Bateman, Bullpen Battle as Jays Beat Orioles to Even Series

0:00Meet the Red Bull Dragonberry Emergizer. It's one of the many new drinks out now. Who knew ice cold drinks could be so? Fire. Try them all only at McDonald's. Harry Styles, together, together. Playing live across North America in 2027 with very special guests. Sign up for pre-sale access at hstyle.co.uk. Well, Nick, the Stirling Saturday results continue. The J's grabbing a win on the best day of the week. Yet again, a 7-3 win today over the Orioles set up rubber match tomorrow. You have to go back to before the All Star break. In San Diego to find a Saturday on which this team lost a ballgame. And then the opposite of Sundays, if you want to look at the schedule that way. But lots of great stuff to get to today.

1:00Kirk, Goes Yard, Bateman, Goes Yard for the second game in a row. Vlad E. Hammers and RBI double to open the scoring. J's get back to within 500 or one game within 500. They are 74 and 75 and are now one and a half games back of the Guardians with that game, of course, still presently on the go. But lots of positive for us to get to in a 7-3 win. Absolutely. And we talked before the game about the things that this offense had been lacking. And something people talked about all season long is the power element. The power element has not been there. And another thing that's gotten a little bit less attention, but is also important is the patience. They have not been able to get on base via the walk. And that just allowed them to have fewer base runners and score fewer runs. In this game, it was a different style of offense. They hit those two home runs with Bateman and Kirk going deep. They took five walks in this game. They actually struck out nine times. They were selling out. They were trying to do damage. They were trying to get extra base hits and home runs.

2:00Of course, it worked for Bateman. It worked for Kirk. It worked for Vlad E. Getting them started to go with that opposite field double. And it just looked a little bit different. And it was refreshing for a Blue J's team that, as has been the case for much of the season, had been struggling to push runs across. That is Nick Ashmore. I'm Shoah Ali. You're listening to Blue J's talk on sports. We're also streaming on sportsnet.ca and on the sportsnet app. He can give us a call 416-870-0590, one triple A-Triple-60-590, star 590 on your cell. You can text us as well. 590-590, name and location. The people's text line always open. Standard, messaging and data rates may apply. You know, I know a lot happened today. And we'll get to, I also want to talk about Spencer Miles. Get to Erigetti as well. Rodgers and Barlin continue to look damn good. As they have all season. But I wanted to start with Bateman today with you. Because we're sitting here in the booth. You know, crowd, sold out crowd, as it usually is. Pretty much every single night. Bateman hits the home run. He points to his bicep as he's rounding the bases.

3:01Great moment. The crowd is deafening. It is absolutely going ballistic. Two days in a row now with a home run. He has an OPS of above 850 after that home run. Pretty incredible. And he is giving this home run. Pretty incredible. And he is giving this place life. And of course, it's not just, Brett Baman, by all means. It's a lot of guys, right, Nick? But I said it before, like, you and I get to come down here fair bit. And the crowd is basically begging on their hands and these. They are begging this team to give them a reason to lose their minds. So I am really happy for everyone here. They got to see what we got to see today. And certainly for all of those home as well, whether you watched or listened. That you get a good reason to cheer. And Bateman has been so often in the middle of exciting electric moments for this team. And it just that continued today. BNS, Ben Nichols, and Samantha are colleague tweeted this out earlier. Brett Bateman, home run totals, college, zero and 128 games. Minor leagues, six and three hundred and 17 games.

4:04And now, and majorly baseball, two in 30 games. That's pretty incredible. It's quite the turn of events. Even Arns Welling doing his interview on the field after the game sort of alluded to. He said, you know, the thing that people kind of knew about you coming into this organization. And what people have heard on the scouting reports is just this guy doesn't really have pop. And it wasn't a horrible black mark on his record. Players have strengths, players have weaknesses. It was just sort of considered the reality. This is a guy who is a smaller hitter who focuses on patience and contact. That's what he's good at. Don't expect any home runs. And if we're going to be totally clear, I don't think there's going to be a massive surge of home runs from here on out. Oh, dear you. But, but you have to give the guy credit. People basically said, you know, he's not really going to be able to provide this. And at least for this little stretch here, two home runs in two days. Neither of them cheap, both 403 feet. I remember we got to call it. Believe it was maybe even just last weekend where someone asked us, you know, they said,

5:04Brett Bateman has done everything, but what would it take for him to hit a home run? And I kind of laid out a scenario where like, okay, well, anyone can sort of turn on the ball. You yank one down the line, 350, 360 feet, something like that, or you just let the ball carry. And when I imagined a Brett Bateman home run, that's sort of what I thought it would be. And I was very much incorrect because he absolutely smoked those two, you know, that right center field gap. And it's not easy to put them out there. And I don't believe he's going to become a massive power hit overnight. But again, he has been so good in pretty much every fast of the game. I thought his defense today was incredibly impressive. In that critical sick inning, he had a play where there was a double that he cut off, preventing one runner from scoring. And then the next hitter comes up and hits a pretty hard ball to center field in the right center field gap. And then he tracks out down and gets it on the run, not an easy play whatsoever. And just that sequence alone kind of prevented the oil from getting back into it.

