Blue Jays Morning Brew: Sometimes it snows in April

This Friday edition of the Blue Jays Morning Brew includes content on Jose Bautista, Marco Estrada, Troy Tulowitzki, and more

Chavez remains sidelined  –  Blue Jays reliever Jesse Chavez was expected to return to action on Thursday in Baltimore, but Gregor Chisholm reported prior to first pitch that he still wasn’t at 100% after dealing with some lower back tightness. He’s expected to avoid a stint on the 15-day DL, however, and should be back on the mound this weekend.

Bautista’s defence  –  Over at Jays From the Couch, Shaun Doyle looks at the defensive tool of Jose Bautista’s game. Expect to hear more and more about this as his free agent offseason approaches, especially in regards to whether or not teams want him sticking in right field.

He isn’t a black hole just yet, but he’s certainly regressing and getting no younger. It’s a battle of analytics, logic, and on Bautista’s side of the table, maybe a little pride.

Bobblehead behemoth  –  Josh Donaldson‘s bobblehead gets a sneak peak over at Sportsnet. They’ve also built a life-sized bobblehead of the reigning AL MVP, and frankly, it’s rather terrifying. Giveaway day is this Sunday against the Oakland Athletics, so expect long lines wrapping around the Rogers Centre.

Bautista’s Ghost  –  An interesting piece here from Jonathan Bernhardt at VICE Sports, looking at the legacy of Bautista’s unlikely rise to stardom after an almost unnoticed trade from the Pittsburgh Pirates. He highlights some current players looking to make the same jump, including Mark Trumbo and and Jean Segura.

“They’re chasing themselves: the ballplayers they could have been, and could perhaps still be if everything goes just as it should. If one, or both, of them has managed to finally catch up, we’ll know sooner rather than later. It usually doesn’t happen. When it does, it’s impossible to miss.”

Next: What does Beltre deal mean for Bautista, Encarnacion?

Dickey and Syndergaard  –  On the topic that is once again “hot”, Neil Weinberg of FanGraphs brings us a good angle on the conversation with “A Partial Defense of the Team That Traded Noah Syndergaard.”

Chatting with Marco  –  An excellent interview here, also at FanGraphs, with Marco Estrada from David Laurila. His comments on his new cutter are especially interesting.

“In years past, when I didn’t have a cutter, I’d fall behind and throw a 3-0 or 3-1 88-mph fastball and get crushed. Now I can fall behind — not that I want to fall behind — and don’t have to throw a four-seam fastball. I can go with something that looks just like it, but has some movement. I can get some swings and misses, or some ground balls or pop ups.”