Toronto Blue Jays

May 23 (Reuters) – Former Red Sox manager Terry Francona enjoyed his return to Fenway Park on Thursday as his new team, the Cleveland Indians, hammered Boston 12-3. Francona won two World Series in eight years at the helm of the Red Sox before leaving at the end of the 2011 season and was making his first trip back as an opposing manager since taking over at Cleveland. … View full post on Yahoo! Sports – MLB – Toronto Blue Jays News

The affiliates were 1-3 on the night. The one win came on the back of a rejuvenated Daniel Norris, whose ten strikeouts over four innings of work was by far his best professional performance. Ryan Schimpf had four hits in a losing effort and Josh Thole went deep for Buffalo. The Lugnuts are on an eight game winning streak. Indianapolis 7 Buffalo 3It was 7-1 by the fourth inning and Indianapolis never looked back. While starter Justin Germano was hit around in this one?lasting three innings?his relievers put in a solid six innings of one hit baseball. Michael Schwimer pitched two of those innings and presumably would be the next guy up if someone were to be needed in Toronto. At the plate, Josh Thole went deep and Ryan Goins had two doubles.New Hampshire 4 Portland 8The Blue Jays AA affiliate fell to a rehabbing Franklin Morales. Ryan Schimpf, as mentioned at the top, had four hits and led the way offensively. The Fisher Cats, however, proved good studies of their parent club, kicking the ball around three times leading to three unearned runs. Only one hit for Kevin Pillar on the night.St. Lucie 8 Dunedin 5The Dunedin Blue Jays were done in by a big inning late. A five spot in the eighth inning chased Danny Barnes from the game. Barnes did not record an out. It was quiet night at the plate (starting to see the pattern?) for the Baby Jays. The Dunedin squad did muster a come back in the ninth, but Marcus Knecht?who has really stalled as a prospect?popped out with the bases loaded and Andy Burns flied out to end the game.Lake County 1 Lansing 6A big night for Daniel Norris. Norris struck out ten over four innings. He struck out the side in the second, third, and fourth. Yes, there were two walks, but the overall stat line is impressive and a big improvement from his work so far as a pro. His start today actually builds on several solid outings. Let?s hope he?s turned a corner here. At the plate, Dwight Smith Jr. had two hits and Kevin Pattterson had three hits and a homer.In other news, Balbino Fuenmayor has been released by the Lugnuts and Blue Jays. For those who remember, Fuenmayor was the first big 16 year old signing out of Latin America under J.P. Ricciardi after it became clear that they were completely wrong to walk away from the international scene and high school players. Blessed with impressive power, Fuenmayor put together a promising season in the Gulf Coast League at 18. It never got much better for him and he repeated Lansing not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times?ironic considering he struggled so much to take the walk. I got to see Fuenmayor in action on several occasions and he had that ability to convince you in short periods he was bound for greatness. It?s part of the reason why I think he was signed by the Jays at the time. As I recall, Ricciardi had a particular disdain for scouting and the ?process? and creating connections with families and kids. In my mind Ricciardi probably saw a batting practice and hoping to appease a section of the fan base (Us!) and possibly ownership, signed the kid. He had the body and the power, but a thorough look or simply more frequently revealed a poor approach and poor contact skills. He put on weight and while there was some discussion when he was teenager that he?d be able to play third, those conversations quieted as he entered full season ball. The Jays have spent big these past few years in Latin America and there are sure to be a few more Balbino?s coming down the line. Let?s hope for less.Good luck Balbino!Three Stars3. Josh Thole2. Ryan Schimpf1. Daniel NorrisBox Scores

