ST: Rangers @ Blue Jays - July 18-20

BigLeagueChew · Post #1 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:13 am

@

Game 1 Friday, July 18, 7:07 PM EDT
Darvish vs Dickey

Game 2 Saturday, July 19, 1:07 PM EDT
Lewis vs Stroman

Game 3 Sunday, July 20, 1:07 PM EDT
Tepesch vs Buerhle

Post #2 » by **Nolan** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 9:37 am

Can't wait to watch Darvish destory us on Friday.

Back2back2back · Post #3 » by **Back2back2back** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:00 pm

I'm hoping BLC will bring back some of his magic and good luck!

GO JAYS GO!!

torontoaces04 · Post #4 » by **torontoaces04** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:53 pm

BLC has helped us through some of the toughest lineups in baseball...lets see how he can fair against these cellar dwellers!

GO JAYS!!!

Michael Bradley · Post #5 » by **Michael Bradley** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 2:13 pm

This 17 game stretch before the 3-game set against Baltimore will determine where this team is going. The Jays face three last place calibre teams (Texas, Boston, Houston) and the Yankees (at Yankee Stadium unfortunately). While the Orioles go out West for 10, and the 7 after that are against the M's, Angels, and Nats. Plus, the Orioles and Mariners face each other 7 times during that span, so the Jays can make up games in both categories (East and WC) assuming they take care of their own business.

No excuses now. Schedule eases up and this will determine not only the next 2.5 months but possibly the direction of the team going forward. Don't care how tough the opposing pitchers are, they have to find a way.

Randle McMurphy · Post #6 » by **Randle McMurphy** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:02 pm

Michael Bradley wrote:This 17 game stretch before the 3-game set against Baltimore will determine where this team is going. The Jays face three last place calibre teams (Texas, Boston, Houston) and the Yankees (at Yankee Stadium unfortunately). While the Orioles go out West for 10, and the 7 after that are against the M's, Angels, and Nats. Plus, the Orioles and Mariners face each other 7 times during that span, so the Jays can make up games in both categories (East and WC) assuming they take care of their own business.

No excuses now. Schedule eases up and this will determine not only the next 2.5 months but possibly the direction of the team going forward. Don't care how tough the opposing pitchers are, they have to find a way.

Well, other than half the lineup missing indefinitely due to injury and being forced to use AAA players due to a lack of depth.

Michael Bradley · Post #7 » by **Michael Bradley** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:40 pm

Randle McMurphy wrote:
Michael Bradley wrote:This 17 game stretch before the 3-game set against Baltimore will determine where this team is going. The Jays face three last place calibre teams (Texas, Boston, Houston) and the Yankees (at Yankee Stadium unfortunately). While the Orioles go out West for 10, and the 7 after that are against the M's, Angels, and Nats. Plus, the Orioles and Mariners face each other 7 times during that span, so the Jays can make up games in both categories (East and WC) assuming they take care of their own business.

No excuses now. Schedule eases up and this will determine not only the next 2.5 months but possibly the direction of the team going forward. Don't care how tough the opposing pitchers are, they have to find a way.

Well, other than half the lineup missing indefinitely due to injury and being forced to use AAA players due to a lack of depth.

They have 7 games against teams with a combined 78-113 record, and another 7 against a team 9 games under .500 in one of the worst divisions in baseball this season (surprisingly, the AL East). They are not facing the A's and Angels anymore. Injuries happen, but they still have enough to get by. Now, if pitchers start dropping like flies, then there is a bigger issue.

They will need Edwin and Lawrie back ASAP, but these next two weeks they should have enough to get by. Doesn't mean they will though. They were losing even with players healthy.

Randle McMurphy · Post #8 » by **Randle McMurphy** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:46 pm

Michael Bradley wrote:
Randle McMurphy wrote:
Michael Bradley wrote:This 17 game stretch before the 3-game set against Baltimore will determine where this team is going. The Jays face three last place calibre teams (Texas, Boston, Houston) and the Yankees (at Yankee Stadium unfortunately). While the Orioles go out West for 10, and the 7 after that are against the M's, Angels, and Nats. Plus, the Orioles and Mariners face each other 7 times during that span, so the Jays can make up games in both categories (East and WC) assuming they take care of their own business.

No excuses now. Schedule eases up and this will determine not only the next 2.5 months but possibly the direction of the team going forward. Don't care how tough the opposing pitchers are, they have to find a way.

Well, other than half the lineup missing indefinitely due to injury and being forced to use AAA players due to a lack of depth.

They have 7 games against teams with a combined 78-113 record, and another 7 against a team 9 games under .500 in one of the worst divisions in baseball this season (surprisingly, the AL East). They are not facing the A's and Angels anymore. Injuries happen, but they still have enough to get by. Now, if pitchers start dropping like flies, then there is a bigger issue.