6:08He has been a real bright spot. I mean, this is a text from, and again, 595 90, name and location, this from Jason and Scarborough. Bateman has been such a bright side since being called up. I feel like without him, we would be in a different spot today. He's helped with the J's newfound energy. I'm not going to read this text from Austin in Fergus, but Austin just know that I did chuckle when I read it about a play with Brett Baben's last name. And I think you could probably put two and two together, but I just know that I did appreciate it, but I don't want to get in trouble for reading it. This one's from Aaron and Toronto. I can't believe the best transaction the blue jays made at the deadline was beloved team icon Kevin Gossman for a prospect that pretty much everyone expected very little of at the time. And it's only been, and it's only a little bit close. I think in terms of like the best transaction, sorry on it. He puts in brackets. Sorry on is great, but Bateman basically resurrected the season. I still think sorry on just from like a, in terms of the jays needing starting pitching.

7:09I might put sorry on this a pitch above, but he had to to Aaron's point. He has been kind of inconsistent, even if he has founded a little more of that consistency, but relatively recently, but still I, I, I had to hand up. I admit I was already a big fan of closing story on I did not really know much about Brett, but prior to the trade deadline. So I think that does color my perception of it a little bit. There's another one here. Oh, yeah, Brett the hitman, Bateman. He has to change his walkup music to Bret Hart's 1997 theme hard attack. I mean, look, I am a big hitman fans. I would, I would be fine with this. Although I feel I do feel like everyone I make pop culture references, V's of the Brett Bateman. I feel like Batman references for me are a little closer to what I would imagine. Pop culture references go with him in particular like, you know, a big man. You know, like that's what that's what I'd like to see, you know, for talking about that. I also regret to inform the listener that Brett was born in 2002, which perhaps can limit the type of. Does he know who Brett Hart is? I don't know.

8:09Tough. Yeah, I would not be betting on that. So that does perhaps color the type of nicknames we should be considering. 416870591 triple a triple six 0 590 star 590 on your cell. I also wanted to get to I mentioned the bullpen day. Of course today was a day in which the blue jays and I guess really an Orioles deployed a whole whack of pictures. But we knew it was a bullpen day going into this. Let's see seven pictures. Saw the mound for the blue jays today. Miles Man supply Eric Eddie who actually got the win considering they taking the loss and basically every other. Pierrancy had as a blue jays. So Eric Eddie gets the win. Flu Hardy C wall Rogers of Ireland and you know Spencer Miles and Spencer Eric Eddie. The Spencer's are definitely the two guys. I just wanted to focus on because you know there was the man to apply outing and he was very efficient today. So I'm going to add a little bit of the man to play outing very quickly just as the left of that pot left you for that pocket of lefties on the Orioles side. But largely the bulk quote unquote bulk outings came from Miles and Eric Eddie. You know what? Miles isn't is so fascinating to me.

9:14We heaped a lot of praise on him in the pregame show deservedly so. And today you know he threw how many pitches did he end up throwing in the end he ended up throwing 44 pitches. And I mean before the game John Strider said between 14 45 pitches so pretty much right in there. I mean that the two similar lefties on the front head is usually such a nasty pitch that he does keep that back pocket. And then it did seem like in the first inning he was having some issue commanding some of his top shelf stuff the slider looked commander of this command of the slider looked a little better. Nick and it was just interesting reason they note that is because command with Miles is not always a huge problem. And then you know he used it to get ahead of Vincarnation strand he eventually flies out and then comes out and just dominates in that second inning right 789 strikes out the side so you know no harm no foul certainly. But I thought that was an interesting brief blip and then he came out and basically made that not mattery slaps his glove clearly very happy with what went down again 789 but it continues to be a treat to watch Spencer Miles.

10:20It was a funny one for him because you look at the box score right and it says two walks and five strikeouts and you just assume okay he's being really inefficient he's going deep into a bats you know he doesn't really have a handle on his repertoire. And he did lose those hitters in the first inning it wasn't perfect but he just laid out that he threw strikes you know nearly three quarters of a time. He was very much in the zone and he pounded the zone with that sinker he threw it 64 percent of time that was the emphasis he was going to come in there in the zone with the sinker and kind of see what the opposition could do against it often the way that works is quick innings and balls on the ground but the Orioles had a hard time just squaring it up at all and making contacts you get a ton of strikeouts as a result. I mean with miles you just expect scoreless innings at this point 18 of his last 19 appearances have been scoreless and some of those have been multi-ending appearances he's been fantastic and then Eric getty is extremely different stylistically it's a ton of curve falls it's quite a few pitches outside the zone he gets a couple walks as well but that was a little bit more reflective of what he was doing like he was really nibbling in that game and it's it can be sometimes kind of frustrating to watch.

