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Blair & Barker

New Series Against Boston + Can MLB Handle a Strike in the Future?

16 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What strategies should the Blue Jays use against the Red Sox at Fenway Park?

6.072 - 18.631 Jeff Blair

All right, welcome to Blair and Barker. There will be Blue Jays baseball on the network tonight.

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18.651 - 25.201 Kevin Barker

Excited about that? Yeah, welcome to the 2026 Blue Jays baseball season. Oh, is this when it started? Starts tonight.

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26.783 - 27.684 Kevin Barker

And I mean it this time.

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29.807 - 33.573 Jeff Blair

This is the fourth time the season has started, not including opening day.

35.456 - 35.556 Bruno Satin

Yeah.

38.084 - 53.064 Jeff Blair

First of three against the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Dylan Cease against Peyton Tolley. I mean, listen, if you can't take two or three from the Red Sox, stick a fork in yourself. Like, seriously. The Red Sox aren't very good.

Chapter 2: How do the Blue Jays' recent performances compare to the Red Sox?

55.287 - 73.156 Jeff Blair

And the Blue Jays are coming off, you know, a series that I think was pretty telling against the New York Yankees. So we shall see what the lads have in store for us tonight. Alejandro Kirk and Vladdy are back in the lineup. Absolutely, yeah. Do we have the lineup, guys? I have not seen them.

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73.176 - 73.617 Bruno Satin

There we go.

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73.637 - 87.251 Jeff Blair

We got the lineup. It looks like a winger to me. I don't know about a winner. Springer leading off. Clement hitting second. Vladdy in the third spot. Kirk cleaning up. Okamoto at third base.

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Chapter 3: What insights does Jeff Passan provide about the 1994 MLB strike?

87.271 - 97.521 Jeff Blair

Lucas in right. Schneider in left. Jimenez at short. Strawn center. And Dylan Cease on the mound.

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97.687 - 107.16 Kevin Barker

Other than not having Sanchez in there, I think that's about the best they can offer. Yeah. Right there. Well, pretty much. First five guys in the line, I've got to do all the heavy lifting.

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107.18 - 108.222 Jeff Blair

I mean, Varsha would be.

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108.242 - 109.844 Kevin Barker

Get a couple of those. Not this year.

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109.984 - 111.086 Jeff Blair

Oh, it's a left. It's a left.

Chapter 4: How might current MLB owners and players handle a future strike?

111.106 - 113.229 Jeff Blair

Get you a couple. You're seeing two lefties.

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113.249 - 135.166 Kevin Barker

Yeah, you get you a couple of guys in those first five guys hot all at the same time. Maybe start cooking. You know, the Jays are just as bad on the road as the Red Sox are at home. So, you know, it's – well, they are. I mean, if you look at it, the Jays are 13-20 on the road. The Red Sox are 12-22 at home.

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135.386 - 135.607 Bruno Satin

Yeah.

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135.908 - 140.94 Kevin Barker

The Jays are 29th in runs scored on the road. The Red Sox are 29th in runs scored at home.

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141.2 - 144.889 Jeff Blair

You're not making me feel better. They're about – one is about as bad as the other.

144.869 - 145.75 Kevin Barker

That's what I said.

145.81 - 146.791 Jeff Blair

Something's got to give.

Chapter 5: What are the implications of the Blue Jays' current roster and performance?

146.972 - 170.917 Kevin Barker

Absolutely. You know, Jays are 5-5, lost two in a row in their last 10. Red Sox are 4-6. They lost their last game. So, I mean, right now these two teams are about the same. Both bullpens are about the same. Rotation-wise, you can take one or the other. It's the offense. But, you know. Well, somebody with the J's got to get hot. You know, I said this yesterday about the coaching staff.

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170.937 - 179.095 Kevin Barker

I'm sure the coaches are running out of things to say. Like, how many game plans can you give? It ain't like you ain't never seen Tully before. He's got three different haters of breaking ball.

