Shoots Left and Writes

  Simon B I think the fans gave Toronto a nice boost in their three-game series win over the Oakland Athletics. It wasn't always pretty and there were a lot of controversies, but good teams usually find a way and Toronto did just that. I might write a post later on about the lack of starting pitching depth or the atrocious umpiring that we saw in Saturday's game depending on how the Boston series goes.  For now, the Jays are hitting the road for three games against the Red Sox then it's down to Houston for the weekend to face the Astros. Who to Look for Bo Bichette: Bichette has had a relatively slow start to the season offensively. Like most hitters, he's very streaky but there's reason to think that in this upcoming series against Boston, he could breakthrough.  I have to give credit where it's due, the probable starter on Tuesday, Nathan Eovaldi has mixed his pitches very well but from past experience, he's a fastball dominant pitcher. Eovaldi pounds the ...

 Simon B In my last post, I mentioned that getting out of the Bronx with 2 wins would mean the Jays had a good series in New York and they did just that. I'm going to toss myself a bone here because as I predicted, the two best players of Toronto in that series were Alex Manoah and Vladimir Guerreo Jr. Both had outstanding performances (Manoah in game one and Vladdy in game 3).  We can dwell over the fact that they got shut out in both their losses (one to Nestor Cortez and the other to Luis Severino) but it's too early to be talking about offensive slumps. Especially against a good pitching staff like the one the Yankees have to offer. All in all, it was an up and down week for the Bluebirds but 2 of a possible 4 wins isn't bad at all. That said, this upcoming weekend series with the Oakland Athletics is bound to be one the Jays should dominate. Most notably, however, Matt Chapman will be facing his former side for the first time. I'm sure his adrenaline will be pumpin...

  Simon B The Blue Jays opened the 2022 season with a series win over the Texas Rangers. This was the first opening day at Rogers Center for the Jays since the 2019 season and a lot has changed since then. While that opening series told us a lot about what this team can do, they played a team that just isn't going to be playing at the level the Jays are looking to be at this year.  However, they get to play the Yankees for four games this week and I think this series will give us a good early look at how most specifically the pitching staff will fair against a top-class offense. Bullpen Limitations The Jays pitchers had to cover 27 innings and only 8.2 innings were played by starting pitchers with Kevin Gausman going 5 decent innings on Saturday for his first start with Toronto.  That said, the bullpen was the biggest question mark coming into this year and they definitely got some work in and it wasn't very glamorous against a lineup that, with all due respect, doesn't c...