11:36I think that's much that style of pitching in this particular case it was effective in the sense there were no earned runs against but he does deserve some credit because he really kept the ball away from the middle of the play you rarely challenged Orioles hitters and again that style of pitching can kind of go either way. I think Jay's fans have seen that with Eric getty but in this particular outing he kept it on the edges enough and he got enough swing and miss that it sort of worked in the end even though there were moments where it didn't feel like he was quite in control of the game. Yeah Eric getty was an interesting one right I mean he came into this game with a five run lead so a decent amount of run support and it is fascinating to watch him pitch because he did stay to your point stay away from the middle of the zone but he also seemingly struggled to throw strikes because I do think he was trying to throw stones. He just could not necessarily do it particularly consistently but he never really made that one mistake that doomed him and a lot of the other starts where he misses so badly is missing over the middle of the play. So again we'll see what how the blue jays feel his outing went obviously he only let up the one run which was under and thanks to fun only enough to Okamoto Air was on the same play but again so no harm no foul with that.

12:47There's a text here from Jane Coquitlam nice to see Eric getty redeem himself with the win hopefully they can build miles up her rotation spot next year does anyone realize if the jays weren't in the AL East we'd be two games back on first round by how bad is this league go twins go white socks we need some help actually where's that twins game anyways they were yeah it's still four three twins in the bottom of the second and the white socks will play later tonight against the against the cards that game starts in about 45 minutes in real time but yeah as far as jays text about Eric get it I mean I gotta think that again should the team have a healthy rotation starting next year again assuming baseball will be played I have to imagine he is like depth at this point right I mean he'd probably start the year in Buffalo and still have a chance get called up I mean we've seen the kind of the proof of concept with Eric getty at the major league level even as recently as the beginning of this season right with the with the Astros so yeah would be would be interested to see how they view him moving forward but obviously you know if you have a chance to see how he's going to see the game is going to be a good idea. You know if you have if you're going into next year and you have all of see sorry on a you savage ponds and somebody and it could be anybody could be a beber truthly could be could be one of the minor league guys it could also be Eric getty truthly but yeah you have a lot of options miles to just because J mentioned this on the text line.

14:04So Schneider had said pregame the vision for miles could still include him as a starter but that's an off season decision and I said this earlier in the week I was doing the post game shows solo on Monday Tuesday and you know after he came out for that six out save on on I guess Tuesday night Wednesday morning my I said that my irrational belief is that Spencer miles could be a great starter maybe not so rational Nick but at the same time he has both the raw stuff and the arsenal to be a boat and if you're a certified closer if you really want him to at the very least a high leverage guy so that should whichever way they go there that's going to be a really interesting call obviously in the off season. Earlier in the year this idea was floated especially because they were in such desperate need of starters that he was giving you some of those sort of 3.2 4 inning quasi starts and people start talking about is this guy someone who will be in the rotation longer term he certainly has the repertoire kind of got a 4 pitch mix that should work against the season lefties and we said this in the pregame anything he's been asked to do he's essentially done it earlier in the season I would have said you know he has so few minor league innings under his belt you got to be really careful with this guy he could break it any moment that's kind of what has happened in his professional career but now you look up and he's one out from getting 90 innings by the end of the year I don't know exactly what that's numbers going to be could be close to 100 that's actually made it.

15:33Maybe not the ideal foundation for building someone up for a starter but it's a credible one we see guys who are minor leagueers early in their career do something like that and then you give them a more traditional starting load that following season so you always want to be cautious with guys who are talented but have durability concerns which certainly is a description that applies to miles but I've started to come more of a believer in the idea he could be a starter at some point because he is really put together just a full wired. research through we went a afar larger workload in 2026 then it was reasonable to imagine for 168.590.591 triple entry, 00590 star 590 on your sell. Let's go back to or let's go to the phone so I should say to kick off. Let's go to Lauren in Simco, Lauren what's up today Hey, Nick. I don't want to put Bateman and the Buster is the Buster was the Buster ever will be category. But if you guys come out there in those sick pick glasses, I might call him the hitman, but he just needs to be a batman for two weeks to be hot and he's a spark plug. He's energy. He brings in life.

16:35Like they were life with the varsha where they're in the line at the parables and sounds of ours, but they were. As your Spencer, his real pattern is the Ross tripling model back in 21-22. Ross had some leverage. She had a close two games. He has some swing motion. That's the track record for Spencer. Got to talk about Vladie. What is his real batting average after the fifth inning in leverage? You know last night he came out twice with leverage points. It was, you know, typical Vladie. And Sees being a day pushed back, is there a cause of concern? And do you think there's a picks limit on him tomorrow for the game? And I'm looking forward to be at the park and I'm sure McCall, guys. Yeah, Lord appreciate the call as always. Yeah, Sees tomorrow just to work backwards. I, I wouldn't be, I don't think they'll be necessarily a pitch limit, but I do wonder if they'd be just monitoring him a little closely after the Velo drop. But again, that was a big part of the reason why we didn't get Sees Soriano and we got bullpen Sees essentially, right? And then still feel good about Sees Soriano for the

17:36series finale against the Oreo Soriano series opener against the Tigers. And I mean, look, it actually matches up pretty well. All things considered with Sees tomorrow because Trevor Rogers is going for the Oreo. And he's been pretty good in the last one month in a bid or so. Maybe since the All-Star break, but if you want to go back a little further, but yeah, you can have a, maybe you can look forward to a somewhat of a lower scoring game tomorrow with Sees and Rogers on the mound. It should be pretty fun. I am, cause we're concerned. I think maybe, maybe like, you know, the orange light is flashing to a certain extent just because of fatigue, but I'm like outright worried about Dylan Sees right this second no. But I mean, if he comes out tomorrow and is throwing, you know, he's not, he doesn't get anywhere close to 97, 90, miles an hour than I mean, maybe I might be a little worried. I think the alarm starts to ring. I don't know, call it third inning, fourth inning. Because we've seen with him before sometimes he'll begin games and kind of build his velocity over the course of the game. And part of what happened with that starting in athletics is that it started low and then it just didn't really build.

