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Chapter 1: What factors contributed to the Blue Jays' 3-0 win over the Red Sox?
So, Kevin Barker, one of the things we've spent the past couple of days talking about on Blair and Barker has been how on earth the Boston Red Sox could be, what, 12 and 24 at home? Whatever it is now. And I think I figured it out. How, Jeff? It's like the Blue Jays are looking in the mirror. They are the Blue Jays, essentially.
Yeah.
They are the Blue Jays when the Blue Jays aren't winning. One for 24th runners in scoring position through two games of this three-game series.
Wow.
13 left on base tonight. Ample opportunity against Simeon Woods Richardson. And yet here we are, the Blue Jays winning 3-0. Andres Jimenez very much... Very much the catalyst in this particular game. And don't look now, but the Jays have won the series. They have a chance to sweep tomorrow if they can get the game in.
And, Kevin, I think that the fact that John Schneider went to Louis Varl and probably suggests that he may not be counting on having a game tomorrow.
Yeah, well, I don't think he wanted to, right? That's why we saw somebody else loosening up, too. You know, if Jimenez would have got a hit there, they would have been up 5-0. That would have been Tommy Nance instead of Louie Varlam. But you do what you have to do. Louie came out of that pen, you know, throwing at people like he's mad at them. You know, it's kind of nice. Oh, yeah, it's easy.
That's easy.
Absolutely.
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Chapter 2: How did Louis Varland perform against the Red Sox lineup?
And he can be competitive with all those. I think you put him in the right spot. You get him sort of gaining some confidence. You can go out there and do some things. You know, Jeff Hoffman, what'd he throw? 25 pitches. He worked through it, right? Made of the order, 3-4-5. Threw some split fingers, some really good ones to lefties.
The sliders, he threw like he'd been throwing to righties, some good ones. Right strike to ball, keeping it away from the green monster. Smart. Like I mentioned, 25 pitches, only six of those were fastballs. He had 16 swings. That's what you're talking about. Make an adjustment.
Do the thing you have to do to get through wherever your manager's asking you to get through, and then you turn it over to Rodgers and Louis Varlin. That's how you win a bunch of baseball games. All of a sudden, Jeff, They got three dudes down there that you want to see running out of the bullpen.
And when you got three dudes like this, and if you could ever get some quality starts from some of your guys in your rotation, the way some of the guys are starting to swing the bat. The way the American League is, all of a sudden now, you could sort of take a big giant step back and think, man, if we get Addison Barger here, I ever get Vladdy hot. Maybe Yimmy Boy shows up or Jimmy shows up.
There it is, man. So, you know, you're starting to do some things. You're starting to think that, you know, maybe the Blue Jays are starting to catch up with everybody else. You're starting to get all your dudes back. You gain a little confidence. Confidence means everything in this game. You get a little of that with all your best talent, your best roster on the field.
You never know. 416-870-0590, star 590, 1-888-666-0590. The text line is always open, 590-590. It is a winning edition of Blue Jays Talk. The Jays with a 3-0 win over the Boston Red Sox. at Fenway Park. Vladdy with a couple of RBI. A couple of, excuse me, RBI, I guess we could call them. Andres Jimenez, we talked about it. Jays, by the way, four stolen bases.
They stole four bases in the fourth inning. That's the most they'd stolen in a game this year. Clearly, John Schneider was, you know, they had a plan going into this game. And, you know, we're still waiting for Vladdy to... you know, to turn on one. But, hey, two runs tonight, two RBI tonight, not the worst night.
Yeah, it's a line drive in the books tomorrow. You know, it's to get it done, Lee. Who cares how it looks as long as you're getting it done. You know, the inning you're talking about in the eighth inning there where, you know, Jimenez gets the big two-strike single, which is huge, right?
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Chapter 3: What insights were shared about Simeon Woods-Richardson's outing?
He's got a two-strike approach. I've mentioned this. This is why I liked him in spring training. You could tell he wasn't thinking about his lower half. He'd been thinking about it up until spring training as a Blue Jay. This year he hasn't.
