Blue Jays Nation Radio

It's been a bit of a strange ride early on, but the Blue Jays are in sole possession of first place in the American League East after 10 games. Can't complain about that! We talked about the good stuff from the Oakland series, such as Zack Collins coming out of nowhere with a hot streak and Alek Manoah putting together another great start, and also the bad stuff, like Hyun Jin Ryu getting clobbered and landing on the Injured List. We also took a look at some of the terrible umpiring that the Blue Jays have dealt with this season and whether or not it's a valid excuse for their ho-hum start to the season at the plate. Finally, we looked ahead to the upcoming series in Boston against the Red Sox, a team who, like the Jays, have been a little all over the grid this season. We also looked at betting odds for the Cy Young and MVP and talked about whether Vladdy smacking 60 homers this season is feasible. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's only April but that felt like September. The Blue Jays and Yankees both took two games in an intense, back-and-forth series in The Bronx. With Tyler away on vacation, I was joined by Paul Berthelot to talk about all of the good and bad from the Yankees series. We talked about Vladdy's three-homer game, George Springer shutting up the boos, and Alek Manoah's ace start, along with the struggles offensively from the non-Vladdy/Springer players in the lineup. After that, we went through what we've seen from starting rotation and discussed what we've liked so far and what we're worried about. We also talked about the injuries to Danny Jansen and Teoscar Hernandez and whether or not calling up Gabriel Moreno is The Answer. Finally, we looked ahead to this weekend's series against the Oakland A's, who just took three of four from the Tampa Bay Rays. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Blue Jays baseball returned to Toronto with a bang. In their first normal Home Opener in three years, the Blue Jays put on an insane show, coming back from 7-0 down to pull off a 10-8 win. They picked up another win on Saturday and then appeared they were on their way to a sweep before the pitching imploded for 11 unanswered runs. We talked about the wild ride that was Opening Weekend, the comeback and the electricity of the biggest crowd the Dome has seen in years, the clutch performances of the bullpen, the difficult times the starting pitchers had and whether it means anything or not, and, of course, the huge bats. After that, we looked around the American League and talked about what the other teams got up to before looking ahead to an important series against the Yankees in New York. Remember, we can't say It's Early anymore, not after last year. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Opening Day is tomorrow!!! We kicked off this 2022 season preview episode by talking about all of the scuttlebutt surrounding the Blue Jays as spring training comes to an end and the team travels north, such as Nate Pearson dealing with mono, Greg Bird leaving his minor-league deal to return to the Yankees, and Jose Ramirez signing an extension to stick around in Cleveland. After that, we went division by division and looked at the competition. Much like last year, Toronto's biggest challenge is going to come from within the American League East, while the Wild-Card race is going to be wide open. Are the White Sox and Astros are going to cruise to their divisions? Can the Tigers and Mariners give them trouble? Are the Red Sox going to be weirdly good again? Can the Yankees stay healthy? Finally, we went on twitter and asked people to give us their bold predictions for the year and we ranked their believability on a scale of 1-10. We then made our own bold predictions for the year and fought about who was the most optimistic. Good vibes only!!! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're just over a week away from Opening Day and spring training is starting to really feel like a slog. The thing with the Blue Jays this year is that there aren't really all that many interesting roster battles, as the majority of the team's roster has already been sorted out and the only things to pay attention to are what relievers are going to travel north with the team come April. Regardless, we talked about the worthwhile things from Grapefruit play, including Greg Bird earning himself a roster spot, Orelvis Martinez putting himself on the map with his amazing performance at the dish, and Randal Grichuk getting traded to the Colorado Rockies for Raimel Tapia. We also welcomed a new friend (well, a familiar voice if you're one of our Western Canadian listeners) named BaggedMilk to the show to talk about why he started to fall in love with the Blue Jays last summer and what he's looking forward to this season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This has certainly been a fun few days! Though it took a little while, the flurry of transactions following the new Collective Bargaining Agreement has finally arrived. The Blue Jays rounded out their starting rotation on Saturday, signing Yusei Kikuchi to a three-year deal. Then, on Wednesday, they made a big splash by trading for three-time Gold Glover winner Matt Chapman. So, all told, Robbie Ray, Marcus Semien, and Steven Matz are out, and Kevin Gausman, Chapman, and Kikuchi are in. We talked about the Chapman trade, which is hilariously similar to the Josh Donaldson one a few years ago, and what he'll bring to the team. We also looked at what might be next for the Blue Jays as the team is still in need of a left-handed bat and Jose Ramirez apparently remains a possibility. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Baseball! It's back! The last time we recorded, it was all doom and gloom about how this stalemate between Major League Baseball and the Players' Association was going to drag on and on and on for months and the thought of a full 2022 season seemed hopeless. Well, here we are now. A new Collective Bargaining Agreement has been reached and we're going to have a normal, 162-game season. We went through the changes from the CBA and what it all means for the Blue Jays, ranging from the baseball stuff, like the 12-team playoff format, all the way to the economic stuff, like the possible International Draft. We also dug into some early Off-Season 2.0 rumours, as the Blue Jays are apparently in the mix to make a big splash before the start of the season. My goodness, it feels nice to talk about actual rumours! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Baseball, it's designed to break your heart! Just like watching a late-game blown lead, the negotiation sessions between Major League Baseball and the Players' Association broke our hearts, as there was momentum towards a deal until there wasn't. Rob Manfred announced that Opening Day on March 31 has been canceled along with the first week of the 2022 MLB season. It shouldn't really come as much of a surprise, but, still, seeing the news become official was depressing. We talked about Monday and Tuesday's negotiations, the key issues that separate the two sides, the game being played by the owners, and how the players are going to respond. We also looked at how the lockout affects the Blue Jays specifically, as this will very likely be the third consecutive year that the team has lost home dates right as their contention window is opening up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're getting closer and closer to the start of Spring Training and there's still no Collective Bargaining Agreement. Fortunately, there's been some positive news lately that MLB and the Players' Association are slowly inching towards maybe possibly agreeing on something. BK and I talked in this lockout edition of BJN Radio about what's happening in the negotiations and what changes we can realistically expect when a deal is reached. We also talked about the 2022 Hall of Fame class and our issues with Cooperstown. Finally, we went into some Random Blue Jays Talk, in which we looked back at a hilariously bad lineup from 2019, Kevin Gausman not getting a contract offer from the Giants, and why the Blue Jays couldn't hit in the late innings. We also fielded some questions, including one about teeth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're stuck in the dog days of winter without any good news. Major League Baseball and the Players' Association haven't met since the lockout started at the beginning of December and it doesn't appear as though they have any plans to do so in the coming days. The Blue Jays have told their players not to rush to make accommodation plans for spring training in Florida, so it's safe to assume there won't be a resolution to this battle anytime soon. For our first podcast of 2022, we took a look at how the owners and the players could find a middle ground on the major labour issues that have led to this lockout. We looked into free agency, control years, the playoff format, and even into the wet and wild world of relegation! We then tried to get some positive vibes in the mix by looking back at our favourite moments from 2021. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Major League Baseball and the Players' Association are still nowhere near a Collective Bargaining Agreement so there isn't much to for us talk about. We took a look back at some points of interest from the month of December, which, most notably, boiled down to a discussion about Pete Walker potentially leaving Toronto for a managerial gig with the New York Mets. We also looked at some free agent fits lists that came out over the past week and what the Blue Jays might do once the lockout ends. After that, we welcomed Cleveland Guardians prospect, first-round Minor League Rule 5 Draft Pick, and Good Edmonton Boy Erik Sabrowski to the show to talk about getting drafted, life in the minors, and a whole bunch more! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That was a fun off-season while it lasted! Now we get to stare into the void for the next few weeks (or months) as the owners and players slowly figure out a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. In this episode of Blue Jays Nation Radio, we talked about Steven Matz, Robbie Ray, and Marcus Semien signing elsewhere and who the Blue Jays might bring in to replace them. Ray has already been swapped out for Kevin Gausman, but the team is going to need to find another back-end starter and an impact position player. We dug into the rumours around Kris Bryant, Freddie Freeman, and more. After that, we talked about the work stoppage and what to expect from the lockout. This has been boiling for years so things are going to get ugly. Players want to reach free agency sooner and owners believe that free agency is what makes the league only competitive to a small handful of rich teams. Buckle up. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