TORONTO, Ont. – The Blue Jays continued their strong run at home of late by pasting their divisional rivals from Baltimore in the opener of a four-game series. Toronto has won six of their last seven at Rogers Centre as they continue their long, slow climb back to the .500 mark. Blue Jays Talk Here are three things that stood out to me about the game: PHENOM SHMENOM The Orioles were very excited to give the ball to 22-year-old Kevin Gausman for his major-league debut, and the Blue Jays were thrilled to hand him his first big-league loss. The baby-faced righty, drafted fourth overall just 11 months ago, showed some incredible stuff with a fastball that sat comfortably at 95-96 M.P.H. for his entire outing and touched 99. Gausman also showed off a big-time change-up, and he looked pretty terrific in his first trip through the Jays’ lineup, allowing just a pair of singles. The Blue Jays got to Gausman the next time through. Well, at least Adam Lind and J.P. Arencibia did. They led off the fourth with back-to-back doubles – Arencibia’s coming on the first pitch. A bunt single by Brett Lawrie followed and Gausman then walked Colby Rasmus to load the bases with nobody out, but a botched suicide squeeze and an atom ball by Melky Cabrera resulted in the Jays scoring only one more run in the inning. Lind and Arencibia struck again the next inning, though. This time Lind belted a single over the shortstop with two out and nobody on and Arencibia crushed Gausman’s next pitch over the left-field wall to give the Jays the lead for good. WEAR YOUR HAT STRAIGHT Orioles’ reliever Pedro Strop brought back memories of Rays’ closer Fernando Rodney as he came out of the bullpen in the bottom of the sixth with his cap askew. As they’ve done to Rodney twice already this season, the Blue Jays showed their displeasure with Strop’s sartorial choice by roughing him up on the mound. On Wednesday evening, Jose Bautista took Rodney deep leading off the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and set up his own heroics in the next inning. It was Rodney’s second blown save against the Jays this season. Strop couldn’t blow a save, having come in with the Orioles trailing by a run, but he allowed the Blue Jays to blow the game wide open by walking Bautista to load the bases and then serving up an Edwin Encarnacion grand slam off of the left-field foul screen. Personally, I don’t understand why so many fans seem to have such an issue with pitchers wearing their hats off to one side, but apparently the Blue Jays don’t seem to like it very much, either. THAT’S SOME SPEED Anthony Gose is here to spell off the hobbling Melky Cabrera, play terrific defence and be a great pair of legs off the bench. But while he’s around he might as well do some things that bring the audience out of their seats, shaking their heads in excited disbelief. He did just that in the eighth inning. Gose was on second with nobody out and the Blue Jays were up by two, with Bautista at first and Encarnacion at the plate. O’s reliever T.J. McFarland threw a pitch that bounced off the glove of catcher Matt Wieters and rolled away about 10 feet or so. Both runners took off. Wieters knew that he had no chance to get Gose, so he took a shot at Bautista going to second. As soon as Gose saw Wieters let go of the ball, he rounded third and sprinted for home, just sliding in safely under the return throw. It was just your everyday score from second base on a passed ball, no big deal. It was a move that came from confidence – some might say hubris – as opposed to being really well thoughtout. Had the Blue Jays been down a run or two, it would have been disastrous had he been thrown out (and he might have been, replays were inconclusive), but boy, was it a lot of fun to watch. The post Wilner on Blue Jays: Gose shows off his speed appeared first on Sportsnet.ca.

Blue Jays 12 Orioles 6 I''ll put a real recap up in the morning, but we are going to go out for a beer or two. Great game for the Jays, Edwin Encarnacion hit a grand slam, J.P. Arencibia homed. Anthony Gose scored from second on a passed ball, the O's tried to get Jose Bautista at second base, and Gose turned third and continued home. From where I sat, it looked like he was out, but the umpire was much closer. Brandon Morrow wasn't good, but made through 7 innings and with the 12 we scored, he got the win. 10 hits against for Morrow. Dirk Hayhurst was nice enough to stop by and say hit and chat with us for an inning or so. I'll add more in the morning, but you all can use this to discuss the game.

