GAME 6: Toronto Tulowitzkis @ Kansas City Escobars Oct. 23 at 5:07 pm

[Hoopstarr]

Letting Revere go isn't even a question for me...


- Pompey and Saunders are easily better than Revere.

That's a ridiculous statement. The guy hit .300 this year (again). What have Pompey or Saunders done to show they can contribute anything close to that?

He was put in some awkward hitting situations due to our weak bench, but the bottom line is the guy is a .300 hitter with a great glove for only 7m. If they can get a good hitting coach to work with him on increasing his walk rate, this guy would be an absolute weapon at the top of the order. For a singles hitter with great coordination who seems to see the ball well, I'm a little baffled why his walk rate is so low. But even if they can't improve that, he would be a very good guy for the 8 or 9 spot.

A .300 hitter of what kind? The slap singles and running out infield hits kind. Hitting .300 got him a .316 wOBA in a career best hitting year. Give me .250 with hard hits any day. And where do you see this great glove? Because of that catch yesterday and the one in Texas? He has negative defensive value for the last 3 years and his arm is one of the worst I've ever seen, and I've seen Shannon Stewart's arm. Add in the fact that Travis will lead off next year and it's a no brainer that there's no more use for Revere.

[Aintnohater]

Dickey was great for the team in the 2nd half and saved their season in game 4 against Texas. He'll be back for sure.

Everyone you named will also be back except possibly Revere.

Isnt Revere still under contract though? Id love to have him back..we cant rely on Saunders that guy is made outta glass..I would like to see Pompey get more playing tiem though

He's under their control. If they want him back at around 7M a season, he'll be back.

I hope they bring him back...they would be downgrading if they play someone else over him really..I think he can only continue to get better hes still like 26.

[Aintnohater]

Letting Revere go isn't even a question for me. And no way to Goins making Travis expendable. Goins is the first MI off the bench for what could be many days where either Tulo or Travis aren't playing.

I can see us actually getting better next year even with regression from the big three hitters.
- Pompey and Saunders are easily better than Revere.
- The bullpen can only improve. Colabello can be trade bait for help there.
- Full year of Stroman, Travis, and Tulo (hopefully)
- Full year of great defense
- The rotation is the big question. If Estrada costs around 3/33, that's doable, but it probably depends on bringing Navarro back. Dickey comes back and gives us 200 IP. So we need to find 3 starters, 2 if Osuna is stretched out. Assuming Rogers gives the team a bump, we might have enough to get two of Zimmerman, Samardzija, Fister, Leake, Gallardo, Estrada, Latos.

K im not even a baseball enthusiast but this is plain dumb...First of all, If we trade Cola were stuck with Smoak batting everyday for the season, so no thanks. Second of all, what makes you think pompey and Saunders are better than revere? Pompey is still way too young..and Saunders hasnt done anything to show that hes a good player. Lastly, Latos? Really?

[Hoopstarr]

Letting Revere go isn't even a question for me. And no way to Goins making Travis expendable. Goins is the first MI off the bench for what could be many days where either Tulo or Travis aren't playing.

I can see us actually getting better next year even with regression from the big three hitters.
- Pompey and Saunders are easily better than Revere.
- The bullpen can only improve. Colabello can be trade bait for help there.
- Full year of Stroman, Travis, and Tulo (hopefully)
- Full year of great defense
- The rotation is the big question. If Estrada costs around 3/33, that's doable, but it probably depends on bringing Navarro back. Dickey comes back and gives us 200 IP. So we need to find 3 starters, 2 if Osuna is stretched out. Assuming Rogers gives the team a bump, we might have enough to get two of Zimmerman, Samardzija, Fister, Leake, Gallardo, Estrada, Latos.

K im not even a baseball enthusiast but this is plain dumb...First of all, If we trade Cola were stuck with Smoak batting everyday for the season, so no thanks. Second of all, what makes you think pompey and Saunders are better than revere? Pompey is still way too young..and Saunders hasnt done anything to show that hes a good player. Lastly, Latos? Really?

We have several acquisitions to make and very little in the way of prospects and limited money. I assume someone will be traded and Cola has the most value of the expendable non-arb pieces.

Why would Pompey and Saunders be better? How about because Pompey is our top prospect and Baseball America top 30? Or Saunders because he was brought in to play LF to start with and put up three straight years with a 100+ wRC. Combined they cost a fraction of Revere's $7+ million.

Yes, Mat Latos really. For a 4-5 starter you could do a lot worse than a 27 year old with a career 3.44 FIP.

