Toronto Blue Jays @ St. Louis Cardinals

[JaysRule15]

Hoffman still giving up home runs. wtf

I didn't mind this homer as much. He was facing the bottom of the lineup and just challenging those hitters. And the fastball Clemens hit out was upper corner too.

[polo007]

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[Hottie McShotty]

Blue Jays are good again. Who saw that coming?

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Curious if we can get the sweep tomorrow? Anyone taking bets?

[Parataxis]

Hineman should be the DH lol.

The problem with DHing Hiney is that it makes PRing for Kirk much more complicated in late games, I guess.

But yeah, he's doing great things with his bat.

[Asianiac_24]

Hineman should be the DH lol.

The problem with DHing Hiney is that it makes PRing for Kirk much more complicated in late games, I guess.

But yeah, he's doing great things with his bat.

Wouldn’t we be able to just move Hiney to C if we PR Kirk?

[Boogie!]

We really have no one better than Francis to throw out there?

[Mehar]

Hineman should be the DH lol.

The problem with DHing Hiney is that it makes PRing for Kirk much more complicated in late games, I guess.

But yeah, he's doing great things with his bat.

Wouldn’t we be able to just move Hiney to C if we PR Kirk?

Yes. Just move Heineman to Catcher in that scenario. I have been saying this for weeks (when Santander was struggling as DH) that having both Kirk and Heineman in the lineup together more frequently as C/DH, is the logical move to make from time to time.

[JaysRule15]

Heineman won't be a good hitter if he gets consistent at-bats. He's getting a bit lucky right now, it'll eventually even out. Right now he's just a backup catcher that other pitchers don't really prepare for. Give him everyday at-bats and pitchers will expose him quickly.

[JaysRule15]

We really have no one better than Francis to throw out there?

What's Manoah's timeline looking like anyways lol.

[JN]

We really have no one better than Francis to throw out there?

Lauer would be better, but he had to pitch 4 innings on Tuesday to cover up for Francis, and 2 innings on Friday. There are no other options on the MLB roster, and we are not doing 2 bullpen games over 3 days this weekend, given that we are playing the next 3 days.

The only other choice would be calling up someone from the minors to start -- and there is not anybody good in Buffalo that gives any real innings.

We have a day off on Thursday. I assume at that point Francis will get moved out of the rotation if it doesn't work out (or at least Lauer moves into #4)

[JN]

We really have no one better than Francis to throw out there?

What's Manoah's timeline looking like anyways lol.

I was looking at this day a few days back and there wasn't much fresh info. Things back in April suggested that he was progressing well but it was still an August return.

But there was some new news that came out yesterday. Seems like August 1 is a reasonable target date per Keegan Matheson.

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-may-get-alek-manoah-back-for-stretch-run-1.2317678

[JN]

I raised in the game thread, but the Jays should do a trade for a 4th/5th starter type like today -- I put out guys like Adrian Houser and Martin Perez from the White Sox. Guys you can get for a fringe prospect. Guys that are not are not good by any means, but they are pitching well enough this year, and better than 2025 Francis and retreads like Jose Urena. Just someone to place a band aid on things while we try to assess whether the team is a real contender or not, before actually doing a bigger deal in July.

[Mehar]

We really have no one better than Francis to throw out there?

What's Manoah's timeline looking like anyways lol.

I was looking at this day a few days back and there wasn't much fresh info. Things back in April suggested that he was progressing well but it was still an August return.

But there was some new news that came out yesterday. Seems like August 1 is a reasonable target date per Keegan Matheson.

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-may-get-alek-manoah-back-for-stretch-run-1.2317678

People forget how awful Manoah was when he was healthy. He is not a solution for anything. This team needs to acquire another 4th or 5th Starter, even when Scherzer comes back healthy. Too bad they let go of Ryan Yarbrough, who would have filled that role perfectly.

