Blue Jays Morning Brew: 11 games remaining!

It’s hard to believe that we’ve made it to this point with our sanity still relatively intact, but the Toronto Blue Jays have just 11 games remaining on their 2015 regular season schedule. Ahead in the Blue Jays Morning Brew, we get you set for the series finale against the New York Yankees with some early morning reading.

Sanchez demoted? Kind of  –  News out of Toronto prior to Wednesday’s game indicated that the Blue Jays will no longer be using Aaron Sanchez as their “go-to guy” in the 8th inning. This isn’t to say he’s lost the job entirely, but Mark Lowe and especially Brett Cecil could see some opportunities going forward. This is something I examined in a piece yesterday, and the end result may be a rotating door of matchup games. If done correctly, that’s just fine. 


Breaking down Price’s start  –  Great stuff here from Jeff Sullivan of FanGraphs, where he digs in to the most recent start by David Price against the Yankees. Price hasn’t just enjoyed success since coming to the Blue Jays, he’s also made some substantial changes to the way he pitches. Especially against right-handers, you’ll notice that his cutter usage is skyrocketing. It’s working, too.

Hawkins, the bullpen leader  –  Another deep, unique piece here from Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling on veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins and his relationship with the Blue Jays bullpen. Upon landing in Toronto and learning that the young bullpen did not regularly do dinner together, Hawkins took it upon himself to start the tradition anew with the kaleidoscope of personalities. Make this entire piece your must-read of the morning, but I particularly loved Arden’s description of Liam Hendriks‘ role in the bullpen: “the wise-cracking Aussie who never shuts up.”

Rosenthal on Donaldson  –  It’s a great morning to get caught up on fascinating Blue Jays profile pieces, so don’t miss this one on Josh Donaldson from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Rosenthal explores the personality that initially rubs some teammates the wrong way, but has helped Donaldson develop into the ultimate teammate. It seems that Donaldson has always had the superstar attitude, but now that he’s playing like one, its the perfect cocktail.

MVDioner  –  I was glad to see GM Alex Anthopoulos make a point of highlighting Dioner Navarro recently in this article from Steve Buffery of the Toronto Sun. After losing a job this past offseason without doing much wrong, Navarro has been the ultimate professional after the Jays failed to find a trading partner for him prior to the season.

“I come from a background of nothing and I got everything I wished for in my life,” Navarro told Buffery. “I have a beautiful family, I got three beautiful kids, I got a dog, I got a bird. I got all the stuff I wanted when I was growing up and I’ve been blessed — and it doesn’t get any better than that.” He’s impossible not to root for, isn’t he?

Next: Check out the Opening Day roster, it may not look familiar!

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