Blue Jays Happy Hour

The Blue Jays have either completed the least exhaustive managerial search in history, or they were always going remove the interim tag from John Schneider. Whichever it was, it’s Schneider’s job now, and on this episode we talk about his fitness for it, the hiring process, what managers do, and why the Jays announced it the way they did. Plus! Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s wrist injury and how it affects his trade market, the Jays’ Gold Glove nominees, the Shohei Ohtani pipe dream, and more!...

In our previous episode we tried to highlight some of the positive aspects of a Jays season that ended as badly as one could possibly imagine. In this one we turned to the dark side, examining the problems with the roster and the state of the team — from pitching depth and development, to issues in the outfield, young players growing expensive, potential payroll ceilings, and more! Enjoy? Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also...

An especially frustrating Toronto Blue Jays season ended in the most agonizing way possible last weekend, and understandably that’s been the big focus among Jays fans since it happened. But there were good things to come out of the 2022 season as well — fun things, intriguing things, things to build on — and we wanted to take some time and highlight those. From the great situation the Jays now have behind the plate, to the having two clear top-tier starters fronting their rotation in Kevin...

Reflecting on the Jays’ season, looking ahead, and reacting to Ross Atkins’ comments from Tuesday’s media conference. Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also available at callin.com

This could be it! The Blue Jays began their 2022 playoff campaign with a whimper — or, more accurately, a deflating three-run first inning — and now must win a Kevin Gausman-Robbie Ray matchup with the Mariners in order to keep their season alive. No biggie! We talked about all that, including the highs and lows of Friday, and everything in between. Let’s do this! Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also available at callin.com

The Blue Jays have made the playoffs! On Wednesday the regular season schedule ended with two pointless games in Baltimore, and now the Blue Jays are on their way home to kick off on Friday a best-of-three series against the Seattle Mariners for the right to face the Houston Astros in the ALDS. It’s really happening! And so, with the most exciting time of the year finally upon us, we took a look back at how the Jays got here, what we made of the season, who surprised us in a good way, who...

The Blue Jays clinched a playoff spot with the Orioles’ loss on Thursday, and didn’t have a game to play until Friday night. In a decision that exuded playoff bravado, the team boldly decided to hold off their celebrations until after they player the Red Sox — win or lose. They hammered Boston in that one, got hammered themselves, then came back and stomped the Red Sox again on Saturday afternoon. On this episode we talked about all that, plus Ross Stripling, Alek Manoah, Vlad’s dancing,...

The Blue Jays lost to the Yankees on Wednesday night in a game that was not particularly interesting, save for one of the most incredible things to have ever happened on a baseball field: Adam Cimber’s attempted throw to home plate in the top of the ninth. Also Aaron Judge hit his 61st home run of the season, which is absolutely not a record and shouldn’t be celebrated as such. His season overall, though? That can absolutely be celebrated. Gudge not lest ye he Gudged! Anyway! Callin’s app is...

We took some time in between games of the Blue Jays’ Tuesday doubleheader against the Rays to talk about more incredible at-bats from Bo Bichette, Mitch White’s solid outing, the Rays’ identity, Alek Manoah’s “flu game” (results pending), Vladdy’s struggles, hot dog loonies, ticket prices, Jordan Groshans’ upcoming MLB debut for Miami, and more! Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also available at callin.com

As I write this the Blue Jays have won their first two games in Texas and continue the process of burying the Baltimore Orioles and solidifying their place in the wild card picture with now less than a month to go before the playoffs begin. But amid the drama in the standings, there is drama brewing between the commissioner’s office and the clubhouse. This week MLB announced a series of new rules to be implemented for next season — a pitch clock, limits to the number of pickoff throws a...

On Monday in Baltimore the Blue Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but ultimately suffered death by 1,000 cuts — another Mitch White implosion, a Yusei Kikuchi appearance, Alejandro Kirk’s game-calling, an inopportune double play, more failure to take their chances, an utterly insane video-aided application of the blocking the plate rule, a ridiculous Rougned Odor slide, Trevor Richards — as the Orioles stormed back to score nine runs on just nine hits to win the third game of this four-game...