José Berríos is going to be a Blue Jay for a long time. Word came out on Tuesday that the right-hander had inked a seven-year contract extension with the Blue Jays worth $131 million. It's the biggest contract for a pitcher in Blue Jays history and is the second-largest contract ever handed out by the club, behind only George Springer's deal from last winter. We had an emergency podcast to discuss Berríos' new contract, why it's a win for the Blue Jays, and what we can expect next. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the most important off-season for the Blue Jays in a long time. The team enjoyed a breakout 91-win season in 2021, but it wasn't enough to get them into the playoffs. Two key members of the team, Robbie Ray and Marcus Semien, are free agents and the Blue Jays will need to either bring them back or replace them. On this episode of BJN Radio, me and BK took a look at this winter's free-agent market and made some predictions as to where players are going to end up. We talked about Corey Seager being the team's ideal fit and whether that's realistic, starting pitchers who might be safer bets than Ray, and some under-the-radar names such as Kyle Schwarber and Collin McHugh who could plug some major holes that existed on the roster last season. We also went ahead and talked about what our ideal off-season would look like, through the lens of spending big dollars on either an impact bat or starting pitching. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's finally off-season time! Unfortunately, since the Collective Bargaining Agreement is set to expire in December, this is more than likely going to be a looooooooong winter without any major transactions until later on. We talked about the CBA negotiations, what both sides are looking for, who's more likely to cave, and what it could mean for the Blue Jays. We also talked about Alex Anthopolous, who became the first Canadian general manager to win the World Series, and why it's perfectly OK to be happy for him while also being happy with where the Blue Jays are at with their current front office. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We're back! After a two-week hiatus of pretending that the Major League Baseball post-season isn't happening, we returned to talk about the Blue Jays very, very, very important off-season that's on the horizon. Mark Shapiro did an end-of-season media availability earlier this week and talked about the Collective Bargaining Agreement, the investment that we should expect from ownership moving forward, and a whole bunch of other front office-y things. Also, Dan Shulman appeared on Baseball Tonight podcast with Buster Olney and said that he predicts both Robbie Ray and Marcus Semien will leave the team in free agency. We went over Shapiro's talk, Shulman's prediction, and talked about how the Blue Jays might look when 2022 rolls around. Jose Ramirez? Noah Syndergaard? Who knows! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Coom, Tyler, and BK sat down and each came up with our own 'three up, three down' from this year as a way to look back on all of the good, bad, and everything in between from the 2021 Blue Jays season. We talked about the good stuff, like Vladdy's breakout season, the value of Marcus Semien and Robbie Ray's one-year contracts, Alek Manoah becoming The Big Man out of the blue, the home run jacket being insanely cool, and the amazing homecoming to Toronto in July. We also talked about the bad stuff, like the chaos that was the early-season bullpen, the ugly losses that ultimately cost the Blue Jays a playoff spot, Hyun Jin Ryu's struggles, George Springer's injuries, and the current MLB schedule and post-season format. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's all over. The Blue Jays did what they could this weekend, pulling off a sweep of the Baltimore Orioles in front of a wildly enthusiastic crowd. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as both the Yankees and Red Sox won their games on Sunday and punched their respective tickets to the American League Wild Card game. Here we are now, left to think about all that could have been. We took a look back at the final series of the year and talked about all of the great things we saw from the bats and the starting pitchers against the Trash Birds and then we ranted about the Expos, new and old, being totally useless. We also looked ahead to the off-season and talked about the major storylines we'll be talking about over the next few months. We realized at the end of the show that this whole process of talking about how special the 2021 Blue Jays were was not very therapeutic at all and it ultimately just made us more frustrated and heartbroken that the season is over. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That wasn't the storybook finish we were hoping for. The Yankees rolled into Toronto for what was a playoff-like series at The Dome. Capacity was upped to 30,000 and the Blue Jays had a chance to catch the Yankees in the standings and ultimately put themselves in a position to earn a playoff spot. The table was set. Unfortunately, it was the Yankees who showed up to play while the Blue Jays didn't bring their best. The bats were silenced in the first game on Tuesday, Bo Bichette led the team to a win on Wednesday, and then, with a chance to pull within one game of New York on Thursday, Robbie Ray got lit up in the sixth inning and Toronto's bats couldn't solve the Yankees' bullpen the rest of the way. It was a heartbreaker, a gut-punch, and an energy-sucking loss. We talked about a bunch of stuff on this episode of BJN Radio, including Bo's amazing series, Nate Pearson having some good outings out of the 'pen, and the decision by Charlie Montoyo to keep Ray in the game when it looked like the Yankees had him solved. We also looked ahead to the final series with Baltimore and what it'll take for Toronto to leap over the Red Sox and the Mariners. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This weekend didn't go as planned. The Blue Jays managed a split against the Minnesota Twins while the Yankees rolled into Boston and pulled off a sweep. Toronto is now a game behind Boston for the second wild-card spot while the Yankees are a game up on the Red Sox for the top seed. We talked about the series, going through the downs, such as Lourdes Gurriel's injury and the team's lack of clutch hitting, and then the ups, like Alek Manoah's huge start on Sunday and George Springer busting out of his slump upon his return to the outfield. We also looked ahead to the final week of the season, which will feature a must-win series between the Blue Jays and Yankees in Toronto. This is the first time the Yankees will be in Toronto in two years and the Blue Jays are opening capacity to 30,000 fans. There's a perfect opportunity for a storybook ending here. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are back with another episode of BJN Radio to recap the Blue Jays tough three-game series at Tropicana Field. Things did not go well. A questionable, if not terrible, strike zone cost them in game one and while they were able to squeak out a win in game two thanks to a gutsy performance from 'The Big Man' Alek Manoah, they couldn't get the win in the rubber match. Ross Stripling was terrible, there was drama surrounding Kevin Keirmaier and a dropped piece of paper, and it was just all around a bad time at The Trop, which it usually is. Cam & Tyler recapped the series, look at the wild card standings, and got set for a massive four-game series against the Twins today on the pod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Another series, another couple of wins for the Blue Jays! That's the way it's been for the past month-and-a-bit and the hope is that it continues as the Blue Jays head to The House of Horrors. The Blue Jays got the job done this weekend, taking two of three from the lowly Minnesota Twins. Things started off ugly as Hyun Jin Ryu got knocked around on Friday but Steven Matz and Jose Berrios led the team to back-to-back wins on Saturday and Sunday, so all ended well. We talked about Ryu's struggles, the "injury" that landed him on the 10-day Injured List, and what to expect from him moving forward. We also talked about Matz's excellent run and what it means for him in the off-season. Finally, we talked about the Blue Jays lineup and why it needs to involve Alejandro Kirk more often than not. We then took a look at the out-of-town scoreboard and gave a hat tip to Cleveland, who did us a solid by beating the Yankees on Saturday and Sunday. We finished off by talking about the series ahead against the Rays at The Trop, a place that's never fun to visit. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The good times keep rolling! After sweeping Oakland and New York and then scoring 1000 runs over Baltimore in a four-game set, the Blue Jays returned home to face a big test — the American League-leading Tampa Bay Rays. And it went really well, as the Blue Jays took two of three in the series, including a commanding win on Monday night. I was joined by our good pal BK to take about the series, which featured amazingly good starting pitching, the slaying of the Ryan Yarborough Dragon, and some positive vibes when it came to George Springer's health. We also dove into some Charlie Discourse, as Montoyo made a puzzling decision on Tuesday night late in the game that pissed a lot of people off. Is Charlie Montoyo the guy who's going to lead this team to glory? I mean, he's got a good chance of winning Manager of the Year, right? Finally, we looked ahead to the upcoming series against the Minnesota Twins! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That was certainly a trip. Things looked really ugly on Friday when the lowly Baltimore Trash Birds ended the Blue Jays' eight-game winning streak despite Robbie Ray being on the mound, but, after that, things got very, very good. The Blue Jays pulled off back-to-back last-second comeback wins in their doubleheader on Saturday, with George Springer and Bo Bichette hitting clutch homers to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. And then, finally, on Sunday, the bats popped off for 22 runs, coming very close to setting a franchise record. We talked about this whole wild weekend, ranging from the few ugly starts that Toronto's pitchers had, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde spazzing out at Robbie Ray, the speculation about sign stealing, all the way to the wild records that Toronto set this weekend. Finally, we took a look ahead at the upcoming series against Tampa Bay and we looked at what Boston and New York have on tap. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

They did it! The Jays swept away the New York Yankees in convincing fashion and they now sit just outside of a Wild Card. It's the first time since 2015 that the Blue Jays have won eight games in a row and really, it feels a lot like 2015 right now. Everything is breaking their way. They're getting clutch starts, huge outings from different relievers, and cutch at-bats from stars and from depth players. Nothing is going wrong right now. Cam was joined by Yankees writer Neil Keefe on the pod as well to recap the series and get a Yankees fans perspective on how the last week has gone. There are now just 23 games left in the season and if the Jays win the games in hand that they have, they'll be tied with both the Yankees and Red Sox. They essentially control their own fate in this playoff race. Up next for the Jays is a four-game set against the Baltimore Orioles, who are 45-94 so far this season. These are very winnable games. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Happy long weekend Blue Jays fans and welcome to a brand new episode of BJN Radio with Tyler and Cam! Today on the pod, the guys broke down the incredible weekend of baseball that we saw from the team as they swept away the Oakland A's in thrilling fashion. They talked about the explosion of offense, the dominating start from Robbie Ray, and the fact that the team is right back in the thick of the AL Wild Card Race. They also hit on the report from Ken Rosenthal regarding potential new deals for Ray and Marcus Semien before getting set for a HUGE four-game series in the Bronx. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are back after a short hiatus! The series against the Baltimore "Trash Bird" Orioles was one we've all had marked on our calendars for quite some time as three automatic wins. That didn't happen. Robbie Ray put up an amazing start and Vladdy hit two homers in the opener, but a sixth-inning meltdown from Hyun Jin Ryu and some limp bats resulted in a loss in the second game. Finally, in the third game, Toronto narrowly squeezed out a victory on what was probably the most 2021 Blue Jays play possible, a go-ahead fly-ball double play. Sexy stuff! We talked about the limp bats at the bottom of the order, what Nate Pearson can bring to the team, and we also looked ahead to the upcoming series against Oakland, which can ultimately sink or swim the season. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A 2-2 split against a good team is pretty good, but not exactly great when you're climbing the mountain the Blue Jays are. That was quite a week of ups and downs. Alek Manoah helped the team to a gritty win on Monday, Jose Berrios got shelled immediately after on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Robbie Ray threw one of the better starts we've seen from a Blue Jay in a while, on Thursday, Hyun Jin Ryu got knocked around. All told, two steps forward, two back. Anyways! BK joined the show and we distracted ourselves from the chase by taking a needlessly early look at the off-season, based on Ross Atkins' comments when talking with Bob McCown earlier this week. We went into some depth about Ray's season, what kind of contract he's going to earn, and whether the Blue Jays will open up their wallets to make it happen. Finally, we took a quick look at the easy schedule on the horizon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Woooof, that's about as bad as it gets. We had these games against bad teams like the Detroit Tigers circled on the calendar for months as an opportunity for the Blue Jays to finally smack somebody around and hit their stride. That didn't happen this weekend. Despite getting three strong starts — an ace performance from Robbie Ray, a vintage Hyun Jin Ryu outing, and a strong showing from Steven Matz — the Blue Jays couldn't hit anything the Tigers threw at them. Worst of all, they couldn't hit Drew Hutchison, who none of us knew was still in the league just a few weeks ago. We talked about that miserable series, the team's lack of clutch and killer instinct, and tried to come up with some positives. It wasn't easy! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That road trip was not at all what you wanted to see. After flubbing to a 3-4 record through the West Coast part of the their swing, the Blue Jays rolled into Washington for a two-game set against the Nationals, a prime opportunity to end the trip on a positive note. That didn't happen. Alek Manoah got knocked around on Tuesday night and Rafael Dolis helped kill any chance of a late-game comeback. On Wednesday, Jose Berrios had a ho-hum start, the team rallied to earn a late-game lead, and then Brad Hand came in and threw it away. We talked about all of that bad stuff and also tried really, really hard to look for some positives from that frustrating couple of games. The Blue Jays are now 63-56, four games back of Oakland and Boston for the second wild-card spot. In positive news, both Oakland and Boston have been struggling lately, so this isn't all doom and gloom. The Blue Jays returning home to face the mediocre Detroit Tigers this weekend should be a boost, too, you'd think. That said, I'm worried that Old Friend Drew Hutchison is going to throw a no-hitter on Sunday. That would be too fitting. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, things did not go as expected during the Blue Jays trip to Seattle. The vibes were not good and Jays dropped two of the three games. Cam & Tyler broke down what went wrong in the series and managed to pull a few positives from the three games in today’s episode of BJN Radio! The bullpen struggled, but that might be a product of fatigue. As far as the offence goes, Teoscar continued his crazy hot streak while Vladdy started to bounce back from a rough week at the plate. On the mound, the Jays got a decent outing from Steven Matz in the series finale, which was a very good sign. Moving forward, they move on to Washington for a quick two game set against a really bad Nationals team. There is immense pressure on the Jays to sweep this upcoming set of games and when you consider who the teams they’re chasing are playing this week, there is a chance for the Jays to get right back into the race this week. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A new episode of BlueJaysNation Radio is here! Cam was busy enjoying a spa day out in the mountains so Tyler brought in Jonah Birenbaum (@birenball) to help break down the Blue Jays four-game series against Shohei Ohtani and the LA Angels. The Jays only managed to split the series and considering the tight playoff race they’re in, that’s a little bit disappointing. Tyler and Jonah went through what they did and didn’t like from the blue birds in ‘3 Up/3 Down’. One of the big positives was the outing that the Jays got from the big man Alek Manoah, who dominated the Angels in his start and continued his incredible rookie campaign. They also touched on a red-hot Teoscar Hernandez and a struggling Vladdy Jr. To wrap things up, Tyler took a look at the out of town scoreboard and previewed the upcoming three game set in Seattle. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What a weekend! The Blue Jays and Red Sox came into this weekend as two teams going in completely different directions. While the Blue Jays were thriving upon their return to Toronto, the Fraud Sox were finally starting to fall apart. That trend continued this weekend. The Blue Jays smashed the Sox on Friday, the two teams split a doubleheader on Saturday, and then George Springer capped off an epic comeback on Sunday, hitting a clutch three-run bomb in the eighth inning to give Toronto the series win. We talked about Springer's huge moment and what a game-changer he is for the team, especially as the pressure starts to mount down the stretch. We also talked about some good performances from the bullpen and the possibility of some pitching reinforcements on the way. Finally, we looked ahead to the upcoming series in Anaheim and talked about why the Mountain Time zone is the ideal space for watching sports. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The good times keep rolling! Fresh off of sweeping the Kansas City Royals over homecoming weekend, the Blue Jays plowed through another limp-dick Central Division team this week, taking three of four from Cleveland. The Blue Jays are now 6-1 in seven games in Toronto this season and are eight games over .500 for the first time since 2016. Tyler finally returned from his long, mystical endeavour in the woods to talk about all of the good times the team has been having lately. We talked about how George Springer has finally arrived, how the starting rotation has suddenly become a strength of the team, and how blessed the Blue Jays are that the Marlins did them a solid and gave Adam Cimber away for virtually nothing. After that, we looked ahead to this weekend's four-game set against the struggling Red Sox. Boston has lost six of their last seven games and the Blue Jays have a chance to really turn their ugly stretch into a serious losing skid. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Blue Jays' homecoming couldn't have gone better. After nearly two years away from Toronto, the Blue Jays returned home and treated the fans to an absolute ass-kicking of the Kansas City Royals. Not only had the team been away for a long time, but this weekend's games featured the first playoff atmosphere at the Rogers Centre since the 2016 American League Championship Series against Cleveland. What a blast. With Tyler still lost in the woods, I had Paul Berthelot join to talk about all of the good vibes from the weekend. We talked about George Springer really establishing the whole "George Springer is a Blue Jay" thing with a huge weekend, Alek Manoah rising to the occasion and having an amazing start, and Jose Berrios putting together an excellent debut. We also talked about our thoughts on the Berrios trade and why it was a worthwhile move for the front office to make, despite the huge cost. Finally, I drew about as many comparisons as I could to the 2015 team because, seriously, the patterns are getting ridiculous. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

All things considered, that was a pretty good week. The Blue Jays rolled into Fenway and took two of four from the first-place team in the American League. They suffered a heartbreaker on Monday, the game was rained out on Tuesday, Robbie Ray guided the team to a win with an ace start on Wednesday, Steven Matz had a tough go in the night cap, and then the bats exploded for 13 runs in the finale on Friday. All said, two out of four ain't bad. It doesn't move the needle in terms of catching Boston, but it keeps them in the mix for the wild-card and it ensures that Friday's homecoming won't be a bummer. Anyways! With Tyler still lost in the woods and BK on a flight from B.C. to Toronto, I tackled talking about the Boston series ALL BY MYSELF. I also talked about the acquisition of Brad Hand from Washington and where he fits in the team's bullpen along with the rumour that the Blue Jays are in the mix for Jose Berrios. Finally, I welcomed Neil Keefe to the show to talk about the New York Yankees, who just had a huge swing by adding Joey Gallo and Anthony Rizzo ahead of the trade deadline. We talked about whether or not that'll be a game-changer for them, what he expects from the Yanks the rest of the way, and his thoughts on the Blue Jays. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What a rollercoaster that was. The Blue Jays, fresh off of an ugly two-game set with the Red Sox badly in need of some wins, rolled into Flushing to face the Mets. They got shut down on Friday, exploded on Saturday, and then lost a heartbreaker on Sunday. One step forward, two steps back. Me and BK discussed the team's new lineup composition, why it's ideal to have Bo Bichette in the four-hole, Hyun Jin Ryu's tough start, Ross Stripling's bounce-back, and Alejandro Kirk's return to the lineup. We also waved goodbye to T.J. Zeuch, who we fear might become the next Chris Carpenter in St. Louis, and then talked about how the Blue Jays should approach the trade deadline. There are many suggestions out there suggesting this team should sell, but we explained why that's a bad idea. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That was ugly! The Blue Jays got smashed on Monday, rained out on Tuesday, and then they lost an incredibly frustrating game on Wednesday against a struggling starter with their ace on the mound. Oof. With Tyler on vacation, me and BK talked about the Red Sox series, why they might not actually be frauds, especially with Chris Sale nearing a return and killing it early on in his rehab assignment. We also talked about a whole bunch of different stuff from this week, like the T.J. Zeuch era coming to an end, Nate Pearson going to the bullpen, and what we can expect from the trade deadline given Ross Atkins' comments about how the starting pitching market is thin right now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Blue Jays and kicking the crap out of the Texas Rangers — name a more iconic duo. We learned on Friday that the Blue Jays are FINALLY coming home on July 30! The team seemed to be charged up by that so they went ahead and pounded the Rangers by a score of 10-2, powered by perhaps Vladdy's biggest homer of the season. The game on Saturday was rained out, which led to a doubleheader sweep on Sunday by scores of 10-0 and 5-0. All told, the Blue Jays outscored Texas 25-2 over the weekend. You love to see it. We talked about the good stuff from the series, which was literally everything, and then we talked about how good the vibes are going to be on July 30. I also made a bold prediction about who's going to be taking the mound for The Return. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It might be the All-Star break but The Content never sleeps! We did a special edition of BJN Radio this week, talking about the Toronto Blue Jays beating the National League in the All-Star game thanks to a monster homer from Vladdy, a double from Teoscar Hernandez, and an RBI from Marcus Semien. After that, we welcomed MLB.com jack-of-all-trades beat reporter Jordan Horrobin to the show to take a trip around the American League. We touched on whether or not the Red Sox are frauds, why the Yankees have been so stunningly mediocre, what the Blue Jays should do at the trade deadline, and whether or not there are any other teams in the wild-card clump that we should be worried about. Finally, we looked ahead to the upcoming series against the Texas Rangers and talked about how the Blue Jays should acquire Joey Gallo, Ian Kennedy, and Kyle Gibson before the first pitch is thrown on Friday night. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As usual, times at The Top weren't the best. The Blue Jays' bats went limp on Friday and Saturday but they managed to avoid being swept by the Rays thanks to Robbie Ray throwing a seven-inning one-hitter on Sunday. The team is now heading into the All-Star break with a good-not-great 45-42 record, so there's plenty of work to be done in the second half. We talked on this episode about Ray's excellent season and what it means for his next contract, the interesting rumour that the Blue Jays have ticked tired on slugger Nelson Cruz, the early returns from the couple of bullpen trades the front office has made over the past few weeks, and what to expect from the upcoming draft. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Two out of three ain't bad. The Blue Jays hosted Those Pesky Rays this weekend in Buffalo and nearly earned a sweep, picking up wins in the first two games but dropping the third on Sunday. Alek Manoah had arguably the best start of any Blue Jay this season on Friday night, Ross Stripling was again excellent on Saturday, and Robbie Ray was great in the finale but the bats didn't show up. We talked about all that good stuff, argued about whether we can firmly call Ray the ace of the staff, and also talked about some bad stuff, like the ugly return of The Rafael Dolis Experience and some shoddy defence in the series finale. Also, we talked about a story out of Chicago involving two members of the 2015 team. Liam Hendriks sounded off on Josh Donaldson, saying he didn't like what he saw behind the curtain when playing with The Bringer of Rain. Many have suggested the idea of a Donaldson return in order to fix the hole at third base, but this comment from Hendriks sheds some new light on that whole saga. All that and more in a busy BJN Radio! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That was disappointing! A couple of weeks ago, the Blue Jays embarked on what we all pointed out could be a season-changing stretch against bad opponents. They swept a two-game set with the Marlins and won five of seven against Baltimore, setting up an opportunity to really put together a good result for the stretch in the final series against Seattle. Toronto won the first game but then dropped the next two and ultimately went 8-4 in that 12-game easy-ish opponent stretch. Not terrible, but not exactly season-changing, either. Anyways! We talked about everything from the Seattle series, ranging from Hyun Jin Ryu's rough start and recent struggles to Adam Cimber's debut and what kind of difference he can make to the team's bullpen. We also talked about Teoscar Hernandez's amazing rise from going down to Triple-A to fix his swing to being voted in as an All-Star game starter. Finally, we looked ahead to a very, very important set against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rays are limping a bit right now and the Blue Jays see them six times before the All-Star break. Doing well against them now would certainly help the Blue Jays