THE CONTENT ZONE: Reflecting on good times from 2017

6 years ago

Welcome to the BJN CONTENT ZONE. Once a week we’ll have a conversation about a topic in our Twitter group chat so you can get an inside look at what kind of nonsense we have going on. This week, we (Cam, Richard, Tristan, and Roman) went on about whether this team is going to make the playoffs, and then the good times we remember from 2017.

Cam Lewis @cooom

okay let’s get things kicked off with something simple — will the Blue Jays make the playoffs?

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

Do you consider the wildcard game playoffs?

Cam Lewis @cooom

yes

being in the wild card game is the playoffs

is anyone here a non-WC game puritan?

like I would say the 2016 Baltimore Orioles were a playoff team (lol)

Roman @BadNewsJays

I consider Wild Card game playoffs because it is a playoff game (technically)

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

Idk, I don’t know what side of the coin I fall on that, but yes, I think they get at least one wildcard game

Cam Lewis @cooom

they get at least one wild card game?

are there going to be teams that get multiple wild card games?

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

at least one wildcard game as in one playoff game u doffus

doofus*

There will be teams that will fight the jays for the wildcard spot, but I think that the rotation can carry this team. If Estrada’s mid-season problems were really just because of his back and not being able to sleep, that’s a quality 1-4

Cam Lewis @cooomonly a quality 1-4? is that jaime garcia slander?

Jaime Garcia’s having a great spring, but he really just needs to give the team 5-6 innings when his turn comes up

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

Jaime Garcia’s having a great spring, but he really just needs to give the team 5-6 innings when his turn comes up

Jaime Garcia is ACTUALLY fine…

Roman @BadNewsJays

But yeah, I agree with Richard. They’ll take a wild card spot.

Garcia’s walk rate climbing last year is slightly concerning, but like Richard said, he’ll be fine as a 5th starter. Worst case he’s slightly below league average.

tristan @shiftevil

I could see them making the one game wildcard

Not gonna be easy though

Roman @BadNewsJays

I think both WCs will come out of the AL East, it’ll be hard to pass the Red Sox/Yanks

Cam Lewis @cooom

I‘m sensing a lot of skepticism that the Jays are good enough to be a wild card team

The difficulty i find is that the Twins, while shitty, get to play the Royals, Tigers, and White Sox all year

tristan @shiftevil

Yeah exactly!

Cam Lewis @cooom

whereas the Jays only get to kick the fuck out of Tampa Bay, and even then, playing in that abandoned costco hellscape is never an auto win

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesambut I think the other 4 can legitimately carry a team. We’ve seen it before. Those guys dragged the 2016 jays into the playoffs when the bats went cold at the end of the season

tristan @shiftevil

I honestly just want them to stay healthy

Don’t want to have to use 50 different starters again

Cam Lewis @cooom

I want Josh Donaldson to stay healthy*

I remember last season Donaldson went nuclear in, like, August and the team was within three games of the WC

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

the pen looks like it will be good. Not Yankees good, because that’s impossible, but good enough that they aren’t pissing away starts

they went into chicago three games back and got swept

they stayed in it that long

Cam Lewis @cooom

oh fuck that was so bad

one of those was the Raffy Lopez game

where he was just like dropping the ball

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

idk that entire series merged into one game for me

Cam Lewis @cooom

2017 was a grind

can you think of any really good moments from that season?

tristan @shiftevil

Anything to avoid last year’s start as well

Roman @BadNewsJays

They’ve never started well

My favourite moment was when that random guy jumped over the Angels catcher

tristan @shiftevil

LOL

tristan @shiftevil

I was legitimately drawing a blank but yeah that Coughlan leap would be the highlight

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

Chris Coghlan aka “random guy”

Roman @BadNewsJaysI got home drunk at a ridiculous hour and was shocked the game was still on, I was so happy

Honestly couldn’t remember his fucking name lol

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

the Smoak-Morales back to back walkoff

remember that Cam?

Cam Lewis @cooom

oh god

speaking of drunk

i remember it *in theory* but i don’t remember it happening

i bought a 2016 team issued chris colabello jersey that day

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

we were like doubled over and sleeping on the porch and then 5 minutes later we were screaming and leaving the stadium

edwin’s return was one, a legitimate heartfelt moment we’ll always remember. Same with Bautista’s exit

tristan @shiftevil

Edwin coming home was so good

Stroman homer!!!

How improbable

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

this shit

Cam Lewis @cooom

this is how the millennials celebrate home runs

tristan @shiftevil

Morales destroying the Orioles that one game

I was so confused when I saw him running like that there was no sound on the tv I thought it was a a weird celebration

Cam Lewis @cooom

will 2018 be better than 2017?

which was better? 2013 or 2017?

tristan @shiftevil

For the sake of my health I hope it’s better than 2017

Hmmm 2013 was weirder cause I was going to games early in the year for like 5 bucks from scaplers lol

Roman @BadNewsJays

man that last one is rough

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

2017 was worse. 2013 you thought they should have been good, but never experienced much. In 2017, they were coming off of back to back alcs appearances

Roman @BadNewsJays

For me it’s the other way around. In 2013, you wanted to get back to it so badly and you thought you were before it started. Whereas last year was a major letdown but at least you actually know what the playoffs feel like

Cam Lewis @cooom

you have to consider like the fact the team hadn’t been in the playoffs for our entire lives and then that happened

whereas 2017 was like OK 2015 and 2016 replays tho!

tristan @shiftevil

They made a big deal out of 2013 being 20 years since we won it all

And they made the trade(s)

I have Stephen Brunt’s preseason essay seared into my brain

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam

In 2013, you didnt know what you were missing. In 2017, you knew exactly how it felt, but you never got to the World Series. It’s harder to be close and lose than to not be there at all

If you bet on 5 games, and all five games have to win for you to win money, you’d much rather lose on game one than game five

tristan @shiftevil

That’s part of why I hate the Royals so much

They got as close possible and then got it right after

Cam Lewis @cooom

did anyone actually think the 2017 team was going to be good?

like what were you feeling this time last year?

tristan @shiftevil

Its tough cause we aren’t in a vacuum

Expextatikns have changed from a year ago

EXPECTATIONS WHAT THE HEKC

Richard Lee-Sam @RLeesam