18:38And so that that's really problematic for Sees. And he has been on this decline over the course of the year when it comes to pure velocity. Now the results haven't necessarily followed that. He's been really good even with the velocity going down a little bit. But earlier in the year, it was more, you know, 97, 98 as an average. And in the middle and later portions, it's been closer to kind of 96 or high 95s. So he's been able to navigate that. You have to give him credit that athletic start was a little bit of a wake up call in terms of, you know, is he hitting a wall here? They gave him a day longer than they conceivably could have. Let's see if there's a little bit of bounce back there. I think you just kind of have to give him the benefit of the doubt at this point because he just clearly the blue jays best option. And if he throws another start resembling what he did against athletics, then maybe we're having a different conversation. But for now, we can kind of treat that as a blip until it's proven otherwise. Thoughts on Vlad. I mean, I think that there's a difference between somehow and how people feel about the season, which is a huge disappointment.

19:40There's no way around that. And then some of the literal numbers on it, right? Is high leverage OPS the season is 785? His low leverage is 631. So it actually been significantly better in high leverage. Now is 785 good enough? No, because he should be well over 800 in any context. So there's plenty of reasons to complain about what Vlad is done in this particular game. You know, he's the one who got them on the board. Initially, he's had far worse performances than this. So yeah, there's issues with what he's doing in leverage in the sense it's below his overall standards. But if we're talking about what is wrong with Vlad, he's season, that's not necessarily where I'm pointing fingers. Yeah, one for four today. He did score two runs. Have the RBI double struck out twice. But look, I do think maybe I made you the bar is just low now, but I that he has started the game strong. I don't know. Look, we spent a lot of time talking about Vlad this year. And we're probably never going to stop because he's here for a long time. But yeah,

20:43I find it hard to get like two into the weeds on Vlad, day, day, one, seven, three. And he also opened the scoring, right? That's just that's kind of how I view it personally. It just sort of feels that this point in the season, it's not really about evaluation and big picture. Like it's time to zoom in. It's time to think about each individual game as, you know, play off adjacent. Not quite a playoff game, but like those meaningful race games. And so, you know, if we want to have those conversations about Vlad, he season as a whole, the offense being a drag as a whole, guys who didn't perform as expected, some of the injuries things that we actually did talk about a bit in the pregame show, you know, some of those conversations end up being more of offseason conversations. Because right now, there's just such a narrow focus on, are they going to win Sunday? Are they going to get the tiebreaker against the Orioles? Did the Cleveland Guardians win today? Like, I think the more quote unquote important the games get, the more that should be the focus. And then, you know, the bigger picture stuff with Vlad, it's understandable that there's a alarm. I think the greater alarm should

21:46come if next season we're starting to see this kind of stuff. Right now, the evidence is pointing to this is a lost season for Vlad. Don't expect Vlad to show up in the last handful of games and deliver star level performance. I'm not saying it's impossible, but right now, I think you just kind of run that to the end. What's Vlad going to give you? You kind of hope, oh, he'll give you some occasional experience power. He'll get on base at a decent rate because he walks and he doesn't strike out too much, even though he did today. And you think of him kind of as a complimentary piece. And he'll right now, Alejandro Kirk is your star. Brett Bateman is your star. Those are the guys that were going off. You hope that Vlad can contribute. But if we're going to every day litigate is Vlad going to get back to being a star in the next couple of weeks, it just feels like that's unlikely to happen. Yeah, this one's this text from Jim and Waterloo, Vlad, in the last two weeks, what do you expect from him? Yeah, I mean, in terms of expectations, the bar is pretty low, unfortunately, but I would hope that you get some production from him. I'm not necessarily going

22:48to cross my fingers and hope that he just runs into a couple more home runs. Although that would be nice. I do hope he gets to double digit home runs. Because again, we talked about this in the pretty game show and people have texted about this, called about this. I mean, if you think about like how the team where the team would be if he had, I'm not even talking about 30 home runs. Well, that would be nice. You know, where would the team be if Vlad had even when he has eight home runs right now, even what, 15 home runs to give the guy what, seven more home runs. I mean, seven more home runs from that guy and that parts of the order he's hit for basically the entire season is probably enough to twist spin, flip, why, like two games at least at least two games, probably more honestly, if we're making it really honest. So yeah, I totally get the questions. Justin in Washington, DC, Vlad, he doubles at the tone for the win today, Ryder, Ty, Vlad Guerrero Jr. Last mile, start versus Baltimore, he lost today, he even the score. I used to know that's true. I hadn't actually forgot about that. Yeah, Miles continues to be a lot of fun and his, his import to this team, whether it is as a starter, as an opener, a bulk ice,