[JaysRule15]

Man, watching some parts of the game again, we really did deserve to lose this game after choking in every RISP situation. But here's the biggest failing moment. Martin and Pillar walk, Goins is up with nobody out. Why did he take the first pitch down the middle instead of trying to sac-bunt right away? I get that Ventura was battling his control and you want to see if you throws more balls. But why not at least square up to bunt and then pull the bat back if the pitch was outside the zone? That way you get the best of both worlds (bunt if its a strike, or take ball 1). Goins just kept the bat on his shoulder and didn't even budge as a perfectly buntable pitch went by him. Then he bunts the next pitch foul and has to swing the bat after that. Biggest wasted out in the entire game. We could've had the top of our order up with two guys in scoring position and just one out if Goins had made one simple bunt on a pitch right down the middle. In a game filled with bad moments, I just can't let go of that one. Indefensible decision on Goins' part.

[BramptonYute]

Letting Revere go isn't even a question for me...


- Pompey and Saunders are easily better than Revere.

That's a ridiculous statement. The guy hit .300 this year (again). What have Pompey or Saunders done to show they can contribute anything close to that?

He was put in some awkward hitting situations due to our weak bench, but the bottom line is the guy is a .300 hitter with a great glove for only 7m. If they can get a good hitting coach to work with him on increasing his walk rate, this guy would be an absolute weapon at the top of the order. For a singles hitter with great coordination who seems to see the ball well, I'm a little baffled why his walk rate is so low. But even if they can't improve that, he would be a very good guy for the 8 or 9 spot.

A .300 hitter of what kind? The slap singles and running out infield hits kind. Hitting .300 got him a .316 wOBA in a career best hitting year. Give me .250 with hard hits any day. And where do you see this great glove? Because of that catch yesterday and the one in Texas? He has negative defensive value for the last 3 years and his arm is one of the worst I've ever seen, and I've seen Shannon Stewart's arm. Add in the fact that Travis will lead off next year and it's a no brainer that there's no more use for Revere.

Also add in that Saunders and Pompey will both be cheaper than Revere, and I think its easy to trade Revere away.

AA may be able to get some random BP guy for him.

[guvernator]

Pompey is the starting LF next year, I don't even think that it is a debate. If AA and co. were willing to hand him the starting spot this year with no experience, after the kind of resolve Pompey showed with all that went wrong, it is a nobrainer in 2016.

[gamer4Life]

If the Jays deserved to lose because of their batting with RISP, the Royals deserved to lose even more for being tied with the Jays despite the Jay's ineptitude - and being the beneficiary of bad calls.

[LLJ]

It is what it is. That's baseball. Escobar was just hitting everything. You could throw a pitch 10 feet off the plate and he could still get to it this series. Jays just couldn't generate consistent offense in KC for whatever reason.

I just hope we don't have to wait another 20 odd years before we get back to the playoffs. It's been a nice run and this team deserves to be remembered among the most entertaining Jays teams.

Now back to following the Raptors. *sob*

[Hoopstarr]

It wasn't just 0-12 with RISP. It was 4-41 in the whole series.

This would hurt a lot less if we could be confident that we'll be back in the playoffs next year and if not next year then pretty soon, but we can't. We're still in the AL East and we still have the same owner.

[johanliebert]

It wasn't just 0-12 with RISP. It was 4-41 in the whole series.

This would hurt a lot less if we could be confident that we'll be back in the playoffs next year and if not next year then pretty soon, but we can't. We're still in the AL East and we still have the same owner.

it is what it is its baseball. jays led the league in RISP this season they were the best team.

What it really boils down to is an umpire changing the outcome of the game man. He didnt even give navarro a fair chance you cant square up a pitch he called a strike in that at bat.

[lobosloboslobos]

there's no doubt the Jays would have won this series with slightly better pitching and clutch hitting. Having said that they got what they deserve, and more importantly we got an INCREDIBLY satisfying sports victory and EPIC sports moment when Jose hit that bomb, so hey, i'm satisfied. you don't get many of those in a lifetime and that was a truly great moment of triumph. Thanks Jose! Thanks Jays!

[And1Skip]

http://www.si.com/mlb/2015/10/24/royals-blue-jays-alcs-clinch-pennant

The next day I looked at the tape. Pitching from the stretch when he threw a changeup, Price would take an extra deep breath, one where you could see his shoulders shrug, and he would hold his set a beat longer. I didn’t have access to the preferred camera angle on every pitch, but from the small sample I saw it appeared to me the Royals knew the changeup was coming when Price was in the stretch. Days later, as the series resumed in Toronto, I ran my theory past two Royals sources. Both confirmed it: Price tipped his changeup—maybe not 100% of the time, but enough for Kansas City to buy in.

Great article written by Tom Verducci (the other color guy on Fox - the one that actually made sense most of the time).

