The One Where I Talk About Anthony Banda (Toronto Blue Jays (44-36) vs. Oakland Athletics (26-55))
The Jays are 5-2 this season when I am not in the province of Alberta. Since my return from Vancouver on Friday, they have gone 0-3. To any TRUE Toronto Blue Jays Fans out there, I will be accepting donations to fund another trip to BC ASAP in the form of paid subscriptions. Do it for the boys.
After the series win against the Red Sox and after winning the first two games against the Rays in relatively dominating fashion, the Jays would drop the three final games of the homestand, including both halves of Saturday’s doubleheader. Unfortunately, the stage was set for the series lost the second Kevin Gausman had to leave game one of the doubleheader with a right ankle contusion (and nothing more than that supposedly, as it’s possible he could make his next start, Insha’allah), leaving Casey Lawrence and Thomas Hatch to their fates in both games, sacrificed at the altar of the stingray god to once again serve as examples for why pitching depth is sorely needed.
Another factor that may have played a role in the series loss was the heartbreaking, dare I say cruel, death of first base coach Mark Budzinski’s daughter, Julia, in a tubing accident in Virginia. So impactful was the tragic loss in the Jays Family that the team considered forfeiting the game in Budzinski’s absence.
“There’s good men and great men. He’s a great man,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “You’d ache for anybody, but he’s a special kind of person. Brave. The only thing I can share about what happened: even before he left, he wrote a note for me to read to the team while going through that tragedy. That tells you everything about Mark Budzinski.”
“It’s really tough. It’s not a situation that I bet any of us have ever been in where someone so close to home has such a tragic loss. It hits everyone a little different, especially those of us with children. It definitely weighed on us,” Sunday’s starter Ross Stripling said afterwards. “He was heavy on everyone’s hearts today.”
Budzinski will of course be away with his family for the foreseeable future, and he and his family have my deepest condolences.
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TRANSACTIONS
Prior to the doubleheader on Saturday, Maximo Castillo was optioned back to Buffalo, through no real fault of his own, as the pitching staff would prove to need the fresher arms of Thomas Hatch and Casey Lawrence (the 27th man for the doubleheader) in his stead.
Both Lawrence and Hatch would be optioned back to Triple-A on Sunday, as Trevor Richards made his return from the Injured list with one and a third innings of scoreless relief. The biggest news of the weekend though was the Blue Jays’ acquisition of left-handed pitcher Anthony Banda from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for cash considerations. Julian Merryweather was moved to the 60-day IL to make room on the 40-man roster for Banda, who will likely take either Trent Thornton or fellow lefty Matt Gage’s spot on the active roster. Both probably deserve better short-term fates, but they also have options, while Banda does not.
The 28-year-old Banda was a tenth round pick out of San Jacinto College in Texas, selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2012 draft. In 2014, the Brewers would trade Banda alongside Mitch Haniger to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for Gerardo Parra. He would make his MLB debut for the D-Backs in 2017, and would be traded to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2018 as part of the much-discussed Brandon Drury/Steven Souza/Taylor Widener/Nick Solak/Sam McWilliams/Colin Poche deal. He would undergo Tommy John surgery, only pitching 11 innings for the Rays in 2019 and 2020. After getting designated for assignment by the Rays, outrighted from the San Francisco Giants, and claimed off waivers by the Pirates before the 2022 season, Banda has put together an unsightly 6.41 ERA in 19 2/3 innings. And yet, his Statcast page doesn’t look nearly as bad. So what exactly gives?
I mean, fuck if I know, but we can make some observations at least. Banda throws a hard mid-to-high 90s four-seam fastball, striking out batters at a roughly league-average rate despite getting very little in the way of swing-and-miss by getting them to chase his highly-used changeup, his four-seamer, and his sinker (not so much his curveball), while highly limiting walks. He also doesn’t allow much in the way of dangerous contact. His fastball has gotten crushed by left-handers, but he’s responded by using his sinker against lefties more often instead. He’s also sporting a .463 BABIP with a 3.78 FIP and 4.15 xFIP. So there’s probably something to work with in all that noise.
BEST BIRDS
Hitter: Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (3)
Honourable Mentions: Cavan Biggio, Teoscar Hernández, Santiago Espinal
Pitcher: Yusei Kikuchi (4)
Honourable Mentions: José Berríos, Adam Cimber
Best Bird Standings:
Hitters:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.- 4
Lourdes Gurriel Jr.- 3
George Springer- 3
Alejandro Kirk- 3
Bo Bichette- 3
Santiago Espinal- 3
Danny Jansen- 2
Cavan Biggio- 1
Teoscar Hernández- 1
Matt Chapman- 1
Zack Collins - 1
Pitchers:
Alek Manoah- 10
Kevin Gausman- 6
Yusei Kikuchi- 4
Ross Stripling- 2
José Berríos- 2
Jordan Romano- 1
SCHEDULE/PROBABLE PITCHERS
Monday, July 4 (9 p.m. EST/7 p.m. MST)
Alek Manoah (2.09 ERA, 3.07 FIP, 22.7 K%, 5.1 BB%)
Cole Irvin (3.58 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 16.7 K%, 5.8 BB%)
Tuesday, July 5 (9:30 p.m. EST/7:30 p.m. MST)
Yusei Kikuchi (4.74 ERA, 5.57 FIP, 26.3 K%, 12.8 BB%)
Adrián Martínez (6.30 ERA, 5.72 FIP, 13.6 K%, 4.5 BB%)
Wednesday, July 6 (3:30 p.m. EST/1:30 p.m. MST)
José Berríos (5.72 ERA, 5.17 FIP, 18.3 K%, 6.0 BB%)
James Kaprielian (5.43 ERA, 5.75 FIP, 15.9 K%, 10.4 BB%)
THE OPPOSITION
Pythagorean Record: 27-54
Season Series vs. Blue Jays: 1-2
Record since the last series vs. Blue Jays: 21-50
Last 10 games: 3-7
Hoooooooooly shiiiiiiiiiiit.
I thought other people were giving the Oakland A’s too much credit when they said that they would find a way to compete even after losing Matt Olson, Matt Chapman, Sean Manaea. I didn’t stop once to consider that I was also giving them too much credit by predicting they would win 66 games.
Let’s see, what is there to talk about… Uh… At least Christian Bethancourt is looking like a league-average player? Elvis Andrus is looking better than he did last year. That’s kinda fun I guess??? Frankie Montas and Paul Blackburn have looked great for their trade deadline suitors. I’m still thinking about Sean Murphy’s ass. Okay, there, I did my due diligence. If you need more, just read the previous A’s post, everything there still applies. Fuck John Fisher.
Best (Healthy) Players in this Series:
Sean Murphy, Catcher, .226/.296/.402, 102 wRC+
Cole Irvin, Starting Pitcher, 3.58 ERA, 4.43 FIP, 16.7 K%, 5.8 BB%
Elvis Andrus, Shortstop, .232/.297/.366, 95 wRC+
Ramón Laureano, Outfielder, .239/.322/.372, 107 wRC+
Seth Brown, Outfielder/First Base, .217/.279/.421, 101 wRC+
Great job!