Tim Penprase Interview Transcript

Ewan and Chris talked with Phil Bickfor's high school coach for the podcast this week, and Ewan was ever so kind to make transcript it for us to read. You can listen to the show here.

Ewan – And welcome back to the bluejays plus podcast.  Joining us now is the coach of Oak Christian High School in California, Tim Penprase.  How’s it going Tim?

Tim – Doing well guys, thanks for having me.

Ewan – While most bluejays fans wont be familiar or interested in California high school baseball, Tim is the coach of first round pick Phil Bickford, so very interesting to Blue Jays fans.  Why don’t you start off by letting us know background information, how is Phil as a kid?

Tim – You know, he’s a great kid.  He comes from a great family.  He’s got a good background.  He’s one of the favourite guys in clubhouse, great teammate, but when he walks out on the field he’s a bulldog.  He’s a team first guy, loves playing baseball, loves going to the beach, hanging with his friends, and he’s just a happy go lucky good kid.

Ewan – What we want to hear.  Quality Character.

Chris – First thing I noticed about him, in the short video I watched was that he seemed a bit rushed.  I had no idea what inning it was, cause these are 3 minute videos.  So I was just wondering if there were any issues with his stamina.

Tim – No, never any issues with his stamina.  He was usually actually stronger in the late innings.  In those videos he probably looked a little rushed, cause there are times he didn’t really get to his balance point.  He likes to work quick, be quick to the plate, and sometimes he would rush his balance point, and he would get away with it sometimes.  That’s probably what you were seeing.  Never any problems with stamina, he always threw a lot of pitches in his outings.  I know in the championship game for us for us this year, he was throwing 96 in the 7^th inning.  Never any problems there.

Ewan – You mention the championship game.  How was your season with him this year?

Tim – Unbelievable.  Absolutely unbelieveable.  Every start he had hegot stronger, and the championship game was definitely his best outing of the year.  Like I said he’s a bulldog.  He loves those high pressure games, loves being in high pressure situations.  In that championship game, he was sitting 96, and struck out 18 of the 21 outs.  I think he threw 11 balls in the entire game, so he was pretty impressive this year.

Ewan – That’s so unfair.  Guys like this against high school kids.  When you say championship game, what level are you guys at in California?

Tim – We are CIF Southern section division 4.

Ewan – One of the major criticisms of him by the scouting community was that his breaking ball lacked some sharpness, and said that needed development.  What has been the progress on that throughout his career?

Tim – It gets better.  He drops his arm a lot on that breaking pitch.  When he keeps his arm up, he’s got a lot more movement, a lot better break on it.  I think that’s one thing they’re going to find some consistency with.  When he finds that I think it’ll be a lot better.  He has a changeup, but he never really throws it.  When you’re sitting that fast, especially in high school doesn’t make a lot of sense to slow the ball down to a lot of hitters.  If you’re slowing it down, you stick with the slider and let it move a bit.  I think if he makes some adjustments, he finds that consistency and keeps that arm up on the offspeed I think it’ll be better.  He locates it well now, so I think it’ll improve. 

Chris – We were also just wondering if he’s suffered some adversity on or off the field, and how did he handle himself?

Tim – Sure, he’s suffered adversity both places.  Off the field, on the field.  He’s been with us for four years on varsity, so he’s definitely had some failures earlier in his career with us.  And he deals with it well.  He fails and he learns from it, and is determined not to make that mistake again.  And I think that’s why he’s developed so well in his high school career.  He has really good perspective for his age, so any adversity he’ll learn from it, and power through it, and he’ll be better off for it. 

Ewan – I’m just curious about the development curve of someone this talented.  What is his fastball touching and sitting?

Tim – He’ll sit, depending on the day, 93 and 95.  He’s touched 97.

Ewan – When did that occur?  I’m curious was that the case when he was a junior, or is this a recent thing?

Tim – You know, he was sitting probably 91 at the end of last year, and he was throwing all the time.  He really took some time, and took like 3 months off to let his arm rest, and focused on strengthening his core, and strengthening his legs because he hadn’t really focused on doing that kind of work.  So he took some time strengthened those areas, and let his arm rest for a couple months.  When he came back he started throwing harder, kept doing his long toss routine, and kept strengthening everything.  The velocity kept increasing.

Ewan – He is a long tosser?  We’ve seen a lot of that with the Trevor Bauers and the like coming up.

Tim – Yeah he is.  He loves his long toss routine, and it seems to have helped him.

Ewan – In a similar vein, Phil rose very quickly from being perceived as being a fringe first rounder a couple months before the draft to being the #10 overall pick he eventually was.  What changed late in the season that would’ve impacted a scout’s opinion like that?

Tim – I cant speak directly for it, but I think the velocity definitely had a big part to do with it.  When you’re throwing that hard, from that arm slot, and when you’re locating that well with it.  I think he only had 11 walks on the year as opposed to 140 something strikeouts.  When you’re throwing that hard, and locating that well, I think that’s what brought him up.

Chris – Given his draft position, we assume that Phil’s the most talented player you’ve ever coached, but have you ever had anyone else you’ve coached make it to the show?

Tim – Nobody in the show, but I have Trevor Gretzky.  Probably recognize the name.  He got drafted by the Cubs a two years ago.  And we’ve got probably 9 or 10 guys after this season who’ll be into division 1 ball.  So we’ve got a handful of guys who can play.

Chris – We know the Gretzky name pretty well up here in Canada.

Tim – Absolutely.  Definitely recognizable name.  We had the pleasure of having Trevor around.  Playing with the Cubs organization now, and they’re a great family as well. 

Chris – Did you notice your guys acting any different, since I’d imagine there’s a lot of hype around with Gretzky’s kid around?

Tim – There is hype, but you know in that situation he’s just another teammate, and they’re parents.  So, even though there’s a lot of hype, there’s a lot more hype with opposing teams.  But it’s a normal situation.  Trevor’s a great kid, and Wayne’s a great guy, and you try to keep it at that.

Chris – I imagine there’s a lot of hype in high school ball in America, you have to coach up your guys how to deal with scouts at the game.

Tim – Absolutely, I think that’s part of learning how to growing up, learning to deal with some of that stuff.  You definitely try to guide them along a little bit, there’s still teenage boys, but I think that’s part of our job.

Ewan – As blue jays fans we’ve had to deal with a lot of injury issues with our pitchers in the past few years.  Has Phil had any problems like that coming up?