make up some ground in the American League East standings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Blue Jays continued their dominance against the Trash Birds, winning three of four games over the weekend. Despite the good result, it was still a bit of a downer given the fact the team threw away yet another winnable game on Friday night. That Blue Jays really should have pulled off a four-game sweep, but that ain't easy to do when you only have one reliable bullpen arm. We complained about the meltdown, talked about Charlie's odd decision to use Tayler Saucedo in a key spot, and also looked at some positives from the series, like Vladdy mashing, Cavan Biggio doing well since coming back from the Injured List, and Reese McGuire's hot stretch. We then jumped into some trade talk because Silly Season is right around the corner. We discussed the idea of trading one of the five catchers on the 40-man roster and debated whether it would be wise to deal Nate Pearson to acquire a top-end arm such as Jose Berrios. Finally, we previewed the upcoming series against the red-hot Mariners, an objectively bad team who somehow pulled off a four-game sweep over Tampa and won two of three against the White Sox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Boy, playing terrible teams sure is fun! Fresh off of winning back-to-back games against the Orioles on Saturday and Sunday, the Blue Jays rolled into Miami for a two-game set with the Marlins and picked up a sweep, ultimately pushing their winning streak to a season-high four games. We talked on the post-series podcast about George Springer's ho-hum return and where he should be in the lineup, the excellent pitching of Robbie Ray and Ross Stripling, and the bullpen bouncing back with six effective innings. We also talked about Mark Shapiro's radio hit on Thursday morning in which he said he was confident the team would add pieces to help them be competitive. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tyler is back from his soul-searching expedition in the woods and the Blue Jays are back in the win column! This weekend with the Trash Birds didn't look very good right off the hop as the Blue Jays got pounded 7-1 on Friday and then appeared to be on their way to another loss on Saturday. But a six-run rally in the ninth inning led by an incredible at-bat from Bo Bichette saved the day and the team rode a great Hyun Jin Ryu start on Sunday to a series win. We talked about the good from the weekend, like Bo and Ryu, and also the bad from the weekend, mostly the bullpen this episode of BJN Radio. We also touched on how the lineup should look when George Springer returns, how the team could move Gabriel Moreno up the system, and the two new (old?) bullpen additions, John Axford and Jacob Barnes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on BJN Radio, Cam Lewis was joined by Brendan Kuhn to talk about the ugly three-game set from the Toronto Blue Jays that featured blown leads, some ugly performances, and even a triple-play. Things are not looking good & quite frankly, we're a little pissed off. Where do they go from here? Cam and BK talked about that and more this week on the pod. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

That was a hell of a weekend-and-a-bit! The Blue Jays rolled into Fenway for a four-game series with the Red Sox, a team we are all desperate to call the Fraud Sox, and ended up with a split. It was kind of a sandwich of a series. The two games in the middle were great, as the Blue Jays kicked the piss out of Boston's pitching and earned a couple of big wins. But the two games on the outside, Friday and Monday, featured frustrating late-game implosions from the bullpen. We talked about Charlie Montoyo's decision-making and what the hell is going on with the 'pen and how it can be fixed. We also tried to dive into some positives, such as Vladdy continuing to be insane and Alek Manoah further cementing himself as The Big Man. It was a rollercoaster ride of a series and the podcast was, to be totally honest, a rollercoaster ride as well. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Yet again the Blue Jays have dropped two games in a three-game series. The team had a nice winning streak going against the Yankees, Cleveland, and Miami, but they got shut down by a pair of contending teams in Houston and Chicago. On this post-White Sox series edition of BJN Radio, we welcomed writer and friend of the website Paul Berthelot on to talk about the Blue Jays' bullpen issues, whether we should have any concern about Hyun Jin Ryu, and if it's time for Nate Pearson to come up and pitch out of the bullpen. We also talked about MLB's "foreign substances" issue and what it means for the Blue Jays and the league in general. Finally, we looked ahead to the upcoming four-game series with the Red Sox in Boston. The Sox haven't fallen off a cliff yet and, at this point, it seems like they probably won't. This is yet another good team the Blue Jays are facing and they need to start beating some of them. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tyler and Cam are back with a fresh episode of BJN Radio to discuss the Jays dropping two of three to the Houston Astros this weekend. They kicked off the pod by talking about how boring the series was as a whole before getting into 3 up/3 down (pres. by Twig & Barry's) and discussing whether or not the Jays can return to Toronto this season. On top of that, they also looked at some prospects who are playing well this season and previewed the upcoming three-game set against the White Sox. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.