Like, it's just kind of the situation, what count it is, he just knows where to go with his lower half, which will allow him to kind of get the barrel in the zone, keep it in the zone long enough to at least give himself a chance. Then when he gets on base, Jeff, because he's healthy,
Now all of a sudden, because Mark Budzinski's doing his homework, the first base coach, preparing these guys about, you know, you've got a lefty on the mound who's not very good. He's a rookie. He's not very good at holding runners on. You can get good first moves. You can put pressure on a defense to make plays when they're not scoring runs.
So, yeah, I mean, just seems like right now, you know, going to Fenway Park, kind of some certain guys are looking the way they're supposed to look. They're playing with some confidence. You know, the coaches are prepared. with certain guys to put a little pressure, like I mentioned, on the bases. It's how you win a bunch of baseball games against a team that don't know how to win at home.
Jay in Oshawa. You are on Blue Jays Talk.
Hey, gentlemen. How are you tonight?
We're doing well.
That's great. That's great. I want to start out with this. You guys, you know, I've heard your show. You're like me when it comes to Vladdy.
uh you're like the media you're like any fan we sure we still love laddie yes um you know is there a chance maybe he's injured or you know you look at the way last season went the deep run we had and then going into spring training with next to no rest into the world baseball classic you know is he hurt or is he tired i would like to hear your guys take on that
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Chapter 4: How consistent has Jeff Hoffman been in recent games?
Like I said, teams that go late, that go on late runs in the playoffs, I know Kevin's going to poo-poo it because they've got their sports science department and everything. We've seen it in the past. I don't know. It happens with teams that go in a late run or that go deep in the playoffs when they're not used to it. It just does.
And I don't think it's got anything to do with the dude's age or anything. I mean, Mookie Betts has had it happen to him in the past. Other guys have had it happen to them in the past. So, you know, we'll see. I just... I think it's kind of silly to just kind of, you know, outright deny that it could be a factor.
I mean, you're a little soft on that. No, I'm not.
No, Kevin, I've seen it. I've seen it. And I know what your point is. You know, he played hurt every day and all that, and I get it. But you know what? How did he look in the WBC? He looked fine in the WBC. He looked really good in the WBC. So good, in fact, that I'd rather he wasn't in the WBC and that he was at home.
Yeah, I mean, listen, no one's saying it's definite, but I don't think you can dismiss it outright. Like, dudes do get tired, Kevin. I hate to tell you that. They do get tired. And I know that they've got nice, cushy chartered flights and all this stuff and yada, yada. They do get tired. So I'm just saying it's a possibility. Do I think that it's the, you know, the reason? No.
But is it a possibility? It could be part of it. It could be.
Well, thank goodness we finally got to the bottom of the race.
No, I'm just saying that, you know, you got a better idea? I mean, you talk about the plan B and everything like that, and I think that's part of it. But, you know, again, you can't dismiss it outright. We don't know. We just don't know. But the idea that it's impossible that a dude could be tired, Kevin, is come on.
I mean, that's, you know, you've got to at least consider that it might have something to do with it. But you're right. I mean, does it explain the fact he's only got three home runs? No. If he was that tired, he'd be playing. You'd think he'd be playing really bad defensively. You'd think if he was that tired, he'd be lining up in the manager's office saying, I need some time off.
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Chapter 5: What impact did Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have on the game?
It's my ball. It's my mound. You guys are just going to go sit down. It doesn't matter what you do. You're going to get out. And it's really something that I've really enjoyed to watch this year. But how much can the Blue Jays keep throwing this guy? He's up to 40 innings now, and we're not even 80 games into the season.
It's every other day more than that, and I just don't know how much longer he can keep it up, even though he looks – incredibly strong and fit right now. But what do you think are the long-term plans with Louis back there?
Well, I mean, if he's going to close, he better get used to this because that's how most closers work on good teams. You're not going to be getting three or four days off if you're a closer. So that's where we are. You know, I don't want to pump the brakes on Louis, but I want to say this. We haven't seen him have to do this for a prolonged period of time in his career.
is it possible that he could end up being the guy? Clearly. The Jays have got him under control for a long time. But I'd still like to see another arm in the back of the bullpen. You know, I look at a Roldis Chapman going to waste in Boston. I'd love to have a Roldis Chapman in this team. Another arm in the back end of the bullpen. And if Louie can do it, fine.