Tim – He’s never had any issues like that.  He’s always taking good care of himself.  He’s got a really loose arm, he’s really the typical power pitcher that puts a lot of strain on his arm.  He’s really smooth through his mechanics, and he can throw a lot of pitches, and come out and throw long toss the next day and not be effected.  He uses his body well, and he’s never been injured.

Ewan – Finally, as Jays fans we also had to deal with our high school pick two years ago Tyler Beede not signing, so we’re had some concerns taking another high school pitcher.  I don’t know how much you can speak to this, but if you had to say, what do you think the odds on him signing?

Tim – I cant speak directly to it, but I think when you’re in that situation as a 17 year old kid, I think its hard to definitely not to look at the opportunities in front of you, especially being with a good organization.  I think he’s definitely open if the right offer is there I think he’s definitely open to signing.  He’s gonna see what’s come his way, and make a decision.  I don’t think he’s stuck one way or the other, I think he’s gonna see what’s put in front of him and make a decision.

Ewan – Where is he committed college wise?

Tim – Cal State – Fullerton.

Ewan – I think that’s all we have for you, Tim.  Thanks for being so generous with your time.

Tim – I appreciate it.

The Rejuvenation of Brett Cecil

By: Alex Hume

Even with the improvements to the Blue Jays lineup and rotation, the bullpen remained a primary area of concern for the Blue Jays heading into the season in which they were attempting to break their 19-year playoff drought.  However, despite the improvements, the lineup and rotation have been wracked with injuries and inconsistency, while the bullpen has become a fixture.  Early in the year Casey Janssen was the model of dominance and was one of the top three relievers in baseball.  However, over the last six weeks, while Janssen has regressed from superhuman to merely very good, the bespectacled lefty named Brett Cecil has become the stalwart.

After unintentionally walking the first batter he faced on May 31 against the Padres, Brett reeled off a steak of 25 straight batters retired that was broken up by another intentional walk, this time to Michael Cuddyer of the Colorado Rockies, and has since retired all five men he has faced since that point.  Cecil has not allowed a hit to any of the last 38 batters he has faced (a franchise record) and the ten plate appearances before that were also hitless.  In Cecil’s last 50 batters faced, he has given up no runs, two hits and three walks (two intentional).

Brett has discovered success out of the bullpen with increased velocity and a simplification of his repertoire.  Cecil has seen an uptick in velocity from 89.50 mph the last two years (2011-2012) to 93.10 mph this year.  Part of the increase can be attributed to a full-time move to the bullpen, but also a weighted ball program that Steve Delabar brought with him to the Blue Jays when he came over from Seattle at the 2012 trading deadline.  The program results in shoulder strengthening and velocity increase; and the Blue Jays see so much potential in it that they have signed Jamie Evans,  the originator, to an exclusive consulting contract as they try to implement it throughout the organization.  The increased velocity and shift in role has allowed Cecil to significantly modify his repertoire.  Cecil has historically thrown his four-seam fastball about 35 percent of the time, followed by his changeup, sinker and slider all between 14 and 19 percent.  He has rounded out his repertoire with a curve (9.90%) and a cutter (7.02%).  In 2013, without the need to be able to face hitters multiple times in a game, he has essentially pared his repertoire to four pitches, abandoning the slider entirely and throwing his second-most abundant pitch (sinker – 16.14%) 2.69 times as frequently as he throws his changeup (5.98%).  He has also abandoned the changeup to left-handed hitters only throwing it twice all year.  The curveball, which he used sparingly, has now become his primary pitch.  After generating 23.79% whiff/swing coming into the year (590 pitches), Cecil has generated 54.55% whiff/swing on the pitch this year.  The increased whiff rates have led to a sharp increase in strikeout rate to 30.7%, compared with 17.4% in his career.

Perhaps the biggest change in Cecil isn’t necessarily the whiff rates, but most importantly his ability to keep the ball on the ground.  After spending his career around 40% in terms of groundball rate, the number has jumped to 50.6% this year on the backs of three of his pitches, the aforementioned curve, his cutter (which he is working in over three times as frequently as in years past) and the sinker which are generating groundball rates of 57, 62 and 39% respectively.   Not only is Cecil keeping the ball on the ground, but the balls in the air are being turned into easy outs.  Cecil has a career-low line drive rate this year at 18.1% and career low flyball rate at 31.3%.  Only 3.6% of Cecil’s flyballs have left the yard (Vernon Wells got him on April 19...HA!), a rate that can’t be expected to continue and has helped to depress his 1.46 ERA and 1.94 FIP, but even normalizing to a his career average home run rate, it would produce an xFIP (using personal average instead of league average) of 2.85, which would rank 18^th in the league (instead of 10^th) and still, best on the Blue Jays staff.

The true talent level of Brett Cecil likely lies somewhat below the level to which he has performed so far this season, but tanks to proper role identification and the help of a training program, Cecil is no longer a lost cause, but a low-cost valuable asset, and one that Alex Anthopoulos and the Blue Jays should be proud to have.

Statistics from Fangraphs and Brooks Baseball

Alex is a fourth-year university student studying science.  He blogs about the Blue Jays at Hume's Jays Bullpen and blogged about fantasy baseball for a time at Bullpen Banter.  He can be reached on Twitter @AHume92.

It's Time for a Catching Change

J.P. Arencibia is in the midst of his worse season in the big leagues. He is striking out in over 32% of his  plate appearances, and only walking in 2.6% of his PA's. The catcher with the marketable smile has become a free swinging monster who's great power(for a catcher) can't even make up for his lack of any other skills. His stats won't do for a team trying to get back into the playoff race, and I believe it's time to make a change at the catcher position. It's time the Blue Jays option J.P Arencibia down to AAA, and name Josh Thole the starting catcher. Here are my reasons:

He isn't Even Good For A Catcher
A classic argument that is used by JPA apologists is that for a catcher, JP's numbers aren't that bad. The problem with that statement is that it's false. Andrew Stoeten touched on this subject at drunkjaysfans.com yesterday, so I don't want to go so in depth about it. Among the 13 qualified catchers in baseball, JPA is 12th in WAR, 12th in wRC+, 12th in wOBA, 1st in K%, and last in BB%. The only thing JP does well in is that he is powerful;His .210 ISO is best among those 13 qualified catchers. So, what exactly does JP have to offer other than power? Nothing. He needs to go.