[Scott Hall]

Pompey is the starting LF next year, I don't even think that it is a debate. If AA and co. were willing to hand him the starting spot this year with no experience, after the kind of resolve Pompey showed with all that went wrong, it is a nobrainer in 2016.

I'd be shocked if Pompey was the starting LF next year and not just because AA said Saunders is about a month ago or so.
Also the expectations for next season are gonna be a lot different then they were coming into this season. Pompey didn't
look good in April and didn't do much in the minors I don't know what "resolve" you're talking about?

And I hope AA has changed his mind about Saunders being the everyday LF next year as I hope they can find
someone better than our current options.

[polo007]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/657985098617397249[/tweet]

[guvernator]

Pompey is the starting LF next year, I don't even think that it is a debate. If AA and co. were willing to hand him the starting spot this year with no experience, after the kind of resolve Pompey showed with all that went wrong, it is a nobrainer in 2016.

I'd be shocked if Pompey was the starting LF next year and not just because AA said Saunders is about a month ago or so.
Also the expectations for next season are gonna be a lot different then they were coming into this season. Pompey didn't
look good in April and didn't do much in the minors I don't know what "resolve" you're talking about?

And I hope AA has changed his mind about Saunders being the everyday LF next year as I hope they can find
someone better than our current options.

Check is numbers post New Hampshire demotion.

[Boogie!]

The real weird thing with those strike calls is that I think the ump was generally fine all night and then busted out these 2 super terrible calls out of nowhere like he just had an aneurysm.

pretty much what perplexes me about it. he had a pretty consistent strike zone and i was never surprised with any of his calls... everytime he called a ball/strike it was easily justifiable from my perspective. very odd that out of nowhere, game on the line, 9th inning, he suddenly expands the strike zone to unhittable proportions. those guys took those pitches because you have to take those pitches... theyre balls... theres no way you hit them, theres no way you should be swinging at them... if you do swing at them, you **** up because they were bad pitches... really dont understand what happened with the umpire there. navarro being 2-1 and revere being 3-1 instead of 1-2, 2-2, really puts a lot of pressure on the pitcher to throw strikes and if that happens theres no reason those guys dont make contact with ball and score that winning run... instead theyre forced to chase bad pitches because the count favours the pitcher... and the fact that the strike zone has been expanded means now essentially anything could be a strike, meaning the guys pretty much have to cover an extra 2-3 inches of the plate, both vertically and horizontally... pretty **** ridiculous. revere chased a bad curveball in the dirt so i mean i guess he was to blame there as well but with the navarro at bat, he essentially chased the same pitch that was thrown prior and thats huge because if you watch him swing you see a last minute hesitation... like he wouldnt normally swing at that because its a ball, but because the umpire just called it a strike, all of a sudden he just made a desperation swing to try and save the at bat.

[Boogie!]

Man, watching some parts of the game again, we really did deserve to lose this game after choking in every RISP situation. But here's the biggest failing moment. Martin and Pillar walk, Goins is up with nobody out. Why did he take the first pitch down the middle instead of trying to sac-bunt right away? I get that Ventura was battling his control and you want to see if you throws more balls. But why not at least square up to bunt and then pull the bat back if the pitch was outside the zone? That way you get the best of both worlds (bunt if its a strike, or take ball 1). Goins just kept the bat on his shoulder and didn't even budge as a perfectly buntable pitch went by him. Then he bunts the next pitch foul and has to swing the bat after that. Biggest wasted out in the entire game. We could've had the top of our order up with two guys in scoring position and just one out if Goins had made one simple bunt on a pitch right down the middle. In a game filled with bad moments, I just can't let go of that one. Indefensible decision on Goins' part.

thats an issue as well... the rationale behind it was that he was walking everyone, but again, what you said is exactly right. in that situation you bunt no matter what. YOU make the play happen. you dont **** wait for an opportunity... if its a ball, you pull it back. otherwise you bunt from the get go... no reason to wait for a possible strike because now youre in a **** hole... i mean even if he does throw a ball on the first pitch and the count is 1-0 youre still bunting on the next **** pitch anyway... stupid **** strategy to me... id assume that was a coach's decision and not goins but yeah big blunder there. i didnt understand it at the time... as for goins though, i dont understand why he tried to finesse the bunt so much... the whole point is to advance the runners so any sort of bunt in play in that scenario wouldve done that. unless he **** pops it up, i mean you could literally bunt it towards the mound and im sure they wouldve still gotten the guy to third as long as they were running on contact.

[7 Footer]

Revere was hot trash the entire playoffs

Did you miss the catch he made in this very game?

One very good catch vs tons and tons of strikeouts. I dunno man...