Features
Gibbons Extension Good News For Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays have locked up manager John Gibbons for two more seasons, with a club option for 2020. Gibbons, who gets far less respect than he deserves from segments of the fan base, sits second in franchise history for manager wins, just 250 behind Cito Gaston. For whatever reason, some fans have just […]
Who Should Start Opening Day?
We are officially three weeks away from Opening Day–at the time of this writing. By the time you read this, it will probably be closer than that. Spring Training has dragged on, mainly because of the lack of storylines in Blue Jays camp. The biggest news items are the injuries to Josh Donaldson and Devon […]
Going Smoakless
“This is a ‘don’t get hurt’ kind of spring.” — Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling on The Jeff Blair Show The above was a quote from the thirty minute roundtable with Jeff Blair, Stephen Brunt and Arden Zwelling on Sportsnet 590 this morning. A thoughtful, honest, level-headed discussion between three of the brightest baseball minds at the […]
X-Factor: Steve Pearce
Last month, I started to take a look at some players who might be under-the-radar contributors to the Blue Jays season. If all goes to plan, you know what you’re getting out of Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin. Even if that core group can stay healthy and produce as usual, you’re still […]
X-Factor: Dalton Pompey
As we sit in the final week of January, just 19 days until Blue Jays pitchers and catchers report to Dunedin for spring training, it’s fair to say this club is not as strong on paper as its 2016 version. The failings of the off-season have been well-documented, highlighted by the unpopular decision to move on […]
Blue Jays Second Half Storylines
Sitting just two games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the American League East, the Toronto Blue Jays have 71 games remaining to defend their division title. How can they do it? By continuing the strong play that saw them hit the All-Star break as one of the hottest teams in baseball. But […]
Five Fearless Predictions Revisited
The Toronto Blue Jays get set to begin the proverbial second half of the season tonight in Oakland, following the MLB All-Star break earlier this week. While it doesn’t represent a numerical halfway point of the season (with just 71 of 162 games remaining), it offers us a great opportunity to re-visit some pre-season thoughts […]
Asher’s Five Fearless(?) Blue Jays Predictions
Right field is where tears begin to form. Cito has been talking not only of starting Jose Bautista in right field, but he wants him to lead off. Ouch. Jose showed flashes last year – not of brilliance, but of mediocrity at best. Okay, so he hit a bunch of home runs at the end […]
Matt’s Five Fearless Blue Jays Predictions
With Opening Day now just a day away, it’s time to get crazy. There are certain expectations of the Blue Jays and their players this season, but we here at Jays Balk are going to go above and beyond, predicting some thing that *might* happen in 2016.
Projecting the Fielders
Earlier this week, I outlined where I thought the chips would fall for the Blue Jays pitching staff through Spring Training. Well, Friday marks the first official full-squad workout, so it’s time to take a look at how things should shake out for the position players. While there’s quite a bit of intrigue on the […]
