Blue Jays Morning Brew: Podcast, baby giraffes, trade deadline

JAYS NEST PODCAST EPISODE 77
Shaun Doyle of Jays From the Couch and I are back with another episode of The Jays Nest Podcast. We talk all things Blue Jays, and I join the show from Jays Journal’s American Bureau. Subscribe to the podcast below and download the latest episode! (We release a new episode each Tuesday morning, and have some exciting plans in store for the months ahead)

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The addition of Jason Grilli came just after last week’s episode, so we sing our praises of the deal. We also look back on the first game of baseball played at the Rogers Centre in 1989, and some of the hilarity that surrounded it.

Pitching statistics are on the block this week. After stripping down win-loss records and ERA, Shaun and I look at which statistics you’re better off focusing on when looking at a stat page. As always, we’ve got plenty of your listener questions. Tweet Shaun @JaysFromCouch and myself at @KeeganMatheson with your questions for next week’s show.

THE BABY GIRAFFE

More from Toronto Blue Jays News

• Blue Jays: Snapping cold streaks at the right time
• Who Should the Blue Jays Extend First: Guerrero, Bichette or Manoah?
• Blue Jays now hold the top Wild Card spot, and yes that’s a good thing
• Blue Jays may have the tools to use a Bullpen Day
• Blue Jays win important first game after Bichette’s late inning heroics

Kristina Rutherford of Sportsnet brings us

this great interview with Blue Jays starter Aaron Sanchez

, covering everything from the water tower in his hometown bearing his name to his recent offseason body change, resulting in Sanchez losing a button on his pants during the Winter Tour.

In high school, Sanchez feared that he would be “short and stubby” until a growth spurt hit.

“Freshman year came,” he told Rutherford, “and I went from five-foot-seven to six-foot-one. I felt like it came all in my legs. I was like a baby giraffe trying to figure out how to walk.”

STRO WORRIES? NO WORRIES.
Over at BP Toronto, Matt Gwin looks at the recent struggles of starter Marcus Stroman and explains why he’ll be just fine. Without spoiling the article, Matt explains why some of Stroman’s poor luck is due to improve, and why he should have no problem improving himself beyond that simple regression of fortune.

BETTER ON LEFTIES
Staying at BP Toronto, Kyle Matte breaks down another young starter in Aaron Sanchez and why he’s been able to perform much better against left-handed hitters in 2016. It has a lot to do with Sanchez’s curveball and changeup use, which have produced some ugly swings that you’ll see in the article with some fantastic detail.

BARNEY BASHING
Has there been a more pleasant surprise on the Blue Jays roster this season than middle-infielder Darwin Barney? Originally projected to be a glove-first defensive option at the very bottom of the roster, Barney has been earning serious reps with injuries to Devon Travis and Troy Tulowitzki.

“I had always heard about him, but I hadn’t seen much of him,” manager John Gibbons told Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com. “Watching him in a little bit of time last year, I liked everything about him. My idea was the part-time role, fill in when you needed, that’s kind of the way he came in.” Barney is now hitting .337 with three home runs over 101 at-bats.

Next: Two Blue Jays crack Prospect Team of the Week

DEADLINE CHATTER  –  IT BEGINS
Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports writes that the Blue Jays are headed towards being buyers at the upcoming trade deadline. Said deadline is over a month and a half away, of course, so take that for what it’s worth, but continued success would lead to this logical conclusion.

One issue facing the Blue Jays that we’ll have more on leading up to the draft is the current structure of their prospect pool. There is legitimate talent present, but outside of the Blue Jays top eight or ten prospects, the club does lack many of the mid-range prospects that helped in last season’s deals.