[Mehar]

I raised in the game thread, but the Jays should do a trade for a 4th/5th starter type like today -- I put out guys like Adrian Houser and Martin Perez from the White Sox. Guys you can get for a fringe prospect. Guys that are not are not good by any means, but they are pitching well enough this year, and better than 2025 Francis and retreads like Jose Urena. Just someone to place a band aid on things while we try to assess whether the team is a real contender or not, before actually doing a bigger deal in July.

I agree with this suggestion. If Francis stinks up the joint again, that should be his last start in the rotation. A move is necessary. People counting on Manoah coming back as a solution is laughable, given how awful he was when he was even healthy.

The White Sox are done for the year also given their atrocious record, and looking at 2026. The Jays cannot afford to throw away any more games due to a lack of 4th/5th Starter in a tight Wild Card Race. Houser makes sense. He is not making major money, and is a free agent at the end of the year while posting good numbers. Perez is hurt and coming back August/September, but Houser would be an upgrade over what they have now.

[Boogie!]

Looking at the standings it’s surprising that our runs against is actually the worst amongst the al playoff/wild card teams by a pretty large margin and our runs scored is only 3rd worst. I thought it was our offense that was the main issue but it seems like it’s been pitching.

[Randle McMurphy]

Looking at the standings it’s surprising that our runs against is actually the worst amongst the al playoff/wild card teams by a pretty large margin and our runs scored is only 3rd worst. I thought it was our offense that was the main issue but it seems like it’s been pitching.

Offense has been very good for about a month now. However, they have effectively only 3 starting pitchers of MLB quality on the roster.

[JaysRule15]

What's Manoah's timeline looking like anyways lol.

I was looking at this day a few days back and there wasn't much fresh info. Things back in April suggested that he was progressing well but it was still an August return.

But there was some new news that came out yesterday. Seems like August 1 is a reasonable target date per Keegan Matheson.

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-may-get-alek-manoah-back-for-stretch-run-1.2317678

People forget how awful Manoah was when he was healthy. He is not a solution for anything. This team needs to acquire another 4th or 5th Starter, even when Scherzer comes back healthy. Too bad they let go of Ryan Yarbrough, who would have filled that role perfectly.

I agree that Manoah is no sure thing. He was pretty up and down before his injury. But it did appear that he had a turned a corner in his last few starts before going down. And if he used his rehab time wisely and got in better shape too (something he wasn't before), then maybe he's decent enough to be a cheap 4-5 option and an upgrade over Francis.

But I do think that if this team is serious about contending, we will need to make a trade. I don't have any positive feelings about Scherzer at all. Feels like he's likely gonna come back, make a couple more starts and have that thumb injury again which ends his season.

[Parataxis]

Hineman should be the DH lol.

The problem with DHing Hiney is that it makes PRing for Kirk much more complicated in late games, I guess.

But yeah, he's doing great things with his bat.

Wouldn’t we be able to just move Hiney to C if we PR Kirk?

We could, but that means we give up the DH spot, so we would need to have our Pitcher hit for the rest of the game. It's do-able in a pinch, but certainly not ideal.

[JN]

What's Manoah's timeline looking like anyways lol.

I was looking at this day a few days back and there wasn't much fresh info. Things back in April suggested that he was progressing well but it was still an August return.

But there was some new news that came out yesterday. Seems like August 1 is a reasonable target date per Keegan Matheson.

https://www.tsn.ca/mlb/toronto-blue-jays-may-get-alek-manoah-back-for-stretch-run-1.2317678

People forget how awful Manoah was when he was healthy. He is not a solution for anything. This team needs to acquire another 4th or 5th Starter, even when Scherzer comes back healthy. Too bad they let go of Ryan Yarbrough, who would have filled that role perfectly.

I didn't forget how crappy he was, especially 2023. He was below average in 2024, but OK I suppose last year in his minimal innings.

We just don't have any bodies that can fill the #5-#7 starter role in the organization, even if we acquire one more starter.
If he comes back and we have a few injuries for a time, he might be a better solution to spot start than anybody we currently have. It might be a more of a condemnation of the pitching development in the minors.