s short porch. Admittedly Zimmer pulls the ball less than most, but he’s certainly more likely to take advantage of the Little League dimensions than Tapia, who has basically been exactly as promised in his handful of plate appearances as a Blue Jay thus far.
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: Danny Jansen (1) 8 plate appearances, .571/.625/1.571, 11 total bases, 4 Weighted Runs Created, 0.17 Win Probability Added, 0.46 WPA/LI
Danny Jansen didn’t get quite as much plate appearances as any other worthy candidates. Teoscar Hernández had some key plate appearances, including his game-tying three-run home run Friday night. Bo Bichette, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and George Springer all had good series and newly-yoked Santiago Espinal came up big in several key spots.
That said, it’s Danny Jansen, building further off a strong finish to his 2021 season, that gets the early lead in both Best Bird awards and home run totals, off the back of the dingers he hit on Friday and Sunday, as well as jotting down the first base hit of the season on Opening night.
Honourable Mentions: Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Teoscar Hernández
Pitcher: Jordan Romano (1) 2 innings, 6 batters faced, 0 hits, 0 earned run, 2 strikeouts, 0 walks, 0.93 FIP, 0.22 Win Probability Added, 0.15 WPA/LI
Safe to say that pitching wasn’t the strong suit this series but the back half definitely held up their end of the bargain. The top five (editorializing a bit) relievers of Romano, Yimi García, Tim Mayza, Adam Cimber and Trevor Richards combined for seven innings of one-run ball, and Romano was the best of them all, locking down each of the first two games.
As for the starting pitching, Kevin Gausman easily had the best statline of the three, as Berríos had good movement but couldn’t find his command, and Hyun-Jin Ryu got burned by some bad batted-ball luck that spiralled. Gausman looked pretty good save for the third of his five innings, as he had trouble getting his four-seamer high in the zone, but had not trouble making his splitter work.
Honourable Mentions: Yimi García, Kevin Gausman
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
(Stats are from 2021-22)
Monday, April 11 (7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST): Alek Manoah (3.22 ERA, 3.80 FIP, 27.7 K%, 8.7 BB%) vs. Jameson Taillon (4.30 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 23.2 K%, 7.3 BB%)
Tuesday, April 12 (7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST): Yusei Kikuchi (4.41 ERA, 4.61 FIP, 24.5 K%, 9.3 BB%) vs. Nestor Cortés Jr. (2.90 ERA, 3.78 FIP, 27.5 K%, 6.7 BB%)
Wednesday, April 13 (7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST): José Berríos (3.70 ERA, 3.59 FIP, 25.9 K%, 6.0 BB%) vs. Gerrit Cole (3.30 ERA, 2.99 FIP, 33.1 K%, 5.7 BB%)
Thursday, April 14 (7 p.m. EST/5 p.m. MST): Kevin Gausman (2.88 ERA, 2.95 FIP, 29.1 K%, 6.3 BB%) vs. Luis Severino (2.00 ERA, 2.31 FIP, 36.1 K%, 2.8 BB%)
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 2-1, 13 Runs, 11 Runs Allowed (+2)
The New York Yankees went into the offseason with many questions, many clear ways of answering them while improving dramatically, and instead opted for the route of “hmm, what if we only improved incrementally and created more questions in the process?”
That’s not to say they’re not a good team, they definitely are. Aaron Judge is an elite player despite his alleged childlike fear of being poked by tiny metal rods, and when healthy, Giancarlo Stanton commits unspeakable violence on baseballs. Joey Gallo is a terrific all-around player if one’s eyes decided to scan and focus on a stat that isn’t batting average or strikeout rate, and D.J. LeMahieu is far too good a player to be as ordinary as he did last year. Anthony Rizzo is notably not named Freddie Freeman or Matt Olson, and is also “doing his own research” regarding vaccines, but he’s fine. Josh Donaldson is an excellent, almost underrated, third baseman. Again, when healthy.
This is a potent offense. What it’s not is flawless. Gary Sánchez may have been a horrible defender, but he at least provided a league-average bat, which the current catcher trio of Kyle Higashioka, José Treviño, and the injured Ben Rortvedt notably and glaringly do not. Aaron Hicks has only played 89 games in the last through season and gotten worse and worse over that time, and the Yankees didn’t do much to back him up at centre field (though they could always play Judge or Gallo there without sacrificing much defensively). New shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa is a solid defender, enough to make him an acceptable starter, but doesn’t give you much with the bat. Gleyber Torres is still a massive question mark, already seeing some reduced playing time.
The back end of the Yankees’ bullpen, Aroldis Chapman, Jonathan Loáisiga, and Chad Green, figures to once again be excellent, and their solid supporting cast of Clay Holmes, Wandy Peralta, Miguel Castro, and Lucas Luetge were all solid last year. Gerrit Cole at the top of the rotation is a top five starting pitcher in the game and the best pitcher in the American League until proven otherwise. Some concerns open up after himself, the dependable Jordan Montgomery, and the thoroughly okay Jameson Taillon though. Nestor Cortés Jr. had a FIP over 6 prior to last season, and will need to prove he can stick in the rotation, but an even bigger question mark is Luis Severino. Including his last start on Saturday, he has thrown 9 more MLB innings than I have in the last couple seasons.
Best Players (2021-22 Stats):
Aaron Judge, Right Field, .288/.372/.540, 148 wRC+
Gerrit Cole, Starting Pitcher, 3.30 ERA, 3.00 FIP, 33.1 K%, 5.7 BB%
Jonathan Loáisiga, Relief Pitcher, 2.10 ERA, 2.65 FIP, 24.1 K%, 6.2 BB%
Jordan Montgomery, Starting Pitcher, 3.92 ERA, 3.67 FIP, 24.5 K%, 7.7 BB%
Giancarlo Stanton, Right Field, .275/.355/.524, 139 wRC+