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Artificial Turf Wars Ep. 66: Teaching Hitting is Tough

Episode 66 Former Blue Jays Assistant Hitting Coach Eric Owens stops by to discuss working with major and minor league hitters, the issues plaguing the recent Blue Jays clubs, Josh Donaldson’s swing techniques, and why many clubs now have two hitting coaches. Greg and Josh then discuss the returning members of the Blue Jays bullpen, […]

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Artificial Turf Wars Ep. 44: A Canadian Classic

Greg Hamilton, coach and director of national teams for Baseball Canada, stops by to discuss Canada’s World Baseball Classic team. He details the selection process for the roster, the need for a blend of youth and experience, and how the team reacted to the absence of so many top players. Greg and Josh also break […]

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The 9 Biggest Bullpen Blowups in Jays History

The 2016 trade deadline didn’t come close to matching the euphoric highs of the 2015 deadline. You can’t trump David Price and Troy Tulowitzki. Nobody was asking first-year GM Ross Atkins to shock the world, and most Jays fans were impressed with the shrewd, but impactful acquisitions he did make. And the depth provided by Melvin Upton […]

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Artificial Turf Wars Ep. 10: Jonah Keri and Wish Lists for Winning Streaks

Jonah Keri of Sports Illustrated, CBS, and Sportsnet stops by to talk about writing for a living, analytics on the Blue Jays broadcast, and fighting the steroid stigma. The boys also discuss booing Brett Cecil, the recent walkoff wins, Drew Storen’s resurgence, 8-man bullpens, and the brewing position battle between Ryan Goins and Darwin Barney. […]

Stuff

The Blue Jays “Stuff” Report – Volume 2

The Blue Jays Stuff Report will be appearing in this space every two weeks. The metric was created by Dr. Mike Sonne, who has a PhD in biomechanics from McMaster University. For his work on pitcher fatigue, injury, and other baseball related research, please visit his website over at www.mikesonne.ca. Welcome back to the Stuff report! […]

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Artifical Turf Wars Ep. 9: It’s Getting Hard to Colabelieve

Greg, Josh, and Chris discuss the Chris Colabello suspension (and give themselves a Do-Over in the process), the offensive and bullpen woes, the strong starting pitching, and a confusing situation involving Marco Estrada’s shoulder. They also answer listener questions, give out a Cliché of the Week and tackle one of Justin Smoak’s defensive quirks. Note: […]

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Artificial Turf Wars Ep. 8: The Big 50 Moments that Didn’t Happen Recently

Shi Davidi of Sportsnet stops by to discuss his upcoming book, “The Big 50: Toronto Blue Jays,” and some early season trends. The guys then tackle the recent week that was, with a focus on the incredible performance of the starting rotation, the odd bullpen usage, some lackluster hitting, and an odd start to the […]

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Buying A Bullpen: How Do The Jays Compare?

It’s a common refrain of the sabermetrically inclined that you shouldn’t spend money on bullpens. It’s easy to see why this is: a pitcher that can throw 180-200 innings in a season (a starter) will usually be more valuable than someone whose peak is around 70 innings (a reliever). Even accounting for leverage and situations, the best […]