23:55gets him getting the saves, high leverage, reliever. I mean, it was, it was Lauren that mentioned the Ross Strippling comparison and I just before we go back to the phones, it's just that is not an easy thing to do. Like that's what I think that's actually why a lot of, there was so much praise for Strippling because he was able to do kind of that, that dual role and do it pretty well. And I think that same season there was also that, that I think there was, he came in for like what a single out in Los Angeles when the bases were loaded and that was a game, O'Tonney started, I think, and I think he was at the plate as well when he was still playing for the Angels and, and then Strippling came out and got the save. It's just guys who can do that versatile role, it might sound, it might, you might think to yourself, all right, well, they're pictures, they can just do whatever. I don't think it's that easy to mentally shift your role when you're being asked to do these very high leverage, change from a high leverage guy to a starter and your VLO changes, all these things about how you prepare your day changes. So that Miles has been able to do it in every possible scenario. I actually give him a lot of credit for. It's really difficult to do. And part of what's interesting about that flexible role, swingman role, things like that is that it's usually not

25:01given to the guys who are supremely talented. Like, Ross Strippling was a really good pitcher, but it's not like he was throwing 98, 99, like Miles can get up to sometimes. When guys show the level potential that Miles has shown, they normally get given a role because there's an expectation that they can truly excel in one role. So why mess with that success? The case just for the blue jazze is that they've had this variety of needs over the course of the season, whether it's been the chaos in the rotation, whether it's been the decision to trade away Jeff Hoffman, they've needed to move him around. I ain't get a perfect world longer term. They actually are probably going to want to choose one path for him and let him run with it in part because there's potential for him to be very good, whether it is as the high leverage reliever, whether it is as the middle of the rotation starter, maybe even better if he's able to build it up over a long period of time. So I understand that comparison today. I think longer term, the organization is going to want him to find a lane

26:04because he has a higher ceiling than a lot of those guys who get thrown in that swingman role where they're sort of decent in various capacities, but they're not truly excellent at either. Like no one who's an excellent starter is a swingman, because if they're an excellent starter, they're just going to be a starter. And I believe based on what we've seen from Miles that he could be excellent, kind of in either role really, and we'll see how that goes over the course of the offseason. I would imagine he would prefer being a starter just because if you're going to money, yeah, you can make a bowl of cash. So I would not blame him if that is the route he chose to take. All right, let's go back to the phone. So far 16870591 Triple A triple 60590 star 590 on your cell. Nathan in Thornhill joining us here on Blue Jace Talk. Nathan, what's up? Yeah, hi guys. Thanks for getting me on. So, you know, obviously I'm very happy they won today, but I want to address the base running on this team. Glady got picked off twice this week, taking huge lead, it leads off. And then today, human is round third. And the ball is still in the

27:12infield. And these are preventable errors. And it's, you know, it was when you do this, it's it's demoralizing. It's a rally killer. And it's right in front of you. And it's not like you're asking people, oh, you have to hit a 450 foot home run. These, this is a basic error. And I blame the coaching like for allowing a huge lead off. I would not reading the play in front of you. And, and, you know, the other, the other contenders want to win as much as the Blue Jace. And it's going to come down to, how mayor is that? That's a, I appreciate the call Nathan. Listen, I do think, I mean, glady getting back picked the other day was just silly. I think we can all agree on that. The Hemenes thing today was was an interesting one because I, for again, you have to ask him about what he saw, I suppose. But

28:16from the, our vantage point up here, it kind of looked like I think it was, was it in Carnation? It was stranded with the ball on his hand. And he was going to throw the ball to first. I guess realize he didn't have a play, ate it, turned his other way and then saw Hemenes, who I guess I don't know if Hemenes just thought that that ball had already left in Carnation, strand's hand. It would, maybe he, maybe he just got fooled by where that ball was because it kind of looked like he was ready to go home on the throw. And again, they were, to your point about being aggressive, they were very aggressive today. So maybe that's a part of the game plan. That, that one, I just, I find that one a little in a, in a bit of a different category then, like a guy getting caught at first base when he's too far off the bag, for example. Maybe they're like, we can talk about them because they were still mistakes. And I still, I still thought there was maybe a good chance that Hemenes got back to the bag. Obviously they ruled on that pretty quickly. But yeah, that was, that was like, somewhat you of a unique play we saw with Hemenes today. It was a peculiar one. I got to give a little bit of credit to Encarnation strand because that

29:18was fairly heads up. Normally there isn't a play there. So in that situation where it's an infield hit and it's a slow rolling ball and you come to the realization that you're not going to have a throw at first base. In many cases, the fielder just sort of picks up the ball and the play effectively ends. And so the fact that he thought to take a peek at third and see what the situation was there, you know, that led to an out. And I again, I would give credit there, although, you know, Hemenes clearly got a little bit reckless or sloppy or too aggressive. Have everyone to put it by getting that far from the bag. You know, getting picked off is never really an excusable play. You could argue there's something to it like they say that if you've never missed a flight in your life, you're going to the airport a little bit too early. Like at a certain point, you are going to want to give yourself leads that put you in a position to take extra bases and steel bases. Vladie is actually pretty good at taking extra bases going first to third and things like that, even though he doesn't steal bases. Again, you know, for this to happen with him