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Chapter 6: How does the Red Sox's recent history impact their current season?

179.598 - 197.689 Kevin Barker

Yeah, pick one. Pick a side. Like, you know, you got that little short porch over there in the left field too to aim for. Like, that's good for lefty. Let it travel. Maybe see the ball a little longer. You have a decent approach if you're right-handed. You know, this guy's going to throw you in. You know, he's got tremendous extension. Almost seven and a half feet.

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197.709 - 206.104 Kevin Barker

That's basically when he releases it, he's just dropping it in the catcher's mitt. Throws really hard. He's left-handed. He's going to throw you in. Got two other different kinds of heaters.

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Chapter 7: What factors could influence Jarren Duran's trade value?

206.184 - 221.675 Kevin Barker

Nobody can hit his four-seamer. If it's me, I'm trying to pull everything. Not overthinking this thing. I'm going to use that short porch to my advantage. I got a bunch of righties. I got some guys who know how to pull the baseball. You simplify it, go up there. Try that approach one time. Maybe that'll work. What do you think?

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222.476 - 251.635 Jeff Blair

Red Sox have won two series at home this year, including over the weekend, beating the Texas Rangers. Just looking at other recent numbers here. They've homered in a season-high five consecutive home games. In 12 home games since May 22nd, their offense at home has picked up considerably. You know, it's weird because you look at them.

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Chapter 8: What are the long-term prospects for the Blue Jays this season?

252.176 - 274.818 Jeff Blair

They play pretty good defense. They lead the AL in defensive runs saved, third in the majors in defensive runs saved. The only team with more defensive runs saved than them is Tampa Bay. They've got three outfielders who rank in MLB's top four in defensive runs saved. And yet, they are... It's not a very good team.

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275.079 - 291.9 Kevin Barker

Well, they're missing Roman Anthony. That's never good, right? I mean, that was the guy we were talking about. I think it might have been me that was saying he might have a chance of winning an MVP, right, sooner than later. Just the swing, the way he could play every day, his age, not having Trevor Story is a big deal too, right? He can use that as your porch. He can hit homers.

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292.38 - 309.678 Kevin Barker

Maybe not defensively. Offensively, that's a big deal. Yoshida has not been very good, right? I think he's leading off tonight for the Red Sox. When he's playing, he hasn't been very good. So they have been missing some people that would help out a lot. Contreras has been really, really good. He might be one of the best first basemans in the American League right now.

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310.158 - 330.635 Kevin Barker

Hitting over 300, he's got 16 homers, 43 RBIs. Duran, who everybody's talking about, might get traded. He's hitting for power, not hitting for a lot of average, stealing some bases. Seems to me like there's not a lot of rumblings around him not playing good defense in the outfield. Abreu, who I love, who plays a little right. I mean, he's got a pretty sweet swing.

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330.876 - 348.601 Kevin Barker

You know, there's some guys in that lineup, I think, for Dillon. He's got to be real careful glove side. You know, we mentioned this. When he's throwing strikes, he can get ahead. He can keep the changeup down to left. He's a big deal. The knuckle curve, whenever he does throw it to left, he's keeping it down. The slider, kind of the same thing. So, the secondary stuff down.

349.022 - 351.085 Kevin Barker

Locate fastball glove side. Get ahead.

351.959 - 373.625 Jeff Blair

Give your lineup a chance to have a big inning. The matchups, Dylan Cease against Peyton Tolley. Tomorrow it's Max Scherzer against Jake Bennett. And the third game of the series, that is an afternoon game, by the way, we'll see Trey Savage against Sonny Gray. Sonny Gray is 8-1 with a 3-0-3 ERA for the Red Sox. So you may want to get at it tonight.

373.645 - 380.569 Kevin Barker

Jeff, been anything to you that the Blue Jays are 29th and slugged versus left-handers? You mean anything to you? What are they overall?

381.691 - 383.214 Jeff Blair

Slug overall.

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