Josh Thole is Better
It's hard for people to admit, but Josh Thole is better than J.P. Yes, both Thole and Arencibia's defense is horrible, but there is definitely a gap in their offensive production. If you discount 2012 for Thole, who suffered from lingering concussion problems all year, it becomes obvious how much better than JP he is. From 2009-2011, Thole put up a .350 OBP, and although I don't have the exact number for what his wRC+ was in that span, it was around 96 or 97. That is below league average, although not for a catcher. JP's wRC+ in 2011-2012 was somewhere around 90 or 91, but there is no reason to believe he can produce at that level again. His ISO is still around the same as it has been every year in his career, but his K% and BB% are at career highs(or low I guess for BB%). That has caused a major decrease in his already horrid wOBA, which explains why he has a 75 wRC+  this season. JP's problems have been caused by his complete lack of plate discipline. The problem is that JP continues to do nothing about it, and actually treats it like a joke, tweeting about the walk he takes once every couple of weeks. If you are going to argue that Thole isn't an upgrade, you are wrong. In a lineup desperate for OBP, Thole needs to be playing, even if he is in the 8 or 9 spot in the lineup, because he could get on base at a mark that JP will never be able to achieve in his career.

Josh Thole Just Needs to be a Stop-Gap
When the Blue Jays traded away 2 of their top 3 catching prospects in this past year(Carlos Perez to Houston and Travis d'Arnaud to New York), fans thought that we will be stuck with JP forever. We won't be. Josh Thole only needs to start and be better than JP is for a year or so. The reason? A.J. Jimenez.

Jimenez was rated the Jays #8 prospect by our staff this past offseason, and he is now back playing full

Jimenez is the last of the 4 big
catching prospects left in the system.

time in New Hampshire after some elbow problems and surgery that he has had for a year. Jimenez' greatest skill is his defense, which scouts and coaches alike are saying is unbelievable. Defense from a catcher is nice, but Jimenez is no slouch on offense as well. His bat has been getting better every year, and Steamer Projections(published on FanGraphs) already has him able to post a 78 wRC+ in the majors. That isn't good, but it is better than JP. A.J also doesn't strike out a ton like JP does, and for the past few seasons, his K% has been declining, now sitting in the low teens. He doesn't take a lot of walks, but as long as he isn't striking out 30% of the time, I'm fine with that. A.J is already on the 40-man, and although he probably won't be ready to be a major league catcher in April 2014, June is realistic. He should finish this year in AA, get a month of big league action this September, and will likely get a couple of months of polishing down in Buffalo next year.

After reading my arguments, I hope you are able to see that JP needs to be sent down, or at least benched for a while, so he understand that his complete lack of plate discipline will not be tolerated. He has become lazy and just swings at everything, and needs to realize that there are options in the Jays organization that are better than he is, and one is just sitting on the bench. Hopefully that will make him understand that he needs to work on his approach.

A.J. Jimenez is a year away from being ready, but the decision is quite simple. A.J's offense and defense make him a 2 WAR player already in the big leagues, and I much rather have a 2 WAR player for $500K like AJJ will be making next year, than a 0(or possibly negative) WAR player making $1MM+ in 2014. JP has ran out of time to prove himself, and his future in Toronto shouldn't be long.

I'm sure there are plenty of you reading this who disagree with me, so please comment, and we'll discuss this even more.

You can follow me on twitter, @gideonturk. To connect with the site, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook.

BlueJaysPlus Podcast Episode 12: Post Draft Things, Mechanics, BioGenesis

I sat this week out, so Ewan and Chris did the show. They interviewed Jason Wojciechowski to talk about the BioGenesis steroid scandal, specifically Melky Cabrera. Chris also weighs in with some fantastic mechanics talk about the draft, amongst other things. Oh,and there were lots of roster moves this week...in case you forgot that that happens every week with this ball club. Enjoy!






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Live MLB Draft Blog!

The 2013 MLB Rule 4 draft is set to get underway in about 40 minutes, and we'll be live blogging the whole thing(OK, not the whole thing, mainly the Jays parts) for you tonight! This is our first foray into live blogging, so bear with us. We'll analyze the picks leading up to the Jays and how it effects the Blue Jays pick at #10, and then, after the Jays pick, we'll talk about that for a while, I guess.

We have a great team live blogging tonight, as Ewan, Marshall, Isaac, and myself(Gideon) will be manning this post. I'll try to embed any important tweets as well with updates on the draft.

Thanks for joining us, and keep on coming back and refreshing as new content will be coming rapidly(or at least I hope). We welcome your comments on this post as a great way to interact with us!

6:32 PM-Gideon
With half an hour left, I figured I'd get this started. Right now, it seems as if the Astros will be taking either Kohl Stewart or Colin Moran with the #1 pick. This info comes from a tweet by David Rawnsley of PerfectGameUSA(affiliated with BaseballProspectus).

Interesting, well placed source just told me that Astros are down to Stewart or Moran.Kohl would certainly be a surprise.
— David Rawnsley (@DavidRawnsleyPG) June 6, 2013

The general consensus was that the Astros would take either RHP Mark Appel or RHP Jonathan Gray with that pick, but now it seems as if they might use last year's strategy again, when they chose to skip Appel for Carlos Correa, and then be able to sign guys for over slot later. If they were to do that this year, they'd probably be looking at Sean Manea with their pick at #40.

Whoever the Astros take, it won't effect the Jays much. What will effect the Jays is what happens with pick 8-9, owned by the Royals and the Pirates respectively. This should be fun, so buckle up and enjoy the ride!

6:37-Gideon
Some non draft news. I just saw a tweet from @ShiDavidi of Sportsnet saying the Jays will purchase Andy Laroche's contract tomorrow to replace the sent down Anthony Gose. I think that was pretty expected, so not so newsworthy.

6:44-Gideon
Just a reminder, if you haven't already checked them out, Marshall and Ewan put up some great draft pieces these past couple of days. Marshall's piece can be found by clicking here, and Ewan's by click here. I'm sure they want your feedback, so leave a comment or two.

6:53-Gideon
We're less than 10 minutes away now, and I thought I'd write who I'd like the Jays to select.

LHP Trey Ball has good mechanics and a very ceiling of a #2 starter. For more about him, read the articles I linked to above. The good mechanics are key for me, as they are something other pitchers in this draft with similar ceilings don't have, and with the Jays recent injury history, I think mechanics should be a focus when acquiring players.