30:20multiple times, it's not something you ever want to see. And it's not really acceptable at the end of the day. But you're going to go through season and that will happen. It's not never going to happen. I'll say like that blue. These are not a good base running team. You can look at basically any number there, whether it's stolen bases. The team is faster now than it used to be with the inclusion of Bateman with Mael Strah getting more run in the lineup. Like it feels a little bit faster, but it's still not a good base stealing team. And it's a team that goes station to station a lot. There's plenty of hitters in this lineup who don't have above average speed. You know, Josh Smith today, scoring from first on a double. We didn't see a ton of that with the team, but he's someone a new addition who brings speed. There's some optimism that this team partly due to some of the personnel changes. And partly due to the offense, just performing better recently can create some opportunity on the bases, but they have been a below average base running team all season long. And that is a problem when your team that doesn't hit for a ton

31:20of power because you're relying on putting the ball in play and having guys run home. And when the guys are slow and they make too many outs and they make too many mistakes, you're undercutting an offense that already has a pretty low margin for error. So I understand when people see this, like it's pretty disheartening to see the blue chase squander outs on the bases because they are not the type of team that can afford to waste outs. 4168700591 triple latroupal60590 star 590 on your cell. Let's go back and take one more call before we take a break. Let's go out west to BC Lane in BC joining us here on Blue Jace Talk Lane. What's up today? Lane, I got you there. Lane in BC. Oh, hey guys, sorry about that. It's great to be on. I really appreciate you guys in the whole 590 team for the way you broadcast the games and cover the team. You do an awesome job and it's been a sad year for Canadian radio with Joe Bowen retiring and what happened in Vancouver and Tagorey. But one thing I wanted to ask you guys about was

32:25whether or not you think the Jace really missed an opportunity this year. I mean, when you think about how Dylan Seas is a Saiyan candidate and what Okamoto has done, what they did in the off season, so how weak the American League is this year. It just seems like, you know, we went back to back in 92 and 93 and when I look at the MLB this year, I think the Blue Jace had a really strong opportunity to be back to back American League champions and obviously a lot's gone wrong. But yeah, I was wondering if you guys would look at this year as a real missed opportunity or do you think it's just been bad luck. Thank you. Yeah, Lane, appreciate the call. Thanks for the kind of words I'll let Ben and Chris know. Certainly, I do think, look, I mean, it's not like they've missed the playoffs already. I mean, there's still this to what now 13 games to go. A lot of things could happen in 13 games. They're a game and a half back. We'll do the full standings watching on the other side. The top of the ninth actually for the twins and guardians. So if the twins who close things out, they'll, Jace will only be a half game, or a full game back part of me instead of

33:30a game and a half back. But I will. I do think to Lane's question about how would you view the season? And obviously, what happens this year would be a, like how far they go whether they make the playoffs, obviously, isn't a change your answer. But yeah, it's an interesting one, right? Nick, because if you had said to me that they'd make the playoffs before the season began, if you had said to me that they'd make the playoffs and then get knocked out in the wild card round, I'd unequivocally view that as a disappointment, right? Based on what we had witnessed up to game seven of the World Series. Now, if they make the playoffs, I still think for it to be viewed as a, again, quote, unquote, success. For me, it does feel like they'd at least need to play the ALDS. I don't know how you, how you, if you view it differently, but it does feel like because of everything they've endured in terms of bad luck that Lane mentioned, it does feel like you've kind of reframed it a little bit and in just making the playoffs, you've, you kind of like throwing your hand in the ring and you, it could be anybody even you. But again, it does feel like you need, because of the

34:34World Series on last year, even with everything that's gone on this year. For me, I still think I need a teens even more than simply making the playoffs. I don't know if that's fair to say. When you think bigger picture, the chances of the 2026 Toronto Blue Jays season going down as a success is vanishingly slim, right? They need to make the playoffs. Their slight underdogs do that. It's very much in play for them, but they need to make the playoffs and then they'd enter the playoffs as one of the biggest underdogs in a pack, even in a pretty uninspiring American league. And this is coming off a season where they came as close to winning the World Series as he possibly could. Part of the criticism of the kind of the era of the Blue Jays before the World Series run happened was sure this team can make the playoffs, but clearly they're not one of the true big teams in baseball because they've never even won a playoff game. Now, you can talk about the randomness of small series and the fact that they, you know, they, I think in a couple cases, like 21 and 22, I know they didn't make in 21. I think they legitimately had among the best