The Blue Jays sputtered in their finale against the Cubs, and now head to Pittsburgh to try to maintain their grip on a playoff spot against one of the National League’s also-rans. In this episode we talk about all that, Mitch White’s second straight stinker, some of Mark Shapiro’s weirder comments this week, playoff odds, Bradley Zimmer and Casey Lawrence, Vlad, Bo, hot dogs, and more! Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also...

The Blue Jays dug themselves a 4-0 hole on Monday night, which would have been worse if not for some outstanding defensive work all over the diamond. José Berríos gave up a lot of loud contact, the bats struggled badly once again, and it looked for a long time like another ugly defeat was in the offing. Then the rally caps came out, Danny Jansen stepped to the plate, and the course of the night — and maybe even the Blue Jays season — was changed. On this week’s episode we talk about all...

The Blue Jays squandered all the momentum and good vibes generated by last week’s 6-1 road trip to New York and Boston by falling three straight times to the lowly Angels over the weekend. Saturday featured a wonderful 30th anniversary tribute to the 1992 World Series winning team, and delivered on a hotly anticipated pitching duel between Alek Manoah and Shohei Ohtani, but other than that — and the performances of Ross Stripling and George Springer — there really wasn’t a whole lot of...

The Blue Jays completed a 6-1 road trip to New York and Boston with an absurd extra-innings victory at Fenway Park that saw them escape runner-on-third-with-no-outs situations in both the eighth and ninth, and overcome at least three examples of sloppy fielding, a 2-for-12 night with RISP, Kevin Gausman’s continuing BABIP problems, a Trevor Richards appearance, and the Red Sox’ attempt to lull them to sleep by having their relievers take 14 minutes between every pitch. They did so with guts,...

Did the Blue Jays’ season come to a fork in the road on Wednesday night with George Springer’s pinch hit single to break a 0-0 tie, and propel the Jays to a win, to avoid being swept by the Orioles, and to ensure they didn’t waste a spectacular effort from Ross Stripling? Well, obviously we can’t tell the future, but the mood around the team — or at least the fan base — certainly feels like it has been lifted in a major way. The good vibes continued through game one of a four-banger against...

It’s time for the Blue Jays to get serious about the state of their season, and that needs to start with removing Yusei Kikuchi from the rotation. A lottery ticket like Ken Giles could maybe help. So could returns from Julian Merryweather and Nate Pearson. How about a projection-busting sprint to the finish from *anybody*? Second base no longer being a black hole? The club’s other starters getting back on track? George Springer looking like he’s not in agony? There’s a lot going on with the...

We’re one month into the John Schneider experience and, uh, things still aren’t great! The Blue Jays followed up a tough week in Baltimore with another sub-par performance over the weekend against the Cleveland Guardians. Ugh! In this one we talked about that, Kevin Gausman, aggressive baserunning, reliever usage, Joey Votto, and more! Download the Callin app for iOS and Android to listen to this podcast live, call in, and more! Also available at callin.com

The Blue Jays have struggled almost as much as the Yankees this week, and to some this has apparently once again exposed all the fatal flaws we’ve seen from this team from day one — the bullpen, Yusei Kikuchi, weird struggles against bad pitchers, etc. It might not be as bad as it feels right now, but it hasn’t been fun. Hey, but at least they signed Jackie Bradley Jr.! And on this episode we talk about all that, plus Mitch White, team-building, José Berríos, Bradley Zimmer, and more!...

Blue Jays fans got their first looks at deadline additions Anthony Bass and the surprisingly vaccinated Whit Merrifield, but it was some of the team’s more familiar faces that powered them to a 9-3 victory over the Twins in Minneapolis on Tuesday night. Teoscar Hernández hit a moonshot that may not yet have come down. Vladimir Guerrero Jr., between displays of incredible defensive gymnastics, ripped a three-run, 115 mph laser into the Minnesota night. Bo Bichette had three hits, including a...