7:00-Gideon
So we're already to go. Don't expect the first pick to be announced for 10-15 minutes. This is going to be a long night. So, the king of twitter, Fernando Tatis, keeps us entertained with some comedy!

mlb draft tonight...but ryan braun and alex rodriguez already selected in the supplemental round yesterday
— Fernando Tatís (@FernandoTatis17) June 6, 2013

7:01-Gideon
The others will be joining in soon. But, it seems as if we know who the 1st pick will be. Keith Law informs us in the following tweet!

Hearing it's Appel to Houston.
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) June 6, 2013

7:10-Gideon
So with Appel likely going to the Astros, I assume it will be Gray to the Cubs and then Bryant to the Rockies. Stewart probably goes to the Twins, and from there, things could change. Should be exciting. Stick with us!

7:12-Gideon
It's Appel.
The Houston Astros select RHP Mark Appel out of Stanford. Cubs on the clock. Seems as it will be Gray. We shall see.

7:15-Gideon
Jim Bowden is hearing Cubs will go Gray. The tweet:

Astros take Mark Appel...Cubs on the clock and I'm hearing they're taking Jonathan Gray with the 2nd overall pick
— JIM BOWDEN (@JimBowdenESPNxm) June 6, 2013

7:17-Gideon
Kris Byrant to the Cubs according to John Manuel of BA.Oh, and now confirmed by Bud Selig.
Interesting. He's powerful. He went to the University of San Diego and plays third base. Will be interesting to see if the Rockies go with Gray or take a bat.

7:20-Ewan

The Astros grab the pitcher they passed on last year, in Stanford right hander Mark Appel.  This shows that money wasn't a concern, because you'd suspect that Jonathan Gray would've signed for slightly less money.

The real lesson in this pick is Scott Boras always wins.  Gambled by letting Appel go back into the draft, and he's the big winner.

Harold Reynolds thinks that Appel could be in Houston by July.  His first comment of the night that is totally out to lunch.  Not saying that Appel doesn't have the MLB ready talent, right now, but there is zero chance a hopeless team burns through service time in order to add a win to a 65 win team. 

7:21-Isaac
The Astros did the right thing by picking Mark Appel #1 overall. There was a ton of speculation about various players, many people had them taking Gray, Moran, or Stewart. But then again, there is speculation every single year. I think the Astros knew Appel was the guy from the beginning, being the most polished, most advanced, player on the board. Another step forward for the Astros rebuild. They are doing it right.

7:24-Gideon
Rockies select RHP Jonathan Gray. I'm surprised. A bit. Doesn't really effect the Jays. Top 3 off the board after 3 picks. Makes sense.

7:25-Ewan

The Cubs surprise people to a certain degree, by passing on Jonathan Gray, to take what the rarest thing in the game these days is, which is right handed power.  3rd baseman Kris Bryant has as much power as any pick in recent memory. 

With seemingly 3rd base long term plugged by Javier Baez, and 1st base with Anthony Rizzo, I'd expect that Bryant could be ticketed for right field. 

Harold Reynolds tells us that he's seen Bryant pick it at 3rd, and he can stay there.  I question how many times he's been out to San Diego to scout Bryant's D.

7:27-Gideon
So the Twins, as expected, will pick Stewart. The tweet:

As expected, the #Twins are going to take HS RHP Kohl Stewart out of Houston area. #mlbdraft
— John Manuel (@johnmanuelba) June 6, 2013

7:28-Ewan

With Bryant off the board, the Rockies don't get cute and force a hitter in this slot.  They take Jonathan Gray, and wind up with who I thought was the best talent in the draft. 

I always thought the Rockies should've been focused on pitching to begin with, so this works just as well. 

Lack of Harold Reynolds lunacy after this pick, but I'd expect its only because they cut to commercial.

Despite the 3 picks not being in order, the top 3 are the 3 players we expected.

7:30-Gideon
Jeff Passan of Yahoo say Indians are in on Frazier. We'll see if they pick him

Hearing the Indians are on Clint Frazier, the powerful outfielder from Georgia, at No. 5.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 6, 2013

7:33-Ewan

The first no brainer of the night.  The Twins have one of the most stacked farm systems in the entire league, however it is still lacking pitching.  The ability to pair a stud arm like Kohl Stewart, along side their stud position players like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano.  Together those are the trio who could lead the twinkies back to prominence. 

Mark Appel calls in, and credits God for showing him the path to go.  Pretty lofty nickname he's given to Scott Boras.

7:34-Gideon
Indians go ginger and select Frazier. #6 will likely be Shipley, per Passan.

Braden Shipley, a right-hander from Nevada, likely will go No. 6 to the Marlins. Moran dropping is only thing that might change that.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 6, 2013

Oh, and Frazier sings Taylor Swift, so the Jays missed big time.

7:37-Marshall
First pick of the draft(Frazier) that could have a trickle down effect, as mentioned by Ewan in his article. We'll see how it effects the Jays.

7:40-Ewan

First real shock of the night occurs at #5 as the Indians take Clint Frazier over Colin Moran, and not only blow up draft boards, but also crush my heart.  I was still holding out hope that Frazier's unconventional body and player type would fall to the Jays at 10. 

Now the question becomes where does Colin Moran fall.  He doesn't strike me as a Red Sox type pick.  Big wildcard introduced.

Harold Reynolds comps Frazier to Mike Trout, which seems really lazy.  I also learned that Frazier has grown 2 inches in the past couple weeks, and is now 6'1.

7:42-Gideon
Marlins select Moran. WOW. What a Moranic pick. Sorry, just wanted to make that pun. I lime it. Makes the picture cloudy now for the Jays. Let's what happens!

7:48-Ewan

Since Colin Moran fell into their laps, they pass on Braden Shipley to take the polished MLB ready third baseman.

I'm hoping that this means that Shipley falls into the Royals lap, since I expect they are looking for a college pitcher.  This could lead to Trey Ball falling to the Jays.  Ball is at the top of my board right now.

Luhnow in his interview basically tells Reynolds he's a moron for thinking Appel will get there by July.

Also, I appreciate whoever the host is, for throwing a jab at the Royals (and ex-hitting coach Jack Maloof) by saying they are looking to "hit a home run"

7:50-Gideon
Red Sox take Ball. I shall go cry. Meadows now top of my list.

7:53-Marshall
Hoping Shipley falls to the Jays now, him and Stanek intrigue. Along with Meadows, of course.

7:54-Ewan

Red Sox snag Trey Ball, who another of the guys I really wanted.  I'll be very disappointed if the Royals snag Meadows next, which there has been some buzz on them taking.  That would be my nightmare scenario, which could lead to someone like a JP Crawford going to the Jays.

