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Chapter 1: What were the highlights of the Blue Jays' win over the Guardians?
Well, Nick, that is more like it. After a tough loss last night, tonight a much tidier outing for the Blue Jays. Cosimo Okamoto going yard. He had a great game. Another great outing for Kevin Gaussman and Louis Varlin getting his second career save, albeit an adventurous way to get there. I'm sure we'll get to it. But today, a 5-3 win for the Jays to snap that mini two-game skid. Jays improved to
11 and 15 on the season, and it does set up a rubber match tomorrow here at the Ryder Center.
Yeah, the Blue Jays might just win consecutive series, something that was fairly routine for the team last year, a little bit more difficult here in 2026. It was a bit of a weird game overall. You had Kevin Gaussman giving you those velocity fluctuations.
Chapter 2: Why is the ninth inning so challenging for relievers like Louis Varland?
The splitter wasn't really fooling the Guardians lineup. He didn't get a lot of strikeouts with it. He didn't get any strikeouts with it. He didn't get a lot of strikeouts overall. And then the big inning that the Blue Jays are able to put together had, you know, frankly, some pretty greasy hits involved to make it happen.
And then Louis Varlin comes in and what seems like a comfortable situation at the end of the game with the three run lead ends up loading the bases, making things very exciting, probably for Cleveland fans in particular. But they escape with a win. And ultimately, that's what matters.
That is Nick Ashbourne. I'm Sho Ali. You're listening to Jay's Talk on the Sportsnet Radio Network. We're also streaming on sportsnet.ca and on the Sportsnet app. You can give us a call, 416-870-0590, 1-888-666-0590, star 590 on your cell. Maybe you're just leaving the ballpark. If you want to give us a call, shoot us a text, you can do so.
Chapter 3: What impact could Kazuma Okamoto's performance have on the Blue Jays' offense?
Of course, the text line always open, 590-590, name and location. Standard messaging and data rates may apply. You could probably pick a variety of places to start with, but I do like sometimes starting backwards, working backwards, Nick. And Louis Varland, okay? So I do think, and I'm very curious to hear what John Schneider says afterwards.
It's very possible he echoes previous sentiments, but he has said in games past, even last year, that the ninth inning is just a different animal, right? I'm paraphrasing, but... I think it's just so different no matter who is on the mound and no matter what that person's previous role is, right? Not that the moment is necessarily too big for guys, but maybe your heart rate is up a little bit.
The pressure it brings is a little different, even if you do have some nasty stuff. And I think we kind of saw that today. It's nice because Varlin did kind of rein it in at the end and got out of the jam of his own making. But he entered today looking to get his second career saved.
Chapter 4: How did Kevin Gausman's pitching contribute to the game outcome?
He gets to see 3-4-5. Gets, of all people, Jose Ramirez to fly out more or less right away. But then after the Ramirez flyout, single, single, double walk. Now, he did find some success with a changeup in that outing. And like Chris LaRue said on the broadcast at the time, you don't want to fall in love with throwing a single pitch too, too many times. But he gets Bo Naylor with the change.
He goes back to the fastball to put away Brian Rocchio to end the ballgame. So definitely, I think, on the whole, a pretty positive outing for Farland.
It was touch and go, for sure. And to be fair, that sequence you read out there, that double was a ball that Dalton Varshow might have caught, and that could have changed the complexion of what happened. I'm not saying it was an easy play, but the glove and the ball were making contact, and they could not consummate a marriage, unfortunately, for Varshow and the Blue Jays.
So that is part of how things went down. The changeup is an interesting thing to note, because that has been kind of... at best a side project for him this season. He's thrown it 7% of the time coming into the game.
Chapter 5: What are the implications of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s lack of home run production?
Now things are absolutely on the line. You have the bases loaded and one out. He's in a massive battle with Bo Naylor that involves eight pitches, a number of foul balls. Four of those eight pitches are change-ups. So I'm going to give Tyler Heineman some credit there for getting creative because that's probably not what I would have done in that situation, but it absolutely worked out.
Next hitter, Rokio, three of the five pitches are changeups. So for whatever reason, he felt really good about that pitch in that moment. And he trusted this element of his arsenal that is very rarely front and center to deliver for the Blue Jays and essentially close out the game.
Yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how they treat the closer role going forward because it does somewhat feel like it is closer by committee, right? I mean, I think you might see... I mean, Rodgers pitched today, who we'll get to, but you could see, I'm sure, Rodgers getting a chance if other guys are down, perhaps. I mean, Varlin, I'm sure we'll get the bulk of it.
And let's face it, Jeff Hoffman will probably close games, but I did like, from Varlin's perspective, I did like that it did not seem to... entirely snowball on him. I mean, I think you get a fly out, then you go single, single, double walk, and to your point, I think a well-made one on the VAR show just glances off his glove.
I thought he did a great job just getting to that ball in the first place, which shows you that that's his range and that we've all kind of become
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Chapter 6: How does Ernie Clement's hitting affect the team's performance?
become accustomed to that you expect that to be an out but be that aside I do think that and again there was a great mound visit in there as well Heinemann goes out to talk to to Varlin which I'm sure maybe just you know slowed the slowed the whole heart rate for a couple of minutes but definitely I think on the whole something you take out of the closer role given some of the more adventurous outings we've seen in the ninth inning recently
And as much as Varlin is not particularly familiar with this exact role, you've got to remember, this is someone who's pitched in extremely high leverage moments for the Blue Jays a lot of the time, even if it's not literally in the ninth inning, right? They brought him out game after game after game during that postseason run, often when things are tight or when the game was tight.
