Blue Bird Banter

Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images Alek Manoah is a 27-year-old, right-handed pitcher. He was our first-round draft pick (number 11 overall) in 2019. The pick in front of him was Hunter Bishop (who hasn’t made it to the majors yet), and the pick after him was Brett Baty, who has a -0.7 bWAR in 169 games with the Mets. Manoah has the six-best total bWAR from the … [Read more...] about Better Know Your Blue Jays 40-man: Alek Manoah

Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images Ryan Goins turns 37 today. Ryan played with the Blue Jays for five seasons. He played 448 games for us, hitting .228/.275/.335. But he wasn’t a Jay for his bat. Instead, his glove got him to and kept him in the majors. Let’s share some of his highlight plays. The hidden ball trick: After leaving the Jays, Ryan played eight … [Read more...] about Happy Birthday Ryan Goins

Dave Nelson-Imagn Images The Blue Jays’ pitchers and catchers report today. Time to find out who’s in the best shape of their lives. Hazel Mae has the first video, of Scherzer, Gausman and Bassitt warming up. Alek Manoah, watching from the bench, already has the sleeves off his hoodie, which I respect. Jose Bautista was selected for induction into the Canadian Baseball … [Read more...] about Thursday Bantering: Pitchers and Catchers

Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images Just one more day until Jays pitchers and catchers report, at which point it’s just five days until full squad workouts. Which will mean just four days until fake games, and when that happens it’ll be only 33 more days until real ones! Not that I’m counting. Spencer Horwitz has had mysterious wrist surgery and will be out six to eight … [Read more...] about Wednesday Bantering: One More Sleep

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images Previously, we’ve looked at the bullpen, the rotation, and the outfield. Finally, in today’s (excessively long, sorry) final edition, let’s take a look at what’s up with the heart of this version of the Jays: the infield. The Changes Out: Isiah Kiner-Falefa (118 wRC+, 4.8 combined base running and defensive runs above average, 2.1 … [Read more...] about Fixing the Blue Jays: The Infield