Let's hope the Royals are looking for pitching and take one of Bickford, Meadows, or Stanek.

7:55-Gideon
Royals take Hunter Dozier. Very big surprise. Pirates now going to choose between Meadows and McGuire. Jays likely to get the one who they don't take.

8:01-Gideon
Pirates select Meadows, so now McGuire and Shipley are available. Let's hope for Shipley. 

8:01-Ewan

I just pity Royals fans.  Hunter Dozier wasn't ranked in the top 30 by anyone. 

Jesus Christ.  Reynolds loves the pick.  Compares him to Troy Tulowitzki, and says he's a lock to stay at short.  Jonathan Mayo immediately says Reynolds doesn't know anything, and he's not a shortstop.

This pick is atrocious, and is Dayton Moore's final insult to Royals fans on his way out the door. 

I don't care how little money Dozier takes, even of it gets them Bickford or Manaea.

Now that Harold Reynolds realizes its a crappy pick he's questioning it.

8:05-Gideon
I don't like this pick. I'll explain soon. No more live blogging picks. We'll be giving our thoughts on this pick, and then be back at it when the Jays draft in the 2nd round.

I'll be back with the live blog when the second round comes on. I'm writing a separate post on Bickford.

11:00-Gideon
Aaaaaaaaand I'm back! The Jays have their 2nd round pick at #47, which should be in a few minutes. Let's see what happens.

11:05-Gideon
No idea who Clinton Hollon is. 

#BlueJays take RHP Clinton Hollon. Big arm, effort to delivery. Good SL. #mlbdraft
— Nathan Rode (@NathanRode) June 7, 2013

Well that sounds good, I think. I'll look for scouting reports and post them on here. Stay tuned. 

11:15-Gideon
So Hollon throws with a 3/4 arm slot, and his mechanics are messy and, as Rode says above, he has an effort delivery. Once again, the Jays go to a guy with a high risk of injury. But, I won't rant again, I'll focus on the good. He was going to be a mid 1st round pick this draft before getting hurt, so their is some potential here. He sits 91-94 and touches 97 according to the scouting report I found, and apparently has good control. He also throws a high 70's curve and his change up features good arm speed. The money line from this scouting report though is the following. "Potential for 4 above average offerings". Very nice. If he stays healthy, this could be a nice little snag for AA and the crew.

Jays Select Phil Bickford: Mechanics Continue to Mean Nothing

You'd think after years of having seasons thrown away because of pitcher injuries the Jays Front Office would get a clue and stop acquiring pitchers with bad mechanics that lead to injuries. But, that clearly isn't the case as with the 10th overall pick in tonight's draft, the Blue Jays picked high school RHP Phil Bickford from California.  I'm getting tired of the Jays being stupid.

Bickford has the 2nd best high school in the draft according to BA, reaching 97 MPH and sitting between 92 and 94 MPH. This might be good, but a flamethrower with bad mechanics leads to injuries 99.9% of the time.

He also lacks a good breaking pitch. His slider can be a wipeout pitch some times, but most of the time it will just hang up there and get hit. Phil also throws a change up which is nothing to write home about, so yeah, very exciting player!

The best worst part about Bickford though has to be his mechanics. He throws with a 3/4 arm slot as shown in this video below, and is just an injury waiting to happen. His high ceiling is very nice, but it's hard to reach a ceiling without an arm. Given the odds that his arm falls off(not literally obviously), his ceiling seems untouchable.

But wait, there's more. He's also a tough sign. So, if he doesn't sign, the Jays get the 11th pick next year, in what is considered as an even weaker draft than this one!!! Hurray!!! This was such a smart move.

The Blue Jays have one starter in the big leagues with good mechanics(Buehrle), and he is vastly overpaid, and might be leaving town soon. In the minors, their best prospects, Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna, both have horrid mechanics. Now throw in Bickford, and the Jays have really created a recipe for success faille here. There is an old saying that goes "Pitchers win Championships". It means healthy pitchers, not the Josh Johnson and Phil Bickford's of the world!

Want to know why you should hate this pick? Law had him at 55 on his rankings.

How does one spin this is a good pick? Fail to mention the bad, obviously. Take it away, Brian Parker.

I'll leave with this. The Jays need a philosophy change. If it requires a new GM, then that's the cost that will need to be paid. But, AA can't keep on getting these guys that are destined to be hurt, and then blame everything on bad luck. It might be time to #FireAA(not mid-season, off-season).

You can follow me on twitter, @gideonturk. To connect with the site, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook.

What To Expect From The Blue Jays Heading Into Draft Day

By: Marshall Henson

The MLB Rule 4 Draft is this Thursday, and in the first round, the Blue Jays will be picking 10th overall. This is their highest pick since JPR passed up on Troy Tulowitzki to select the great Ricky Romero. I will be previewing the top prospects in this draft that the Jays have either been linked to, or look to be drafted around the are where the Jays are picking.

I feel it’s safe to assume that certain players are bound to go ahead of the Blue Jays' tenth pick in this year’s rule four amateur draft, but after those five players anything could happen. The players I believe will be picked of the Jays are: Jonathan Grey, Mark Appel, Kris Bryant, Kohl Stewart, and Colin Moran.

Here are the players, after those five, that could end up being selected by the Jays. They’re in order of who I would want the Jays to take once their pick arrives. The list is derived from videos I’ve watched, along with scouting reports I’ve read. I don’t own a pitcher or batter bias, rather, I prefer the best player available, with the most projectability and the least risk, in my opinion. I am not a professional scout, I have just watched some video and read a lot about each of these players. Keep in mind that when the Jays have gone with position players in the top few rounds under the AA regime, they seem to go with toolsy players who don't necessarily need to stick in the outfield, so Frazier and Meadows are likely being targeted at this point. 

1-CLINT FRAZIER – OF – 6’1 – 190 LBS -- 18 YEARS OLD
Frazier’s unique combination of speed and power put him near the top of most draft broads, and if the Jays are lucky enough to have him fall onto their laps, they cannot pass on him, in my opinion. He’s outstandingly athletic with room for growth, and again, the power and speed are quite evident. He could have a 70 power bat in the future, and 50 hit tool. He plays the game all-out, which can have its pros and cons obviously, evident in the constant drama that surrounds Brett Lawrie. 

