“This Week in the Jays Nest” is a Toronto Blue Jays weekly recap that will be posted once a week on the Alyssa Cohen MLB Blog. It will feature the highlights of the past weeks Toronto Blue Jays baseball games, injury updates, roster updates and a question of the week.
The Jays hitting came back, and they won not one, not two, but THREE games this week! It’s only a matter of time until the hitting comes back in full force and the quest for the top spot in the division begins!
Roster Updates:
- Angels aquire catcher Juan Graterol for PTBN or cash, designate OF Ryan LaMarre for assignment.
- P Casey Lawerence and P Matt Latos added to the 25-man roster. Made starts against the Angels on Friday and Saturday.
- Jays trade INF Ty Kelly to the Philadelphia Phillies for cash.
Injury Updates:
- Troy Tulowitzki added to the 10-day disabled list (DL), due to a sore hamstring.
Games Played this Week:
April 18, 2017 – Jays (7) vs. Red Sox (8)
Smoak, Martin, and Carrera all homered in the Jays 11th loss of the season. Marcus Stroman allowed 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings, giving 10+ hits.
April 19, 2017 – Jays (3) vs. Red Sox (0)
The Jays looked great in this game, and although the score doesn’t really show it, they were hitting. This looked like a 2016 Jays game, stellar pitching and just enough offence for the team to win. Liriano looked great, throwing six complete shutout innings. Biagini, Grilli and Osuna were good, giving Osuna his first win of the season!
April 20, 2017 – Jays (1) vs. Red Sox (4)
After Morales hit a home run in the bottom of the ninth, the Jays fell apart in extra innings due to Grilli loading up the bases and giving up a bases clearing hit.
April 21, 2017 – Jays (8) vs. Angels (7)
This game lasted over four hours, and finished at 3:40am EST! Darwin Barney was SO close to a grand slam, and that’s when I called it a night… only to wakeup to a Jays win! Joey Bats hit his first home run of the season, and while the bottom of the 13th (!!) innings was scary, the Jays managed to walk away with a win!
April 22, 2017 – Jays (4) vs. Angels (5)
The Jays sure made this one interesting, but they couldn’t come away with a win.
April 23, 2017 – Jays (6) vs. Angels (1)
Had the Jays lost the game, it would have been fault of the home plate umpire and his stupid illegal pitch call. It seemed like innings one through seven were one game, and innings eight and nine were another. The Jays had 3 hits and 0 runs through innings 1-7, and 6 runs (including 3 homers) in innings 8-9. Marcus Stroman pitched his second complete game of the season (and it’s only April!!) and the Blue Jays came away with a win!
Gifs of the Week: Brought to you by ateDARYL
Question of the Week:
I think that there has been a difference because most of the players that have been having slower starts seem to look more comfortable in their at bats. Whether they may be taking an extra pitch or being more pitch selective, players like Russel Martin and José Bautista look like they have been slowing down their approach, making their at-bats better. Behind closed doors, there have probably been many pep-talks lead by veteran players or coaches. I am sure those help a lot too!
Although the Jays may not have had an amazing week on paper, this week felt different than the past two. The hitting seems to be coming back, even when having two veteran players on the DL (Tulo and Donaldson).
Let’s hope that next week will be even better!
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