Toronto Blue Jays

[2014olympicgold]

Maybe. Time will tell I suppose. The cold hard fact is that he's been terrible on the road and the way their road trip schedule works out, they were going to skip someone anyway so why not the guy who's been terrible on the road. This way he still gets to pitch on his regularly scheduled game day and his routine doesn't get shagged up, sitting on the bench for 10 days.

It's a roster play that makes sense for both the team and the player.

If all the games were at home they’d still do this to Hutch. This is just to give Hutch the chance to fine tune his throws against live competitive batters. If Hutch was playing well all year, but still the worse option of the 5, they wouldn’t do this; they’d keep a 5man rotation with an extra days rest for them all.

They prolly had this plan for Hutch 2 weeks ago unless there was an injury. It’s solely to let Hutch work on something they don’t like. It also allows them to bring up a 2nd batter for the Philly series which is just an added bonus.

Don’t read too much into this move other than added practice for Hutch.

[blayze]

If all the games were at home they’d still do this to Hutch.

I doubt it... he's been horrendous on the road. Dude has a 9+ ERA away from home. I am sure that weighed heavily in the decision.

If the games were at home they would've kept him in and given everyone more rest. If they're willing to give him a Home start against the Yanks... they would've kept him in for sure.

[Call of Doughty]

So if stroman comes back in early Sept, back to a 5 man rotation? where does this leave Hutch?

[blayze]

I'm on the other side of the games-in-hand situation. More often than not, they end up not mattering.
I don't know if it's because there is more pressure to win those games and the players struggle within that "must win" atmosphere.
Or maybe it's just the math. For every 3 games, the Yankees should win 1.668 of them. i.e. only a slightly better chance of winning the series than losing it. Also, we need to take into account who they are playing those games against. If it's a team better than, or comparable to, them in the standings (Royals, Orioles, Astros, Angels, Rangers) one would reasonably assume the 1.668 drops closer to 1.5. In other words, to me, the 3rd game is very close to a coin flip, and losing that third game would see the Jays actually gain a half game.

If the Yankees were a .667 ball club, I would definitely say the Jays need at least a half game buffer right now. Because under that scenario, you have to assume NY will win 2 of the 3 games in hand.

I don't disagree with your rationale from a statistical perspective... but I would always prefer to be the team that's in charge of their own destiny.

If a team is playing a do-or-die game that will mean division leader vs. wild card, you've gotta believe they will step it up, as opposed to a regular game at the start of the season.

[blayze]

Josh ****ing Donaldson! MVP right there boys...

[havanablast21]

Josh ****ing Donaldson! MVP right there boys...

Ditto... Huge man crush on that dude. Liked him lots in Oakland... Transformed to Love since he landed home here in Toronto. Also loving Price's Smile these days! Here's hop'n!!

[bondon]

Nice job by the pen picking up the slack for Dickey tonight. Quite a few pitchers being used though for one game. Guess with the extra off days coming up it won't matter.

[Axeman33]

Nice job by the pen picking up the slack for Dickey tonight. Quite a few pitchers being used though for one game. Guess with the extra off days coming up it won't matter.

Ya, that was classic Dickie last night. Ew!! Thankfully the bullpen and bats saved his bacon, especially with the Yankees winning too.

[2014olympicgold]

Knuckleballs hang sometimes, so those high pitches that are Homers should be accepted with Dickey. But you don’t expect it to happen every inning. He was lucky the BP is strong, and the offense is potent.

And again Donaldson being Donaldson.

[bondon]

Yeah especially in that ballpark. Oh well, I'm more inclined to let Dickey off the hook for that one since he's been purely dominant since the beginning of June. Hope he can bounce back in his next start.

I don't think there's anything I can say about Donaldson that hasn't been said already. This dude is nasty.

I don't think I've seen high caliber players this excited and happy to play for this team ever as far back as I can remember.

[Dobber]

I don't think I've seen high caliber players this excited and happy to play for this team ever as far back as I can remember.

It's equivalent to when Dave Winfield, Paul Molitor and David Cone were brought in and how excited they were

[Call of Doughty]

Josh ****ing Donaldson! MVP right there boys...

Zaun would disagree with you.................I don't lol

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb...mvp-candidate/

[blayze]

re: Donaldson
Talk about incredible timing - MVP calibre season when he needs a contract at the end of the year. It's gonna be rainin money on the bringer of rain.

- - - Updated - - -



Zaun goes out of his way sometimes to act like a non-homer. If the Jays get in the playoffs, I think Donaldson should be MVP favourite.

Zaun would disagree with you.................I don't lol

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb...mvp-candidate/

**** Zaun. I can't stand that guy.

Trout may be slightly better from an "advanced stats" perspective, but there's something to be said about showing up when it counts.

If the Jays make the playoffs and the Angels don't, then I think Donaldson should be MVP hands down.

Even if we ignore the playoff/clutch factor, Donaldson is coming on very strong while Trout is beginning to fade. Wouldn't surprise me if Donaldson emerges as a clearer favourite by the end of the season.

[Big Ev]

He won't win it regardless of anyone's opinion of him. They won't vote for a Blue Jay and Trout is golden boy.

[blayze]

He won't win it regardless of anyone's opinion of him. They won't vote for a Blue Jay and Trout is golden boy.

Can't say I disagree with this. The entire media world (outside of Toronto) talks about Trout as if the guy walks on water.

He's an amazing talent no doubt, but COME ON... let's show some measure of objectivity here.