But, you know, much the same as we saw Jeff Hoffman be really good at times last year. And I know his stuff isn't the same. But we saw Jeff Hoffman be really good at times last year. What was John Schneider saying all along? He's never gone wire to wire as a closer. So I think if they stay in contention, Kevin, to me they have to bring a guy in with a bit of a track record as a closer.
And if Louie can do it, I mean, that's great. That's fine. You'll always find a spot for a leverage arm.
Yeah, and the problem, too, is the rotation is just not throwing enough innings, right? And that forces John to have to go sixth inning with a high-leverage guy, seventh inning. You know, you're up-downing one of those two guys, and then you have to go to Louie a lot to get three outs at least and maybe four outs, and that's another up-down.
So, yeah, just because of what your rotation's not doing is the reason why you're having to abuse and you're losing baseball games. And when you're losing and you've got a chance to win – You want to throw your best arms, I'm with you. We've been saying this for a while, right? They need another arm. One of those guys, I call it the light show. It might be some heavy lifting.
You know, that Chapman dude that plays for Boston, that's a pretty good light show. I mean, you run that thing out there, that would give Louie a little bit of a break. You wouldn't have to use him as much. You could use that dude whenever you wanted to use him because he can get righties out the way he can. So, yeah, I mean, but you can't argue what Louie's doing, Jeff.
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Chapter 6: How did Andrés Giménez influence the game with his base running?
Hopefully Ross goes out and gets him another arm. Maybe Jimmy can come back and be kind of that fill-in-the-blank, just at least enough to give Louie a little bit of a break until they can fill in the blank in other ways. Yeah. You just can't argue. I mean, the dude's elite right now. And for me, it's because of the changeup.
Good for him to recognize a problem, going out and fixing it, getting together with all the khakis and Pete Walker, man alive. Boy, they nailed it. He's got elite stuff, man.
This is a winning edition of Blue Jays Talk. The Jays have beaten the Boston Red Sox 3-0. The number is to call 416-870-0590, star 591-888-666. 0-5-90, the text line is open. 5-90, 5-90 is the text line. Kevin from Barry. This Varlin trade might be one of the best of all time for this franchise when all is said and done. One pitch away from an immaculate inning.
I mean, you know, the Joe Carter, the Alomar deal was pretty good. There have been a fair number of good deals for this team, to say the least. But it wasn't a bad deal. No, I'll tell you that much. They look like geniuses for sure. Well, and they've got this guy. They've got control of this guy for a few more years, which is and that to me is one of the things I want to see the Jays do.
The trade deadline this year is I just don't want rental players. I want him to I want him to go out and add a guy, another Varland. Try to find the Louis Varland who's a position player, a guy that's going to be here for the next three or four years. That, to me, is what you should be doing if you're Ross Atkins. Not simply going out and just renting a guy.
Although, you know, I certainly wouldn't buy a rental either.
That shortstop for the Nationals looked pretty good as a blue jay.
He would indeed. JJ in Toronto. I can't help but think that 2026 Spencer Miles is 2025 Eric Lauer. Who knows how the rest of the season goes, but that guy has saved our bacon quite a bit. He's Eric Lauer with about an extra six or seven miles an hour. Listen, I'm... Kudos to whoever in that organization pounded the table to make him a Rule 5 pick.
Whoever was the voice in the room that said, we need to get this guy and we need to hang on to this guy, whoever that person is. They deserve a raise.
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Chapter 7: What are the concerns about the Blue Jays' bullpen depth?
Like his fastball's been getting hammered. How do you fix that? It's kind of like Louie. How do you get more swing and misses? How do you be a little bit more unpredictable when you hit her? You start spinning a little bit more. You know, he could get some called strikes. He could throw it to both hitters.
