Blue Jays Morning Brew: Podcast, hitting school with Donaldson

The Toronto Blue Jays enter play on Wednesday at 68-52, one game clear of the Baltimore Orioles and Boston Red Sox in the American League East

Sometimes a rain delay comes at exactly the right time. On Tuesday night, the Blue Jays were asleep at the wheel until a mid-game stoppage sparked their offence for 12 unanswered runs including an eight-run eighth inning.

Scott Feldman was the quiet hero for the Blue Jays, pitching three innings of relief out of the rain delay and striking out five before home runs from Russell Martin (his second of the night) and Edwin Edwin Encarnacion headlined the mammoth eighth.

Ahead of this afternoon’s matinee finale in New York you can enjoy episode 86 of The Jays Nest Podcast with myself and Shaun Doyle of Jays From the Couch, back after a one-week hiatus to catch up on the big storylines of the past week and what Toronto needs to address going forward.

Listen using the audio player below, or better yet, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher to have the podcast delivered straight to your device each week. We’re also available now on Google Play.

The Jays’ Nest Podcast- Talking Toronto Blue Jays – Jays Nest #86- Blue Jays’ Concerns: Bautista, Pompey, Smoak & More!

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Much of our focus this week is on the outfield, where Jose Bautista‘s second trip to the disabled list this season has made him one of the most difficult free agent cases to predict entering this offseason. I argue that an MLB front office would have a difficult time talking themselves in to Bautista if they haven’t already. Furthermore, is there a contract Bautista would sign that he could still be expected to outperform?

Working off of that, we also talk Dalton Pompey, the 23-year-old centre-fielder who’s been passed up for promotions by Junior Lake and Darrell Ceciliani. Is there really a “plan” with Pompey, or is this a case of the current front office not valuing Pompey as highly as the past regime? Also on the table in this episode is Justin Smoak‘s struggles, the oversimplification of innings pitches, and some great reader questions.

Next: How Jason Grilli regained his All-Star form

Josh Donaldson on MLB Network
If you haven’t seen Donaldson’s appearance on MLB Network with Mark DeRosa yet, it’s worth your time to watch below. Swing mechanics go well, well beyond “swing a stick hard”, but they’re rarely discussed with this level of insight and clarity.

After watching the video, we shouldn’t be surprised if DeRosa attempts a comeback during the playoff stretch.