35:36teams in baseball in those two seasons and it just didn't work out, which can be the case. Like at baseball playoffs are pretty crazy. But the criticism was this team can kind of get there, but ultimately they're a mediocre team because once they get there, they never do anything. And so if you go back to the playoffs, again, this year, kind of back in your way in and then don't do anything, I am with you in the, that probably feels like an overall failure because you're just kind of back where you started before the 2025 World Series run if anything a little worse because the record's probably not going fantastic at the end of the day. So making it through a wild card series, I think would mean something because it would be, you know, after all these years of doing literally nothing in the playoffs, at least they've had playoff victory of some sort in two straight years. But I can see the season looking like a pretty big missed opportunity because the American League is so wide open. They're just not good teams in this side of it. And the Jays could have taken a decent step back and still comfortably won this wild card. And now they're

36:42fighting tooth and nail to do that, even with some of the performances like Dylan Seas and Nier Saeyong, like Louis Varlan, perhaps the most dominant reliever in the Major League's or at least in the American League, Okamoto having a rookie season that's probably better than reasonable expectations. It often feels that way when you have individual performances that are special and the team doesn't go anywhere. Like when I think of missed opportunities, I think of the Los Angeles Angels in the 2010s, Mike Trowt being the best player in baseball for extended period of time and then them getting Otani on top of that and accomplishing absolutely nothing. Of course, 2026 with Blue Jays no matter how bad it is, is not going to be that level bad. The Angels are different kind of franchise, but it will be hard to escape this season feeling like a disappointment. Which is before why I said before. It feels like the focus in terms of if you want to enjoy the season, let's narrow the focus. Let's make the focus on what's going to happen in the next 13 games and then we'll see where we go beyond that. But it is really hard for them to come out from the shadow of the 2025 World Series

37:47Club, put up a record that unless they win all the rest of their games and even then is not going to be super impressive. Let's say they make the playoffs as a third wild card and then they win a wild card series. Is the season a success? If I think they'd have to have like a good and actively decent showing in the ALDS, now we're splitting hairs. But if they got absolutely bombed in the air, like say it was, yeah, they got bombed by the white socks on the other side of that or something. I feel like you don't feel good about it. Yeah, it's probably fair. I think that's probably right. I just, it's just so funny how you reframe your expectations and maybe some haven't. Maybe that's just me, right? But it is funny how that looks when you have the C-Series Poochase had this year, right? Again, it does feel like should they make the playoffs, take a playoff spot from the Guardians or any of these other teams and they just make the playoffs and almost feels like after the grind that was the entirety of this year, it will feel like a success. But again,

38:51then you compare it to last year where they were inches of feet away from winning a World Series. You look at it differently, right? There's three chapters of expectations as far as the 2026 Blue Jays go, right? There's a start of season. We're coming off that World Series run and you're fully expecting at least playoffs and potentially making some noise there. And then for much of the season, let's call it the first half, there's that brutal disappointment compared to that expectation. Then there's the deadline. Then we get new expectations. Okay, a Gossman is gone. Varsho is gone. Hoffman is gone. They're already way behind. Now the rest of season is just, it is what it is. Let's look at the young guys. Let's try people in different roles. Let's see if something crazy happens. And then something kind of crazy did happen. They started playing really good baseball basically since the beginning of August. And now we're in chapter three where the expectation is make the playoffs. And if they don't do that, there's going to be a whole new wave of disappointment. 416 870 591 triple A triple 605 90 star 590 on yourself 595 90 name and

39:53location. Let's think of quick break. Come back. Check out the standings watch. Currency of bed 365. You go back to the text line as well. 595 90. You're listening to Blue Jays talk. That's Nick. I'm show back in a flash on sports net 590 to the fan and the Blue Jays radio network. McDonald's is putting value back on the menu. Whether you're craving a big Mac, McNuggets or sausage egg and cheese McGrittle's make it a meal and save. Your favorite is now your wallets favorite to extra value meals are back. Sun rises prices fall. Get a sausage Mcmuffin with egg or sausage egg and cheese McGrittle's small hot coffee and hash frowns for just six dollars. Price and participation may vary promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing. Ba ba ba ba ba. Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of a camera, the versatility of a RAV4, the efficiency of a Corolla or all electric driving in the BZ, there's a Toyota that's just right for you and with great deals across the lineup, now's the time

40:56to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales event and soon. We make it easy Toyota, let's go places. John with the baby news home runs last couple days. What's gotten into him there and what did you see? It's like Willie Mays Hayes, maybe League 2. He's putting, I mean today on the fastball, you know, yesterday on a slider 10 in a fastball, it's, you know, just good swings, you know, I think just getting good pitches to hit and not that we were expecting that, but I think just, just having a little bit of confidence and yeah, it's, I don't want to say I'm shocked, but, you know, it's not usually part of his game, but we'll definitely take it. That is John Schneider talking about Brett Bateman, put a charge into another one today, his second career major league home run in as many days as the Blue Jays beat the Orioles. Seven to three. I'm a show alley, Nick Ashborne alongside as well. You're listening to Blue Jays

42:00talk on sports net five down in the fan of the Blue Jays radio network. Before we get out of here, read some texts that we have some time. Let's check out the standings watch Nick presented by bet 36 five home of the five run early payout must be 19 plus Ontario only please play responsibly. Well, the game everyone wanted to know about has officially gone final actually in the commercial break. It went final and the Minnesota twins hanging on for a four three win over the Cleveland Guardians Jeff Hoffman. Everyone's favorite baseball player and AJ Mincher in the eighth and ninth inning striking out five of the seven batters they face to secure that four three wins. So with that win, the Blue Jays are now a game back of the Cleveland Guardians Cleveland 75 and 74, Toronto 74 and 75. The Rangers will play later, I think right there either action right now. Are they going to play no they're going to play a little later on eight 10 is the time of that game Eastern. So Rangers at Diamondbacks Rangers are 72 and 76 there two and a half back. The Orioles, of course, are playing the Orioles right now. The Blue Jays with the loss the Orioles 72 and 77.