You know, he's throwing that thing more to righties because his split finger wasn't working. He had to throw it to lefties too. And now all of a sudden his split finger, like it was tonight, was working and he could make it look like a strike. He was missing good, which we haven't seen him do a ton. John's getting more comfortable about where he puts him and who he puts him up against.
I just like the way he spins it, Jeff. When he spins it like that and he can make those things competitive and he's got the other secondary pitch that he can throw to a lefty. I mentioned, if you're going to be a high leverage righty, how do you get a lefty out? Well, you throw the split finger. You elevate the velocity.
He's got a little extra gear to it now because he's made the little mechanical tweak. Nobody knows what that is. I mean, I'm sure small enough just mentally it gives him enough confidence that he knows when he throws it, it's going to work. But you can't argue. I mean, it's just, you know, and even tonight when he got a runner on base, Jeff, the train didn't go off the tracks. No.
I think you've got to give him credit with that, too. That's been the bugaboo with him. It's kind of when, you know, if he hits a batter like he did that one time he had the bad outing, it just seems like he feels like to himself, uh-oh, here we go again. Well. The last couple of times he's let a runner on, it hasn't been that way. Give him credit. I know it's hard, but give him credit.
Yeah, I got all the confidence in the world in him as long as it isn't the ninth inning.
That's fair.
You can use him anytime. Just don't run him out there in the ninth inning with the game on the line against the meat of the order. That's all. And, and, and that's, you know what? And that's fine. That that's, that's fine. He's, you know, he, he can, he can, they can find leverage. I mean, there's no, if you're not scoring runs, there's no shortage of leverage.
You've got leverage in the first inning if you're not scoring runs, basically. So they'll find, you know, they can find places for him. I like to use the word Dan Duquette used to use it all the time and talk about finding responsible areas to use them. I like that word, and I'm okay finding responsible areas to use Jeff Hoffman.
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Chapter 8: What are the long-term plans for Louis Varland in the bullpen?
Actually, that's not true. No, there are a couple of teams that are two and a half back. Yeah. Put a fork in them. Put a fork in him. The other scores, the Baltimore Orioles are on the coast. They are leading Seattle 2-0 early in that game. The Yankees, they're on a roll. They beat the Chicago White Sox 10-5.
That is a final, and the Dodgers did everybody in the division a favor by beating Tampa Bay 5-4. So the standings are as follows. The Yankees, my Yankees, are in first place. 45-27. Barker's Rays. Barker's Rays, they are 41-30. The Jays are 36-38. Baltimore, Baltimore is 34-40. And the poor old Boston Red Sox, they are 29-42. They are 12-24 at home.
You've almost got to try to stink that badly at home.
Yeah, it almost is like they are trying.
You almost have to. Just a couple minutes left before we scoot. Get you caught up in some of the news from earlier today. Max Scherzer did not start today. Hence, Braden Fisher made the start of bullpen day seven pitchers for the Blue Jays. Scherzer's on the I.L. with back spasms. Shane Bieber did start today. Did make a rehab start at AAA. Don't worry about the numbers.
Bottom line, he got up to 80 pitches. If he feels good, chances are pretty good that the next time this turn and the rotation comes around Kevin Barker, it will be Shane Bieber on the mound. And tomorrow, the Jays and Red Sox, they have an afternoon game scheduled, but keep an eye on the weather.
Listen to Sportsnet 590, the fan, because there's some folks that have serious doubts as to whether or not that thing will get that thing in tomorrow. But again, it's Trey Savage on the mound for the Blue Jays tomorrow against Sonny Gray. And the Jays do have another series in Boston at the end of the year, and they've got a day game in Chicago.
So hopefully, if the Red Sox, if the weather does stink in Boston, the Red Sox won't keep everybody tied up, and they'll make a decision early to call it. Very quickly, Max Scherzer. I think he's made his last start for the Jays.
Probably. I would think so. They're in win mode. He's not pitching well enough, I would think, to be a part of that. I'm sure this is a group decision. Obviously, it starts with his decision first. Can he get out of this? Can he be productive? Can he be competitive? Right now, they've got better options. I think that's the gist of this thing.
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