There has been a lot of commotion this year to do with the Blue Jays pitching staff. Back issues, off nights (ahem , Romero), minor surgeries gone 60 day DL, and much, much more. The Jays have already gone through nine starters this season; R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow, J.A. Happ, Ramon Ortiz, Chad Jenkins, Ricky Romero, and Aaron Laffey. So who has the honour of being the Blue Jays 10th starter of the season (in just there 48th game)? That goes to the 23 year old, six-foot-five LHP Sean Nolin. So who's this Nolin kid? Sean Nolin is one of the Blue Jays top pitching prospects. Nolin throws a fastball from the high 80s to low 90s (MPH), a curveball, a change-up in the low 80s, and a slider. He has been drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers and the Seattle Mariners in 2008 and 2009, but signed with neither of them. Finally, in 2010, he was drafted in the sixth round by your very own Blue Jays! Ever since then, the highest level of ball he has been playing is AA (New Hampshire Fisher Cats, the Jays AA affiliate, in the Eastern League). So in just saying that, this doesn't sound like a great idea. But Toronto's options for starters on Friday's game are very limited. With Happ and Johnson both out, Ramon Ortiz coming off of a shaky start, and Romero struggling down in AAA, Nolin is probably the, or one of, the best options! To give you a sense of reassurance, here are his stats from AA this season thus far (missed the first month of the season with a groin injury): In 3 GS, he is 2-0 with a 1.17 ERA, 14 hits allowed in 15.1 innings, 3 R, 2 ER, 16 strikeouts, a 1.239 WHIP and 5 walked batters! Let's get more advanced! In 3 games started, Nolin has 9.39 K/9 innings, 2.93 BB/9 innings, a K% of 25.4% (strikes out more than a quarter of the batters he faces!), a BB% of just 7.9%, and a Batting Average Against of .246! But will that help him at all? After all, he's not facing some AA team, he's facing the Baltimore Orioles! So, let's put it a bit more into perspective: Against left hitters, Nolin has pitched 3.2 innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, 7 strikeouts, no earned runs or runs (ERA 0.00), and a batting average against of .267. Against right handed batters, he has pitched 11.2 innings, allowing 10 hits, 4 walks, 9 strikeouts, 3 runs allowed, 2 ER (ERA 1.54), and a batting average against of .244. So he allows more hits against lefty batters, but tends to strike them out more often. The Baltimore Orioles lineup has 4 lefties, 4 righties, and a switch hitter. So, that's a mix of both. Tomorrow's game will be a home game. Does that have any effect on Nolin? At home for the Fisher Cats, Nolin pitched one game. He threw only 3.1 innings, allowing 6 hits, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts, 3 runs, and 2 ER (5.40 ERA). He also gave up an AVG of .429. So hopefully, Friday's game being a home game won't contribute negatively to Nolin's performance. The chances of it are unlikely, anyways. Nolin's start on Friday against the Orioles will be a night game. Nolin's stats in AA for nights games are: in 2 GS, he pitched 9.1 innings, allowing 10 hits, 3 walks, 8 strikeouts, 3 runs, 2 ER (ERA 1.93), and gave up an AVG of .294. Not too shabby. Plus, the chances of him pitching 9.1 innings are next to none. Also, all of Sean Nolin's starts have been played on natural grass. Turf will be new for him on Friday, and we'll see how he fares, and if he needs to make adjustments. As always, I am looking forward to seeing how a bright youngster performs in the bigs. This time, it's Sean Nolin's turn. There has been a lot of commotion this year to do with the Blue Jays pitching staff. Back issues, off nights (ahem , Romero), minor surgeries gone 60 day DL, and much, much more. The Jays have already gone through nine starters this season; R.A. Dickey, Josh Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Brandon Morrow, J.A. Happ, Ramon Ortiz, Chad Jenkins, Ricky Romero, and Aaron Laffey. So who has the honour of being the Blue Jays 10th starter of the season (in just t