43:04They're three back the twins with the win. They are four and a half back 70 and 78 and the Tigers who the Blue Jays will face starting Monday here at the Roger Center. They are five and a half back 69 and 79. They did have a comeback win over the Rockies today 11 to seven. The final score there. So as per your instructions last weekend, I will not include the Mariners in the out of town. It's it's done so for the Mariners apologies to our Mariners fans listeners. I don't know why you were listening, but my apologies are there. One team if I'm a Blue Jays fan, I'm watching very closely in the standings watch in the next couple of weeks is a Chicago White Sucks because the Guardians have been closing in on the White Sucks and if the Guardians flip that and get in the lead of the AL Central Division, that is bad news for the Blue Jays because the Blue Jays do not have the tie break against the White Sucks while they do against the Guardians. So another thing to look at in Beechuring 4 is White Sucks victory so they can hold on to that AL Central spot because if that flip happens, it means that the Blue Jays essentially need one more win in order to supplant that third

44:09wild card. Yeah the Guardians are 75 and 74 and the White Sucks are 75 and 72. Now the White Sucks have not yet played tonight. They will play actually in about 15 minutes or so. They're taking on the Cardinals in St. Louis, Sean Newcomb on the mound for the White Sucks Kyle Leihy on the mound for the Cardinals. So everyone will be a Cardinals fan I think for this weekend. The White Sucks has actually lost four in a row coming into today. So yeah, not great because to your point, it just means you have to make up one more game. So you're kind of rooting for the Blue Jays to thread that needle effectively down the stretch. But yeah, you are rooting for the White Sucks to win as many games as possible and I still think this is the White Sucks win their division and it's still up in the air as we're discussing. I do think Will Vennible is going to win manager of the year. Truthfully, I mean, this is a team that lost over 100 games last year and could win their division very next year. I don't think that's happened very often in Major League Baseball and if that's the case, I probably give it to that. The expectations for the team was virtually non-existent coming into season. I know that there were some reinforcements but it's not like people saw a massive upswing coming for the White Sucks. So certainly credit to their team for putting on a good show of

45:13season. And quick shout from the text line, Michael on the text line pointing out that on Monday, the White Sucks play the Guardian. So that's actually going to be a pretty important series for both the both the three. Extremely easy scoreboard watching from Blue Jays first back. Very, very easy. It makes my life a lot easier. Before we get out of here, a text to want to wrap up on here from Patrick and Vancouver. All the stats are great. But at this point, the only stat that matters are W's. Hope they get another rare Blue Jays win on a Sunday tomorrow. Expectations for Dylan Seas for you in the series finale. I expect that a day off will do him not a day off but pushing his start back further than it conceivably could have will give him the rest he needs. The velocity should be back. And this is a Baltimore Orioles team that strikes out a lot. So if you get Dylan Seas as vintage as possible, there's a good chance you see one of those very heavy strike out totals. Nick, that's a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun doing wins with you. It's more fun with wins than losses because we can be we can have a little more levity. Everyone's a little happier. So let's hope

46:15that keeps up as Patrick says for a rare Sunday win here at the Ryder Center tomorrow. Absolutely. And a fine Hello Kitty day to everyone of the ballpark. I tried in a quiet moment to find a Hello Kitty Kitty quotation that might sum up today's game. She's not very talkative. Apparently, her most famous quotation is you can never have too many friends, which I think is good advice. Broadly speaking, it applies to basically everything in life. So well done. Kitty White, native of London, England. I learned today's. There you go. Crazy lore with Hello Kitty, apparently, but it's a big brand. You people want a dig deep. Jay's baseball is brought to you by your local family on Crowns Control centers in Dolbo. A Valdez SARS Quebec, protect your vehicle with Canada's number one rest protection. Find your local Crowns Control family at crown.com for Ashboard. Ben Schulman, Chris LaRue, Tom Young, Andrew Adams, Nick Blackmore. I'm Shoah Ali. Nick and I back tomorrow to put a bow on this series with Dylan C's. I'll talk to you later.

47:30The Big Mac or 10-piece McNuggets, Fries, and a Medium Coke all for just $9. Limited time only promotion pricing may be lower than meal pricing. Toyota's easy choice sales event is on. Whether you're looking for the performance of a camera, the versatility of a RAV4, the efficiency of a Corolla, or all electric driving in the BZ, there's a Toyota that's just right for you. And with great deals across the lineup, now's the time to find yours. But hurry, these deals won't last long. Toyota's easy choice sales event end soon. We make it easy. Toyota, let's go places.