Tag: Toronto Blue Jays

Lip-readers think Chris Bassitt had a hilarious NSFW message for Yordan Alvarez after getting shelled repeatedly

Yordan Alvarez is giving Chris Bassitt a hard time.

Pitching to Yordan Alvarez is no fun for anybody, but especially not for Toronto Blue Jays righty Chris Bassitt.

Even before Wednesday’s game against the Houston Astros, his career numbers against the slugger were sub-optimal, albeit on a small sample size. After the game, the sample size increased but the numbers got worse.

Alvarez went 4-for-5 in the game with two home runs and three RBI, and three of those hits came off Bassitt, including the third-inning home run and an RBI double in the fourth inning. Once the fourth ended, Bassitt had a few words for Alvarez.

Lip-readers think he said “you’re [expletive] killing me, man.”

If that is what he said, he would be right. Alvarez is now 8-for-18 with five home runs in his career against Bassitt.

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Gerrit Cole furiously rips Daniel Vogelbach for a bat flip and slow HR trot in spring training

Gerrit Cole was MAD at this.

It’s only spring training, but we’ve already got some beef ahead of the 2024 MLB season.

On Friday, New York Yankees star Gerrit Cole threw a fastball that Toronto Blue Jays slugger Daniel Vogelbach sent deep into the Florida night. There would be no problem with that, but Vogelbach gave a little bat flip and maybe Cole thought his home run trot was a little slow for a game that was happening on the first day of March and not in the regular season.

“Yeah, what’s the day? Are we still in February? March 1st? Yeah, he enjoyed that homer,” Cole said on Friday, per MLB’s Bryan Hoch. And Cole added this when asked if he’d remember that: “I don’t forget a lot of things.”

WHEW.

A mesmerizing video of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hitting monster HRs with a metal bat had MLB fans in awe

So, that’s what happens when an MLB player gets a metal bat …

Once baseball players join the professional ranks, their days of playing games with metal bats are effectively over. It’s all wood bats, and there’s a very good reason for that:

It’s legitimately dangerous for MLB players to use a metal bat. Just look at what happens when Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. got to use one in a home run derby.

MLB’s Twitter/X account shared a video from the weekend’s charity home run derby in Puerto Rico where Guerrero put on an absolute show with a metal bat. If you think he hits baseballs hard with a wood bat, that video put into perspective just how big a difference a metal bat makes.

Any person within 600 feet of that stadium was in danger. We won’t see MLB take a similar approach with its home run derby unless the league wants to clear out the stands and kids in the outfield.

But still, that video was incredible and MLB fans’ jaws collectively dropped watching it. Those were some serious moonshots.

Shohei Ohtani reportedly wasn’t in Toronto on Friday as free agency rumors intensify

The Shohei Ohtani free agency saga has taken yet another turn.

For about an hour on Friday afternoon, it appeared that Los Angeles Angels superstar pitcher and designated hitter Shohei Ohtani was going to be a Toronto Blue Jay. And he still could end up with the organization, but we just don’t know yet.

What began as a mere rumor with amateur flight trackers and unverified videos of Ohtani in an airport terminal was brought into the mainstream when it was reported that the free agent was en route to Toronto, though it noted Ohtani’s representative did not confirm that.

While MLB fans waited on the edge of their seats for official word of an agreement, a subsequent report from USA TODAY Sports columnist Bob Nightengale threw everything into flux.

Multiple other reports later confirmed Nightengale’s scoop that Ohtani was never in Toronto and is still in southern California.

It’s been a secretive free agency process so far for the three-time All-Star and two-time American League MVP, and while it seemed like it was heading toward a resolution Friday, the rumor mill only continues to intensify surrounding where Ohtani will play in 2024 and beyond.

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Toronto sports anchor absolutely roasted Los Angeles in an impassioned Blue Jays pitch for Shohei Ohtani

He was COOKING.

Two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani could make his decision in free agency any day now. And if there’s one thing we’re absolutely certain of, it’s that he is not watching what TV personalities in the potential markets have to say about him.

That doesn’t stop those TV personalities from making pitches, though.

Earlier this week, former MLB player Jerry Hairston Jr. appeared on SportsNet LA and tried to convince Ohtani to stay away from the Toronto Blue Jays. Hairston listed reasons like listening to two national anthems, paying high taxes and dealing with cold weather as reasons why Toronto wouldn’t be a great fit. The entire segment was silly, but Citytv’s Sid Seixeiro certainly took notice.