Judging by the picture of a mountain of donuts he posted on Instagram this afternoon, Kevin Gausman is ready. Or, at least, as ready as he’ll ever be to jump into the fray against Melky Cabrera, Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Gausman, you may not be aware, is a superstitious sort, including when it comes to his in-game dining, telling reporters last year, “I eat four doughnuts in between innings.” He has apparently since given up the practice, on the advice of nutritionists, but obviously that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t come prepared, just in case. With only a small slate of games on the schedule throughout the Majors tonight, and nothing with nearly the appeal of a potential duel between the O’s top prospect (sorry, Bundy) and Brandon Morrow, the eyes of the baseball world will all be on the rugged carpet at the Rogers Centre. Let’s hope for an unfriendly welcome. Scuttlebutt Both John Lott and Brendan Kennedy were at the Rogers Centre today as Brett Lawrie did some work in the cage, hitting balls off a tee and with hitting coach Chad Mottola. Chris Toman tweets that Gausman was throwing 97 when the Jays saw him back in Spring Training, while Mike Wilner adds that Mark DeRosa was the only Jays big leaguer to face him, and he doubled. To make room for Gausman, Shi Davidi tells us, the O’s have optioned down Jake Arrietta, and D’d former Jays waiver claim Alex Burnett FA. Brendan Kennedy notes that John Gibbons says Josh Johnson will make three rehab starts before he begins, the remaining two of which will be for Buffalo. Danny Knobler of CBS Sports spoke to some scouts who saw Johnson’s first rehab start, in Dunedin, and came away unimpressed– we mentioned on today’s podcast, however, that it’s certainly not implausible that Johnson was simply trying to get balls over, and not being too fine, which could explain why the scouts felt that “there were a lot of pitches in the middle of the plate.” Not to give away the main picture for tomorrow’s Game Threat, but apparently the Orioles came to town wearing Canadian tuxedos. No, seriously, junior hockey? TV: Sportsnet One And now the lineups, by way of the live box score at theScore.com. And for those of you who’ll be out and about, be sure to follow all the action on your phone with theScore app… Toronto Blue Jays LF Melky Cabrera (S) RF Jose Bautista (R) 1B Edwin Encarnacion (R) DH Adam Lind (L) C J.P. Arencibia (R) 3B Brett Lawrie (R) CF Colby Rasmus (L) 2B Emilio Bonifacio (S) SS Munenori Kawasaki (L) Brandon Morrow RHP Baltimore Orioles LF Nate McLouth (L) 3B Manny Machado (R) RF Nick Markakis (L) DH Adam Jones (R) 1B Chris Davis (L) C Matt Wieters (S) SS J.J. Hardy (R) CF Chris Dickerson (L) 2B Alexi Casilla (S) Kevin Gausman RHP

Leading off, as always (or usual), it’s today’s edition of the Getting Blanked Podcast– which for the duration of the season will be coming at you daily! We’re not double posting this year, but I’ll be sure to include the link in the first Daily Duce or Game Threat that follows the post going up over at Getting Blanked. Otherwise, you can find the podcast at Getting Blanked on iTunes, get it via the RSS feed we have setup, or like Getting Blanked on Facebook in order to get each day’s podcast straight into your news feed (if we bother to post it). While you’re at it, go ahead and like DJF on Facebook, too. Sad news for the Jays and their extended family, as word from the Dominican Republic came today that legendary scout Epy Guerrero passed away at the age of 71. Shi Davidi has a put together a piece on it at Sportsnet, and while the man who was so instrumental in bringing so many terrific young Dominican players to the Jays certainly deserves a remembrance in full over here, it goes to show, I think, just how unsung scouts are that I don’t know enough about him, beyond the vaunted reputation and the names of the many excellent players he was the first to take notice of, to say a whole lot. Our condolences and sympathies go out to his family and friends. Guerrero visited the Jays facility in Dunedin back in March, prompting an excellent profile from Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun, which serves as a fitting tribute, I think. Shi Davidi tweets that John Gibbons has confirmed that Sean Nolin will start tomorrow for the Jays. Chad Jenkins will go on Sunday, he says, taking Ramon Ortiz’s spot. A corresponding roster move will come following tonight’s game, which you have to assume is the D’ing FA of Ortiz. In the Toronto Star, Brendan Kennedy talks to scouts, comparing young third basemen Brett Lawrie and Orioles phenom Manny Machado. “They’re both terrific players, any club would die to have them,” a rival scout told him. “Emotionally, it looks like they’re wired differently and right now that seems to be helping Machado more than Lawrie.” Uh… you think? Elsewhere in the Star, Richard Griffin’s latest Bullpen post looks at Anthony Gose, and much, much more. More from Shi Davidi at Sportsnet, who looks at two high profile prospects about to be sent out to a short-season affiliate: last year’s draftees D.J. Davis and Anthony Alford, both of whom may end up with the Vancouver Canadians, we’re told. “Davis and Alford, both from Mississippi, are said to be close and the Blue Jays like the idea of keeping them together,” Davidi writes, which may explain why Alford, who played just five games in the Gulf Coast league last year before turning his attention to football, may be getting a more advanced assignment than you might suspect. Interesting stuff from the Globe and Mail, where Jeff Blair tells us about how Roberto Alomar is making his presence felt around this Jays club. As part of a notebook post at BlueJays.com, Evan Peaslee speaks to Chad Mottola about the club’s hitting approach, including his efforts to get hitters to be ready for a pitch early, and to disrupt elite opponents in the early innings, before they find their groove. Jays Journal notes that the worst (qualified) K:BB ratio ever posted for a single season was by Juan Encarnacion in 1999, with 114 strikeouts to 14 walks, for a ratio of 8-to-1. At his current pace, J.P. Arencibia would smash that record, though, having struck out 27 times for every walk he’s earned so far in 2013. Elsewhere at Jays Journal, it’s a bunch of stuff about Casey Janssen struggling in non-save situations, which– don’tcha know– closers often do. I’d wager that’s the case because they’re usually coming into those situations just to get work after a layoff, rather than any lack-of-adrenaline bullshit, but hey… that’s me. Minor League Ball makes ton

