Happy Saturday. Hopefully, there will be a game tonight. There is rain in the forecast.
There is some Jays news: Zach Pop and Richard Lovelady cleared waivers and are free agents. I just came across a story in the National Post saying that Pop could ‘breakout’ this year.
Jays manager John Schneider singled out Pop during the December winter meetings as a potential breakout candidate for his bullpen, and pitching coach Pete Walker echoed those sentiments Sunday while outlining how the addition of a cutter and sweeper to Pop’s arsenal could lead to a lot more success.
”(Pop) has been a work in progress over the last couple of years,” Walker said. “He has a tremendous sinker. It’s a matter of him really attacking the strike zone with that. It’s still his bread and butter, his best pitch.
I guess the elbow injury changed that.
We get these Tweets every week:
Breaking News: According to my sources, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Toronto Blue Jays are very close to closing an extension agreement of more than $500 million dollars. #BlueJays #Toronto #VladimirGuerreroJr pic.twitter.com/ELTHYXK5rh
— Mike Rodriguez (@mikedeportes) April 4, 2025
I’ll believe it when there is an announcement.
And this one today:
People close to the situation are telling me this: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays have made a lot of progress towards a 500 million dollars deal. ¿Time frame? 14 years. The announcement could be done soon. Looks like Vladi Jr. is staying in Toronto long term.
— Yancen Pujols (@YancenPujols) April 5, 2025
I hate small sample size things. We’ve been told ‘Bo is back to being Bo’ a bunch, but the last two games, he’s looked like last year’s Bo (also a small sample). Right now his batting line is .273/.333/.333, which is fine and all, but we should wait a month or two before saying he’s back.
The talking point for yesterday’s game is Schneider taking out Kevin Gausman for Mason Fluharty. I would have left Gausman in.
But the real problem is how the team divides the bullpen. We use these pitchers if we are winning and these pitchers if we are losing, with no thought to how close the game is or how many innings are left.
Yesterday, we were down by two. The game is still within reach, and we brought in the guy who should be the last man in the pen. If we were down by four or five, he would be the right guy (and we would soon be), but would he be down by two? Maybe we could pretend we still have a chance.
I agree it’s not the spot for Hoffman, but maybe it’s not the spot to throw in the towel. They do have to see what Fluharty can do, but maybe Juan Soto isn’t the guy to test him against. Add in that they are coming off an off-day, and one would think you could go with the second-last man in the pen.
I get that teams decide, ‘These are the guys for when we are winning’ and ‘These are the guys for when we are losing’ to save the arms of the best guys. Years ago, relievers would pitch in 100 games and end up having short careers. But maybe let’s give the manager a little authority to use his brain occasionally.