2-BRADEN SHIPLEY – RHP – 6’3 – 190 LBS -- 21 YEARS OLD
This solid college righty has really raised his draft stock, especially when considering he wasn’t drafted out of high school, at all. Shipley throws 3 solid pitches that all project as possibly above average offerings, with a fastball that sits in the mid-90s, and has been seen up to 98mph. His change up is considered by many as his best pitch, and he throws it in the mid 80's and it's very hard to pick up out of his hand. His curveball is pretty non-existent right now, defintitley not a plus pitch yet, but it does have some movement and he throws it in the high 70's. He projects as a #2 out of college.

3-AUSTIN MEADOWS – OF – 6’3 – 200 LBS -- 18 YEARS OLD
Meadows and Frazier are practically tied on many boards a product of their similar skill sets and same home state, but Frazier’s raw power intrigues me more than Meadows even 5 tools. Meadows is, like Frazier, a projectable high school outfielder with crazy bat potential, but with less power and more speed. I would be thrilled with Meadows if he ends up with the Jays, because he’s a very projectable corner-outfielder with 5 tools. 

4-RYNE STANEK – RHP – 6’4 – 190 LBS -- 22 YEARS OLD
This near-23 year old has fallen on some draft boards, and is truly a wildcard, meaning he could go anywhere in the first half of the draft. Stanek’s a projectable right hander with a mid-90s fastball that’s been seen up to 97. The slider is lethal at times, but is seen as inconsistent. Also shows a curve and change, both in progress, but could turn into solid offerings. The fear that his all-out effort delivery could force him into the bullpen could let him slip down in the draft, right onto the Jays’ lap if they wish to select him.

5-TREY BALL – LHP/OF – 6’6 – 180 LBS -- 18 YEARS OLD

Will Ball be headed to the Jays tomorrow? 

Ball has been continuously linked with the Jays according to Keith Law of ESPN and others. He seems like the most likely pick at 10. He has played two positions effectively, but I believe most prefer him, and his 6’6 frame, as a starting pitcher. As a lefty in the mid-low-90s with the fastball that can touch 96 out of high school, with a tight breaking curve (with a lack of experience with the pitch), there is much to love. Ball projects as a #2 starter (maybe even better), with the OF as a backup plan, if he was to need it. His mechanics are said to be very smooth and repeatable, something the Jays sure could use in their system.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Line represents where, if I was drafting the Jays’ pick would be located. Meaning one of the other four would be mildly disappointing, unless the pick is paid under slot value, giving the Jays more money to buy high on a second rounder. 

6-PHIL BICKFORD – RHP – 6’4 – 185 LBS -- 17 YEARS OLD
Bickford, like Stanek is a wild card. I, unfortunately, don’t know as much as I’d like to about Bickford. From the videos and reports I’ve seen, the fastball hits 97 and the slider has large break with big swing and miss potential. He throws from an unorthodox ¾ arm slot that makes his slider that much better, but also very inconsistent. He has top of the rotation potential, but has a long way to go, especially with the interesting mechanics possessed by the young right hander.

7-REESE MCGUIRE – C – 6’1 – 190 LBS -- 18 YEARS OLD
McGuire is a defense-first catcher, with room to grow at the plate. Some say he could catch in the big leagues at this moment—if it didn’t mean he had to hit. His elite defense is highly touted, and it only takes one team to believe in a decent bat to grab him early on, including the Jays. The track record of HS prep catchers is not good, to say the least, so risk is a huge factor here.

8-DOMINIC SMITH – 1B – 6’ – 195 LBS -- 18 YEARS OLD
Smith is a gold glove caliber 1B (ok), with bat potential to follow (obviously). Smith has been linked to the Jays, but I personally don’t see how they pass on at least three of the players ahead of him on this list. I also doubt the Jays could sign a high-school student with college commitments for under slot value, despite the possible overdraft. 

9-JP CRAWFORD – SS – 6’2 – 180 LBS -- 18 YEARS OLD

JP is the cousin of Dodgers
 All Star Carl Crawford, so
talent runs in his family.

Personally, I DO NOT want the Jays to select Crawford. He’s nothing special, and is only rated so high because there is literally no other SS with a chance to make the big leagues in this draft. There are guys I prefer over Crawford (minimally), but Crawford has been linked to the Jays, whereas others like Hunter Renfroe have not. Crawford isn’t a stand out in the field or with the bat. This is the one guy that I would be utterly disappointed with the Jays drafting, even if he signs under slot value.

For more info on the Draft, check out the latest episode of the BJP Podcast, where Gideon and Ewan talked with Jeremy Nygaard about the players the Jays might take.

You can follow me on twitter, @Canucks_BlueJay.
To connect with the site, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook.

I'm Taking a Break

2012 sucked. It was horrible. Everybody got injured. It felt like anything that could go wrong, went wrong. And then the Blue Jays won the winter crown for best off-season, and were picked by most baseball experts to win the AL East. The team was stacked with talent when opening day came, and everything looked up.

You know the rest. Injuries happened, players under performed, and the Jays just had a stroke of bad luck that lasted for the entire month of April. It has continued into May, and the Jays currently find themselves under .500 this month. It still isn't too late. It's only May, but I don't have faith anymore. How can I? Thing's aren't looking up.

R.A. Dickey is not the same pitcher he was from 2010-2012. His velocity has diminished to a point where his average speed on his knuckleball is it's slowest it has been since 2009(75.1 MPH so far in 2013), and his fastball velocity is the slowest it has ever been in his career, close to 3 MPH less than his  average.  Mark Buehrle is slowing down with age, and at his best he was a #3, so his future doesn't look bright. Ricky Romero doesn't need an explanation. He flat out can't get hitters of any kind or level out. Jose Reyes is awesome, but there is only a certain amount of times you can get injured before it just becomes a natural thing, and your body can't handle it. Brandon Morrow is giving up way too many home runs, and is striking out batters way less than he used to. It's concerning too say the least, even given the sample, because it's not like he has such a huge sample of success either.

Those 5 players are owed close to $70 MILLION next year, and I am only confident one will perform well. But, I'm not confident Reyes can perform well and stay healthy. $70 Million is more than 50% of what Rogers will allow this team to spend.

I understand that this is more than a one year thing, it's a 3 year thing. But, this roster, even if everything goes right, only is a 90-93 win team, and everything never goes right. With no extra cash to replace broken parts and try to patch it together, I'm not confident this Jays team will contend in this 3 year window.

There are positive things as well,though. Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, and Adam Lind are very fun to watch offensively. The bullpen has been fine, and Casey Janssen and Brett Cecil don't allow hitters to do anything. The problem is that the positives don't outweigh the negatives.

