Ever since moving into the Blue Jays rotation on May 5, 2015, Marco Estrada has been one of the more effective pitchers in the American League and an extremely reliable member of the Toronto starting five (or six). As such, it should surprise nobody to see that Estrada is currently sporting a 3.60 ERA or […]
Author: Joshua Howsam
Justin Smoak is Showing Signs of Improvement in Crazy 2017 Season
Justin Smoak did not have a good start to the season. After his first nine games, the switch-hitter was batting a paltry .208/.240/.292 with more strikeouts (8) than hits (5). It was obviously a small sample size, but coming off of last year’s abysmal performance, which included a career high 32.8 percent strikeout rate, had […]
Joe Biagini Avoided the Normal Reliever to Starter Transition Problems
Joe Biagini has been something of a revelation during his brief tenure in Toronto. Since being selected in the Rule Five draft, the quirky California native has done nothing but prove he belongs on a major league pitching staff. The only question is what role was best suited for the large righty. Last September, I argued […]
Blue Jays Pitcher of the Week: J.A. Happ
Every week in this space, we’re going to be running down the “Pitcher of the Week” for the Toronto Blue Jays. This won’t always be the best pitcher, but it will always be someone who did something notable that we can break down further. Using information from games through Friday (Saturday-Friday), we will try to […]
Russell Martin on the Art of Pitch Calling: A Masters in Communication
“If you believe your catcher is intelligent and you know that he has considerable experience, it is a good thing to leave the game almost entirely in his hands.” – Bob Feller DUNEDIN – Catcher defense is an interesting thing. When trying to evaluate it, most of the talk has shifted towards pitch framing (or […]
Dalton Pompey on Choosing to Play in the WBC
DUNEDIN – It was a good day for Dalton Pompey. After battling illness for the first week of games, the switch-hitting 24 year old finally found his way into the lineup in Grapefruit League action. One walk, one nice catch at the fence, and one opposite field home run later, a solid first 2017 impression […]
One Potential Fix for Kevin Pillar’s Hitting Woes
Late last week, Gideon Turk wondered what would happen if Kevin Pillar were more like Vladimir Guerrero. The seemingly ridiculous question was actually anything but, predicated on the idea that Guerrero was unnaturally good at getting hits when he made contact on balls out of the zone, whereas most of Pillar’s such contact turns into […]
Blue Jays Sign Lefty Reliever J.P. Howell
It took a while, but the Blue Jays finally have a lefty for the bullpen. The Jays have a one-year agreement with left-handed reliever J.P. Howell, pending a physical. — Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) January 31, 2017 Source: Howell deal with #BlueJays is indeed one year, $3M. — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) January 31, 2017 As Buster […]
Ezequiel Carrera and the Need for Another Outfielder
It’s no secret that this has been a trying offseason. After the Jays made their quick strike to sign both Lourdes Gurriel and Kendrys Morales, things ground to a halt. It then wasn’t until the Winter Meetings that the team signed Steve Pearce. While that move was a good one for the club, it was […]
Aaron Sanchez Reportedly Hires Scott Boras
We normally only cover player agents when they make colossal errors, such as the one made by Paul Kinzer with Edwin Encarnacion. However, today we’re making an exception as, per Hazel Mae, Aaron Sanchez has hired Scott Boras. Source informed me #BlueJays RHP Aaron Sanchez has joined @borascorp and is now being represented by super […]