Blue Jays drop a frustrating one in extra innings
2 years ago
Out of everything that I wanted to do today, writing an article where the Jays fell 9-7 to the Mariners in extra ranks last. That was a long game and made me mildly unhappy. The ThunderBisons did not as there were Bison’s players who could be called up soon that performed well.
Things worth mentioning…
The broadcast team:
The broadcast team was not good. There is no cohesion nor structure to their calling of the game. Thankfully I also had the Bisons’ game on with audio. I’ll write about that more near the end of this article. I did enjoy the use of advanced stats as well as defensive positions for the fielders on the Jays broadcast though.
Errors and poor defence:
Oh man, that game was terrible defensively. Biggio and Gurriel combined for an error which eventually led to a big inning for the Mariners. Next was an errant throw by Adams that didn’t cost them. Another was committed by Bichette which the Jays also worked around.
A team can play poor defence without committing errors, which was the case tonight. Teoscar didn’t play the bounce properly on the Mariners’ first run. However, what hurt them the most was Biggio’s late reaction to Long Jr’s single in the 10th.
While Biggio’s bat makes him a major leaguer, he should not be playing third base. He doesn’t have the arm, the range nor the reaction time to be a plus defender at the position. There is a certain player destroying Triple-A at the moment that should be called up, stay tuned to find out who.
Lack of hitting with RISP:
I believe they went 5-13 with runners in scoring position. However, one of those hits didn’t score the runner and Biggio’s hit in the 10th didn’t matter. The Jays had two opportunities to blow it wide open as they had the bases loaded twice. The first time they only managed to score a sac fly when they had no outs. The other time ended in a strikeout. Blame Montoyo, blame the bullpen, but also blame the lack of hitting in RISP tonight.
Matz:
He just came back from COVID, so I can’t really say much of this game. Let’s hope he’s better next time around.
Thornton:
If you follow me on Twitter or have read my Thornton article, I made some claims that he could be a high-leverage guy. In hindsight, I was wrong, partially because I think I jinxed him. I think at this point we know the type of pitcher that Thornton is. He’s a middle relief guy that should be pitching in low to medium leverage situations.
If you noticed, I didn’t say he was a long man. His longest outing is 2.2 IP. He had a good 1.1 IP before coming back out in the 5th. I think this was a mistake. Kay was ready and is a lot more stretched out than Thornton, so Kay pitching made more sense to me. To make matters worse, Thornton was only pulled after giving up a single, which came after a double than a home run.
Kay:
I said in my “Who’ll replace Matz” article that Kay is better than the numbers suggested. With this outing, I think he proved that to a T. Absolutely fantastic work from Kay who should probably be the Jays’ long man at this point.
Things worth mentioning, ThunderBisons edition…
I’m going to switch things up in a positive light now and talk about what I liked from the ThunderBisons game, specifically with three players.
Hatch:
Hatch went 5+ IP giving up 3 earned runs. While he struck out 4, he also walked 3. At this point, I’d throw myself in the Jays pen and hope for the best, but Hatch will be an option out of it within the month.
Kirk:
Did you know Kirk was rehabbing? I didn’t until yesterday. Thus far, Kirk has 10 plate appearances. He has a double, a single, three walks, two sac flies and only a strikeout. Tonight he also caught a runner trying to steal, something that he needs to work on. Furthermore, he made some nice picks and framed the ball well. I don’t see it making sense to call Jansen up before Kirk.
Kevin Smith:
The Jays need a third baseman. Kevin Smith is a third baseman. Tonight Smith went 1-2 with a sac fly and a walk. He also absolutely smashed a ball off the scoreboard for his 12th home run of the season. With the Dickerson trade adding a fifth outfielder, I can’t see the Jays needing Davis on the roster, especially with Biggio’s ability to play RF. My non-trade solution? Call up Kevin Smith.
He gives you plus defence, the Jays need an extra infield utility (they only have Espinal) and Smith is absolutely crushing Triple-A. He’s not a long-term solution, but he is a solution for the time being.
As always, follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D. I tweeted quite often tonight as I was equally focused on both the AAA game and the Jays game. Let’s hope for a better game tomorrow.
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