So, I'm taking a break. It's only going to be a week or two, but I won't be watching the Jays or blogging about them until June 9th at the earliest. West coast games are coming up that I would have probably not watched anyways, and with my exams coming up in school this is a perfect time for me to study, and put the Jays aside. I'm not sure if I'll be on the podcast these next couple of weeks, I might be, I might not. I'll have to see. I'm also going to try to stay off of twitter as well, so if you need to contact  me, do it elsewhere(Facebook, email). I will allow myself to watch Round 1 of the draft, but that is all.

These are depressing times for a Jays fan, and I can't take it anymore. Hopefully, when I come back, things will be a little bit better, and I'll be able to watch them without screaming and shutting the game off in the first few innings. But, even if things do turn around, the Jays have a lot of dead money in their pockets, and things won't be getting any easier over the next few years.

Arrested Development: Blue Jays Edition

If you're not familiar with the TV show Arrested Development, you should be. It was a comedy that aired on Fox from 2004 until 2006, when it was cancelled mid season after the show could never pick up strong ratings. It was an award winning comedy though, and many believe it to be the best comedic show in the past 10 or so years. Anyways, the show was brought back for a 4th season exclusively on Netflix yesterday(Sunday May 26th 2013), with a 15 episode season. A few days before that, Halosdaily.com, an Angels blog site, published an article comparing characters from the "unofficial official show of baseball bloggers everywhere" to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I read that article, and immediately thought to myself that I need to do the same for this site, but compare the AD characters with the Blue Jays. I talked over some of them with Ewan, and we came up with these. Thanks to HalosDaily for the fantastic idea. I hope you will get as much enjoyment from reading this as I had writing it. I will be using most of the HalosDaily's description of each character from the show(with permission from the author, Andrew Karcher of course).

***Don't read the first few and stop, because some of the best are at the end.(The best comparison is at the end).

George Bluth

The patriarch of the Bluth family, George’s meddling often runs his real estate firm, the Bluth Company, into the ground. Also, he ends up in prison and is the suspect of some Saddam-aided “light treason.”

This was definitely the hardest character there was too match. I came up with 3 people who could fit the bill, although none is as good as Andrew's comparison to interfering owner Arte Moreno. The first is Nadir Mohammad, CEO of Rogers, and the owner of the Blue Jays. The problem with this one is that he doesn't really meddle in the Blue Jays affairs, and gave Beeston and Co. the go ahead to increase payroll this year, when it made sense to do so. The second is the aforementioned Paul Beeston. I don't really like this one either, as he works together with AA, and has not run this team into the ground.EVER. The third and final idea I camp up with is none other than J.P Ricciardi. He ran this team into the ground, and the contracts he handed out to Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, and others, were criminal. He 100% deserved to be jailed for locking the team into such bad contracts for so many years.

Michael Bluth

Michael takes over the Bluth Company when George goes to prison and is entrusted to right the ship, ultimately achieving “not buy” success. Often though, Michael finds he lives in his father’s shadow and can’t run the company as he sees fit, even though he isn’t impervious to poor decisions.

This is obviously Alex Anthopolous, Blue Jays GM. AA took over for Ricciardi after he was fired, and his approach ever since is a "not buy" one in the Free Agency market. He was also entrusted to right the ship of the Blue Jays, just like Michael Bluth was entrusted to right the ship of the Bluth Company. Just like Bluth, AA often lives in the shadow of J.P because years of J.P's bad drafting has kept the upper levels of the farm system dry.
.
Lucille Bluth
Luccile is George's husband, and Michael's mother. Now, from HalosDaily...

Cold-hearted, Lucille is a master manipulator, often pitting the Bluth children against each other to do her bidding. Always seems one step ahead of everyone and typically gets what she wants.

I also had a hard time coming up with this one, but ultimately decided on John Farrell(well, Ewan did, I couldn't think of one). He is a cold hearted jerk, who manipulated the entire city of Toronto to think that he truly wanted to be here! He caused turmoil in the clubhouse and in the Front Office, and was thinking one step ahead when he signed here. He truly is the exact same as Lucille Bluth.

Buster Bluth
Buster is the youngest of the 4 Bluth children. He has his hand bitten off by a loose seal, and needs to wear a hook as a replacement. Ewan and I came up with a few options.

1. Dustin McGowan, Josh Johnson, & Steve Delabar have all had their fair shair of arm injuries, just like Buster Bluth. The comparisons were just way too easy.
2. Brad Lincoln is the outside the box comparison for Buster, because of the "hook" they both possess. Buster, has the literal hook(on his arm), and Lincoln has the wicked curve ball, often referred to as "The Hook".

G.O.B (George Oscar Bluth)
He's the oldest Bluth child. His name is an acronym, and he's a magician. R.A Dickey is obviously his best comparison. Robert Allen Dickey is considered a magician by many with his mastery of the knuckleball, which, just like an illusion, the hitters cannot see.

Another comparison is J.P. Ricciardi, again. He has the acronym, but mostly, he is cocky, young, and doesn't have a clue. No offense, J.P.(actually, take offense).

Lindsay Bluth Fünke

Michael’s twin sister, Lindsay is often asked to accomplish tasks for the Bluth Company, the simplest of which she fails to perform. Her intentions are often good, as she takes up many a charitable cause. At a charity auction where the winner receives a date with Lindsay, the buyer wildly overpaid, as she was scarred and sunburned from a day saving the wetlands. Unfortunately, she also has a habit of irresponsibly spending the Bluth Company’s dwindling resources.

I came up blank on this one, and Ewan chose Travis Snider because he is a failed prospect. If you have any, let us know with a comment, tweet, facebook message, email, anything!

Tobias Fünke
Tobias is a never nude, and is always acting homosexual, even though he insists he is straight. J.P Arencibia is loved by the entire female fan base, and, deep down inside, he is just like Tobias. Well probably not, but it would be very ironic if he was.

Maeby Fünke

Often the quickest wit on the show, Maeby has a knack for excelling in multiple roles, whether that be running a movie studio or winning Inner Beauty pageants.

Maeby is the daughter of Lindsay and Tobias, and is unquestionably the best character on the show(well at least that's my opinion). She is a movie producer at age 15, making her parts on the show often the funniest. Like Andrew wrote above, she excels at everything. Her greatest comparison would be a 5-tool player, but because the Jays sadly don't have any of those, we go to the next closest thing in Jose Reyes. Reyes can hit, run, and throw, the equivalent of being a producer, winning pageants, and being 15 all at the same time.

