Game #76 Game Thread: Jays @ Guardians

Well, last night was grim. It’s a new day, though, and at least with Jose Berrios on the mound they should be in it.

We’ve spend the first three months of this season hoping, increasingly desperately, that a bit of a run was around the corner. They’ve feinted at it a couple of times, but never broken through, and next Saturday would represent two months since they’ve touched .500. After a brief dalliance with the fringes of the wildcard race last week, the Jays now find themselves 5.5 back of the Twins and with five teams between them. It’s getting late early, as they say, and if there aren’t clear signs of a turnaround by Canada Day then a fire sale seems like it’ll be the only option left.

On the optimistic side, it’s been interesting to see Addison Barger, Spencer Horwitz, and now Orelvis Martinez receive their call ups. Leo Jimenez, who now has a .897 OPS with the Bisons and is the best defender of the group, should be up next. None of these guys are likely to be All-Stars (though if Orelvis can clean up his approach, who knows), but they all have the potential to fill roles on the next good Blue Jays team and all have been tearing it up in AAA. If the Jays are aggressive sellers next month, it’ll mean we get real looks at the kids and a chance to figure out what we actually have. I’m not sure they’ll be any better, at least this year, but messy baseball by talented young guys finding their way is a lot easier to watch than the same from vets who appear to be losing their edge.

Here are the lineups:

I don’t know about a guy with a .570 OPS in the cleanup spot myself, but then maybe that’s why I don’t make the big bucks.