They will need Edwin and Lawrie back ASAP, but these next two weeks they should have enough to get by. Doesn't mean they will though. They were losing even with players healthy.

The Jays with this injured roster aren't any better than a .500 team. Regardless of strength of schedule, I wouldn't expect much over the next little while at all from a shell lineup of AAA guys.

Michael Bradley · Post #9 » by **Michael Bradley** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 3:52 pm

Randle McMurphy wrote:
Michael Bradley wrote:
Randle McMurphy wrote:
Well, other than half the lineup missing indefinitely due to injury and being forced to use AAA players due to a lack of depth.

They have 7 games against teams with a combined 78-113 record, and another 7 against a team 9 games under .500 in one of the worst divisions in baseball this season (surprisingly, the AL East). They are not facing the A's and Angels anymore. Injuries happen, but they still have enough to get by. Now, if pitchers start dropping like flies, then there is a bigger issue.

They will need Edwin and Lawrie back ASAP, but these next two weeks they should have enough to get by. Doesn't mean they will though. They were losing even with players healthy.

The Jays with this roster aren't any better than a .500 team. Regardless of strength of schedule, I wouldn't expect much over the next little while at all with this shell lineup of AAA guys.

Agreed about this team's talent level with all the injuries, but the teams they are facing are worse (or have worse injuries than us). As long as Bautista and Reyes are healthy and the SP's don't start getting hurt, then they can survive an easier schedule for another week or two. They are still trotting out Reyes, Melky, Bautista, Rasmus, and Francisco, and Kawasaki (unless he's out long term too) against RHP, though lefties will still murder us. Not any longer than a week or two. Can and will are two different things though. I could easily see them losing more than they win in the next two weeks. These are the Jays, after all. If the last 20 years have proven anything, it's to expect the worst.

g_greg · Post #10 » by **g_greg** » Thu Jul 17, 2014 5:54 pm

torontoaces04 wrote:BLC has helped us through some of the toughest lineups in baseball...lets see how he can fair against these cellar dwellers!

GO JAYS!!!

BLC is love. BLC is life.
Need BLC magic now more than ever!!

Santoki · Post #11 » by **Santoki** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 12:36 pm

Everyone else is looking at the Jays and saying "these guys aren't very good...these are winnable games". I don't think any stretch that includes the Yankees and Red Sox can be deemed easy even if both of those teams are playing terribly. The Jays just have a mental hurdle with those teams, even moreso with the Yankees. I'll be happy to maintain the 3-4 games back of the O's and 2-3 back of the M's come the deadline.

Santoki · Post #12 » by **Santoki** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 12:37 pm

torontoaces04 wrote:BLC has helped us through some of the toughest lineups in baseball...lets see how he can fair against these cellar dwellers!

GO JAYS!!!

We're bringing back another Jays retread...

BigLeagueChew · Post #13 » by **BigLeagueChew** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:19 pm

Arencibia called up and will play first base for the Rangers.

s e n s i · Post #14 » by **s e n s i** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:05 pm

well, i guess we can start not losing again and this series would be a good place to start. though we'll still field half of a AAA line-up, at least we're not totally overmatched in this little stretch like we've been lately

5-2 homestand would be just fine thanks

Michael Bradley · Post #15 » by **Michael Bradley** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 6:44 pm

Go .500 against the Red Sox and Yankees (5-5) and win both series against the Texas teams (5-2). That would be a reasonable/necessary 17 game stretch with the walking wounded lineup before facing Baltimore (hopefully we get a few guys back by then). I'm not sure what to expect though. The fewer opposing lefties on the mound, the better.

EH15 · Post #16 » by **EH15** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:22 pm

We'll need a strong performance from the Dick tonight.

Dan2087 · Post #17 » by **Dan2087** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 7:31 pm

Hopefully we see a strong K performance from JP

Michael Bradley · Post #18 » by **Michael Bradley** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:29 pm

According to Gibbons, Mills is the long man, and Redmond will be a short high leverage reliever. Not sure I like that. Redmond's ideal role is a long reliever. I wouldn't trust him in high leverage close games.

Back2back2back · Post #19 » by **Back2back2back** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 8:30 pm

SS Jose Reyes (S)
LF Melky Cabrera (S)
RF Jose Bautista (R)
DH Dioner Navarro (S)
1B Dan Johnson (L)
CF Colby Rasmus (L)
3B Juan Francisco (L)
C Josh Thole (L)
2B M. Kawasaki (L)

Post #20 » by **Schad** » Fri Jul 18, 2014 10:19 pm

Michael Bradley wrote:According to Gibbons, Mills is the long man, and Redmond will be a short high leverage reliever. Not sure I like that. Redmond's ideal role is a long reliever. I wouldn't trust him in high leverage close games.

Sadly, I'm not sure there are any RHRPs in our 'pen that I trust more, save Janssen. It's Redmond, Santos and McGowan at the moment...we really need to add someone, and not a rookie with control issues.