2018 Toronto Blue Jays General Season Thread

[hockeyfan1]

                                                         Okay everybody, it's time for....
     
                                                                   ....PLAYBALL!


The Toronto Blue Jays start their Opening Day 4 game series against the New York Yankees tomorrow at the Rogers Centre.  (Thursday March 29th -Sunday April 1st).


Many baseball pundits have pegged the Blue Jays for a third place finish in the A.L. East, behind the Yankees & the Boston Red Sox.  Some even say that the Jays could challenge for a Wildcard spot (perhaps the second WC spot).  Perhaps.  But first, the season...


As any Bkue Jay fan can relate, last season (2017) can be termed once again as the season from hell, the cursed season, etc., and rightly so.  With the Blue Jays having lost so many man games to injury, more than any other team in the Major Leagues, it sure can be described that way.  Sanchez's blistered finger, Devon Travis out, Tulo on & off, the list was endless.
Enough.  That is over.


New season, no new injuries, new hopes (kind of), clean slate.
Pitcher Aaron Sanchez has had a blister-free Spring, while fellow starter Marcus Stroman has battled a slight shoulder inflammation though nothing that would hamper his start.  The lone Blue Jay on the shelf is Troy Tulowitzki, no date for his return yet.  Teammate Devon Travis finally appears healthy though Manager Gibbons will play him wisely.


There are a few additions to the Jays roster.   Almedmys Diaz (St.Louis Cardinals) and Yangervis Solarte both infielders giving Gibbons options on subsituting Travis for Diaz at 2b for example.  Other signees were outfielders Curtis Granderson (former Mets & Dodgers); & Kevin Grichuk;  Starting Pitcher Jaime Garcia (who has played for a slew of geams); Korean Relief Pitcher Seung-hwan Oh (St.Louis Cardinals); Infielder Gift Ngoepe.

Adios to Jose Bautista, franchise icon who became a UFA at the end of last season and un re-signed by Toronto.  Teoscar Hernandez, who was one of the Minor Leaguer September callups last year, will remain a fixture with the team.  Hernandez, who plays LF certainly can help the Jays in that regard with his blazingly fast long bomb throws and his speed from that position.

Jays top prospects Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will return to Double A.  Guerrero Jr., the son of Montréal Expos legend Vladimir Guerrero, impressed in Spring Training this year batting over.500, and was given an ovation by the Montręal fans,  when the Blue Jays played St.Louis in this week's final exhibition games at the Big O in Montréal.  The future beckons...

So, tomorrow's the start of a new campaign for the Blue Jays and the Jays faithful not just here in Toronto, but all across the country and Canadian baseball followers the world over, will be cheering and chanting...

                                                             ...LET'S GO BLUE JAYS!

[hockeyfan1]

                                                                  vs



Starting Pitchers:
Thursday March 29  1PM
Luis Severino RH (Yankees) vs J.A. Happ LH (Blue Jays)

Friday March 30!     7PM
Masahiro Tanaka RH (Yankees) vs Aaron Sanchez RH ( Blue Jays)

Saturday March 31   7PM
CC Sabathia LH (Yankees) vs Marco Estrada RH (Blue Jays)

Sunday April 1   1PM
Sonny Gray RH (Yankees) vs Marcus Stroman RH (Blue Jays)

All games on SN & SN590 radio.

[Andy]

The game today is actually at 3:37pm.

I hope Happ gets a nice stretch in; that is one formidable Yanks starting lineup  :o

[Joe]

[Nik]

Hey guys, is it important for your 3B to be able to throw the ball to first? Asking for a friend.

[Captain Canuck]

As much as I want this season to be different than last it isn't off to a great start on the injury front again.

Tulo starts on the 60 day DL (still don't understand why this wasn't dealt with during the long off-season he had) and now this dead arm thing with Donaldson. If he doesn't get that sorted out ASAP he will have to share DH duties with Morales.  :(

[hockeyfan1]

As much as I want this season to be different than last it isn't off to a great start on the injury front again.

Tulo starts on the 60 day DL (still don't understand why this wasn't dealt with during the long off-season he had) and now this dead arm thing with Donaldson. If he doesn't get that sorted out ASAP he will have to share DH duties with Morales.  :(

The fact that Donaldson is a pending UFA may mean either he re-signs with the Jays or they deal him.   He needs to be healthy for either of the above scenarios to have any meaning.   Of course, at some point the Jays season will have to come into focus too, for them to decide the future of JD and what best to do with him.

Most have predicted JD will be gone at the deadline.  An injury-free Josh Donaldson is better than no Josh Donaldson at all.

[Andy]

Well, if they really wanted dead-arm Josh to stay in the lineup they could have just DH'ed him and put Solarte at 3rd...which is actually an improvement statistically....Unless they didn't know his arm was "dead" in which case...really??

[Frank E]

Travis out yet?

[L K]

Travis out yet?

Not sure but I'm pretty sure Tulo is planning his next DL stint already.

[sickbeast]

If the Jays get swept out by the Yankees and get off to another poor start it's going to be catastrophic for the team.  Everyone will just watch the Leafs and Rogers Centre will be a ghost town.  I kind of hope this season goes sideways so they can get rid of Shapiro and Atkins.  AA should have been made team president.

[Nik]

I kind of hope this season goes sideways so they can get rid of Shapiro and Atkins.  AA should have been made team president.

Nobody is more responsible for the poor shape of the Jays currently than AA and his short term approach to contending.

[sickbeast]

I kind of hope this season goes sideways so they can get rid of Shapiro and Atkins.  AA should have been made team president.

Nobody is more responsible for the poor shape of the Jays currently than AA and his short term approach to contending.

I disagree.  The current management has been brutal.  AA was excellent.

[Bender]

I kind of hope this season goes sideways so they can get rid of Shapiro and Atkins.  AA should have been made team president.

Nobody is more responsible for the poor shape of the Jays currently than AA and his short term approach to contending.

I disagree.  The current management has been brutal.  AA was excellent.

You may as well have said Shanahan was at fault for the first couple of shitty years with the Leafs.

[bustaheims]

AA was great at the small move and at identifying ways to game the system, but, when it came to significant moves, really, the only one of the many he tried that actually worked out is Donaldson. The rest were varying degrees of failure.