Blue Jays Morning Brew: Liriano, Stroman, Barnes, and more

The Toronto Blue Jays are now almost a full week clear of their deadline whirlwind and settling in for the home stretch. For those of you who have been at the cottage, on vacation, or in any way enjoying life offline for a few days, here is some recommended Blue Jays reading you may have missed:

Francisco Liriano‘s first step:
In his first start since coming over from the Pittsburgh Pirates, the left-handed veteran allowed two earned runs over six solid innings. Catcher Russell Martin, who worked with Liriano in Pittsburgh, saw the same pitcher on the mound.

“He’s the same guy. The stuff is exactly the same,” he told Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling. “It’s electric. Good arm speed on the changeup, good arm speed on the slider. It kind of masks what the hitters are seeing. The slider’s spinning so tight that you don’t really see it until it’s too late.”

Meet and Greet:
For The Star, Brendan Kennedy breaks down the four newest MLB-level additions in Melvin Upton Jr., Joaquin Benoit, Scott Feldman, and Liriano.

On Feldman:  “Feldman, like Jays’ centre-fielder Kevin Pillar, is one of just nine Jewish players active in Major League Baseball. He is also one of just five active players born in Hawaii.”

Vernon on the six-man rotation
For The Score, former Blue Jays’ star Vernon Wells says the club is making the right move in prioritizing winning wit their recent decision to move to a six-man starting rotation. He also believes it will help Marcus Stroman, which hasn’t received enough discussion.

Lessons from Price?
Speaking of Stroman, Eno Sarris had a very interesting piece for FanGraphs on how the young right-hander has altered his game to more resemble David Price. There are some side-by-side comparisons that really illustrate this, as well. A highly-recommended read.

Welcome to the Bigs
For Blue Jays Nation, John Lott recently published a must-read piece on recent call-up Danny Barnes, who has dominated the minor league levels since being selected in the 35th round out of Princeton. There’s a brain to go along with his right arm, too, as Barnes explained his baseball-themed thesis to Lott:

“My thesis was that the team that developed that player has better information about him than other teams observing from the outside. Assuming that, those teams should be able to make better decisions about signing people. They should see those players that sign back be more productive and have contracts that are more reflective of their production. I think the (research) results back that up.”

Next: On the Blue Jays and their undeniably won trade

Podcast 
The Jays Nest Podcast is taking a rare week off as Shaun Doyle of Jays From the Couch and I skip a start to rest our high-velocity, high-upside arms (hold your cries of dismay). If you haven’t caught the most recent episode, which is still worth a listen with plenty of trade deadline talk, you can listen to it below.

The Jays’ Nest Podcast- Talking Toronto Blue Jays – Jays Nest 85- Blue Jays Post Trade Deadline

We’re also joined by our good friend and Pittsburgh Pirates insider Jason Rollison of Pirates Breakdown, who gives his take on the Liriano deal and offers up some great perspective on Reese McGuire and Harold Ramirez, the two prospects who came in the package.

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