Blue Jays Morning Brew: Turning up the Heat

Welcome to the Blue Jays Morning Brew. We’ve got the kettle on high to serve up a fresh, hot steaming helping of Blue Jays tidbits. So, grab the cream and sugar, sit back and enjoy the heat.

When the 2015 season began, Blue Jays fans were pumped, filled with excitement over what this team could achieve. Now, into May and there is a much different vibe. Some are raging over being last (at the time of writing) in the division. Many have questioned the moves of manager John Gibbons. Some are even calling for his termination. Yes, there is a fair amount of heat directed toward the manager. Some say he’s been placed directly upon the hot seat. But, Jeff Blair at Sportsnet.ca says that is unfair. He argues that the start to this season should not lead us to start the #FireGibby campaign. Unlike during his previous tenure, Gibby’s team is, according to GM Alex Anthopoulos “playing its balls off”. AA takes it further by saying that the rotation has been th ebiggest let down and he’d consider trading for a starter before firing the manager. Hello!

Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca tells us that it might be time to adjust the heat on the expectations we have for rookie, Devon Travis. After outlining what is behind the red hot start to the 2015 season from the 24 year old second baseman, Nicholson-Smith points out that the league will start adjusting to him. They may send out bullpen specialists to face Travis. While this is certainly flattering, it could begin to alter his pace. GM, Alex Anthopoulos suggests that we should not expect Travis to keep up this rate and hit 42 HR. And, most would agree. It’s just that the excitement that Travis has brought makes one dream about the “what if” of the next 5 months.

Anyone out there remember the home run Joe Carter hit to win the World Series against Phillies closer, Mitch Williams? That “touch ’em all” moment will forever be part of baseball history, particularly here in Canada. Blue Jays fans will remember it fondly. Phillies fans, not so much. Well, what about the players? Well, thanks to The National Post, we see that there is still turmoil over the walk off loss in 1993. They shared a video from Sports Roast Philly that is hilarious, but bordering on pathetic. The video features clearly intoxicated former team mates, Lenny Dykstra and Mitch Williams get into some pretty heated mud slinging that started with the so-called ‘real reason’ Dykstra was upset about that final pitch. Check it out:

*Warning: Contains foul language and embarrassing behaviour.

Apparently, Blue Jays fans are not the only ones living in misery for the last 21+ years.

Speaking of disagreements and verbal heated-ness…Edwin Encarncaion has recently come to the defense of his hitting coach, Brook Jacoby. According to John Lott, EE disputes the claim that Jacoby had his hands on umpire, Doug Eddings’ neck. Apparently, MLB has it from a reliable source that Jacoby took the verbal exchange further by pinning the umpire against the wall with his hands on his neck. Edwin denies that this happened from what he saw. He claims he was witness to the altercation. MLB got their info from the umpiring crew and from its own security official that is at every game to report on security issues in general. The 14 game suspension seems rather harsh, so they would have to have good evidence that Jacoby conducted himself as they suggest. 

Toronto Blue Jays

After a different heated affair with the Orioles, we heard that slugger, Jose Bautista needed a trip to the DL after taking his anger and frustration out on Delmon Young‘s attempt to make it to first. The attempt at throwing him out was ill advised and now, we hear that Bautista is still not ready to come back and make use of a much more controlled throwing arm. Lauren La Rose of The Canadian Press (via CTV News) tells us that he’ll continue to DH until his shoulder feels well enough for him to play RF again. There is no structural damage, apparently, so that is good. Time heals. And, so, we wait…

At the National Post, John Lott looks at a different type of heated situation. That is, he examines the many different lineup cards that John Gibbons has had to print off, which could very well caused his printer to overheat. Lott looks at the many incarnations of a lineup the Blue Jays have put together and how a chain of injuries and poor performances have led to the number of moves and trips back and forth between Buffalo. Make no mistake, there has been very little Gibby can do about the roster he’s dealing with at the moment. Bautista only able to DH limits what the manage can do with the likes of Encarnacion and Justin Smoak. Add to that the injury to Jose Reyes and the resulting fill in appearances by the likes of Ryan Goins and Jonathan Diaz, as frustrating as it is, it makes it an easier pill to swallow. In fact, one could look at the team as a whole (injuries + poor performances) and be pleasantly surprised this club has done as well as it has. If you’re still not convinced, maybe Richard Griffin at The Star’s account of just how the injuries have piled up and left the Blue Jays very thin will help.

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Next: What's Next for Miguel Castro?