Sad day for baseball and the Blue Jays. Former scout Epy Guerrero has passed. Guerrero, of course, recruited a number of the franchise's greatest players. In scouting circles he was nothing short of a legend. In fact, it is hard to find a scout that rivaled his eye for talent and ability to get kids to sign on the dotted line. His work in Latin America paved the way for many to play in the Big Leagues and the strong reputation the Jays still hold in Latin America is largely his responsibility. Sad day indeed. Epy will be missed.

Some of you might be too young to remember the name Epy Guerrero but without him you would never have known George Bell, Tony Fernandez, Alfredo Griffin, Juan Guzman, and Carlos Delgado as Blue Jay—just to name a few. Epifanio Obdulio "Epy" Guerrero died today at 71 and he goes to his grave as possibly the most prolific baseball scout of all time, almost single-handedly opening up the Latin market that is today the one of the epicenters of the world’s best baseball talent. Throughout the Latin world as the Super Scout he has signed more players than anyone in baseball history and should be largely credited with building the rosters anchored by Dominican talent that led to Toronto finishing above .500 for from 1983 through 1993 and winning two World Series titles on the way. Guerrero also started the Dominican Republic's first baseball academy back in 1973. Some of Guerrero’s career highlights with the Jays include recommending that the Blue Jays acquire George Bell, Manny Lee, and Kelly Gruber through the Rule 5 Draft, converting Pat Borders from a third baseman to a catcher in the Dominican Winter League, and putting his seal of approval on the "The Trade" that brought the Blue Jays their first Hall of Famer: Robbie Alomar. Epy often found and signed players others might have overlooked, like finding Junior Felix at a track event and signing him. He saw talent in a very young Tony Fernandez even though he walked with a limp due to a knee problem. Guerrero paid for an operation to fix Tony’s limp and then signed him up. Thanks for that one Epy! During the Gord Ash era, Epy excitedly extolled the virtues of a young Dominican pitcher that he urged Ash to sign. Instead of taking his word for it, Ash sent Mel Queen to evaluate the pitcher. Not impressed, Queen overruled Guerrero and the Blue Jays missed out on signing someone named Pedro Martinez. Guerrero was briefly a field coach for the Blue Jays as well. It makes me wonder why such a prolific scout and talent evaluator with his kind of successful track record was never ticketed to a position like assistant general manager. Why wasn’t Epy ceded with a more appropriately successful career path in this organization? Epy is survived by his wife and their five sons, all of whom are now working in professional baseball.

Now a little something to kill time on a Thursday afternoon: it’s the DJF podcast! And today it’s just Drew and me, with no one filling in for the hopelessly disinterested Wally Pip, as we talk about the Jose Bautista’s fantastic game, Brett Lawrie’s struggles, J.P. Arencibia (again), Sean Nolin, and a bit about my moment on last night’s broadcast (GIF after the jump!). If you’re more inclined to download today’s podcast, hit up the mp3 link. The DJF iTunes page remains up and running, so get on over there and subscribe– or update the subscription you already have to find the latest episode (once it’s up). You can also find it via our podcast RSS feed. Follow DJF on Facebook, too, while you’re at it. We’ll be be back again next damn week, and we still want to hear from you! Call us (hammered) at 1-855-FOUL-TIP, or email us (hammered) at GettingBlanked@theScore.com with whatever is sticking in your craw, and we’ll dissect the best the Monkey Army has to offer! Unless it’s about this! Which, y’know, we will never speak of again: Ugh… Mintmusical interludes courtesy Toronto’s own Optical Sounds. Be sure to check them out and buy every single fucking thing you hear at their site. Hat tip/fuck you to Dave Burrows for the pic and @Matt_HBB for the GIF.