He was not about to let Hairston have the last word at all.

Seixeiro pointed out that Toronto’s taxes aren’t exactly a valid concern when the alternative is California. He added that two national anthems aren’t an issue when Canada has the superior anthem (valid). But the main takeaway here is that Hairston’s remarks got a Canadian to sound mean. That’s how good Shohei Ohtani is — Canadians will full-on roast a major American city if it means 10 years of Ohtani. And I can’t blame Seixeiro either.

Fans also enjoyed the segment as Ohtani is thought to be considering the Dodgers, Blue Jays, Cubs, Braves and Giants. Who cares that Shohei will never see it?

Former LSU pitcher is a finalist for the Cy Young Award

Kevin Gausman seems to be aging like fine wine as he is pitching at an elite level for the Toronto Blue Jays.

[autotag]Kevin Gausman[/autotag] has been in the MLB for 11 years and has played for five different teams as he is on the cusp of turning 33 years old in January. Gausman seems to be aging like fine wine as he is pitching at an elite level for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Gausman joins Sonny Gray of the Twins and Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees as the three finalists for the AL Cy Young Award.

Gausman had a phenomenal regular season for the Blue Jays as he finished with a 12-9 record and a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts. He struck out a career-high 237 hitters and walked 55 hitters in 185 innings. He made an appearance for the Blue Jays in the playoffs but it did not go well.

He started against the Twins in the Wild Card and only went four innings as he gave up three runs on three hits. He struck out five hitters and walked three.

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Sonny Gray revealed how Twins fans helped him execute a stunning Vladimir Guerrero Jr. pickoff

What a play, with an assist by the fans.

It was, perhaps, the play that changed it all in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card series for the Minnesota Twins.

In the fifth inning, with runners on second and third and the Twins clinging to a two-run lead, Sonny Gray and Carlos Correa pulled off an amazing pickoff play to get Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to end the inning.

How did Minnesota do that in the middle of a playoff game with the pressure on? Gray revealed that they had practiced the play in spring training and had worked on it before the postseason … and that Correa told Gray that the Blue Jays couldn’t hear the third base coach yell “BACK!” because the crowd at Target Field was so loud:

@mlbnetwork

Sonny Gray and Carlos Correa were in sync for this clutch pickoff! 💥

♬ original sound – MLB Network – MLB Network

That is seriously great work by the Twins AND their fans. Bravo.

Blue Jays’ Ernie Clement claims ‘Super Bowl or bust’ for Bills

Blue Jays’ Ernie Clement claims ‘Super Bowl or bust’ for #Bills:

The Buffalo Bills already have their expectations of having another successful season that hopefully results in a Super Bowl victory. It seems that the Bills have another person in their corner as they make their journey towards winning the NFL championship.

Ernie Clement, second baseman for Major League Baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays, recently said his expectations for his Bills is winning the Lombardi Trophy. Clement, who was born in Rochester, went so far as to say that this season for Buffalo is “Super Bowl or bust” showing his steadfast confidence in his favorite team.

The Bills are expected by many to be one of the better teams in the league thanks to the team returning some of its best players in quarterback Josh Allen, wide receiver Stefon Diggs, and linebacker Von Miller, to name a few. Buffalo begins its 2023 campaign on Sept. 11 at the New York Jets.

Clements comment can be found in the post-game interview he conducted with Sportsnet in the clip below:

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Elly De La Cruz pulled off an electric Little League home run for the Reds, and MLB fans were amazed

Elly De La Cruz is unstoppable.

Is there anything Cincinnati Reds infielder Elly De La Cruz can’t do?

During a Saturday game against the Toronto Blue Jays, De La Cruz pulled off one of the smoothest Little League home runs that you’re likely to see this season of any MLB team.

Multiple Toronto errors led to a Reds baserunner making it home, but De La Cruz found a way to make it around the diamond to home just in time to be called safe and to get a run for himself.

It’s the kind of electric play that has turned De La Cruz into one of the game’s most promising young stars. It’s also the kind of play that makes him a nightmare for opposing teams when he pulls moves like this.

 

De La Cruz is going to become a Cincinnati legend in no time if he keeps making plays like this. MLB fans can’t help but look on in awe.