Blue Jays Brew: Jays NestPodcast Ep. 63, tobacco talk

The Blue Jays Morning Brew returns for a lunchtime edition with episode 63 of the Jays Nest Podcast joined by stories on tobacco, a suspension, and more

It’s been a long time coming, but we can finally call it game day.

The Toronto Blue Jays, led by staff ace Marcus Stroman, face off against the Philadelphia Phillies today in their spring opener. Not much can be hoped for in these early games other than health, but as “real” baseball returns, here are some stories worth catching up on in the Blue Jays (late) Morning Brew.

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Jays Nest Podcast Ep. 63  –  After a one-week hiatus, and I’m sure a completely unrelated spike in listener satisfaction, I landed back in the co-host’s chair alongside Shaun Doyle of Jays From the Couch for Episode 63 of the Jays Nest Podcast. You can subscribe here for iPhone or Apple devices, or find us on Stitcher for Android.

It was a busy week in the Jays Nest as we caught up on Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Rafael Soriano and more. Shaun and I also give our thoughts on the upcoming battle(?) between Kevin Pillar and Michael Saunders for the leadoff spot then look at the fallen prospect star of Domonic Brown, who may just be the Blue Jays most interesting offseason addition.

Chewing tobacco on the way out?  –  Answer: Well, let’s hope so. A very interesting piece here from Maryam Shah of the Toronto Sun on Councillor Joe Mihevc, who is looking to develop ways to ban smokeless tobacco from Toronto athletic facilities. The Blue Jays appear ready to support that change should it come through as a bylaw in the city.

“While certainly I’m sure there will be push-back from players, this is very much in the spirit of what Major League Baseball has been advocating and we’re proud to support this,” senior VP of business operations Stephen Brooks told Shah. This is a classic ‘old school vs. new school’ issue, but it’s certainly time to modernize the policy.

Andrew Case suspended  –  Blue Jays minor league pitcher Andrew Case has been suspended 50 games for “failing to take” a drug test, which is an interesting designation. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet was first with the news, and Minor Leaguer broke it down in full here at Blue Bird Banter.

Case, the New Brunswick native, will now miss out on nearly an entire year of short-season ball. Between Lansing and Vancouver last season, the 23-year-old made 39 relief appearances and earned a 3.10 ERA.

Next: Blue Jays set to soar with the real Tulowitzki

Tulo is still hot  –  Troy Tulowitzki still isn’t over his departure from Colorado, and may never fully be. In this interview with Bob Nightengale of USA Today Sports, however, he turns that in to optimism about the year ahead in Toronto.

“I thought at one point in my career it would be neat to stay with one team,’’ he said. “But now that this has happened to me, and I get to play with all of these great ballplayers, I think there’s a reason why this happened.”

He also had a very interesting take on the Blue Jays spring training facilities. “I like this place a lot better than Arizona,. That place was like a country club. Guys got comfortable because it was so nice. This place has a better feel. It reminds you of spring training. The way it’s supposed to be.’’