George Michael Bluth
George Michael is the awkward, unathletic child of Michael who stutters a lot. Remind you of a certain left fielder? Yes, Melky Cabrera! He plays a horrible outfield, and last year after receiving the All Star GAme MVP, he said "thank you the fans", while stuttering and looking awkward as ever. A product of him not being fluent in English of course, but still a perfect comparison.

Ann Veal
"Her?" is how the characters on the show react to Ann, who is George Michael's girlfriend, and G.O.B's girlfriend at different times in the show. When Alex Anthopolous signed Mark DeRosa to be the 25th man, most Torontonians were saying "Him?" as most believe there were better fish in the sea(there weren't, by the way).

Annyong Bluth

Annyong. Adopted from Asia, the youngest Bluth became a regular part of the family.

 Munenori Kawasaki of course. Adopted from Asia(well the Mariners, but they adopted him from Asia), and the newest full time Blue Jay.

STEVE HOLT!
Holt is G.O.B's son, and is a cocky jock in high school. Basically the current version of BRETT LAWRIE.

Kitty Sanchez
Sanchez is George's former secretary, who, part of her body is artificially enhanced. Making the easy connection to both Melky Cabrera, and Marcus Stroman.

When Sanchez leaves Michael and the company, she flashes him, and says the famous line “Say goodbye to THESE, Michael!"

Just like Michael had to say good bye to THOSE, we had to say good bye to Noah Syndergaard & Justin Nicolino this past off-season. We miss you, boys. 

Oscar Bluth
George's hippy twin brother does a lot of drugs. Jeremy Jeffress does a lot of drugs, and especially likes to smoke "Sauteed Aspargus".

That's it. If you have any other comparisons, which I'm sure you do, let us know with a comment, tweet, email, facebook, whatever.

Big thanks to both Andrew Karcher for the idea, and Ewan Ross for helping out.

You can follow me on twitter, @gideonturk. To connect with the site, Follow us on Twitter, and Like us on Facebook.

BlueJaysPlus Podcast Episode 9: Injuries, BioMechanics, and an Interview with Will Carroll

After missing 1 week, we're back. This time, we talk about the Blue Jays handling of Romero as we bash the Jays roster management once again, we have a nice conversation with Will Carroll (A.K.A The Injury Expert) about mechanics and injuries, we discuss Jim Negrych, and more!!! Want to know what the success rate of rest/rehab over Tommy John surgery is? Listen to the show, and you'll find out.  Hope you enjoy, and please let us know what you think of it by leaving a comment. We are always trying to improve.

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BlueJaysPlus Podcast Episode 8: Featuring an Interview with Wendy Thurm(@hangingsliders)

So we didn't get around to recording the podcast this week for multiple reasons. I was sick this past weekend, Ewan has been extremely busy with his move and what not, so we just didn't do it. We did interview Wendy Thurm of FanGraphs last Friday to preview the upcoming Jays-Giants series that starts tonight though, so we have that. It will act as our 8th episode. Oh, and because I was sick at the time of the recording, and was not up to speaking(even though I barely do any on our podcasts) I sat the interview out. So it's just Ewan this week. Without further ado, our interview...

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We'll be back at it next week. Thanks for listening.

Toronto Blue Jays 2013: Season So Far & Future Odds Predictions

In just over a month, we’ve seen only a fraction of the 2013 Toronto Blue Jays, but it has been a brutal start to the season. The once preseason World Series favorites have yet to hit their stride and find themselves 9 games under .500 as we enter Thursday’s game.

Are these Jays still World Series contenders? Was all the media created hype justified during the offseason? These are questions still waiting to be answered, but no one could be impressed with what they have seen early on.

We’ll take a look at the Jays’ future odds for the World Series, AL Pennant and AL East Title. On top of that we’ll analyze some key parts of the season so far and if we think this team has what it takes to compete in the postseason.

Free Swinging Ways

Manager John Gibbons has used over 26 different lineups this season, not only due to injuries to Jose Reyes (podcast), Jose Bautista and others but because he can’t figure out a way to get his offense clicking.

Toronto ranks near the bottom of the AL in runs scored and in OBP. A quick look at a box score of most games shows a team of hitters below .300 and many closer to the Mendoza Line rather than the .250 mark. In all of baseball, they also rank near the bottom in batting average. The lineup certainly has pop but has struggled with strikeouts.

Given all of those imperfections, fans may have some reasons to be optimistic. Their BABIP is around .260 which is among the lowest in the majors. This SABRmetric statistic measures the percentage of balls hit into play that fall in for hits. Of course, there are other factors that have contributed to their offensive struggles but based on their team BABIP, but the Jays’ luck will begin to even out, and the hits will start falling, like they have been the past few days.

Jose Reyes’ loss after just week into the season seriously hurt the team’s run production. With a lineup full of mostly power hitters – who are prone to strike out or homer – it is critical to have a player whose specialty is getting on base.

All Star Rotation? Not so much.

The rotation coming into the season was almost as hotly discussed as the improved Jays’ lineup. After one month, it is severely under performing. R.A Dickey has not regained his magic with the knuckler yet and may be headed to DL with neck and back inflammation. Brandon Morrow, Mark Buehrle, and Ricky Romero have all struggled, while both J.A Happ and Josh Johnson are on the DL.

Surprisingly, one of the biggest weaknesses that the Jays had before entering the season has been strong. The bullpen has been solid despite already throwing over 100 innings this season, due to starters pitchers being pulled so early. However, things will need to change as the pen is being overworked and likely will not perform well under this soft of wear and tear all season.

Current Future Odds 

These odds are provided by Bovada.lv. I’m not recommending Bovada to bet with as I don’t know much about them but leading portal SBO rates them as pretty good.

Toronto Blue Jays to Win World Series 28/1

Toronto Blue Jays to Win AL Pennant 12/1

Toronto Blue Jays to Win AL East +650

As I mentioned above, the Jays came into the start of the season as 15/2 World Series favorites by the odds makers. The odds clearly have now been adjusted, reflecting their poor start to the season.

The AL East is an especially unforgiving division and a lousy April can come back to haunt a team later in the year. However, if we look at it from a betting perspective - if you believe the Jays will turn around their season – now is the time to get the best possible price on your selection.

They have undoubtedly had their share of rotten luck and most everyone would agree that at – at least on paper – they have what it takes to contend for a championship. Bettors have yet to see this team actually click and who knows how good they could be when that finally happens.