Even he comes out on Tuesday to get his first career save. That's an extremely difficult situation. So this is not the case of, say, a green rookie that you're bringing up and you think, OK, this guy throws 100. We love his swing and miss stuff. But he's totally unfamiliar with these type of situations.
He is someone who, again, has not been a day in, day out closer, but has been in that sort of mix for quite some time. It's quite funny that. His two career saves at this point, and you and I have done the Jays talk for both of them, one of them is a one-pitch save and one of them is a 30-pitch save, about as different as they get.
Robin and Toronto on the text line. Solid team win today. Varlin kept things interesting but pulled off the save. Maybe he needs a harder slap on the back next time. Hey, you know what? If that helps, maybe he will get one. Before we get to the calls, I see some calls here for us to chat with. Let's get to the player of the game. Capital One giving Canadians credit for over 30 years.
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Chapter 7: What strategies might the Blue Jays employ in the closer role moving forward?
All right, player of the game, who are you going with?
there are a couple of real candidates here but i've got to go with kazuma okamoto this is a multi-faceted contribution he made really strong defensive plays in the first in the eighth he took a bases loaded walk and of course hit that massive home run much like me circa i want to say 2015 he's absolutely loving the west jet flight deck right now filling it up to straightaway center field
I thought you were going to say much like me, hitting monster home runs.
My softball team would be delighted if I was hitting monster home runs to center field consistently like that. Unfortunately not. More of a contact guy gap hitter. That's neither here nor there. Okamoto really seems like he's coming around to the bat, and when guys are hitting it to straightaway center, that's often a good sign that the timing is right.
They're not ahead, they're not behind, they are on the ball. And that's been the case with Okamoto. They threw him a ton of soft stuff into this game, because that's kind of been the book on him, that he's been good on the fastball, but not as good on the curves and changes. So 71% were off-speed or breaking balls. Did not matter.
clutch walk, big home run, and again, those defensive plays as he seems to be coming around for the Blue Jays.
I gotta say, the Okamoto web gem, where he dives for the play just between third and second, and then stays on his knees and just muscles that thing to Vlad. He did take a hop, but He got it there on the line. I mean, phenomenal stuff. That's really good stuff from Okamoto. I've really enjoyed watching him.
I know he had that pretty egregious error a little while ago, but overall I have been impressed with Okamoto's defense. I think mainly because it did feel like some of the ā Some of the analysis we had gotten on Okamoto's defensive play coming over from Japan, I think, was that, yeah, he might be okay at third. And I mean, that might be generally what he ends up as overall, right?
Like an quote-unquote okay third baseman. But so far, I have been very impressed. 416-870-0590, 1-888-666-0590, star 590. On your cell, 590-590, name and location. That's how you can reach us. on the text line as well.
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Chapter 8: What are the upcoming challenges for the Blue Jays in their next series?
Let's go to the phones, though. Let's go to Lorne and Simcoe as our leadoff caller. Lorne, what's up today?
Hey, Sho. Hey, Nick. Can't say enough good about our ace. I hope Jay's management can maybe do a little off-season extension for Kevin quietly in the month of April or May and maybe a nice little two-year, $60 million extension to give our ace a bit more length with our team. He holds us together. He's our glue. Who would have thought Kaz would have more homers than Vladi?
I am frustrated with Vladi. Ernie is literally going to lead the league in hits, and Vladi is not doing a job being a run producer. Yes, he has a high on-base average. We need him to slug. And I'm still struggling with Farland in the closer role because who's going to be that guy that comes in for leverage or the whole position? Jeff still has to do something on this team.
Are we going to trust him to be the hold guy or the leverage guy? And I'm still kind of wondering, you know, working out of this offensive funk, but is this kind of just home and away split? So I'm kind of worried about that. Thanks for my call, guys.
Lauren, appreciate the call. So a lot for us to get to there. First of all, Kazumoto leading the team in home runs. Honestly, Hazel did the on-field interview with with the big oak down on the field right after the game, and she said that, and I thought, oh yeah, I guess that is actually true now.
Not something I would have necessarily guessed, although I did have a bold prediction for Kazuma Okamoto, so I'm happy we've at the very least gotten back on track towards that, although I'm thinking that'll take the entire year. But still, I think good stuff from Okamoto overall, just to build on what you were saying earlier on. I mean, you mentioned the soft stuff.
The Cantillo threw him a curveball in that big sixth inning. He gets the single off of it. Vlade gets the first base in the play. You mentioned the bases loaded walk as well. And then, of course, the home run to the WestJet flight deck. Also, they must be loving all that extra promotion. People are just saying WestJet all the time, including us. But definitely a big positive.
I guess you are starting to see, further to your point, Nick, you're starting to see what the blueprint, what the dream was when they did sign him come through a little bit more consistently. I mean, he's not going to hit three home runs every six games, probably. I mean, that would be nice.
But at the same time, it is nice just to see the process for him look like it's slowed down because it did feel like Dan Schulman had used the words, in between. Ben had used the terms maybe a little indecisive or tentative at different times, so it's nice to see that at least for now going away. I know baseball is a game of adjustment, so he's adjusted.
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